Robert Ecksel
752 articles · The Sweet Science
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Canelo Alvarez: A Matter of Scale
When was the last time Canelo Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs) entered the ring as a genuine junior middleweight? Was it when he was a teenager fighting in Mexican bullrings? Without documentary evidence…
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Requiem for an Illusion
?Do you know why I talk so funny? Because I?ve been hit a million times.??Louis ?Mountain? Rivera in Requiem for a Heavyweight There are three versions of Rod Serling?s iconic Requiem for…
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Pop Goes The Weasel: The Education of Marvin Elkind
Every few years the ghost of James Hoffa rears its ugly head. The whereabouts of Hoffa, who ran the Teamsters from 1957 to 1971 and who disappeared under mysterious circumstances thirty-eight years…
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Bronze Medal / Silver Platter
Friday night on ShoBox, broadcast live from Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, unbeaten heavyweight hopeful Deontay ?The Bronze Bomber? Wilder (28-0, 28 KOs) returns to action against 37-year-old Siarhei ?White Wolf?…
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Adrien Broner vs. Los Gauchos
Newly crowned WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KOs) may be a force of nature. We don?t yet know if he?s a force to be reckoned with. Broner is still young,…
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From China with Love
Does anyone feel as I do, that Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios are very far away? It?s one thing to cover a press conference in the United States, even digitally, no matter…
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Judgment Night: Berto vs. Soto Karass Preview
I spoke with Bob Arum. We didn?t discuss the price of tea in China. We did, however, discuss boxing. I said, more rashly than necessary, that I thought ?boxing needs fighters like…
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Ten-Count for Emile Griffith
How we die matters less than how we live. Accomplishment is all well and good. It?s how the world, not known for its discernment, determines our relative worth. But if we self-mythologize,…
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Boy Oh Boy Del Boy
Saturday night at Wembley Arena in Wembley, England, Dereck ?Del Boy? Chisora (18-4, 11 KOs) won the vacant WBO International heavyweight title by stopping formerly unbeaten Malik Scott (35-1-1, 12 KOs) at…
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Bring Me the Head of Danny Garcia
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer announced this afternoon that WBC/WBA junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia (26-0, 20 KOs) will defend his titles against the hardest hitting man in boxing, Argentinean Lucas Matthysse…
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Adrien Broner Rescues Kitten
One of WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner?s infamous home movies is making the rounds. Good taste prevents us from posting it here. But good taste doesn?t prevent from describing the scatological auteur?s…
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Say Haye Tyson Fury
Whenever David Haye fights it?s an occasion. The same can be said for Tyson Fury. The reason why their fights are occasions has less to do with the fights themselves than with…
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Sundae Bloody Sundae
Gennady Golovkin, the knockout artist from Kazakhstan, has recently been rechristened Good Boy. Rechristenings come and go with the frequency of small-time promoters struggling to survive. But why Golovkin is called Good…
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Good God Golovkin: Triple G Ices Macklin
Saturday night at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut, WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (27-0, 24 KOs) successfully defended his titles by icing Matthew Macklin (29-5, 20 KOs)…
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Mayweather vs. Pacquiao?Again?!?
This is Floyd Mayweather?s time. The multi-city press tour in advance of his Sept. 14 with Canelo Alvarez has eyeballs focused on Money May. And those who are not talking about Mayweather…
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Teddy Atlas on Broner vs. Malignaggi
?Malignaggi is not a puncher. Either you?re a puncher or you?re not a puncher. Punchers are born, they?re not made?? ?If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to…
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Earth to Planet Donaire
Some things are better left unsaid. In the heat of the moment, still flush from the heat of battle, mouths sometimes say things that the head later regrets. But away from bright…
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Mayweather Hoochie-Coochie
There were hopes. There were prayers. There was wishful thinking. He was used to running wild. But many speculated that when he was jailed for domestic battery, he would sober up, he…
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Freddie or Not, Here I Come
No one questions Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach?s bona fides. He?s a distinguished member of an endangered species, one of the few old-school trainers active today. He knows his business, just…
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Once Was Not Enough
Everyone complains about Golden Boy and Top Rank?s refusal to turn their swords into plowshares to give us the fights we want, and for good reason. The pie in the sky bout…