Robert Ecksel
752 articles · The Sweet Science
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Pistol Packing Promoter
The relationship between Donald Trump and Don King is a natural. The bombast, doubletalk, avarice and ostentation united the president-elect and boxing promoter above and beyond a shared desire to rule the…
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The smaller they are, the harder they fall
Despite evidence to the contrary, men have been saying “The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” or some variation thereof for millennia. It’s a bona fide boxing bon mot, one of…
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Don’t Mess with Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson used to punch guys in airports for sport. The one-time “Baddest Man on the Planet” has managed to tame the beast, which took some doing, turning the man-eater into the…
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The Fight Game Always Rings Twice
“The Postman Always Rings Twice” is a roman noir classic. Written by James M. Cain and published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1934, the short novel was titillating in its day, with…
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Manny Pacquiao for President
We can stop reading between the lines. The mystery is over. No more speculation. No more what might have been. The past was then. The future is now, now that Manny Pacquiao…
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Holyfield Humbled, Wants Tyson Next
Saturday night at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, 58-year-old Evander Holyfield, in his first fight in a decade, was TKO’d in the opening round by southpaw Vitor Belfort,…
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Holyfield, Belfort, and Trump
Boxing looks increasingly like a stunt sport these days. First it was white-collar boxing, where novices could enter the ring and be taken more or less seriously. Some hoped celebrity boxing, an…
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Sonny Liston Meets the Beatles
There are a few links between boxing and the Beatles. Heavyweight contender Oscar Bonavena, whose nickname was “Ringo,” was a free-swinging Latin lover who could more or less fight. He died young…
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I Believed Manny Pacquiao
Nothing’s in writing. There’s been no formal announcement. No press release has curbed the speculation. There has been talk, there’s always talk; but the most meaningful words came from the celebrated fighting…
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Jose Benavidez Sr.: Thank God for One More Day
On Saturday, March 13, former two-time WBC world super middleweight champion David Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs) faces Ronald Ellis (18-1-2, 12 KOs) in a WBC title eliminator live on Showtime. The broadcast…
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Saturday Night Fever: Plant vs. Truax
On Saturday, January 30, headlining a tripleheader televised live on FOX PBC Fight Night from Shrine Expo Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant (20-0, 12 KOs), the…
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Ground control to Tyson Fury
When space tourism was little more than a gleam in Richard Branson’s eye, Tyson Fury was wisely choosing his heroes. In his new book, “The Furious Method,” he credits Muhammad Ali for…
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What if Mike Tyson staged a comeback?
“First your legs go. Then you lose your reflexes. Then you lose your friends.”—Former featherweight champion Willie Pep Based on Saturday’s exhibition between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr., it’s impossible to…
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Tyson/Jones Jr. draw after 8 rounds
Saturday night at the empty Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, former champions Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. waltzed to a questionable draw after eight two-minute rounds. It wasn’t a real…
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Caveat Emptor: Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr.
Not since Muhammad Ali fought Superman in order to thwart an alien invasion of earth has a fight generated as much interest among casual fans. When The Greatest met the Man of…
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Fire and Brimstone and Deontay Wilder
Former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder isn’t the first person to believe his own lies, nor will he be the last. Having apparently not yet fully recovered from the beating he suffered nine…
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Crawford TKOs Kell Brook
Saturday night at the MGM Grand Bubble in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), the newly minted pound-for-pound southpaw from Omaha, Nebraska, successfully defended his title against…
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Crawford vs. Brook Preview
On Saturday, November 14, in a fight televised live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes from the MGM Grand Bubble in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), the…
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Lomachenko Injured Prior to Lopez Fight
“It’s like we’re racehorses. They race us until we drop and then they shoot us.”—Former heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon Two days after Vasiliy Lomachenko lost his lightweight titles to Teofimo Lopez in…
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Judges Bungle Lopez-Loma Scorecards
Much was made of the fact that Saturday’s fight in Las Vegas would be on “free” TV, ESPN to be precise, with a potentially huge audience capable of tuning in. The bout…