Honestly, I'm not sure why I've gotten lazy on those.
I've just been enjoying what I've been writing and haven't really felt like covering a regular beat.
I could return to it at any time and I certainly will be covering playoffs, but for now, I'm just not up to it despite watching the games every night...
Howard Davis Jr passed away on New Year's Eve at the age of 59 from lung cancer.
Davis was the 1976 Olympics Val Barker winner as the best boxer of the games and was the leader of the famous USA boxing team that included Ray Leonard and the Spinks brothers.
Davis was looked at as the best prospect of the team (Five gold medal winners,1 silver, and 1 bronze) entering the pros and signed a contract with CBS as an exclusive fighter on the network.
CBS signed Davis over Ray Leonard, who would sign a deal with ABC shortly after and quickly surpass Davis in the eyes of the casual fan.
Davis lacked power as a pro and fell short in both of his title bouts at 135 pounds as Scotland's Jim Watt bullied a surprisingly listless Davis in his first title shot.
Davis had his most memorable title shot against Edwin Rosario in Puerto Rico as ahead on two cards entering the final round, Davis was winning the 12th round until being dropped with a left hook with seconds to go and losing a split decision.
Davis would have one title opportunity at the 140-pound division but was stretched in just one round by Buddy McGirt.
Davis would train boxers after his career ended but also advised MMA fighters on how to improve their striking for mixed martial arts bouts...
Jason Christensen sent me a word about the death of Iron Mike Sharpe at the age of 67.
Sharpe was known best for being one of the "tougher" jobbers for the WWF, but Sharpe was more than that earlier in his career as Sharpe was a tag team champion for the Bill Watts promoted Mid-South and was reasonably high on the card for Georgia Championship Wrestling in the heyday on Atlanta's WTBS.
Sharpe came to the northeast as a protege of Captain Lou Albano with his "loaded" arm brace and at first was put over as a looming contender for Bob Backlund, racking up wins that would see him get a shot at Backlund in Philadelphia at the Philly Spectrum, where he of course lost.
But Sharpe didn't get the push that most guys with a manager did and he never got a shot vs Backlund at Madison Square Garden, which was the biggest payday on the circuit.
The match that Sharpe would be most remembered for me was the below match vs Tito Santana on WWF TV.
This was at the time when TV matches rarely featured two top stars and when they did it was usually a precursor to cause an angle that would then match the two around the circuit or if a champion was involved, it could be a title change, so Santana vs Sharpe was treated as a big deal.
Instead, it became the transition from star to jobber for Sharpe as Santana would knock Sharpe from the ring with his flying forearm, and Sharpe would stomp back to the dressing room with Vince McMahon sitting at the announcer's table calling Sharpe a coward.
In a day where a submission loss was looked at as a sign of gutlessness, McMahon's verbiage changed the way Sharpe was looked at, and his days as even a mid-carder were over.
Sharpe likely did Ok with money as an enhancement talent and would occasionally win on a house match, but his career would never be the same...
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