Abner Mares On The Culture Shock Of Success: Quote Spotlight

A fighter with one of the toughest opponent rosters in boxing, Abner Mares, did a TV spot for Showtime leading up to his 2013 match with Jhonny Gonzalez. He said of reaching success:

"My parents never owned a home and it was just, you know, apartment to apartment. And, like a two-bedroom, for eleven brothers and sisters. And, you know, that's a lot. People know me now. You tend to forget, like,. . . where you come from. You know? It's just like, oh, this is the life. I've been missing out. You know, I'm throwing money away. And then you just have that moment where, like, oh, 'Hold on, Abner. This is not you. You know? You started from nothing, eating out of trashcans, having nothing. This is not you. Go back to you.' And that's why I have my beautiful family."


How many fighters do we see come from little or nothing, use fighting to get somewhere stable in life, then hit it big and live so extravagantly they go broke for no good reason? It looks like Abner Mares is planning on avoiding that bizarre pattern we probably all have seen. Good luck to him on keeping his life in perspective and on coming back to the championship level. He's been a major world titlist in three different weight classes after only 31 fights. He has just one loss.




The full spot from their official Youtube channel:

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Weird Weigh-In Moments, With Kevin Johnson, Again: GIF Spotlight

Kevin Johnson is no stranger to the awkward weigh-in, as he had one with Vitali Klitschko (click here), and he's done it again. This was from Michelle Joy Phelps' video of the weigh-in with Anthony Joshua, for Behind The Gloves. He gently places his hand on Anthony Joshua's chest and gives a satisfactory nod. The mysteries of Kevin Johnson, they never get less mysterious.


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Full Video:

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Carl Froch Tells You To Stop Your Yammering: Reaction GIF Spotlight

In interview with iFL TV, published on the 29th of May, major super middleweight titlist Carl Froch discusses his wanting to have it out with Joe Calzaghe. Froch says Calzaghe has been essentially two-faced with him, nice when they're face-to-face and then simply will not shut up about him afterward. Froch even alludes to Calzaghe's son sending him messages about his wife. God knows what's going on there. It's one of boxing's odder little rivalries between men who've never fought. But as tired as Carl is with it, it has still yielded a handy pugilistic reaction GIF for when someone will simply not shut it:

With true caption:

Without:
















Don't just keep going on and on and on, forumites. The Cobra doesn't like it. He'll knock you out at Wembley, in front of 80,000 people, if you don't stop. He's done that before, yeah?


Full interview here: 

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Andre Ward On Floyd Mayweather Being The Best, P4P: Quote Spotlight

On the ninth of January, 2015, during the Roc Nation Sports Card on FS1, Andre Ward was interviewed by Michael Woods. Woods asked the following straightforward question and got the following straightforward answer:

Woods: "Last question, putting you on the spot: Are you the top pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, or is that Floyd Mayweather?"

Ward: "That's Floyd Mayweather. Floyd Mayweather has done it longer than me. He's been at this level for a very, very long time, and I'm a young guy who always pays homage to the guys who go before me. But, as a competitor, and as somebody who's in this sport, I always shoot for the top spot and that's the spot I'm coming for, with all due respect to Floyd, but the top spot is what you should always want."

In boxing history, a fighter's greatness is often more easily digestible when looking at how how their contemporaries rated them during their careers than when looking at accomplishments on paper, or even reviewing available fight films or revised opinions being given upon reflection, years after the dust settles. You'll find numerous glowing appraisals of Harry Greb and Joe Gans in their days, from the men plying the trade alongside him, as well as appraisals of Julio Cesar Chavez Senior and Pernell Whitaker in their day.

Floyd Mayweather Junior, aged 37, in January, was rated by one of the standout, dominant champions in the sport as the actual pound-for-pound best, without any hesitation. We will be able to look back and see how Floyd was rated as essentially an old fighter who still stood on top in his day, according to most of the other top fighters. Not just on top as a celebrity or money-maker. But on top in a pure, most-difficult-to-beat sense. The purest sense, really. It will be easier to separate his personal history or his often villainous, arrogant persona from his boxing. It will be seen by those looking back in future generations that when it comes to boxing, most of his peers knew he was the most consistently special in the world, even while closer to forty than thirty. It's quite a rarity, and can only be appreciated when it's separate from all things non-boxing.

Respect to Andre Ward for stating his position with that kind of clarity and candor for the history books.



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Kevin Johnson On Deontay Wilder: Quote Spotlight

In an interview with Behind The Gloves, for his upcoming bout with Anthony Joshua, Kevin Johnson was asked about several of today's heavyweights and dropped an interesting piece of history with a current major heavyweight titlist in Deontay Wilder:

"Can't say nothing bad about Deontay, can't say nothing good. Because, uh...Well, I can't even say nothing bad like that, because, that guy, back when he live in Alabama, and I lived in Georgia, back when both of us couldn't get no work, that guy come right up to Georgia, on Saturday and Sunday, me and him sparred thirteen rounds a day."

That did not sound like your usual Kevin Johnson hustle talk. It sounds like a respect for Wilder's dedication that was not on display during his "rip" on Wilder's skills, which was almost certainly Kevin Johnson's usual hustle talk. It's hard to disregard that kind of dedication, traveling like that every week to get good, consistent sparring in. That sounds like championship work ethic and hunger to hone your craft. Amusingly, it seemed that Johnson talked himself out of going on some kind of rant against Wilder or whatever he could do against Wilder, for the camera, and went ahead and said this instead. It shows a little respect for a guy he'd probably rather try to talk himself into a payday against, I'd say.



Full interview here: 

Direct page address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_Gi6i4aQIQ

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B. J. Flores Pays His Respects To Gennady Golovkin: Quote Spotlight

During the Post-Fight PBC broadcast on NBC Sports (a slightly confusing programming matter), cruiserweight boxer and regular NBC Sports commentator B. J. Flores made a nice reference to Gennady Golovkin. It was during the Jonathan Guzman VS Christian Esquivel match. It is mentioned by his co-commentator during the second round that Guzman was being more of a boxer than he'd expected and he thought with all his knockouts that he'd come out swinging. B. J. responds by saying:

"He kinda takes his time, and I like that. You know, but you look at a guy like Gennady Golovkin. You look at his knockout percentage. He doesn't come out and rush the knockout. He systematically breaks his opponents down and does it through technical boxing and relentless pressure.  So, I'm not saying Guzman is in any form a Gennady Golovkin, but, you know,  it doesn't always have to be a free-swinging guy from the bar."

It's clear that while many would like to put Golovkin in the category of a brawler with wide-open defense, and no patience to do anything but lay his power on the opponent, most in the know understand that he is really a much more professional and subtle operator by nature. B. J. was spot-on in this one.



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Quotes About Power: Paulie Malignaggi On Miguel Cotto

In a Boxeo Mundial Interview, posted the 25th of October, 2009:

"I know for a fact, out of the guys I fought, Miguel's the hardest puncher I've fought. I know for a fact. Nobody came close. Not even Ricky Hatton."

It doesn't get much plainer than "Nobody came close."



Full interview:

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