Boxing Challenge; Sandoval Surprises Teraji, Higa Retires

    Ricardo Sandoval surprised the world with a split decision victory in Yokohama, Japan, to take away the WBA and WBC flyweight titles from Kenshiro Teraji in a tight battle.

While the fight was exciting, the decision was controversial, and while I scored the fight for Teraji 114-113, as did one judge, I don't have an issue with someone thinking Sandoval won a tight verdict.

My issue is with the two scores for Sandoval at 115-112 (pretty bad) and 117-110 (Amazingly bad).

Teraji scored the fight's only knockdown in the third round, and that someone thought Sandoval won ten rounds (117-110 is 10-2 minus the knockdown) is amazing to me.

Ricardo Sandoval fought very well on the road and deserves kudos for his win, but Kenshiro Teraji certainly deserves a rematch.

The co-feature saw Antonio Vargas retain his WBA bantamweight title with a draw against Daigo Higa, which saw all three judges score the match 113-113.

I scored Higa 114-112, but the draw is very fair.

Higa dropped Vargas in the fourth, but a knockdown in the final round by Vargas would salvage the draw and save his title.

Higa fell short for the third straight time for a bantamweight title ( a split decision and two draws) and announced his retirement after the fight.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 117 Pts (0)

Ramon Malpica: 113 Pts (0)

Vince Samano: 46 pts   (0)

Boxing Challenge

     Wednesday morning from Yokohama, Japan, DAZN will showcase one of the most exciting lower-weight fighters in the world as WBA and WBC flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji defends those titles against Ricardo Sandoval.

Teraji came from behind on the scorecards to knock out Seigo Akui in the final round to take away Akui's WBA strap in a definite fight of the year candidate last time out.

Teraji is always exciting, win or lose, with knockouts in six of his last seven fights, and the eighth saw him suffer his only loss ( to current IBF champion Masamichi Yabuki) by stoppage.

Teraji avenged his loss to Yabuki in their rematch, and it's possible (since Yabuki has won the IBF title) that the rubber match with three titles at stake could be next for Teraji with a win over Sandoval.

Golden Boy's Sandoval has won six in a row since his razor-close majority decision loss to David Jimenez in 2022 and is far from a pushover for Teraji.

In the co-feature, Antonio Vargas defends his WBA bantamweight title against the challenge of Daigo Higa.

Vargas was recently promoted to the full WBA title after injuries to Seiya Tsutsumi forced him out of the sport for a while. Vargas's tenth-round KO of Winston Guerrero last December for the interim title qualified the former United States Olympian for the promotion.

Higa, a former flyweight champion, lost a narrow unanimous decision, which I thought he deserved, to WBO champion Yoshiki Takei in 2004 and drew with Tsutsumi in February for the belt Vargas now possesses.

Higa always makes great fights, so this should be exciting.

Boxing Challenge

WBA/WBC Flyweight Titles. 12 Rds 

Kenshiro Teraji vs Ricardo Sandoval 

All: Teraji Unanimous Decision

WBA Bantamweight Title 12 Rds

Antonio Vargas vs Daigo Higa

R.L: Vargas Unanimous Decision
TRS: Higa Split Decision

V.S: Vargas Unanimous Decision

Cleaning out the Inbox

  The miscellaneous Cleaning of the inbox is overdue, so let's get to work on tidying things up!

   Business Insider writes of the sale of the Brady Bunch house for 3.2 million dollars.

The home was renovated by the previous owner, HGTV, who matched the interior from the television show inside the real home.

The 3.2 million dollar price was less than the 3.5 million that HGTV paid for the home, but it made money from the reality show that filmed the renovation.

The new owner is planning to allow fans to tour the home and meet cast members by entering contests that will benefit various charities.

The New York (Upper East Side ) Townhouse that served as the exterior for the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's has hit the real estate market.

Decor Magazine reports that the famous Tiffany Blue door welcomes a home that was renovated a few years ago, adding an elevator, a basement, a wine cellar, and a fifth floor with a terrace.

Asking price? A cool fifteen million.

Smithsonian Magazine writes of the development of "Robo-Bunnies" in Florida to draw the invasive Burmese Python out of hiding.

The robot rabbits are built with internal heaters and motors to replicate the movement and warmth that pythons can detect and are used to hunt prey.

If successful, it could see an increase in pythons being removed from areas where they don't belong.

We finish with three articles from The Athletic.

Former NBA coach George Karl feels his voice is ignored by the NBA and its teams.

Karl has suffered from health issues in recent years, but the controversial Hall of Famer still fires away on social media and his 2017 book, which seemed to take shots at everyone in the game.

Karl would be a person worth listening to, but he has burned lots of bridges in the game, so I'm not sure that he'll have the chance to be more than an advisor at his age (74).

The Buffalo Bills are a franchise that draws a chunk of their ticket-buyers from nearby Canada, a country that Donald Trump has enjoyed tweaking often since his return to the Presidency.

This article looks at the financial aspects of what could sting the Bills, should fewer of their Canadian fans cross into New York for Bills game.

The Bills claim eight thousand of their season ticket holder are Canadian residents and the money they spend are safe but the non-season ticket holders could reduce with the extra hassle crossing the border and the current climate between the two countries.

It also discusses the NFL's marketing program in Canada, Buffalo fans past concerns about nearby Toronto, and how the Lions and Seahawks are doing with their Canadian neighbors.

The story of the rare baseball card from the Goudey company in 1933/34 is a good one and involves Cleveland Hall of Fame second baseman Napoleon Lajoie.

The set was missing a number and collectors beseiged the company for the card to finish the set.

The company never released the card in packs and only people that wrote the company received a card to finish the set.

The card attached most of the cards to a paper clip which means that very few cards of the already limited card are in top condition.

Boxing Challenge: Zayas zaps Garcia

     On the final evening of ESPN's boxing program (for now, at least), Top Rank's two young stars earned victories that landed one a world title and the other a lesser title that could eventually become another. 

In the main event, Xander Zayas outboxed Jorge Garcia to win the WBO junior middleweight title that Sebastian Fundora vacated earlier this year.

Zayas was too slick for Garcia, and although Garcia, who earned the title chance with a still-surprising upset of Charles Conwell, never stopped his aggression, Zayas's skills never allowed Garcia to impose his will on the fight.

Zayas won by scores of 119-109, 118-110, and 116-112, with my score coming in at 117-111.

Zayas appears to be below the standard of WBC champion Sebastian Fundora and IBF king Bakhram Murtazaliev for now (Terence Crawford holds the WBA belt but will vacate before his September match with Canelo Alvarez) mainly because I will need to see more power from him to believe he could hold off either of those champions but at twenty-two I wouldn't rule Zayas out for improvement.

Bruce Carrington won a minor title at featherweight with a unanimous decision over Mateus Heita.

Carrington dominated but never hurt Heita, and despite his obvious skills, might lack the pop to hold off power-hitting WBO champion Rafael Espinoza or the relentless aggression of WBA boss Nick Ball.

Carrington wins by scores of 120-108 times two (and my score) and 119-109.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 117 Pts (3) 

Ramon Malpica:  113 Pts (4)
Vince Samano:  46 Pts (1)

Boxing Challenge

    After an overflowing boxing weekend last week, this weekend is light with one major card.

In the last card from Top Rank with ESPN, two of the company's young stars are showcased from New York City, one fighting for a world title.

Xander Zayas was signed as a teenager by Top Rank and heavily pushed as a prospect from the start of his career, but while he's still unbeaten, Zayas's power hasn't developed full,y and he's yet to defeat a top opponent although he does own a decision win over faded former WBO junior middleweight champion Patrick Teixeira.

Top Rank and Zayas attempted to work out an agreement with WBC and then-WBO champion Sebastian Fundora, but Fundora was contractually obligated for a rematch with Tim Tszyu and vacated the title, setting up Zayas to fight for the vacant title against Jorge Garcia.

Garcia earned his spot in the title picture in April when he pulled a major upset, defeating then-unbeaten Olympian Charles Conwell by split decision.

The co-feature is for a minor WBC title in the featherweight division may eventually be important as undefeated Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington meets Mateus Heita for the minor title.

Currently, Stephen Fulton holds the WBC featherweight crown, but Fulton plans to challenge WBC junior lightweight boss O'Shaquie Foster and could leave the division.

That would result in the winner of Carrington-Heita being promoted to the full champion.

Carrington stopped Enrique Vivas in three rounds in March, while Heita, who fights out of Namibia, has never fought outside of Africa nor against world-class opposition.

Boxing Challenge

Vacant WBO Junior Middleweight Title. 12 Rds

Xander Zayas vs Jorge Garcia

All; Zayas Unanimous Decision 

Featherweights 12 Rds

Bruce Carrington vs Mateus Heita

Ramon Malpica; Carrington Unanimous Decision

TRS: Carrington KO 8

Vince Samano: Heita Unanimous Decision

Jordan Hicks Retires

    The already ailing Cleveland Browns took another blow with the surprising retirement of linebacker Jordan Hicks.

Hicks's retirement was announced on the third day of training camp after Hicks had asked to be excused from the first two days for personal reasons.

The thirty-two-year-old Hicks played in twelve games last season in his only year with Cleveland, finishing with forty solo tackles and two sacks.

Hicks finishes his ten-year career with over six hundred solo tackles, sixteen sacks, and thirteen interceptions.

As for the Browns, the linebacking corps was already shorthanded with the possible career-ending injury to Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and combined with Devin Bush's legal issues, Hicks's retirement leaves the Browns very vulnerable at the position.

Second-round draft pick Carson Schwesinger, free agent signee Jerome Baker, Devon Bush, and special-teams ace Mohamoud Dibate comprise the corps for now.

Jerome Baker's signing seems prescient now that Hicks has retired, and without Baker, this situation would be a very difficult one.

Baker is a similar player to Hicks and will have the first chance to replace Hicks in the lineup.

I'm sure the Browns will be looking to address the position sometime between now and the start of the season, most likely trying to add a veteran to replace Hicks.

Boxing Challenge: Bam goes Cafu!

    In Frisco, Texas, WBC junior bantamweight champion Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez continued his rise among the best champions in boxing as he dominated Phumelele Cafu and took away his WBO title via tenth-round knockout.

Cafu had a strategy, and he followed it, but it wasn't a winning one, as Cafu anchored himself along the ropes and in corners and allowed Rodriguez to batter him.  

Rodriguez could have boxed Cafu from the outside and won an easy decision, but instead chose to bully and batter Cafu to make a more entertaining fight.

Rodriguez will face WBA champion Fernando Martinez in the fall in a three-title unification.

In the co-feature, unbeaten super middleweight Diego Pacheco dominated Trevor McCumby in winning a unanimous decision.

Pacheco dominated with the jab and won going away by scores of 120-108 and two scores of 119-109.

Boxing Challenge 

TRS: 114 Pts 3)

Ramon Malpica; 109 Pts (4)
Vince Samano: 45 Pts (1)

Boxing Challenge: Pacquiao comeback ends in draw

    It was the comeback that few wanted, but forty-six-year-old Manny Pacquiao came within an eyelash of taking the WBC welterweight title from Mario Barrios.

Instead, the mediocre Barrios escaped with his championship for the second straight bout with a majority draw (he drew with Abel Ramos in his previous fight).

The official scores were 115-113 for Barrios and two scores of 114-114.

I scored the fight for Pacquiao 115-113 and thought he outhustled Barrios. However, Barrios took the final three rounds from a tiring Pacquiao to save his title officially and tighten the final tally on my card.

Pacquiao looked much better than I expected and said after the fight that he planned to continue his career.

It's still fair to question how much Pacquiao has left. Barrios might be the worst champion in boxing, and while a rematch makes sense after the decision, the action wasn't very memorable, and Pacquiao might be better off looking for a bigger fight.

In the co-feature, Sebastian Fundora retained his WBC junior middleweight title via TKO when the corner of Tim Tszyu stopped their bout after the seventh round.

Fundora scored a knockdown in the first round and controlled the fight, although Tszyu did better in the final rounds, scoring well in the seventh.

Tsyzu looked concussed in his corner after that round, and his corner did the right thing in calling the fight.

Fundora may attempt to regain the WBO title he was forced to give up to fight Tsyzu in a contractually obligated rematch against the winner of this weekend's Xander Zayas-Jorge Garcia bout.

Tszyu's career looks to be in big trouble and will need some rebuilding if he is ever to challenge for a title in the future.

Former WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell looked spectacular in his return from an over three-year absence with a tenth-round knockout of Hugo Castaneda at lightweight.

Russell scored knockdowns in the second and sixth rounds before ending the fight with a body blow in round ten.

I'm anxious to see how Russell fares against a better lightweight than Castaneda!

In a fight that I haven't seen, Brandon Figueroa won a unanimous decision over Joet Gonzalez by scores of 115-113 and 116-112 times two.

Boxing Challenge

TRS:111 Pts (1) 

Ramon Malpica: 105 Pts (6)

Vinee Samano: 44 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge: Usyk leaves no doubt

    Due to work time constraints, I'll try to break up the boxing weekend into two or three parts, allowing me to write a little when I have time.

Daniel DuBois had done all the right things to receive a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

Dubois had won the IBF title when the organization stripped Usyk for fighting a rematch with Tyson Fury, defeated three solid contenders and a former champion (Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic, and Anthony Joshua), and, along with his promoter (Frank Warren) and his team, manufactured controversy from his first chance at Usyk (claiming his low blow to Usyk was a clean body shot, it wasn't) to earn another try to unify the four titles that Usyk had once unified.

And the end result didn't change as Usyk controlled the first four rounds, knocked DuBois down in the fifth, and after DuBois barely rose, Usyk finished the fight with one left hook for the stoppage.

Usyk once again holds all four heavyweight titles and was unsure about his future.

The fight that would make the most sense if Usyk wanted to retain the four titles would be a defense against the WBO's mandatory challenger and the most deserving contender, former WBO champion, Joseph Parker.

Parker has won his last six fights, his last three against quality contenders in Deontay Wilder, Zhihei Zhang, and most recently, Martin Bakole.

Usyk could choose not to meet Parker, but should he do so, Usyk would vacate the WBO belt.

A win over Parker to add to his two wins over each of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and now Daniel DuBois and Usyk would firmly place him in the conversation among the best heavyweights in history, if he hasn't already.

The co-feature saw Lawrence Okolie easily decision Kevin Lerena in a dreary ten-rounder.

Okolie won by scores of 100-90 times two and 99-91/

My score was 100-90 Okolie.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 110 Pts (3)

Ramon Malpica :99 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 44 Pts  (0)

Boxing Challenge

    An absolutely loaded weekend for boxing, and I have little time for a preview due to schedule constraints.

This leaves us with a "Just the facts" version, which beats nothing.

Boxing Challenge

Unification WBA/WBC/WBO-IBF Heavyweight Titles. 12 Rds 

Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel DuBois

Ramon Malpica: Usyk Unanimous Decision

TRS: Usyk KO 10

Vince Samano: DuBois KO 9

Heavyweights 12 Rds

Lawrence Okolie vs Kevin Lerena

R.L:  Okolie KO 7

TRS: Okolie KO 4

V.S.: Lerena KO 8

WBC Welterweight Title. 12 Rds

Mario Barrios vs Manny Pacquiao

R.L and TRS: Pacquiao Unanimous Decision

V.S: Barrios KO 9

WBC Junior Middleweight Title. 12 Rds

Sebastian Fundora vs Tim Tszyu

R.L: Fundota KO 10

TRS: Tszyu Majority Decision

V.S:  Tszyu KO 6

Junior Welterweights 12 Rds

Isaac Cruz vs Angel Fierro

R.L: Cruz Split Winner

TRS: Cruz Unanimous Decision

V.S.: Fierro Split Decision

Featherweights. 12 Rds

Brandon Figueroa vs Joet Gonzalez

R.L Figueroa Unanimous Decision

TRS and V.S.: Gonzalez Split Decision

Lightweights. 10 Rds

Gary Russell vs Hugo Castaneda

R.L: Russell KO 9

TRS: Russell Unanimous Decision

V.S.: Castaneda Unanimous Decision

Unification WBC-WBO Junior Bantamweight Titles 12 Rds

Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez vs Phumelele Cafu

R.L: Rodriguez KO 6

TRS: Rodriguez KO 8

V.S.: Rodriguez Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights 12 Rds

Diego Pacheco vs Trevor McCumby

R.L: Pacheco Unanimous Decision

TRS: Pacheco KO 8
V.S.: McCumby Unanimous Decision

Middleweights 12 Rds

Austin Williams vs Etinosa Oliha

R.L: Williams KO 8
TRS: Williams KO 10

V.S: Oliha Unanimous Decision

Editor's Note: Due to last minute changes in opponents, the Issac Cruz  and Austin Williams fights are no longer part of the boxing challenge

Cleaning out the Inbox: Non-Sports Passings

  We start the latest tribute edition with a non-sports version.

Goodbye to Brian Wilson at the age of 82.

The tortured genius of The Beach Boys has a case as the most well-rounded career of any one person in rock/pop history, with his contributions as singer, musician, songwriter,  and producer, all at the top of the industry.

Wilson's achievements are too lengthy to be listed, but he's easily among the most influential musicians of all time.

Goodbye to Bobby Sherman at the age of 81.

Sherman was the person who returned "teen idols" to prominence after the genre died off in the mid-sixties when he starred on ABC's show "Here Comes The Brides" and sang several pop hits that reached the Billboard Top Forty, with two (Little Woman and Julie Do Ya Love Me) reaching the top five and two more (Easy Come Easy Go and La La La) hitting the top ten in 1969 and 1970.

Sherman's star was shortly eclipsed by that of David Cassidy. Sherman's show "Getting Together" was a spinoff from a Sherman appearance on the Partridge Family, which must have caused teenaged girls of the time to spontaneously combust.

Getting Together was canceled after one season, and Sherman's career peak was over.

Goodbye to Lou Christie at the age of 82.

Christie hit number one on the charts with 1965's "Lightning Strikes" and later added top fifteen hits "Rhapsody in the Rain" and "Gonna Make You Mine".

The Pittsburgh native was known for his falsetto voice, and his record label wanted to move him into acting as a Frankie Avalon-like beach movie star, but Christie didn't want that role.

My favorite Lou Christie moment is in the film "Waiting For Guffman" when someone trying out for community theatre decides to use "Lightning Strikes" as his tryout song and predictably botches it.

Goodbye to Michael Madson at the age of 67. 

The veteran actor and brother of actress Virginia Madsen, Madsen appeared in over 300 productions in film or television, most often in tough guy roles.

My favorite Madsen role was as "New York Knights" outfielder Bartholmew "Bump" Bailey, a player on the take that dies smashing into an outfield wall attempting to catch a flyball in  1984's "The Natural"

57

   57.

Or as my father lovingly put it- "Almost Sixty".

That stuff never has bothered me,

I've never been someone who worried about my age.

It's just never been a sticking point for me.

What has been a concern is how life changes as you age.

Things that become harder to physically do, things that are harder to deal with, and dealing with the ups and downs of life.

It hasn't been an easy year for Cherie and me..

For the first time in our life together, we've had to deal with illness, medication changes, and the wonderful financial ramifications from illness ( I'll defer from complaints on our insurance system).

Combined with missing my son and grandson, it has not been an easy year.

In other ways, I feel pretty good, though.

I've gotten into a walking routine over the last two months, and I've lost over twenty pounds since my hospital stay. Plenty of work still to be done.

Thanks to my family and friends for their help and support.

I love you all.

Life is not so bad and if you know me, you know that's a strong statement! LOL.

Boxing Challenge: Sheeraz bursts Berlanga, Stevenson shines vs Zepeda

     Riyadh Season's first card in the New York market (Times Square) may have been a massive disappointment, but their second, held in the Louis Armstrong Tennis Center (home of the U.S.Open), was filled with exciting fights without a bad one in the bunch.

In the main event, Hamzah Sheeraz ended the carefully managed contention of Edgar Berlanga with a vicious fifth-round knockout.

Sheeraz dropped Berlanga twice in the fourth round, and Berlanga was lucky to survive. Sheeraz then drove a stunned Berlanga into the ropes seconds into the fifth round, forcing the end of the fight.

Despite being the first fight in the super middleweight division for Sheeraz, he looked bigger and stronger than Berlanga, who showed heart in getting up from the knockdowns but was overmatched and now faces several questions about his viability as a future contender.

Sheeraz could face Canelo Alvarez next (should Alvarez defeat Terence Crawford) as Sheeraz and Chris Eubank Jr appear to be next in line for a Canelo challenge.

In the co-main event (which I differ with), Shakur Stevenson not only retained his WBC lightweight title via unanimous decision over the difficult challenge of William Zepeda, but he also won in an entertaining fashion, which had turned off many fans in recent months.

Stevenson outboxed Zepeda, but he did so skillfully and didn't move around the ring, preferring to counter the aggressive Zepeda.

I had the fight even after eight rounds, but Stevenson dominated the final four rounds of the fight, winning them all to win 116-112 on my card.

The official scores were far too wide for my tastes (119-109 and 118-108 times two), were unkind to Zepeda, and didn't fairly represent the fight.

Stevenson spoke of a potential move to junior welterweight after his win but he could stay at lightweight for fights against any of Lamont Roach (his fall rematch with WBA champion Gervonta Davis appears in jeopardy after another Davis legal problem), IBF champion Raymond Muratalla or in the least likely option to happen, the winner of the vacant WBO title fight between Abdullah Mason and Sam Noakes.

Zepeda lost nothing in defeat and remains a very viable challenge for anyone in the lightweight division.

Subriel Matias won the WBC junior welterweight title with a majority decision victory over Alberto Puello.

The fight was well-paced from the start, with Matias walking down Puello, who boxed but didn't run from the stronger fighter.

Neither fighter seriously hurt the other, and the fight has been dubbed "controversial" by online pundits.

I scored it 115-113 for Matias, which agreed with two of the judges, with the other scoring a draw at 114-114.

Matias will face the WBC's top contender Dalton Smith in the fall, with the two meeting in the ring after the win.

Puello will reportedly face the winner of that fight after losing this one by such a small margin.

I could have been fine with either Matias or Puello winning their decision, as I thought the more controversial decision was the card opener with David Morrell winning a split decision over former Olympic bronze medalist Imam Khataev.

Khataev was the more aggressive fighter and landed the harder shots throughout the fight.

Khataev dropped Morrell late in the fifth round, and while Morrell wasn't seriously hurt, it capped off the scorecard for me, as I had Khataev a 96-93 winner.

The official scores were 96-93 and 95-94 for Morrell and 95-94 for Khataev.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 107 Pts (4)

Ramon Malpica: 97 Pts (4)

Vince Samano: 44 Pts (4)

Boxing Challenge

        The boxing challenge is all about Queens, as Riyadh Season/DAZN presents a (sign) Pay Per View card from the tennis stadium that hosts the U.S. Open.

Editor's Note: I'm very interested in the female Friday night card from Madison Square Garden, with a special interest in one of my favorite fighters, Ellie Scotney, risking her IBF and WBO junior featherweight titles in a unification fight against WBC champion Yamileth Mercado.

Scotney would win via unanimous decision.

It is a great card, and I considered including many of those fights in the challenge, but decided against it as I'm not familiar enough with all the competitors on the card.

The main event will be a super middleweight showdown as Edgar Berlanga and Hamzah Sheeraz throw down in a twelve-round bout. 

Berlanga has won a squash match since his game but overmatched defeat to Canelo Alvarez. While Sheeraz rises to super middleweight after a surprising draw against WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames in a fight that Sheeraz was favored to win, most felt Adames deserved the decision.

Both fighters have power, but neither has knocked out a world-class fighter with the arguable exception of Sheeraz's knockout of Austin "Ammo" Williams. Both have things to prove, which could make this an entertaining shootout.

The co-feature is what I would have selected as the "true" main event, as WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson defends against the universal top contender in the division, William Zepeda.

Stevenson stopped last-minute replacement, Josh Padley, in nine rounds in February, but won two boring fights in his two wins before Padley.

Zepeda mowed through all his opponents before his two recent fights against Tevin Farmer, with Zepeda winning the pair by narrow decisions.

Stevenson is the more talented fighter, but Zepeda's volume punching may be unmatched in the sport and in the endless rock/paper/scissors of boxing- Volume puncher often beats boxer (boxer beats puncher and puncher beats volume puncher).

Stevenson could throw a shutout, and I wouldn't be surprised, but Stevenson's never been in a dogfight, and if Zepeda can draw Stevenson into one, all bets are off.

Alberto Puello defends his WBC junior welterweight title against former IBF champion Subriel Matias in what sets up as an entertaining scrap.

Puello has won his two most recent fights by split decisions over Gary Antuanne Russell and Sandor Martin, while the enigmatic Matias has often looked like a dominant fighter but occasionally throws in a clunker, such as his title loss to Liam Paro.

If Matias is at his best, he has too much power for Puello, but a listless Matias could be outpointed by Puello.

The opener is in the light heavyweight division as David Morrell returns after suffering his first loss to David Benavidez.

Morrell lost by a unanimous decision to Benavidez and looks to bounce back against Imam Khataev, who is a noted amateur star and has won his first ten fights as a pro in his base in Montreal.

Khataev is talented but faces his best opponent in Morrell- this could be the most competitive match of the evening.

Boxing Challenge

WBC Lightweight Title 12 Rds

Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Stevenson Unanimous Decision
Vince Samano: Zepeda Split Decision

Super Middleweights 12 Rds

Edgar Berlanga vs Hamzah Sheeraz

R.L: Berlanga Unanimous Decision
TRS: Sheeraz Unanimous Decision

V.S: Sheeraz KO 8 

WBC Junior Welterweight Title 12 Rds

Alberto Puello vs Subriel Matias

R.L: Matias KO 10
TRS and V.S.: Matias Unanimous Decision

Light Heavyweights.10 Rds

David Morrell vs Iman Khataev

R.L: Morrell Unanimous Decision
TRS: Khataev Unanimous Decision
V.S: Morrell KO 6

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings- Baseball Edition

       Time for tributes to those who have recently left us, this time all from the world of baseball.

Goodbye to Dave Parker at the age of 74. 

"The Cobra" was possibly the best all-around player in the National League in the late 1970s and was elected to the Hall of Fame earlier this year with his induction scheduled for next month.

The 1978 National League MVP and batting champion in 1977 and 1978, Parker won World Series titles a decade apart with the 1979 Pirates and 1989 Athletics.

Parker wasn't only valuable with his bat, as his arm ranked among the most feared in the game, which he showed in the 1979 All-Star Game, where he gunned down Brian Downing at the plate on his way to winning the game MVP.

Parker struggled in his final four years in Pittsburgh due to off-the-field problems, and his offensive statistics rebounded in his seasons in Cincinnati and Oakland. However, he was never the same all-around player and destructive force as he was during his years as a Pirate.

Goodbye to Billy Hunter at the age of 97.

Hunter was the final surviving player who played for the final season of the St. Louis Browns (1953) and the inaugural season of the Baltimore Orioles (1954).

A journeyman infielder for four teams, Hunter won a World Series as a reserve for the 1956 Yankees but won two more in 1966 and 1970 as Earl Weaver's third base coach with the Orioles.

Hunter took over the Texas Rangers as their manager midway through 1977 and led the team to a 60-33 record as the Rangers moved from fifth to second at season's end.

Texas finished second in 1978, but Hunter was fired on the next-to-last day of the season and was expected to return to the Baltimore coaching staff, but never worked in the major leagues again.

Hunter would become the long-time baseball coach in 1979 and later athletic director at Towson State before retiring in 1995.

Goodbye to Diego Segui at the age of 87.

A vagabond righthander who pitched for six teams, including three stints with the Athletics with both Kansas City and Oakland, and pitched for both the Seattle Pilots and Mariners, Segui pitched in each of the inaugral games for the Seattle franchises, appearing in relief for the Pilots and starting in the Mariners' first game.

Segui won twelve and saved six for the Pilots in 1969, earning the team MVP, and would win the American League ERA title in 1970 for Oakland as both a starter and reliever.

Segui's son, David, would play fifteen seasons in MLB.

Goodbye to Bobby Jenks at the age of 44.

Jenks was the closer for the 2005 World Champion White Sox and was named to the All-Star team in the following two seasons, finishing each with forty and forty-one saves.

The hard-throwing righthander was once clocked at 102 MPH, and it was Jenks who recorded the final out in the 2005 World Series.

Jenks would manage teams in the collegiate prospect league and the independent Frontier League after his retirement as a player. 

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

  Time to pay our respects to two who have recently left us in this edition of tributes.

Goodbye to Mike McCallum at the age of 68.

Arguably the most underrated boxer of the last fifty years and certainly the most avoided of his time, Mike McCallum was so good that all-time great fighters avoided him (Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Duran), Hall of Famers fought him only when they had to (Donald Curry, Julian Jackson, and James Toney), and champions fell at his feet like matchsticks (Milton McCrory, Steve Collins, Ayub Kalule, Sumbu Kalumbay to name a few).

McCallum, a 1976 Olympian representing Jamaica, threw combinations as smooth as a rolling conveyor belt and was the rare fighter who could fight equally off the front foot as the back.

"The Body Snatcher" fought eleven men who held world titles during his career, defeating eight of them and drawing with a ninth (James Toney), winning world championships in three divisions (junior middleweight, middleweight, and light heavyweight).

McCallum was avoided by Roberto Duran, who vacated his WBA junior middleweight title rather than meet McCallum. Thomas Hearns, who was a Kronk stablemate with McCallum but saw McCallum leave Kronk to try to land a Hearns fight that would never occur, and for Sugar Ray Leonard, McCallum was too dangerous when he could make more money against bigger names.

Still, McCallum notched many notable victories, such as his second-round knockout of Julian Jackson (who hurt McCallum in round one), his tenth-round stoppage of former WBC welterweight champion Milton McCrory and his biggest career win, his one-punch knockout of former undisputed welterweight boss Donald Curry in the fifth round of their Las Vegas match.

The left hook essentially ended Curry's career as an elite fighter and is replayed to this day as the epitome of the perfect punch.

McCallum would win the WBA middleweight title before drawing and losing a majority decision to James Toney for Toney's IBF version. I scored McCallum the winner in their first fight and scored the second a draw.

McCallum then rose to 175 pounds to upend Jeff Harding to win the WBC belt in the weight class and defended it once before losing it to Fabrice Tiozzo.

McCallum lost three of his final four career fights, accounting for three of his four career losses, and retired after decision losses to Hall of Famers Roy Jones and James Toney.

McCallum retired with a record of 49-5-1 (36 by KO) and was never stopped in his career.

Mike McCallum was enshrined in the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003, but it's fair to wonder what could have been if McCallum had been given the chance to fight the best in the sport.

Goodbye to David Greenwood at the age of 68.

Greenwood was a college standout at UCLA before his selection by the Chicago Bulls second overall in the 1979 NBA Draft behind the Lakers' choice of Magic Johnson.

Greenwood played twelve seasons in the NBA, with his best years his first six with the Bulls.

Greenwood spent most of the second half of his career with the San Antonio Spurs but won a championship as a reserve with the Detroit Pistons in 1990.

Greenwood finished his career with an average of ten points and eight rebounds.

Boxing Challenge: Catterall clashes with Eubank

      The boxing weekend was a tepid one, with two fights from Manchester, England as the main course.

Jack Catterall won a unanimous decision over Harlem Eubank when the fight was halted one second into the seventh round due to cuts to both fighters from a sixth-round head clash.

The cut suffered by Eubank was the one that officially ended the fight, but I thought Catterall's slice was the worst of the pair.

Catterall received the nod by scores of 69-65 twice and 69-66, which seemed about right.

Former IBF junior lightweight champion Joe Cordina returned for the first time since dropping his title to Anthony Cacace with a dominant unanimous decision win over tough but limited Jaret Gonzalez by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

Boxing Challenge

    Another light week in the boxing challenge as two matchups comprise the total as Matchroom/DAZN hosts the card from Manchester, England.

The main event pits Jack Catterall, in his foray into the welterweight division, against unbeaten and untested Harlem Eubank. 

Catterall lost a split decision to Arnold Barboza in February, while Eubank defeated his top foe in his most recent outing, stopping Tyrone McKenna in ten rounds.

Eubank has fought no one of note other than McKenna, so he's an unknown quantity, and I expect Catterall to outbox him on his way to a win.

The co-feature will see former IBF junior lightweight champion Joe Cordina move to lightweight for his ten-round bout against Jaret Gonzalez.

It's the first fight for Cordina since losing his title by knockout to Anthony Cacace in May 2024.

Gonzalez has lost once in eighteen fights, but his record is littered with fighters with losing records, so who knows how good Gonzalez really is?

Boxing Challenge

Welterweights, 12 Rds

Jack Catterall vs Harlem Eubank

Ramon Malpica:
TRS: Catterall Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano:

Lightweights 10 Rds

Joe Cordina vs Jaret Gonzalez

R.L:

TRS: Cordina KO 8

Vince Samano: 

Devils re-sign Jake Allen, add Brown and Dadonov

     The New Jersey Devils were active on the first day of free agency, adding several depth players for training camp and the AHL's Utica Comets.

The biggest moves for the parent club saw a contributor retained, and added two veteran forwards who could help the third and fourth lines in the 2025-26 season.

The flashiest move saw the Devils re-sign backup goalie Jake Allen to a five-year contract with an average payout of 1.8 million per season.

Allen turns thirty-five in August, but played well last season in his first full season in New Jersey, finishing the season 13-16-1 with four shutouts to go with a 2.66 GAA and a save percentage of .906.

Allen will continue to back up Jacob Markstrom and possibly start in the event the Devils lose Markstrom, who will be a free agent following the 25-26 campaign.

New Jersey added two forwards, each of whom could help the offense as part of the third or fourth lines.

New Jersey signed Connor Brown from the Edmonton Oilers and Evgenii Dadonov from the Dallas Stars in an attempt to bolster those lines after a season in which the Devils struggled at even strength.

A right winger, Brown signed a four-year contract at a total of twelve million, with the first two seasons paying Brown 3.5 million per year, and the final two years at 2.5 million each year.

Brown is thirty-one and played every game in 2024-25 for the Stanley Cup finalist Oilers, scoring thirteen goals with seventeen assists.

Brown is a top-notch skater and ranks among the fastest in the league, even after a knee injury that cost him all but four games of the 2022-23 season when Brown played for Washington.

Brown's skating should make him a modest upgrade over the departed Erik Haula, so I like the fit on the ice.

I do question the four-year contract to a player who turns thirty-two in January (thirty-five at the end of the contract), who has his game based around his speed, as a player can lose that elite skill very quickly, but in the last two years, Brown is making less, so if his game deteriorates the cap hit will be lighter.

New Jersey added another right wing as veteran Evgenii Dadonov signed a one-year contract.

The thirty-six-year-old Dadonov's deal with New Jersey has a base of one million dollars, but has several performance-related bonuses that would boost Dadonov's earnings.

Dadonov scored twenty goals with twenty assists in eighty games for the Dallas Stars, with five of his goals on the power play.

Dadonov is a creative passer and a talented offensive player who will be a major addition to the third line, and I could see him receiving minutes with the second power-play unit.

I am surprised to see Dadonov coming to New Jersey at such a bargain rate after a twenty-goal season, and if the Devils pay him more than his base, it's still a bargain to receive such production from a player of his age.

The only problem that I have with any of the three signings is the length of Connor Brown's deal, and that's not a huge sticking point.

A very nice first day of free agency for Tom Fitzgerald and his Devils.

Cavaliers return Larry Nance Jr to Cleveland

        The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to fine-tune the roster, and with this move, the team managed to make their fans happy by bringing back a popular player from the past.

Larry Nance. Jr is returning to Cleveland after a four-season absence to provide frontcourt depth as a possible replacement for Dean Wade, whom the team is actively shopping.

Nance has reportedly agreed to a one-year contract for the veteran's minimum, so the Cavaliers would save cap room if Cleveland could find a suitor for Dean Wade.

The thirty-two-year-old Nance played four seasons in Cleveland after the team acquired him from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, along with Jordan Clarkson, for Channing Frye, Isaiah Thomas, and Cleveland's first pick in 2018.

Nance was traded in a 2021 three-team deal with Chicago and Portland that landed the Cavaliers Lauri Markkanen, and has played for Portland, New Orleans, and Atlanta since leaving Cleveland.

Nance played in twenty-four games for the Hawks last season, averaging eight points and four rebounds, shooting fifty-one percent ( and a career-high forty-four percent from three) from the floor in nineteen minutes per game.

Nance suffered a broken femur last season, resulting in a career-low in games played.

Nance will back up Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in the frontcourt, and assuming he can stay healthy, Nance gives Cleveland a player they lacked last season, a rangy big man who can hit an occasional three, along with shot-blocking ability as part of the second unit.

Ty Jerome signs with Memphis

    The die was cast last weekend, but on the first day of free agency, the Cleveland Cavaliers officially lost Ty Jerome as Jerome signed with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Jerome agreed to a three-year contract worth twenty-eight million dollars with Memphis, and the door was opened after the Cavaliers acquired Lonzo Ball and re-signed Sam Merrill.

Jerome had his best season in 2024-25 with Cleveland, posting career-highs in games played and almost every offensive category.

Jerome played twenty minutes a game, averaging twelve points, three assists, and shot fifty-one percent from the floor, forty-three percent from three-point distance.

However, Jerome's defensive weaknesses were targeted in the Cavaliers' playoff defeat to the Indiana Pacers as Tyrese Halliburton torched him consistently. Cleveland realized that Jerome's limitations weren't going to improve.

I understand with the Cavaliers' cap situation, Jerome wasn't likely to return after his postseason play, so the trade for Lonzo Ball made sense to me.

I wasn't surprised that the Cavaliers re-signed Sam Merrill at the time, but I am mildly puzzled that Merrill (four years, thirty-eight million) was valued higher than Jerome, receiving an extra year (four to three) and almost the same compensation per year.

I like Merrill, and he has value as a shooter off the bench, but Jerome is a bit more versatile.

I wouldn't have had an issue keeping either player over the other, but it does feel as if Cleveland overpaid a bit for Merrill while Memphis may have bought a mild bargain in Jerome's contract.

Goodbye doesn't mean forever, Sunday Ticket

      David Gates sung the lyric "Goodbye doesn't mean forever" in the theme of the 1977 film "The Goodbye Girl".

Sidebar: The Goodbye Girl might be the only film ever to have a Best Actor Oscar-winning performance (Richard Dreyfuss) that wasn't even the best performance in the film as ten year old Quinn Cummings steals the film!

And after that performance, Quinn Cummings would act in ONE film (a supporting role in 1987's medicore Listen to Me) ever again! Incredible!I

I recently received an email from YouTubeTV for the upcoming renewal of the NFL Sunday Ticket package and as a subscriber of the package since 2004 in the days of Directv owning the rights, I've never thought about not renewing.

We have now reached the point of considering ending that purchase and it's a bit scary.

YouTubeTV now wishes to recieve $378.00 plus Maryland taxes (22.80) for Sunday Ticket for a total of $400.80 for the upcoming season and I'm starting to think that it's not worth it to see the Browns win four or five games.

That's a lot to watch bad football.

I've always thought that if you buy Sunday Ticket, the Amazon/Netflix/Peacock games should be included with the package, but they never will, as the streaming folks buy these games to attract the hardcore fan, not give them away for free. 

You may be wondering why it's scary.

Well, I've written about my loss of interest in baseball and without even a lousy team to care about, I could see my NFL interest sliding if I'm only watching either Baltimore or Washington games each week.

I'm not saying that it would but it could.

Just like I'm not saying that I won't cut Sunday Ticket, I'm only saying perhaps.

At a time in my life that I need more to be interested in, not less, that's a little scary.

It would also mean less Browns coverage here because I generally don't feel comfortable writing about games/teams that I'm not watching.

If I'm not watching, then I'm not adding anything original to the proverbial conversation and I wouldn't write as much.

It is similar to why I don't write often about Newcastle United, although the reason is a little different as I watch all the games but I don't know nearly enough about soccer/football to feel like I would be adding anything to that coverage.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't about the money, that does have something to do with it but it's also about the money-grubbing NFL and about the absolute ineptness of the Cleveland Browns and my lack of faith in Andrew Berry to make any moves to change the franchise's direction.

It's getting harder to justify paying that amount of money to watch crappy football but even harder is to give it to a business that gives you back nothing but anger and despair.

But one never knows because after all, goodbye doesn't mean forever.