Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Old Friends

Andre Berto, a long time friend of the show will be on with us Thursday night. Usually, we have a good time with him about the women (or lack thereof) fans calling the show. I'm sure we'll still get into that with him, but we'll also talk about his relief efforts in Haiti and his decision to cancel the fight with Mosley.

This won't be your typical celebrity discussing the difficult conditions in some devastated area. Andre lost family in the earthquake. When he was down there, he wasn't posing for photo ops. He was carrying body bags. It should be a fascinating conversation.

We'll also talk with IBO President Ed Levine. He's one of the good guys in the sport, trying to make it better.

I'm sure we'll also discuss Hopkins - Jones, which is a joke as far as I'm concerned. Unless Bernard suddenly got old, which is certainly a possibility considering he's 73, Roy has no business being in the ring with him. Vote in the poll on the right.

By the way, you can now follow Through the Ropes on Twitter -- http://twitter.com/TTRopes.

Talk to you Thursday.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Disappointments

This week we've got promoter Gary Shaw and Steve Cunningham. Both have experienced the disappointment of postponed fights lately.

We'll talk with Gary about the logistics of rescheduling the postponed Dirrell - Abraham fight and with Steve Cunningham about his canceled title fight with Matt Godfrey.

Tune in Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Spinks Family Reunion?

We've got Cory Spinks booked for tomorrow night. I think he's the most underrated boxer in the sport. Some fans don't like him because he typically doesn't mix it up (although he did in his last fight against Latimore).

But he hasn't helped himself much either. Fighting once a year and coming into camp out of shape, doesn't make him easier to root for. Rumors are that he was 40 pounds overweight at the start of camp, which led to his long time trainer Kevin Cunningham walking out on him.

Speaking of underrated, his Uncle Michael is one of the top 3 Light Heavies of all time but no one seems to talk about him much.

Hopefully, tomorrow night we'll talk TO him. I've got a call in to his people so I'm crossing my fingers it will happen.

Michael Spinks was one of my favorite fighters growing up, along with Hagler. He did everything well. He could box, he could bunch and he was smart in the ring. His fight with Qawi was a masterpiece in how to fight a tough slugger.

Tune in tomorrow night.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Making Sausage

Every once in a while on the show, I like to dig into what goes on behind the scenes in boxing. This week we're going to speak with John Beninati. He is the matchmaker for Gary Shaw Productions and used to work for Don King.

John is basically the guy that moves young fighters along to the point where they become major attractions, like Alfredo Angulo. We'll talk to John about what his job entails, including a hilarious story from when he first started working for Don King.

We'll also check in with Dr. Allan Fields. Dr. Fields has been a ringside physician for over 30 years, was named 2006 Ringside Physician of the Year by the American Association of Ringside Physicians and was recently inducted into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.

Importantly, Dr. Fields is the physician who examined Tavoris Cloud, who pulled out of his fight with Glen Johnson due to a hamstring injury, at the same time it was reported he signed with Don King. We'll ask Dr. Fields about Cloud's injury.

Maybe the good doc can help me with my cold. I'll be playing injured tomorrow night, but unlike Tavoris Cloud, I'm willing to go to work. Of course, my work doesn't include getting hit in the mouth by Glen Johnson.