michael katz
ALL ARTICLES
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Sometimes, Action (Quantity) Speaks Louder Than Quality
BY MICHAEL KATZ - Let us now praise mediocrity – it can be a lot more exciting than nothing. With no fear of losing my reputation as a cynical curmudgeon, I can extol both Roy Jones Jr. and the heavyweight division, now mutually exclusive. In the gre...
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Of Fragile Fetlocks, Brittle Egos and Superman’s Glass Jaw
BY MICHAEL KATZ - “Down the stretch they come….” Dave Johnson’s signature horse racing call does not usually apply to boxing, where the final stages are more painful than thrilling. Archie Moore, Jersey Joe Walcott, George Foreman and Bernard Hopkins...
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Twas a Very Good Year, Especially if Your Name Is Money
BY MICHAEL KATZ - Boxing, as a whole, returned to the PENTHOUSE in 2007. The view may be just as good, or better, in 2008. I still say, “Bah, humbug.” As I sip the bitter brew from my curmudgeon’s cup, the one with the pictures of Grumpy, euphoria...
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In Boxing, Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud or Two
BY MICHAEL KATZ - The great matchups roll along this weekend with the Big Sleeper of the Year, not as in yawn but as in overlooked, between undefeated Joan Guzman and rough-and-ready Humberto Soto, so it is understandable that the rotting underbelly...
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Not Fight of the Year, or Fighter of the Year, Simply the PERFORMANCE of the Year
BY MICHAEL KATZ - Sometimes, humble pie is delicious, especially when it is a pleasant – if modest - surprise when you’re wrong, as I was when I had Dewey big in 1948 and wound up with Harry Truman for four more years. I was wrong about Calzaghe-Kess...
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It Could Be a Super Fight, But These Are Not Super Middleweights
BY MICHAEL KATZ - Forget the biggest fight in European history (ever hear of World War II?), the transatlantic version of Leonard-Hearns and all that offensive hype. Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler, fine young men and talented boxers, could not carry...
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Maybe Bob Arum Is the Promoter Who Doesn't Wear Men's Clothes
BY MICHAEL KATZ - Okay, Kelly Pavlik is good for boxing, MAYBE, if Bob Arum lets him; rematches like Manny Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera II are not, especially when falsely entitled "Will to Win," and Samuel Peter is barely the savior of Samuel Pete...
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Let's Not Jinx It, But There May Be a Major Fight This Weekend
BY MICHAEL KATZ - They're threatening to put Mike Tyson in prison and thought about giving Foul Pole Golota a title shot. Meanwhile, the fall schedule for which we had as much anticipation as the "plop plop" from a bottle of ketchup, if you recall th...
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Holt's Success Story: 'I Love the Person I Am'
BY MICHAEL KATZ - He knew the baby would be a boy, long before he even met the woman who would be its mother. With just as much certainty, Kendall Holt knows he will be returning to Paterson, N.J., with a world title and so what if the champion has t...
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Pound for Pound, or easy way to start a blog fight
BY MICHAEL KATZ - Our world has been shaken. This is a good thing; we don't need a flat world. Turmoil is stimulating. Forgive me if I nonetheless attempt to restore order. There is a welcome lull to all the recent action, giving us time to catch...
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The National Pastime Is Not E Pluribus Sic 'em, but Boxing Can't Wave Its Flag Proudly
BY MICHAEL KATZ - Five years ago, when we went to adopt Kimball, the mutt, not the pure-bred sportswriter, we were given material on the care and feeding of dogs. There was a quote from Mahatma Gandhi on the cover: “The greatness of a nation can b...