Norm Frauenheim
265 articles · The Arizona Republic
-
Pay-Per-View Proof: Terence Crawford tests his popularity versus Amir Khan in his second PPV bout
In a quick-moving debate, it?s Terence Crawford?s turn to do what Vasiliy Lomachenko did last week. Guess here is that Crawford will deliver with a definitive victory over a name in a…
-
Who?s Talking? If it?s Spence-Crawford, everybody is
Bob Arum threw a rhetorical combo this week, intriguing because of the timing and significant because it further heightened talk about a Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr. fight. It?s hard to know whether…
-
Tale of tape favors Spence, but crowd chants for Mikey Garcia
ARLINGTON, Tex. ? Home is where the chants are. At least, that?s what Mikey Garcia hoped he was hearing Friday at AT&T Stadium during the weigh-in for his bid to upset welterweight…
-
Angry Winds: Spence says Garcia could be facing ?a one-sided massacre?
ARLINGTON, Tex. ? Errol Spence Jr.?s poker face and impassive eyes reveal nothing. His body language says nothing. But there was a decided shift in Spence?s mood Wednesday with edgy words that…
-
Pacquiao Back In The USA: The nostalgia is there, but is there still a market?
Manny Pacquiao?s return to the United States this week has a nostalgic feel. He stopped in New York. Then, Los Angeles. It was fun to see him. That shy, enigmatic smile is…
-
Wilder One-Dimensional? Not if you listen to him
Deontay Wilder is a man with one punch and many words. Those words ? unending, often contradictory and always brash ? were there, again and again, Thursday throughout a conference call for…
-
A Prospect No More: Shakur Stevenson steps up with dazzling TKO win
OMAHA, Neb. ?A prospect began to look like a contender, all within one dazzling round. Shakur Stevenson needed only three minutes Saturday night to graduate, from apprentice to dangerous, in a first…
-
HBO is leaving, but boxing isn?t going away
The headlines said HBO is leaving boxing. Truth is, the premium network has been leaving for the last few years. The long goodbye was official Thursday with news first reported by the…
-
Dogboe delivers royal statement, scores first-round stoppage
GLENDALE, Ariz. ?There?s royalty in the blood and power in the hands. It was a dramatic display of the power that allowed Isaac Dogboe to continue his rule over anybody in front…
-
Risk Returns: Mikey Garcia willing to take a chance
Mikey Garcia?s pursuit of Errol Spence Jr. in a daunting, two-division jump from lightweight to welter is a welcome counter to Floyd Mayweather Jr.?s business model. Mayweather mastered risk-to-reward like the ratio…
-
GGG-Canelo: The Time Is Now
Stalled negotiations for a Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin rematch are diverting attention and headlines away from two intriguing fights ? Abner Mares-Leo Santa Cruz II in Los Angeles and Terence Crawford?s welterweight debut…
-
Mayweather still a media master in Faustian bargain that leads him back into harm?s way
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is as good at staying in the news as he was at staying a top the pound-for debate. Evidence of that played out all over again throughout this week…
-
Hearing of the Year: Canelo?s appearance before Nevada Commission is getting all of the attention
It?s not a promising year when the most anticipated moment is a hearing instead of an opening bell. For now, however, that?s what boxing has at the top of its agenda after…
-
Heavyweight Restoration: Rebuilding continues with Joshua-Parker
It?s a good time to be a heavyweight. At least, it appears to be. The old flagship division is beginning to resurface with HMS Anthony Joshua?s stunning emergence to UK prominence with…
-
On the Move: Crawford?s jump takes him up scale and to the top of the ballot
It?s a move up, on the scale and to the top of the ballot. Terence Crawford?s bid to own next year opens with a jump to welterweight and a convincing campaign for…
-
Nothing junior about 154 anymore
It?s one of those hyphenated divisions once lost amid the proliferation of them. Call it light, Call it junior. But don?t call it forgettable. Not any more, anyway. The 154-pound weight class,…
-
Re-energized pound for-pound debate full of possibilities
Andre Ward?s surprising retirement, Roman Gonzalez? sad defeat and the scorecard controversy still brewing over the Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez draw is re-energizing the pound-for-pound debate and generating renewed optimism about a resilient…
-
Wild Ride: Valdez wins tough decision
TUCSON, Ariz. ? Oscar Valdez Jr. wanted to please a crowd that had traveled from his birthplace in Mexico and to the U.S. city where he went to school. Mission accomplished and…
-
A Dreamer: Oscar Valdez Jr. fighting for a title, friends, family and a grandfather
TUCSON, Ariz. ? Oscar Valdez Jr. doesn?t have to look far to see a Dreamer. He sees one in his own reflection in the mirror. He sees one in old friends. New…
-
Chaos Eclipse: Crawford-Indongo a rare moment when boxing?s bodies will align
Unity and boxing are an unlikely complement. Link them in the same sentence and you?ve got something that looks, feels and sounds like an oxymoron. You know, jumbo and shrimp. But unity…