Robert Ecksel
752 articles · The Sweet Science
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In the Red Corner: Canelo Pulverizes Khan
?Like we say in Mexico, ?We don?t (expletive) around. I don?t fear anyone. We don?t come to play in this sport?? Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in…
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Canelo vs. Khan Preview
Oscar seems to think that if the strongman sees a Mexican and Muslim fight, he?ll soften his attitude toward those he maligns? Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada,…
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Top Dog Crushes La Bomba
The fighters threw bombs at the opening bell. Sometimes ?Top Dog? had the upper hand. Other times ?La Bomba? landed with precision? Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, Thomas…
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Sweet Revenge: Berto KOs Ortiz
Although Berto is 32 and Ortiz is only 29, it?s fair to say that both fighters are on the tail end of their careers? Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson,…
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Waiting for Canelo
I don?t share Canelo?s lack of enthusiasm. But Wade, for all his virtues, is facing the Lord High Executioner of Boxing? He has red hair. He has freckles. He holds the WBC…
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Preview: Charles Martin vs. Anthony Joshua
?I?m an underdog. Kind of like when Tyson fought Douglas. I?m hungry. I?m determined. I?m confident in making people crumble after a few rounds?? On Saturday, April 9, at the O2 Arena…
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Maybe the fight, which is for a minor vacant title, will surprise us all and we won?t be talking about the trainers when it is over? On Saturday, April 9, at the…
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Haye vs. Gjergjaj: Let?s go, champ!
Shannon Briggs made a statement, which bordered on the feverish, but did nothing to further his quixotic pursuit of boxing?s Holy Grail? David Haye?s quest to regain the heavyweight title continues. But…
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Nick Blackwell Unwell
Nick Blackwell is a gladiator, a tightrope walker, the kamikaze?s kamikaze. He?s the grandmaster flash of no quit? On Saturday, March 26, at Wembley Arena in Wembley, London, United Kingdom, another boxing…
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JoJo Diaz Outclasses Jayson Velez
HBO is grooming Diaz to eventually fight elite 126-pounders like Vasyl Lomachenko. He?s not ready yet, but his time will come? Saturday night at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, in a…
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Jonestown Massacre: Roy Knocks Out Fight Fan
The sparse crowd had come to see a freak show. But with the early knockout, the bearded ladies never made it to the stage? Boxing needs novelty like it needs a hole…
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Andre Ward Meets the Press
Ward was asked if he saw similarities between Sullivan Barrera and Sergey Kovalev, a question he struggled to take seriously? On Saturday, March 26, at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, Oakland?s favorite…
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Timothy Bradley?s Meat and Greet
?I?m eating meat now,? said Timothy Bradley to the delight of butchers nationwide. ?I?m back on that meat?? ?I don?t think I?ll have to kill her. Just slap that pretty face into…
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Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz II
If Ortiz?s expendable performance in ?The Expendables? is any indication, he should have stuck with boxing? It?s not a fight that fans have been clamoring for, but Andre Berto (30-4, 23 KOs),…
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The Cabinet of Dr. Inalsingh
Delectable on one hand, appalling on the other, boxing has been marinated in centuries of history like no sport before it or since? ?Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play.…
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Marcos Maidana: Candid Camera
Maidana looks less like the lean, mean, fighting machine of old than Robert De Niro in the final scene from ?Raging Bull? ? You can?t miss him, especially at a picnic or…
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Jesse Vargas Beats Sadam Ali
?I tore him apart piece by piece. I was patient. I looked for openings and when I had the openings I fired the shots?? Saturday night at the at the DC Armory…
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King Kong Squashes Tony the Tiger
Those who don?t know better will sing Ortiz?s praises, between humming verses devoted to Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder? Saturday night at the DC Armory in Washington, DC, in a stay-busy fight…
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Sadam Ali Finally Gets His Shot
?I?m not one of those fighters who likes to study an opponent so much, because you don?t know what to expect when you?re in that ring?? On Saturday, March 5, at the…
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Broken Bollocks Jaw
There was more two-sided action and technique in Saturday?s bout than the insipid fight which made Fury famous? There?s the indignity of losing a decision he thought he won, however mistakenly. And…