By Derek Bonnett: I have heard grumblings, but no one has come right out and asked. What the hell is Andre Berto doing?

By Tri Nguyen: This Saturday, Evander Holyfield will step into the ring for the 56th time in his professional career, continuing his pursuit of a fifth world heavyweight title.

By Matthew Hurley: When the announcement came that Manny Pacquiao would face Shane Mosley on May 7th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas I shrugged, placed my hand over my mouth and yawned.

By Clive Bernath: Between them Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko have dominated the heavyweight division since Lennox Lewis retired back in 2003. And if you believe some of the comments made by readers on this site part of the reason they have dominated for so long is because they have hand picked their opponents in arguably the weakest weight division in boxing.

By Derek Gionta: If you ask any boxer what they enjoy most about boxing, many of them will give the standard response of, “Walking down the aisle to the ring.” Knowing the fierce rigors of battle soon awaits them while their preferred entrance music blasts in the background provides an adrenaline rush that only a small, select group can explain.

By Clive Bernath: The good news is that now, after years of preliminary negotiations and some very personal insults, it looks like Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye will finally face each other in the ring in 2011. According to reports both camps seem to have agreed the financial split(50-50 on everything), leaving the way clear for the heavyweight encounter of the year to take place

By Jason Pribila: It has been over a week since news broke that Manny Pacquiao would be facing Shane Mosley on May 7, 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, USA. This news did not come as a surprise, nor was it well received by the boxing public. Boxing scribes, who were busy looking back and rewarding the Best of 2010, found the time in between buying, opening, and returning gifts to take shots at Pacquiao’s choice for his next opponent.

By Derek Bonnett: Boxing fans can put another year of professional prizefighting in the record books. 2010 was a good, not great year of boxing, but it rose to the occasion and put in a strong comeback during the championship rounds of the year. Most would prognosticate a stronger year in 2011 considering a slew of meaningful fights on the horizon.

By Derek Bonnett: Boxing fans can put another year of professional prizefighting in the record books. 2010 was a good, not great year of boxing, but it rose to the occasion and put in a strong comeback during the championship rounds of the year. Most would prognosticate a stronger year in 2011 considering a slew of meaningful fights on the horizon.

By Matthew Hurley: When creating a list of the best fights of the decade there are usually two or three front-runners for the top position. This past decade one would have to point to four particular bouts that exceeded all expectations: Marco Antonio Barrera – Erik Morales 1 (2000), Arturo Gatti – Micky Ward 1 (2002), Jose Luis Castillo – Diego Corrales 1 (2005) and Israel Vazquez – Rafael Marquez 3 (2008).

By Jason Pribila: On Saturday November 20, the Boxing Writers Association of America held their Annual East Coast meeting at Bally’s Atlantic City. Boxing scribes and fans alike were in town for the biggest fight to land on the Jersey Shore in 2010. Sergio Martinez was set to defend his middleweight crown against Paul Williams in a rematch of their 2009 “Fight of the Year” candidate later that evening inside of Boardwalk Hall.

By Jerry Glick: He fought everyone and anyone who meant anything in the heavyweight division in the 50’s, 60s and 70’s. No one ever knocked him down, and only Joe Frazier and George Foreman were able to stop the man who Muhammad Ali called “The Washer Woman.” Make no mistake; George Chuvalo was no washer woman.

By Thomas Hauser: Boxing is a hunger sport. All fighters start at the bottom. A rare few make it to the top. Sergio Martinez was born into poverty. Sports were his way out of the Argentinean ghetto. He was a talented soccer player and cyclist (his first two chosen sports). But his skills in those disciplines were short of world-class.

By Thomas Hauser: Outside the ring, fully clothed, Manny Pacquiao looks almost delicate and vulnerable. The first reaction that many people have on meeting him is surprise that he’s so small. His voice is soft. There’s a gentle quality about him.

By Tri Nguyen: Manny Pacquiao’s meteoric rise through the ranks of Boxing may be a prelude to a wave of Asian boxers ready to burst onto the professional boxing scene.

By Matthew Hurley: Something happened in a boxing ring in Texas this past Saturday night that was both oddly just and unreasonably cruel. There was one man who has transcended his violent trade and transformed himself into a global phenomenon. A humble athlete at his peak who, with a smile and a wink, embraces his heroic status as a man of the people.

By Jason Pribila: While it is still hard to believe that 2010 will come and go without seeing the one fight that would have captured the attention of the mainstream sports fan, we cannot hold that against a fighter who chooses to put the good of the sport ahead of self preservation. Whenever Manny Pacquiao laces up his gloves it is an event. No one who has ever purchased a Pacquiao fight has woken up with buyer’s remorse.

By Paul Upham: On Saturday night Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito will step into a boxing ring in Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas in front of a live audience of over 60,000 people and televised to millions of people on HBO Pay-Per-View in the US and to many more around the world. It will be boxing’s biggest and most prestigious fight of the year.

By Thomas Hauser: “One of the things I hear all the time now,” says Ross Greenburg, “is that everyone’s problems seem to be HBO’s fault. That’s getting tiring for us. Most of what happens in boxing is beyond our control.” One of boxing’s problems in 2010 is that the top promoters are fighting each other more often than the top fighters are fighting each other. The issues that HBO faces today are playing out against an increasingly ugly war between Golden Boy and Top Rank.

By Thomas Hauser: Despite its difficulties, HBO remains the dominant force in boxing today because of the size of its checkbook. But no financial transaction takes place in a vacuum. For every pile of money somewhere, there’s a larger pile somewhere else. When two financial powers interact and one helps the other, it can skew the balance of power in an industry. Nothing that HBO has done over the past few years has shaped boxing as much as its strategic alliance with Golden Boy Promotions.

By Thomas Hauser: There was a time when the sweet science was governed by the axiom, “As the heavyweight division goes, so goes boxing.” Now, in the United States, the rule of thumb is, “As HBO goes, so goes boxing.”

By Jason Pribila: "Ring out the bells again. Like we did when spring began. Wake me up when September ends." – Green Day. Rock Band Green Day struck gold with their single, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”. In the article that follows, I hope to show you why boxing fans could have hit “snooze” on Green Day’s ambition, and instead woke up refreshed on November 1.

By Tom Gray: The argument will carry on forever. Could a modern day champion win a fantasy fight against a long retired all time great who is still idolized by fans? Could Lennox Lewis have lived with Ali? What happens in a battle between Sugar Rays? How about Frazier vs. Tyson?

By Matthew Hurley: Every year when I receive my International Boxing Hall Of Fame ballot there is one name I always hesitate at when I see it. In past years I’ve bit my lip and then moved on, not putting pen to paper. In my mind potential inductees into IBHOF should be held to the same high standard that voters for the baseball hall of fame hold those who play on the diamond.

By Steve Kim: Every once in awhile I get sent various materials to my office, such as books for review. About a month ago I recieved one that was particularly interesting:’BOX, the Face of Boxing’ which is a collection of more than 300 portraits featuring various figures from the fight game.

By Thomas Hauser: Manny Pacquiao isn’t given to trash-talking. He rarely says a bad word about anyone and is particularly careful when talking about other boxers. Thus, it was significant when Pacquiao said recently, “[Floyd] Mayweather thinks he’s better than anybody else. In the ring, it’s good for a fighter to think that way, to have confidence. But Mayweather thinks that way about other people outside of boxing. I don’t like that.”

By Matthew Hurley There is nothing quite like an upset, in any sport. But when it comes to boxing the upset reminds us all that anything can happen, at any given moment, during those three-minute rounds. As HBO commentator Larry Merchant once said, “Boxing is the theatre of the unexpected.”

By Tom Gray: On October 2nd 1980 the most infamous sacrifice in the sport of boxing took place. Larry Holmes vs. Muhammad Ali was a gothic horror story involving greed, money, politics, incompetence, betrayal and brutality. What was promoted as a legitimate super fight became a nightmare and may have contributed heavily to the shocking physical decline of heavyweight boxing’s greatest practitioner, Muhammad Ali.

By Jason Pribila: On Saturday Night, “Sugar” Shane Mosley looked to rebound from his one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. when he returned to the ring in the building where his career peaked twice, The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Sergio Mora entered the ring as a live underdog possessing a style that has always given Mosley fits.

By Thomas Hauser: History’s most celebrated heavyweight champions reflected the eras in which they reigned. Jack Dempsey personified the Roaring ’20s. Joe Louis was perfectly juxtaposed with the trials of The Great Depression and World War II. Muhammad Ali was inextricably intertwined with the turmoil of the 1960s.

By Jerry Izenberg: Thomas Hauser has done it. Better than anything he has written before, no matter how well he wrote it. More incisive than anyone since Bill Heinz first planted the flag of sensitivity and insight for all boxing literati in a marvelous novel called The Professional a half-century ago.

By Clive Bernath: Lets be honest, David Haye has heaped an enormous amount of pressure on his broad shoulders ahead of his November 13 clash with bitter rival Audley Harrison.

By Jason Pribila: According to Wikipedia a season is a division of year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight. On Monday Americans celebrate Labor Day. For many this represents a day off from work and an excuse to barbeque, while bidding a farewell to the summer season. Those who choose to remain indoors will most likely be glued to their television sets welcoming back the return of the high school and college football seasons.

By Thomas Hauser: Six decades ago, Rocky Marciano was on the verge of a celebrated reign at a time when the heavyweight championship of the world was the most exalted title in sports.

By Matthew Hurley: Watching a great athlete slowly fall apart at the seams is heartbreaking for any fan. Sometimes the weary old warrior can resurrect the glories of his past, if only for a brief moment, leading him and his fans to delude themselves into thinking he is all the way back.

By Thomas Hauser: Oscar De La Hoya is planning to fight again. After a period of reflection following his 2008 knockout loss at the hands of Manny Pacquiao, boxing’s Golden Boy will enter the ring on November 20th, one week after the proposed bout between Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito.

By Thomas Hauser: A fighter’s fists are his weapons. Tampering with a fighter’s gloved fists is one of the worst offenses imaginable in boxing. It subverts the notion of a fair fight and puts the opposing fighter at exponentially greater risk of serious injury or death.

By Matthew Hurley: Devon Alexander has been tapped as a future big star by many fans and boxing scribes, myself included, so it was a bit disconcerting at first to see him struggle against the rugged former titleholder Andreas Kotelnik.

SecondsOut’s Mike Coppinger analyses last weekend’s massive fight card in St Louis in which three major world title fights were staged by legendry promoter Don King. Devon Alexander defended his WBC and IBF junior-welterweight crowns against Andriy Kotelnik, Tavoris Cloud made the first defence of his IBF light-heavyweight title against Glen Johnson and Cory Spinks put his IBF junior-middleweight belt on the line against Cornelius Bundrage. Click through to find whose stock went up and whose

By Thomas Hauser: Three years ago, I brought my mother to a press conference at Madison Square Garden to meet Don King. Then I posted an article on SecondsOut entitled (appropriately enough) “My 81-Year-Old Mother Meets Don King.”

By Clive Bernath: He certainly took his time but HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg finally issued a statement on Monday insisting that negotiations between himself and promoter Bob Arum had taken place for Manny Pacquiao to face Floyd Mayweather Jr on November 13.

By Thomas Hauser: The World Boxing Council announced this week that it is withdrawing recognition of 160-pound champion Sergio Martinez and 147-pound champion Andre Berto because of the conduct of their promoter, Lou DiBella.

By Clive Bernath: Floyd Mayweather Jr has announced that he is in no rush to face Manny Pacquiao to decide who is the world’s No.1 boxer.

By Thomas Hauser: John Duddy sat in the “green room” at The Alamodome in San Antonio on the evening of June 26th. Before the night was done, eight thousand fans would watch him do battle. Hundreds of thousands more would see him on television. Few people have an audience of that magnitude at any time in their life.

By Clive Bernath: Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao may not have swapped punches in the boxing ring just yet but the undefeated American has struck the first knockout blow (financially at least) by leaving Pacquiao standing when it comes to earning a pile of the green stuff.

By Randy Roberts: I don’t want to take anything away from John Isner or Nicolas Mahut—although I hope one of them gets a service return for Christmas. To struggle for 11 hours and 5 minutes over three days and play that final 70-68 Groundhog’s Day set required at least a remarkable attention span.

By Thomas Hauser: There were whispers when Todd DuBoef started work at Top Rank in 1993. “Todd is a spoiled rich kid . . . Todd is Bob Arum’s valet . . . The only reason Todd has a job at Top Rank is that Arum married Todd’s mother.” That was then.

By Thomas Hauser: QUESTION FOR BOXING REFEREES: A fighter collapses when his knee gives way during the seventh round of a twelve-round fight. When he rises to his feet, he’s in obvious pain and can’t move properly or put weight on the leg. The fighter collapses several more times. His chief second advises the referee that he wants the fight to be stopped. The fighter wants to continue. The referee should?

By Matthew Hurley: There is something truly inspiring when an athlete discovers the depths of his will and desire in the face of near insurmountable odds. For a boxer that moment of truth usually comes with a great deal of pain. It’s what separates a pretender from the real thing.

HBO paid a US$750,000 license fee for Victor Ortiz vs. Nate Campbell. We already know, “Who, what, how, when, and where?” Thomas Hauser asks “Why?”