By John J. Raspanti: Amir “Hardcore” Mansour will be fighting for more than an opponent on March 17--he’ll be battling for respect. Nothing has been given to the 44-year-old heavyweight contender. He’s earned everything through hard work and dedication.
By Derek Bonnett: The Republic of South Africa ranks as the twenty-fifth largest country in the world and is populated with more than fifty-six million people. Located at the southernmost tip of Africa, South Africa is the among the top twenty-five most populated countries as well.
By Derek Bonnett: The Republic of Nicaragua is the largest nation in Central America. Yet, it is the least densely populated with demographic comparable to that of Honduras and Costa Rica. It derives its name from the famed Chief Nicarao who once ruled over this land and the Spanish word “agua” (water).
By Derek Bonnett: The Kingdom of Thailand, once known as Siam by outsiders, is the country located at the center of the Indochinese Peninsula. It is the fifty-first largest country in the world, but rates among the twenty most populated regions in the world with approximately sixty-six million people. The capital city is Bangkok, it’s most populous.
On Tuesday, IBF Heavyweight World Champion Anthony Joshua and long reigning Former Unified World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko hit New York City for media appearances and to hold a press conference to discuss their April 29 clash at London’s Wembley Stadium in London,England where a sold-out crowd of 90,000 will cheerr them on.
By Derek Bonnett: As we encounter another new year, the landscape of the boxing scene continues to evolve. With old champions acting out the final stages of their careers and new ones emerging to fill the void, boxing maintains a state of homeostasis and keeps fight fans intrigued even amid the dubious officiating and cries of scandal. Boxing, as always, will endure; however, not every participant with an alphabet title will be so lucky. Inevitably, the mighty will eventually fall and,
By Derek Bonnett: The United Mexican States, otherwise known as simply Mexico, sits in the southern portion of North America, bordering the USA, Guatemala, and Belize. Mexico is comprised of thirty-one states and a federal district for its capital. Other major metropolises are Guadalajara, Tijuana, Monterrey, Puebla, and Toluca.
By Derek Bonnett: Located in the Pacific Ocean, Japan is a country comprised of over three thousand islands in East Asia. Four of these islands, Honshu, Hakkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, actually make up 97% of the country’s entire land mass. The Japanese symbols that represent the country’s name actually translate to “sun-origin”, which is where the moniker “The Land of the Rising Sun” is derived.
By Derek Bonnett: As another fruitful year of professional fisticuffs wraps up, SecondsOut has honored boxing’s greatest practitioners and non-participants with such accolades as Fighter of the Year, Fight of the Year, Trainer of the Year, Service to Boxing, etc.
By Mikko Salo: In last year´s Top Ten Year in Review column I wrote the following: “The heavyweight division is entering 2016 with the most positive buzz in a long, long time.” Well, the buzz did not last. Looking at the quality of the heavyweight fights in 2016 and comparing them with what we all expected, the past year has to go down in recent heavyweight history as one of the most disappointing
By Jeff Jowett: The sign over the gym reads “Laundromat”. But if you can’t fight, all you’re likely to get here is cleaned up. This is the home of the Dream Team Boxing Academy in Runnemede, NJ, still under construction. About two dozen boxers, amateur and professional, train there. The walls are covered with old fight posters bearing familiar names of the products of the sprawling Philadelphia-area amateur system.
By Derek Bonnett: Many SecondsOut readers were first exposed to Jason Sosa back at the start of 2013. On the same night Sergey Kovalev crashed the world boxing upper echelon, Sosa, a boxer with Jersey-boy good looks, won a fourth round TKO over Joseph "Chip" Perez in a battle between East Coast super featherweights.
By Derek Bonnett: Each year, SecondsOut writers consider the body of work for numerous fighters to determine the SecondsOut Fighter of the Year. For boxing fans, 2016 was a disappointment as some of the best fighters in the world failed to meet one another, such as Gennady Golovkin and Saul Alvarez, to determine divisional superiority.
By D.Mossienko: If nominating father and son from Eastern Ukraine, Anatoly and Vasily Lomachenko as the best coach and the best boxer of the year 2016 was surprise for some boxing fans and even boxing pundits around the world, - it was not the case for the millions of Ukraine’s boxing fans and especially Ukraine’s boxing specialists.
By Ron Valderrama: It’s been an interesting year in boxing, a few fighters on the backside of their career proved they still have what it takes to fight by displaying a tremendous comeback. One of those fighters would have to be Hozumi Hasegawa of Japan.
By Jason Pribila: As we look back at a mostly forgettable 2016 for the sport of boxing, we have come to “Worst Decision of the Year”. While it is common in the immediate aftermath of a prize fight, the team who comes up short on the scorecards instinctively yells robbery. After the dust settles, we often go back and watch the fight again, and while we may not agree with the decision, we concede that it was a close fight.
By Andrew Rivera: From his first card when Muhammad Ali defeated George Chuvalo in 1967, to Card No. 2,000 earlier this past November when junior lightweight world titleholder Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5KOs), dismantled Nicholas Walters. Bob Arum continues to be one of boxings top promoters world wide
By Marc Livitz: As 2016 comes to a close, many within the boxing world can wholeheartedly agree that the sport handed us several memorable contests as well as a few to truly savor. The group of writers here at SecondsOut have spoken as part of the site’s annual poll and voted in favor of last November’s eagerly anticipated showdown between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev for light heavyweight supremacy as the "Fight of the Year".
With Tyson Fury making his feelings on the state of the Heavyweight division perfectly clear last week, some of the upcoming fights will be looking to restore some excitement and dignity to the division given recent goings on...
By Derek Bonnett: SecondsOut’s readers hardly need a historical or geographical introduction to the United Kingdom, but since a few of my fellow Americans may be reading, I’ll give a little more background to correct the common misconceptions that prevail among the less informed. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , located in Western Europe, recently made a referendum to exit the Europe Union after a 51.9% majority supported the much publicized "Brexit".