Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Monday and Saturday

Monday the sun didn’t shine – anywhere. Earth stopped rotating on its axis and revolving around the Sun. Rivers ceased to run, while smoke and dust and grime filled the air. Nocturnal vermin prepared to swoop up our last remaining scraps of foods, while howling mobs set each other afire in the streets.

It was all over, wasn’t it? There were no more heavyweights. Boxing was dead and gone. Klitschko and Ibragimov, with their murderously awful non-fight Saturday night, had killed them all, and civilization along with it. It was the end of history.

Then, in a barely visible ray of dim light which had not yet escaped to other galaxies, I saw some words on a television listing. There in barely legible type, in the listings for Showtime for this coming Saturday, March 1, read the words: “Boxing: Rafael Marquez vs. Israel Vazquez.”

Could this be true? Was there actually going to be a third fight between these two warriors who had put on the best fights of 2007? Was this planned show not wrecked by the worldwide destruction of everything else by the Klitschko-Ibragimov disaster?

Suddenly the sun began to shine anew. The air started to clear, the birds started to chirp, the kids started to laugh, and the engines started to hum. People smiled at and greeted each other cordially, while lovers held hands and smooched.

Life, alas, had returned to normal – the good with the bad, the beautiful with the ugly, the roses with the rot. It wasn’t all over after all, although it had seemed that way early Monday.

I guess you have to wait a bit to avoid jumping to conclusions about the end of the world.

Hopefully, after next Saturday, we won’t feel like we did this Monday.

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

NO HOLDS BARRED: Introducing The Boxing Standard


  • NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic


  • On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman is joined by our correspondent Charles Farrell to introduce the new online journal of boxing, The Boxing Standard. Eddie and Charles are also the editors of The Boxing Standard.

    In a lengthy discussion, we explain why we aim to stir up the highly mediocre world of boxing journalism. Among the many topics raised is how the boxing media is missing the real story of the most important heavyweight fight in years, the title unification bout between IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko and WBO champ Sultan Ibragimov this Saturday, Feb. 23, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

    To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click here and just press the play button on the player.

    You can also download it by scrolling down that page and clicking on the download link (right-click to save it).

    You can also listen to it through the player on this blog and the NO HOLDS BARRED MySpace page, also by pressing the play button on the player.

    Also, NO HOLDS BARRED is available through iTunes.

    The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

    The NO HOLDS BARRED theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.

    NO HOLDS BARRED is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

    Art of War, the undisputed arena fighting championship, promoted by SUN Sports and Entertainment, producing world class mixed martial arts events. For more information, check out their web site, ArtOfWarLive.com.

    IFL, the International Fight League, the world's first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.

    Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.

    BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

    Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

    FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

    Thanks, Eddie Goldman

    No Holds Barred blog http://nhbnews.blogspot.com/

    No Holds Barred podcast http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/

    No Holds Barred on MySpace
    http://www.myspace.com/nhbnews

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