IBR on The Cruelest Sport

“There is a natural inclination to frame any fight involving Bernard Hopkins strictly within his narrative. Since he stopped Felix Trinidad thirteen years ago, Hopkins has used his skills for fighting and filibustering to control the lenses through which the audience interprets a fight. But that changed last night. Last night, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Sergey Kovalev became the story. Kovalev dominated Hopkins over twelve shockingly uncompetitive rounds, and in winning a unanimous decision handed Hopkins the worst defeat of his incredible career.”

Read Passive Resistance: Sergey Kovalev W12 Bernard Hopkins on The Cruelest Sport.

IBR on The Cruelest Sport

“Predictability, whatever drama it may bring to life, be it the looming inevitable or the hotly anticipated, is largely unwelcome in boxing. In boxing, predictability most often manifests as bogus scorecards, gross mismatches, unfulfilled expectations, bald-faced lies—all that conspires to remind enthusiasts what little reward enthusiasm gains. But mucking around in that predictable slop is also dependability, and the dependability, in and with the right hands, helps keep boxing alive.”

Read Ritual de lo habitual: Gennady Golovkin KO2 Marco Antonio Rubio on The Cruelest Sport.

“The fight between Gennady Golovkin and Marco Antonio Rubio at the StubHub Center in Carson, California this Saturday leaves much to be desired. If we are to believe his earnest interviews, where, in improving English, he delivers soundbites that provide him seemingly as much traction among enthusiasts as his fists do—and certainly more than his opposition does—even Golovkin himself will find his next victim unsatisfying. Golovkin wants big names and big shows, but Rubio is yet another sanctioned slaughter in a year blighted by mismatches. We should be honest about that.”

Read Every Ounce the Killer: Gennady Golovkin-Marco Antonio Rubio Preview on The Cruelest Sport.