The Spiral Staircase

Queens Fight Night

Good times.

Zab Judah vs Danny Garcia

Photo by Tom Casino for Showtime

Zab may have lost his fight last Saturday, but he won my heart.

Why I Hate Tyson Fury

Please take a trip to Stiff Jab to read my take on the outsized British heavyweight's American debut.

Poetry in Motion

This is my favorite subway poem in a long time. 

 

VOYAGER 

I have become an orchid

washed in on the salt white beach.

Memory,

what can I make of it now

that might please you --

this life, already wasted

and still strewn with

miracles.

 

-Mary Ruefle

USA Boxing Nationals

Tiara Brown (blue) vs Queen Underwood in the lightweight final. Photo by Sue Jaye Johnson

It was an honor to witness the best fighters in the nation square off at the 2012 USA Boxing National Championships in Spokane. Many thanks to our Kalipel hosts at the Northern Quest Resort and Casino, all the referree/judges and trainers who give their time so generously to this sport, and my boon companions Raquel Ruiz and Sue Jaye Johnson, who provided the fabulous images I used all week in my daily posts on Stiff Jab.

In case you missed it:

Day 1 - The field

Day 2 - The question of headgear

Day 3 - Clone Wars

Day 4 - Tiara Brown, Mikaela Mayer, and some remarks on ring fashion

Day 5- DC, Chicago, and the white boys

Day 6- Afterparty

Penultimate Violence

Photo: Sue Jaye Johnson 

The second to last day. I wish my whole life was a boxing tournament.

Yet More on the Boxing Theme

Genaro Gamez photo by Sue Jaye Johnson

Day four of action in sunny Spokane.

Women's Amateur Superfight

Photo: Sue Jaye Johnson. Mikaela Mayer (L) vs Tiara Brown (R).

Read my preview here.

A Fighting Family

Photo of Gary Antaunne Russell by Bill Mackey

Today on Stiff Jab I take a look at a DC family that's all about boxing.

Bareheaded Boxing

Photo: Raquel Ruiz

My coverage of the second day of the USA Boxing Nationals focuses on the issue of headgear.