Please Welcome Our New Staffer

On Monday, I mentioned that we'd be announcing some staff additions on Wednesday.

Without further ado, I'd like to unveil a significant addition to the Team TSS, a contributor who has the capacity to inform, educate, infuriate, humiliate and make you laugh.

Our marquee get has a breadth of knowledge about the state of the game currently, and can tick off facts, figures and anecdotes dating back to the days when they used to use horse hair in the gloves.

The new person is totally committed to the sweet science, and is prone to tapping out 350 words on the boxing vs. MMA debate at 3:30 AM.

The new dude hasn't written for any big name publications, print or online, but that doesn't put us off. The newbie knows the game, and newbie's contributions will add immeasurably to this website.

Gentlemen and ladies, please give a warm welcome to, and allow me to introduce our newest staffer:

YOU.

In taking a page from Time magazine, we've decided to put a greater emphasis on the readers' take on the fight world. In a short span of time looking at your comments that you've sent in, I'm consistently struck by the knowledge you guys possess about our shared addiction. Sure, maybe your copy looks a little rough, maybe you forget that there is such a thing as a spellchecker, and maybe you occasionally detonate a few too many eff bombs. All offenses I've pled guilty too, myself.

But truly, your comments tell those of us in our media bubble, and the suits in their plush offices, what the real deal is.

An example: I came down pretty hard on the Oscar/Floyd fight on deadline, probably as hard as any fightwriter working today. I wrote the piece from my gut, fast, and didn't check out any other accounts of the fight before I posted it. In all honesty, I was just a wee bit worried that I went overboard. Maybe others wouldn't see it my way. Maybe my expectations were too high.

But you readers, as I scanned the comments sent in over the next couple of days, set me right. By and large, you agreed with me, and registered your disappointment that Mayweather employed his usual tactics and strategies enroute to a decisive win. A heck of a lot of you were bummed out, let down. Once again, you felt like you overspent, and the fighters underdelivered. And you guys don't have any agendas to adhere to, or favor to curry, or access to maintain. So you tell it like it is, and Lord knows we all need more of that in the media.

So I'll be stepping up my requests for your input, and generating ideas that can give  you average fans, the people who pay the salaries of the fighters and the suits, more of a voice. I'll be spotlighting the best Average Joe (and Jane) Boxingfan comments in different areas on the site going in to the summer. This direction allows us to utilize the best aspects of the Web, and give a more prominent voice to people who deserve to have their voices listened to.

Oh, and we have some other additions that are more concrete, writers with real names and everything. Ronan Keenan, a 23-year-old living in Ireland, will be contributing. He's motivated and in love with the sport, so I'm certain he's going to be a solid add to TSS. Also, we'll be getting copy from another writer from a far-flung border:  Zhenyu Li, a sportwriter for the Chinese People's Daily, will be a welcome voice, because 1) he knows his stuff, and 2) the 2008 Olympics are in Beijing, and the Chinese economy is exploding, and boxing is going more global all the the time, so we can use use some worldview expansion. There will be other additions as we move into June, so keep checking back.

And check back here after lunch, because we're running an exclusive column from a writer you've definitely heard of, a boxer who is possibly the most buzzed-about in the game today.