827 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Lyle Fitzsimmons byline.
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Make no mistake, I appreciate Manny Pacquiao. The things he accomplished after reaching the championship level more than two decades ago measure up to anyone over the same time frame, and he’ll be a deserving International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee from the very instant he becomes eligible.
I admire the heck out of Oleksandr Usyk. I was impressed by the way he ran through the World Boxing Super Series at cruiserweight. I respected the success he had in his early days at heavyweight. And I was surprised, along with most other people, by how easily he schooled Anthony Joshua across 24 title-fight rounds.
By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Loathe as I am to concede it, I’ll still be first to raise my hand and admit that a smidge more than five years ago – when a 30-year-old version of Roman Gonzalez was pummeled by a then-unappreciated Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in the small-town fight capital of Carson, Calif. – I thought he was done.
It should have been different this week. Americans should have been welcoming visiting family members while prepping holiday meals and waxing poetic over the latest classic between two high-end, prime welterweights.
Maybe it’s Mike Tyson’s fault. Or perhaps we can blame Jake Paul. Though truly meaningful fights can’t seem to get made on anything resembling a regular basis, there’s been no shortage of the exhibitions and other nonsense that went mainstream when “Iron Mike” and the “Problem Child” got involved in late 2020.
By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Mark Taffet has a wall full of college degrees. Not to mention a resume that’s surely the envy of reunion classmates from his days at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. But to hear him tell it, the former head of HBO PPV began scaling a professional mountain that yielded roles in some of boxing’s biggest fights as just a kindergartener tagging along with his old man.
By Lyle Fitzsimmons - It’s a seminal moment in a classroom. A student has the right answers to questions, but, when asked to explain the mechanics of how he arrived at those answers, he freezes and can’t produce more than a scribble.
Sometimes, it’s just one of those years. After a recent stretch in which several high-profile fighters hung up the gloves with a subsequent summertime trip to Canastota, N.Y. all but guaranteed, the Class of 2023 is less certain.
So, that was a fun weekend, no? Amid the rare simultaneous glee provided to a football fan who supports both the University of Tennessee (Go Big Orange!) and the New York Jets (J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS!), the wide-ranging palette of boxing available via TV and live stream was worth celebrating as well.
OK, let’s figure this out. Gilberto Ramirez is 31 years old. He’s unbeaten in 44 fights. He’s certainly talented and it wouldn’t be a stretch to label him charismatic. So why isn’t he a mainstream star in today’s boxing galaxy? Good question.