Bart Barry
Watching a writer watch a fan watch Floyd Mayweather
“Makes fun of the Easter Bunny / Reunites with dad / Goes to pololoco for chick . . . plays basketball; crosstraining? Hungry again,...
From outrage, an outrageously good idea
You’re angry, angrier than you have been since March. Feed that rage a touch, then, before endeavoring to diffuse it. A catharsis...
Eating barbecue, thinking about El Paso and geometry
LULING, Texas – Here is a town that is home to 5,000 souls and represents the southernmost point of a golden corridor of Lone...
Sustainability in South Texas
SAN ANTONIO – The Illusions Theatre made its debut as a boxing venue here Saturday. Named in a nod to irony, Illusions is...
Gradovich stops Leal; Pavlik succeeds in comeback
SAN ANTONIO – It was “Mexican Russian” against “Little Soldier” at Illusions Theatre, in Saturday’s main event. All of the monikers were apt.
Fighting...
Pavlik returns in Leija’s debut
SAN ANTONIO – Kelly Pavlik, the former lineal middleweight world champion and fighting pride of Ohio, approached the small stage at a crowded cantina,...
Host of masters, target of scorn
HOUSTON – Here is the largest city in the state that comprises the world’s most corrupt athletic commission, a beast of two backs that...
Not Terrible: Garcia decisions Morales in Houston
HOUSTON – Finally, Erik “El Terrible” Morales, at age 35, did not have enough of what once made him great to wrest a victory...
El Terrible, finalmente
I started to write about boxing because of Erik “El Terrible” Morales, whose face, along with those of Israel Vazquez and Juan Manuel Marquez,...
Salido-Lopez II: Only the Violence Mattered
All that is essential about our sport, in both amateur boxing and prizefighting, happens between its ropes and bells. What occurs during a match,...
Into the filth
In his 2001 essay “A rough trade,” British novelist Martin Amis writes ferociously, and with ironic humanity, about the increasing violence one finds in...
Examining the conscience before confessing the scorecard
We begin in a discomfiting place – Catholicism’s examination of conscience – and hope to move to an optimistic one. This column should...
Something less than photo realism on the Bay
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – If you were here in the beautiful coastal climes of the Gulf, 65 degrees with a cool saltwater wind, you...
Williams brings silence, Cloud brings controversy, Arreola brings violence
CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex. – Paul “The Punisher” Williams burst on the scene years ago as a gangly, volume-punching giant whom no manager wished to...
Williams, Cloud and Arreola lead a spirited “Triple Threat” weigh-in
CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex. – The banner behind the scale on the hastily erected stage read “Three of boxing's biggest threats, seeking world supremacy.” ...
Lucky punches and Paul Williams’ threat of a triple
The prizefighter formerly known as “Boxing’s Most Feared” has a problem with misfortune. Paul Williams, in his mind and his handlers’, has been...
Chavez Jr. and Warhol, juxtaposed
SAN ANTONIO – Tuesday, three or so hours after Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. skipped an open workout at Jesse James Leija’s gym, a workout...
EARLY RESULTS FROM SAN ANTONIO
SAN ANTONIO – The final undercard match of Alamodome’s “Welcome to the Future” card featured Mexican super bantamweight Raul Hirales (16-0-1, 8 KOs)...
Waiting for weighting: Chavez Jr. and Rubio take the scale
SAN ANTONIO – There was Bob Arum. There was Wilfredo Vazquez Sr. There were Nonito Donaire and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. There...
Donaire entertains locals, shows eye for talent at open workout
SAN ANTONIO – “Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire is already celebrated among boxing insiders for his hand speed, footwork, power and charisma. Now insiders...
Things to do in Alamo City
SAN ANTONIO – I can see Alamodome from my window. It’s a mile southeast of where I sit, and its southwestern spire is...
Pontiac Redux, Part 2
Pontiac’s Business district wasn’t. Early on a Saturday afternoon nothing was open. I parked the Kia well off the curb of a...
Pontiac Redux, Part 1
This week brings an ignominious anniversary for our beloved sport. Sunday will mark a year since “The Super Fight” – Timothy Bradley versus...
Writing about Chavez Jr. while thinking about Donaire
SAN ANTONIO – Another deadline comes and goes in the silly saga of whether the two best fighters in our sport in 2009 will...
In celebration of thinkers, skepticism and 10-10 rounds
There is no such thing as an objective scorecard in boxing. Using that assumption, let’s take a look at – wait, what’s that?...
Frustrated Chavez Jr. announces February title defense at Alamodome
SAN ANTONIO – Mexican middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., known as much for his father’s exploits as his own, is fully aware of...
Portrait of a credential to 2011’s biggest fight, Part 2
Editor’s note: For Part 1, please click here.
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The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas...
Portrait of a credential to 2011’s biggest fight, Part 1
The day Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought their rubber match in November 2011, Las Vegas was in recovery. The city tried...
Ward and Froch, and the anfractuous path to greatness
On a perfect evening in the ring, a night when American Andre Ward and Englishman Carl Froch both were able to make their very...
Ward-Froch to determine Fighter of the Last Two Years
There is a conditional clause still in place on the Boxing Writers Association of America’s 2011 ballot for Fighter of the Year. It...
Cotto and Margarito, and a treatment of semi-satisfaction
The narrative of Cotto-Margarito II will say Miguel Cotto, inspired by tens of thousands of his countrymen within Madison Square Garden, gained a richly...
Margarito-Cotto II: Revenge served cold
Saturday’s rematch between Mexican Antonio Margarito and Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto is about revenge. It is not about establishing primacy at the kooky...
Chavez, Martinez, and the importance of layers
HOUSTON – And there was Sergio Martinez lurking stage left, both taller and thinner than he appears on television. He was at the...
Chavez improves to 44-0-1-1, having improved in every way
HOUSTON – Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez may never win fighter of the year, but if the Boxing Writers Association of America gave out a...
“The fight is not that happy”
LAS VEGAS – After a frustrated but triumphant Juan Manuel Marquez addressed a large crowd in the MGM Grand media center Saturday, a chastened...
