Read TQBR In The Current Issue Of THE RING Magazine

On page 24 of this November issue of Ring magazine, the Bible of Boxing, you'll find a feature penned by yours truly, a profile of middleweight boxing prospect Edwin Rodriguez. I don't think I could have written a bad feature on him if I tried. Rodriguez has an amazing life story, and he's starting to come into his own between the ropes, too, where he fights in a crowd-pleasing style.

It'd mean a lot to me if you bought a copy. I was told it would hit the stands Oct. 1, but I just spoke to Rodriguez' manager and he said he'd seen it on the stands already. I had an advance copy, and I also recommend Eric Raskin's excellent take on whether Arturo Gatti "saved" boxing, and a run down by Jim Bagg -- despite his annoying stylistic tics -- of the best fights of the 00s that never happened. The image I've attached at right is what the cover looks like.

As proud as I am of this, and as immodest as I'm being about it, I must issue a brief note on ethics. Ring magazine is owned by Golden Boy Promotions, and while I believe they've done an effective job of maintaining their journalistic integrity and creating layers of editorial separation, it means I indirectly have received payment from GBP. I trust you'll see that I have been, and I expect you'll find I will continue to be, critical of GBP when I think they deserve it. (Generally speaking, I've argued GBP has a worse rap than it deserves, but I spent some time this week savaging them for their handling of Weight-Gate and other issues related to last weekend's pay-per-view card.)

As a blogger, I also think I have a responsibility to critique traditional journalism. I trust you'll see that I have been, and I expect you'll find I will continue to be, critical of Ring magazine when I think they deserve it. (Generally speaking, I support their championship policy and think they do great work overall, but I sometimes disagree with their rankings or things they write, as I did most recently here.)