Norm Frauenheim
First Round: Top Rank launches its post-pandemic plan
By Norm Frauenheim-
Top Rank is poised to hit the re-set button next week, mid-week, with live telecasts, the first in about three months, which...
Forbes 100: It’s a different list with an expensive warning
By Norm Frauenheim-
The Forbes list used to belong to Floyd Mayweather Jr., who became better known for dominating the money ranks than the pound-for-pound...
Money or History: Pandemic pushes Canelo to the edge of a...
By Norm Frauenheim-
Canelo Alvarez is fighting for history. At least, he was, pre-pandemic, last November in his light-heavyweight stoppage of Sergey Kovalev. But history,...
What Comeback? Mike Tyson has never left the stage
By Norm Frauenheim
In case you haven’t heard or seen, Mike Tyson is coming back. That’s news, of course. But it’s strange to call his...
Jimmy Glenn, Rest In Peace
By Norm Frauenheim-
Mike Tyson wants to fight four-rounders. So, does Evander Holyfield. I’ll let you figure out where that leads. The public imagination is...
History is repeating itself, maybe boxing will too
By Norm Frauenheim-
Nostalgia will survive the pandemic. So, too, will boxing, the world’s second-oldest profession.
A sure sign of boxing’s resiliency, its heartbeat, is in...
Missing the chaos, dreading the emptiness
By Norm Frauenehim-
Big fight weeks are little bit like the seasons. They are on the calendar, a date to anticipate, celebrate and debate. Next...
Essential gets lost in the ring
By Norm Frauenheim-
Pro wrestling is essential, at least it is in Florida, which apparently needed something to replace spring break and Mickey Mouse as...
Defiance not enough to keep coronavirus off an island or the...
By Norm Frauenheim-
At first, Dana White said he was going to stage the UFC’s next event on an island. Then, there was news that...
Another Opening Bell? Plan for one and then plan for...
By Norm Frauenheim-
There’s not much to do while trying to honor a stay-at-home order. There’s music. There’s yard-work. There’s listening to pundits and Trump’s...
No Escape: No opening bell either, but there is a place...
By Norm Frauenheim-
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- No Opening Day. No Opening Ceremony. No opening bell. I’m almost afraid to open the door. Any door.
It’s hard...
March Madness suddenly an empty season
By Norm Frauenheim-
March Madness has taken on a new meaning. More like Sadness.
There’s been a crazy whirlwind of postponements, then cancellations. College basketball fans...
After The Beatdown: Tyson Fury has some empathy for Deontay Wilder
By Norm Frauenheim-
Deontay Wilder is a predictable target on sociopath media these days. Anybody, which means just about everybody, with a keyboard and an...
Stubborn streak takes Mikey Garcia back for another test at welterweight
By Norm Frauenheim-
Mikey Garcia has been called stubborn more than once. It’s a multi-edged adjective. There’s the good stubborn, as in the tenacious Garcia....
Arum calls Anthony Joshua a “scared” fighter
By Norm Frauenheim-
LAS VEGAS – There been a lot of talk about what -- who -- awaits the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury winner of a...
Carlos Castro takes next step in title quest in Phoenix
By Norm Frauenheim-
Phoenix junior-featherweight Carlos Castro faces a key step in his pursuit of a shot at world title Friday night at Celebrity Theatre.
Castro...
Sides and Styles: Fury’s many dimensions confront Wilder with a dangerous...
By Norm Frauenheim-
Tyson Fury moves from profane to prophetic in interviews in much the same way he switches from orthodox to southpaw in the...
Fury pose is intended for an audience of one
By Norm Frauenheim-
The before-and-after photos are astonishing. The physical transformation of Tyson Fury continues. A couple of years ago, he made Andy Ruiz Jr....
Ancient Games: Tyson Fury jabs at Wilder with rhetorical feints
By Norm Frauenheim-
Tyson Fury calls himself a boxing historian, which means more than a basic understanding of what it is to be the lineal...
Dumb, Double-Down Dumb: Ruiz throws loyalty and trainer Manny Robles under...
By Norm Frauenheim-
Andy Ruiz Jr., who needs as many friends as he can find, fired the best one he had.
He fired Manny Robles.
The move...
Wilder-Fury 2: Lots to say about a fight that might hang...
By Norm Frauenheim-
The hyperbole is already underway. Insults, expletives and exaggerations were delivered, exchanged and countered this week in downtown Los Angeles, just across...
Opening The Door: Josh Taylor moves to Top Rank and closer...
By Norm Frauenheim-
Top Rank’s roster got deeper and its reach grew farther with Thursday’s surprising announcement that it had signed Josh Taylor, the Scottish...
A few predictions and only one bleeping lock for 2020
By Norm Frauenheim-
Fights we want to see.
Fights we won’t see. It’s that time of the year. Old is supposed to give way to
the new....
Danny Jacobs fights on in the memory of Patrick Day
By Norm Frauenheim-
PHOENIX – Danny Jacobs is moving up. But not on.
Jacobs will wear his feelings for an absent friend Friday night when he...
Crawford looking to Cement Pound for Pound Status on Saturday
By Norm Frauenheim-
The pound-for-pound debate is nothing more than an argument. It has no promoter. It offers no belt. Win it, and you won’t...
Joshua-Ruiz 2: Joshua promises not to celebrate, just to win
By Norm Frauenheim-
Anthony Joshua promises not to celebrate. That’s just one of the many promises attached to Joshua.
First and foremost, there’s the promise to...
Buenos Aires: Wilder-Ortiz didn’t matter in a city once known as...
By Norm Frauenheim-
BUENOS AIRES – This is a long way from Vegas where history is always just a bulldozer away. Vegas sells itself for...
Wilder-Ortiz: Will Wilder’s right hand continue have the final say?
By Norm Frauenheim-
Deontay Wilder’s power, potentially a double-edged weapon, has yet to strike back at him. The theory, perhaps expectation, has long been that...
Wilder talks differences, but promises more of the same in Ortiz...
By Norm Frauenheim-
Deontay Wilder likes to talk about differences, what he believes separates him from Luis Ortiz, Tyson Fury and just about everybody else.
He’s...
Monster Star: Only a rapid ascent up the scale is a...
By Norm Frauenheim-
It was a defining fight for Naoya Inoue. It was also a reason for caution.
In watching Inoue’s courageous brilliance in a unanimous...
History Once, history twice: Does Kovalev have a chance during a...
By Norm Frauenheim-
LAS VEGAS -- The road team does win sometimes. Proof of that happened Wednesday night when the Washington Nationals beat the Houston...
Michael Carbajal goes into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame
By Norm Frauenheim-
They called him Little Hands of Stone. The impact on Arizona was huge and now forever indelible.
Michael Carbajal, the best fighter in...
Prograis’ rising star runs into a career-defining risk against Josh Taylor
By Norm Frauenheim-
Star power is behind him. Star potential is within him. What looks so close, however, could suddenly become a star-too-far for Regis...
Patrick Day: He’s dead, but not gone for a conflicted game...
By Norm Frauenheim-
It’s a conflicted sport. That borders on redundancy. Boxing wouldn’t be what it is without conflict. Yet, Patrick Day’s death exposes all...
Say a prayer for Errol Spence Jr.
By Norm Frauenheim-
It is as unforgiving a business as any. Boxing moves on, always moves on from tragedy. But the game stopped early Thursday...
