The son of former middleweight contender, "Irish" Bobby Cassidy," Robert was born into the boxing beat. He was reading The Ring magazine when most kids are still reading nursery rhymes and he started attending fights at the age of 10. He officially began covering the sport in 1987 and his coverage of boxing has appeared in Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, Timeout New York and The Ring.
He once dazzled spectators with a heavybag workout at the Westbury PAL. That led to a shortlived attempt at actual sparring. After which, he understood why his heavybag workout was so dazzling. The bag didn't punch back.
Cassidy is Newsday.com's Deputy Editor of Multimedia.
Comments (2)
Rob,
That Mayweather was allowed to hold and hit,grab and hold,use his elbows,and hold and turn his body sideways,etc throughout the fight gave him an enormous and unfair advantage.These tactics were obvious and ongoing throughout the match.To say Cortz did a lousy job is a gross understatement.Cortez refused to execute the laws of professional boxing.In fact by not deducting points from Mayweather ,Cortez is giving tacit acceptance to these very tactics.Yes,Mayweather uses these tricks as a part of his style.But,unfortunately for his opponents,the acceptance of his modis operandi by the boxing community not only sustains Mayweather but boxing's big money promoters as well.
On his own merit Mayweather is a great boxer.He doesn't need nor should he be given a clear and unwarrented edge in every key encounter.
Hatten is a game and dogged opponent.Alas,he isn't a true welterweight.As such, his punches don't carry the same clout as was the case in his previous matches in the lighter division.He really needs to go back there and stay there where he is great and not merely very good.
Rich
Rich, thanks for the note. While I agree that Mayweather's use of his forearms and elbows should have been stopped, in the end, I don't think it would have made a difference. Even when Hatton got inside, Floyd pretty much hit him at will. In essence, having stopped that tactic may have ended the fight sooner. I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the size difference. Floyd was really a much bigger welterweight. thanks for writing.