By Fox Doucette Unless you've been living under a rock for the past week, you're no doubt aware that Muhammad Ali celebrated his 70th birthday this past Tuesday. Your columnist is a little too young (34) to have remembered any of Ali's actual fights, but my parents' generation spoke in reverential tones about the heavyweight division “before you were born” when I was a kid … [Read more...]
Nothing’s Gonna Ever Keep You Down: The Southpaw
By Fox Doucette Nothing defines a fighter like how he responds to his first loss. Some guys, they step into the ring with a big gaudy record, get promptly deposited on their ass, and next thing you know they're fighting some construction worker at a fairground in some podunk nowhere and telling anyone who will listen how they used to fight on TV back in the day before losing … [Read more...]
Rest well Smokin’ Joe
My first memory of boxing as a small child was watching replays of old heavyweight battles. The standard list of great fights and fighters from Dempsey to Louis to Ali were all familiar, but for whatever reason, there was only one that brought out a certain emotional connection that I never could quite describe; one man that more than anything else is the reason I love … [Read more...]
Joe Frazier Battles Final Stages of Liver Cancer
Former heavyweight champion and one of boxing's most colorful characters, "Smokin'" Joe Frazier is in the biggest fight of his life as he struggles through the final stages of liver cancer. "He’s in serious shape, we’re looking for a miracle," a source close to the former heavyweight champ told the New York Post. "They’re only giving him a short time to live. We need to … [Read more...]
Heavyweight Happenings: News and Notes from Around the Divsion
Despite reports that David Haye was angling for a fight against Vitali Klitschko, it appears that Haye has instead decided to retire on his 31st birthday just as he promised himself. While many fight fans might be glad to see the brash-mouthed Haye’s boxing career go gentle into that good night, he was at minimum a fighter who brought attention to a sport and a division that … [Read more...]