Tag: boxing

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

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If you can believe him, he is training harder than ever. He tells you that the goal is to make the judges superfluous, since he has less faith in their powers of perception than in his own ability to shape reality. And while it is obvious to him that he was deserving of the nod in his last fight, he relishes the opportunity to repeat his victory on Saturday night at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas.

Would you believe those words if they were about Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.? Or would you believe those words if they were about Bryan Vera? Both Chavez and Vera have expressed sentiments that fit that narrative, and both are looking for greater satisfaction than they reaped in their first fight, a ten-round dust-up last September. Chavez, 47-1-1 (32), was awarded the victory that night (a verdict less ridiculous than the scores that secured it); outrage ensued, and a rematch was negotiated.

Read Mulligan Stew: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Bryan Vera Preview on The Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

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Lomachenko’s formidable amateur credentials are not distinction enough—he need only ask Guillermo Rigondeaux and Andre Ward if people are hypnotized by swaying gold medals before their eyes. No, if Lomachenko is going to maximize his earning potential—and maybe capture an imagination or two in the process—he needs to tuck his medals under his shirt, find the baddest man on the block, and roll him for his gold.

Read Diamonds & Rust: Orlando Salido-Vasyl Lomachenko Preview on The Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

LOPEZ MARQUEZ

This fight is sure to end definitively for Lopez—in victory or defeat—because “Juanma” will have it no other way. The former Olympian from Rio Piedras began his career 24-0, with 22 knockouts, and cut down his opposition like sugar cane on the Hacienda Mercedita. But that approach began demanding a stiffer price. Outgunned, but with cunning to spare, Gerry Penalosa tagged Lopez repeatedly before yielding to youth and size. Two fights later, Rogers Mtagwa took untold punishment before sending the exhausted Lopez reeling in the final round. Then Bernabe Concepcion floored him, and a faded Rafael Marquez provided Lopez with more harrowing moments than the script called for.

Read All That Matters: Juan Manuel Lopez Returns Against Daniel Ponce De Leon on the Cruelest Sport.