Rafael García, Author at The Fight CityThe Fight City

Rafael García

Browsing All Posts By Rafael García

Boxiana 1
Ramos vs Ramos

What became known as “The Night of the Ramos” happened fifty years ago today at the legendary Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles and for those who witnessed this ...
On August 6, 2020 / By Rafael García
Features 3
Plaster of Torrance (Part Two)

Plaster of Torrance: Unwrapping the Meaning of Antonio Margarito, Part Two. Excerpted from The Bittersweet Science. There are times when boxing matches resemble more a bullfight than they ...
On July 30, 2020 / By Rafael García
Features 2
Plaster Of Torrance (Part One)

Last week we marked the anniversary of the legendary first battle between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito. To pay further tribute to this remarkable fight, we would like ...
On July 29, 2020 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 0
Reading The Fights

At first glance, Reading the Fights is a compendium of insightful essays which alternate between examining the responses boxing evokes and bringing to life stories of its past, thus providing ...
On June 14, 2020 / By Rafael García
Boxiana 2
May 11, 1900: Jeffries vs Corbett

The first Jeffries vs Corbett clash took place in Coney Island over a century ago but the storylines highlighted by that historic battle are ones we have seen ...
On May 11, 2020 / By Rafael García
Features 12
Remembering #MayPac

Five years ago today one of the most eagerly anticipated matches in the long history of professional prizefighting, Mayweather vs Pacquiao, went down in Vegas and our own ...
On May 2, 2020 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 2
Off The Ropes: The Ron Lyle Story

I loved it. I loved it. I loved luring a guy into throwing a punch, then landing my own right hand and hurting him and dropping him. I ...
On April 28, 2020 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 3
The Sweet Science

One of the obvious realizations upon re-reading A.J. Liebling’s The Sweet Science is that while much has changed in the sport over the last sixty years, some things ...
On April 12, 2020 / By Rafael García
Boxiana 10
April 7, 2001: Hamed vs Barrera

“I’m here training the greatest featherweight of all time.” None other than Emanuel Steward spoke those words, three weeks before Prince Naseem Hamed faced Marco Antonio Barrera in ...
On April 7, 2020 / By Rafael García
Features 5
When Thunder And Lightning Struck

One of my earliest boxing-related memories happened when I was seven. On a warm Saturday night my parents took me to my favorite restaurant, the one that served ...
On March 18, 2020 / By Rafael García
Boxiana 13
March 17, 1990: Chavez vs Taylor I

Few “super fights” fully live up to the expectations aroused when they are initially announced, and even rarer are the ones that surpass them. But only a handful completely ...
On March 17, 2020 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 0
Shadow Box

Even if it had nothing else going for it—something very far from the truth— Shadow Box by George Plimpton will forever remain a bastion of boxing literature because of the ...
On March 9, 2020 / By Rafael García
Boxiana 7
Feb. 24, 1989: Duran vs Barkley

Iran “The Blade” Barkley vs Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran represents a very special page in the history book of boxing. This intense and historic battle is nothing ...
On February 24, 2020 / By Rafael García
Boxiana 0
Jan. 29, 2005: Gatti vs Leija

As 2005 started, Arturo Gatti‘s star was once again on the rise. He had previously earned the title of “Blood and Guts Warrior” after enduring thirty rounds of ...
On January 29, 2020 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 0
Cut Time

In Cut Time: An Education at the Fights, Carlo Rotella expounds deeply on a thesis boxing fans have heard before; namely, that the fight game serves as a ...
On January 11, 2020 / By Rafael García
Boxiana 3
Dec. 26, 1908: Burns vs Johnson

The late, great comedian Bill Hicks once quipped that the first Gulf War was not actually a “war.” Instead it was little more than a military exercise for the ...
On December 26, 2019 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 2
The Boxing Kings

It’s one of life’s most interesting ironies that prizefighting–a brutal, often exploitative, enterprise baptized as “the red light district of sports” by the late Jimmy Cannon–is the most ...
On November 14, 2019 / By Rafael García
Features 0
Kovalev vs Canelo: Searching For Answers

On Saturday night reigning middleweight king Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will challenge light heavyweight titlist Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev in a bid to become world champion in a third weight ...
On October 31, 2019 / By Rafael García
Boxiana 0
Oct. 16, 1970: Olivares vs Castillo

The rivalry between Ruben Olivares and Jesus Castillo—one of the most revered in Mexican boxing lore—took place in an era when the bantamweight division was dominated by Mexicans, with “El Púas” ...
On October 16, 2019 / By Rafael García
Boxiana 2
Oct. 11, 1992: Lopez vs Lin

Ricardo Lopez’s nickname in Spanish was ‘El Finito,’ which translates as ‘The Fine One.’ Sometimes a boxer’s nickname does not aptly reflect the nature of its bearer, but ...
On October 11, 2019 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 0
Interview With Todd Snyder

An amateur boxer prowling the stands in desperation, looking for a last-second opponent. Silver Gloves competitions filled with anxious fighting novices. “Tough Man” contests brimming with fighters long ...
On September 20, 2019 / By Rafael García
The Top Twelve 4
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Welterweight Fights

Thirty-eight years ago one of the biggest fights in boxing history shattered box-office and telecast records and helped usher in the era of The Four Kings. Hearns vs ...
On September 18, 2019 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 0
Gentleman Jim Speaks

The Roar of the Crowd: The True Tale of the Rise and Fall of a Champion Originally published in 1925, The Roar of the Crowd is an entertaining ...
On August 13, 2019 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 1
Ray Mancini: The Good Son

The 1980s remain perhaps the most successful decade in boxing’s history, a rare time when the sport was highly popular and widely accepted as mainstream entertainment. Champions such ...
On July 29, 2019 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 3
Sun Kil Moon: “Salvador Sanchez”

In Salvador Sanchez, singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek walks amongst men who died much too soon. Such deaths are tragic by definition, but in the case of the men depicted ...
On July 24, 2019 / By Rafael García
The Top Twelve 1
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Pacman Moments

At this point it’s anybody’s guess how much longer ring legend Manny Pacquiao will continue boxing, but what is known is that the Pacman scored a huge win ...
On July 21, 2019 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 2
I Fight For A Living

One of boxing’s most enduring tropes is that of the prizefighter who punches his way out of the depths of poverty and obscurity and into a life of ...
On June 30, 2019 / By Rafael García
Columns 3
The Rainmaker

At 28 years old and in his physical prime, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is a boxer of many qualities. Some attributes he has worked on for years, molding them ...
On April 30, 2019 / By Rafael García
Fight Reports 2
Fight Report: Sor Rungvisai vs Estrada II

The Event Situated near Los Angeles, the legendary Forum has hosted numerous memorable battles featuring Mexican boxers over the past few decades. Across 1970 and 1971, the venerable ...
On April 27, 2019 / By Rafael García
Fight City Reviews 0
Punching From The Shadows

In labeling Punching from the Shadows a memoir, Glen Sharp might be selling short his autobiographical work. More than a memoir, Sharp presents in his book a thorough ...
On April 9, 2019 / By Rafael García