Michael Swann

“Assault in the Ring” Exposes 1983 Resto-Collins Scandal

By Michael Swann - On June 16th 1983, a date that will long live in boxing infamy, junior middleweight prospect Billy Collins Jr., 14-0 (11), fought journeyman Luis Resto, 19-7-3 (8), at sold out Madison Square Garden on the Roberto Duran - Davey Moo...

Greg Page, A Boxing Tragedy

By Michael Swann - The AP reported it last Monday, shockingly straight to the point: “Greg Page, a former heavyweight boxing champion who suffered a severe brain injury in a 2001 fight, has died at his Louisville home. He was 50.” The AP story wen...

HBO's One Sided Thrilla

By Michael Swann - I watched the HBO documentary “Thrilla in Manila” with great anticipation and interest. That heavyweight championship bout between arch rivals Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali was held on October 1, 1975, the culmination of their great...

More on Antonio Margarito and Armando is Back

By Michael Swann - The Antonio Margarito saga continues. He was given a one year suspension in late January by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) along with his trainer, Javier Capetillo, based primarily on visual evidence of the hand wr...

James Kirkland - Dedicated Damage Creates a Star

By Michael Swann - James Kirkland, 25-0 (22 KOs), a southpaw junior middleweight, turned 25 years of age this past Thursday, firmly established now as one of the premier young fighters in the game. His fan friendly, all out offensive show of tracking...

HBO Steps Up and Ross Greenburg Speaks Out

By Michael Swann - I must confess that in the past couple of years I have been quite outspoken in my criticism of HBO boxing programming. The Network represents excellence in all forms of entertainment provided by the network but boxing has at times...

Margarito Affair is Not The Only Scandal in Town

By Michael Swann - The Dan Goossen/Robert Guerrero arbitration that was on the agenda of the February 10 meeting of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) was considered to have been long ago settled. On February 5 we called an impeccable Go...

The California Agenda: A Look inside Margarito-Wrap Gate

By Michael Swann - In recent years the state of boxing in the State of California has been the gift that keeps on giving for a boxing writer in search of a hot topic. There had been a laundry list of alleged acts of malfeasance marking the regime of...