Not Quite a Boxing Challenge

     It's not quite a boxing challenge because I got a bit overwhelmed with life and forgot to send out the boxing slate for selection, but the heavyweight slugfest between Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora still needs to be acknowledged.

The two veterans put on an entertaining, if not technically perfect, battle, with both fighters scoring knockdowns and landing power punches throughout.  

It might not have been Larry Holmes-Ken Norton or Riddick Bowe-Evander Holyfield, but considering the ages and fading abilities of the two forty-plus bombers, it was a pretty good scrap.

Wilder scored two knockdowns (round eight and eleven), but lost a point for pushing Chisora to the floor, while Chisora scored an eleventh-round knockdown but didn't have Wilder in serious trouble.

Wilder won by scores of 115-111 and 115-113 (I scored 114-113 for Wilder, with a dissenting score for Chisora of  115-112.

Chisora announced his retirement after the fight, but this is boxing, so I'm not counting on that for a while.

Wilder suddenly has some doors open after his biggest win in years.

Chisora was very high in the IBF rankings, and Wilder's win might put him in the running for WBA/WBC/IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk, who considered defending against Wilder earlier this year.

Wilder could also finally fight Anthony Joshua in a long-awaited fight, which might make Wilder more money (especially if he returns to Great Britain) than a challenge of Usyk, and a fight that he has a higher chance of winning.

I know these fights aren't classic, and the old-timer tours don't appeal to some, but I don't mind them within reason.

Matched carefully against each other, fun fights can happen, and the chances of someone getting hurt are less than fighting a younger contender near their peak.

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

     The tributes begin with the passing of the man who produced one of the top baseball memories in history, and certainly number one in the hearts of fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Goodbye to Bill Mazeroski at the age of 89. 

A controversial inductee in the Hall of Fame in 2001, Mazeroski was named to seven All-Star teams, won eight Gold Gloves, and won two World Series (1960, 1971) before the team retired his number nine after his retirement.

Mazeroski was the best glove man of his era, but some hold his average bat (career average of .260 and OPS of .667) against him as proof that he shouldn't be in Cooperstown.

Mazeroski is best remembered, of course, for his ninth-inning walk-off homer in game seven of the 1960 World Series to give the undermanned Buccos a 10-9 win and the world championship over the powerful New York Yankees.

Mazeroski was given a statue commemorating the homer at the Pirates' current home, PNC Park.

Goodbye to Wayne Granger at the age of 81.

A durable reliever, Granger led the National League in saves for the 1970 National League champion Cincinnati Reds with thirty-five.

Granger finished his nine-season career with 108 saves and an ERA of 3.14 and was the National League's Fireman of the Year in both 1969 and 1970 for Cincinnati.

Granger was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1982.

Goodbye to Matt Snell at the age of 84.

Snell played both defensive end and fullback at Ohio State before choosing the AFL's New York Jets over the NFL's New York Giants in 1964.

Snell won the AFL's Rookie of the Year award in 1964 but is best remembered for his game in the Jets' upset over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

Snell scored the Jets' only touchdown in their 16-7 win, finishing with 121 yards on the ground, and in my opinion, deserved the MVP over Joe Namath.

Goodbye to Gerald Paddio at the age of 60.

Paddio was a star on UNLV's 1987 Final Four team, averaging thirteen points and nineteen points in his second and final season with the Runnin' Rebels before being drafted by Boston in the third round of the 1988 NBA draft.

Paddio played two seasons in the CBA before joining the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1990 as a reserve, averaging seven points per game in his only season in Cleveland.

Paddio would make brief cameos for four other NBA teams, spending most of his time in the CBA and Europe.

Boxing Challenge: Fundora pounds Thurman

 Due to time constraints, a just-the-facts wrap-up of the boxing challenge.

Sebastian Fundora stopped Keith Thurman in six lopsided rounds to keep his WBC junior middleweight title.

Junior middleweight Yoenis Tellez won a unanimous decision over Brian Mendoza.

Heavyweight contender Moses Itauma stopped Jermaine Franklin in the fifth round.

Light heavyweight Willy Hutchinson won a unanimous decision over Ezra Taylor.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 36 Pts (5)

Ramon Malpica: 35 Pts (7)

Vince Samano: 28 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

A just the facts version due to illness.

March 28: Las Vegas (Prime Video PPV, PPV.COM)

Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman, 12 rounds, for Fundora’s WBC junior middleweight title

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Fundora Unanimous Decision 

Vince Samano:

Yoenis Tellez vs. Brian Mendoza, 10 rounds, junior middleweights

R.L and TRS: Tellez Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano:

March 28: Manchester, England (DAZN)

Moses Itauma vs. Jermaine Franklin, 10 rounds, heavyweights

R.L: Itauma KO 6

TRS: Itauma KO 2

Vince Samano:

Willy Hutchinson vs. Ezra Taylor, 10 rounds, light heavyweights

R.L: Hutchinson Unanimous Decision

TRS: Taylor Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: 

Browns sign AJ Epenesa

    The Cleveland Browns signed a few players last week while I was away on a work outing, and while most were players the team hopes can help improve special teams, one name stuck out as a possible contributor outside of the specialty units.

Cleveland signed defensive end A.J. Epenesa for one year and five million dollars from the Buffalo Bills, and I think this signing could be an underrated help to the Browns.

Epenesa was the Bills' second-round choice in 2020 from Iowa and has twenty-four career sacks in his six seasons with Buffalo.

Epenesa had two and a half sacks last season after finishing with six and a half sacks in each of the two previous seasons with Buffalo.

The intriguing part about Epenesa is that he has four interceptions and twenty-four pass deflections in his career, which are interesting numbers from a defensive end and show Epenesa has a knack for finding the ball on the rush.

Assuming that Epenesa can finish with five or six sacks as a rotational rusher, and if Alex Wright could reach the same total, the Browns could have a productive pass-rushing position across from Myles Garrett in 2026.

Boxing Challenge: Adames, Martinez win

 Two fights in the boxing challenge last weekend were entertaining, if one-sided.

In the better fight of the two, Lester Martinez won a minor title at super middleweight with a unanimous decision win over Immanuel Aleem in San Bernardino, California.

Martinez dominated, although Aleem landed enough to keep Martinez honest.

Aleem did win a few late rounds and hurt Martinez a little in round ten, but the fight was never in question.

Martinez won by scores of 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110, with my score at 117-111.

In Orlando, Florida, Carlos Adames knocked down Austin Williams in the second round, and other than losing a point for low blows in the final round, Adames had things his way in defending his WBC middleweight title by unanimous decision.      

Adames won by scores of 118-110 and two of 117-111, which was my card as well.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 31Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica: 28 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 28 Pts (4)                               

Boxing Challenge

     It's a two-fight weekend for the boxing challenge, but both are important- one for a world title, the other for a minor title that could set the victor up for a title shot in the future.

In Orlando, Florida, Carlos Adames defends his WBC middleweight title against Austin "Ammo" Williams in a fight originally scheduled for earlier this year, with a late dropout from Adames.

The common opponent is Hamzah Sheeraz, who knocked out Williams but drew with Adames, with most thinking Adames did enough to earn the verdict.

Williams has been more active, but I'm not sure his chin holds up against the power of Adames.

If it does, Williams has a chance to outwork Adames and win in a mild upset.

The other fight in the challenge is from ProBox for a minor super middleweight title.

Lester Martinez, who drew with Christian Mbilli in a fight of the year candidate in his last appearance, meets Immanuel Aleem for an interim title.

Should Martinez win, he'd be in line for an Mbilli rematch or a possible Canelo Alvarez pairing, as Canelo will meet Mbilli later this year.

Aleem scored his best win in years in his last bout, stopping Demond Nicholson in nine rounds last July.

Boxing Challenge

WBC Middleweight Title. 12 Rds

Carlos Adames vs Austin Williams

Ramon Malpica: Adames Spilt Decision
TRS: Adames KO 9
Vince Samano: Adames Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds

Lester Martinez vs Immanuel Aleem

R.L: Aleem Unanimous Decision
TRS: Martinez KO 10
V.S: Martinez Unanimous Decision