Marino pens piece for Wall Street Journal, appears on CNN
St. Olaf College Professor of Philosophy Gordon Marino, a nationally recognized sports journalist, recently penned a feature on the undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the Wall Street Journal.
Calling Mayweather “the best pure boxer of this era,” Marino gives a vivid analysis of his unique style and technique, which has inspired many in the boxing world.
“Every generation or two, a boxing champion captures the imagination of his peers,” he writes. “Now, in almost every parlor of sweat and punch, you are sure to encounter amateurs and pros inching forward with their chin tucked, shoulders narrow — as though between two panes of glass — and left hand down at a 90-degree angle. They are practicing the sweet science perfected by Floyd Mayweather Jr.”
Two days before Mayweather’s victory over Saúl Álvarez set his record to 45-0, Marino appeared on CNN’s Showbiz Tonight, where he spoke briefly about Mayweather’s controversial admission that he hand-picks his opponents in order to remain undefeated.
“I think he was being somewhat ironic,” Marino told the CNN audience. “For Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather, boxing is a business, and his management team has the job of maximizing profits and minimizing the risks. A management team in boxing has to pick the right fights at the right time. He hasn’t been ducking anyone.”
This is not the first time Marino has covered Mayweather. His article examining Mayweather’s career, which has made the boxer “the highest-paid athlete in the world,” was also published in the Wall Street Journal in May.
Marino’s numerous other writings on boxing have earned him accolades from the Boxing Writers Association of America, most notably a second-place award in 2012 for his essay “Why Boxing Is Worth Fighting For.”
But Marino’s subject matter is not limited to the “sweet science.” Just one day after his article appeared in the Journal in May, the New York Times published his piece celebrating the 200th birthday of Soren Kiekegaard, the Danish philosopher often cited as the founder of existentialism. And earlier in the year, on Valentine’s Day, they also published his essay on the philosophy of tenderness.
In addition to his teaching post, Marino also serves as curator of the Howard and Edna Hong Kierkegaard Library and co-coaches the St. Olaf Boxing Club with Associate Professor of English Carlos Gallego.