Boxing Challenge

 Boxing Challenge

WBC Welterweight Title, 12 Rds

Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn

Ramon Malpica: Garcia KO 8

TRS: Garcia KO 4

Vince Samano:

Cruiserweights, 12 Rds

Jai Opietaia vs Noel Mikaelian

R.L: Opietaia KO 6

TRS: Opietaia Unanimous Decision

V.S:

Lightweights 10 Rds

Mark Magsayo vs Andres Cortes

R,L and TRS: Magsayo Unanimous Decision

V.S:

Welterweights 10 Rds

Jose Ramirez vs Alexia Rocha

R.L: Ramirez Unanimous Decision

TRS: Rocha Unanimous Decision

V.S:   

PPM

  The NFL season begins and the Ohio State Buckeyees travel to Texas to meet the Longhorns.

Last Week: 9-2

College

Ohio State over Texas 23-21

Texas Tech over Oregon State 41-13

Boise State over Memphis 42-37

N.C. State over Richmond 49-10

UTSA over Texas State 31-21

Wyoming over Northern Colorado 43-13

Nebraska over Bowling Green 37-16

Marshall over Middle Tennessee 27-17

Clemson over Georgia Southern 34-24

Utah over Arkansas 40-31

Games of the Week

Iowa over Iowa State 28-14

Virginia Tech over Old Dominion 45-10

Pro

Jaguars over Browns 27-10

Lions over Saints 31-27

Games of the Week

Bills over Colts 24-17

Chiefs over Broncos 28-25

Boxing Challenge: Knyba upsets Ruiz

         In Newark, New Jersey, former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz's comeback stumbled from the start as Damian Knyba won a much closer-than-it-should-have-been unanimous decision.

The 6'7 Knyba danced on his toes for most of the fight and pounded Ruiz consistently with his jab.

Knyba dropped Ruiz in the seventh, and the fight could have arguably been stopped, but Ruiz deserves credit for surviving and even winning a few rounds later in the fight.

The scores were bad, with Knyba winning 117-110 (my score was 116-111) and by two scores of 114-113, which means that without the seventh-round knockdown, the fight would have been scored a majority draw and would have been a horrible result.

Knyba will likely move on to an eliminator of some sort, while Ruiz looks like a fighter far past his prime and might want to consider retirement.

Middleweight Vito Mielnicki scored the biggest win of his career with a dominant unanimous decision over former title challenger Austin "Ammo" Williams in the co-feature, scoring a knockdown and winning by scores of 98-91 on all three scorecards.

In Ireland, the IBF's top welterweight contender Paddy Donovan stopped countryman Tyrone McKenna on cuts in the fifth round.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 101 pts (2)

Ramon Malpica; 87 Pts (3)

Vince Samano: 60 Pts (0)

Ohio State rolls past Ball State

    Unlike that school up North that won over Western Michigan in the biggest injustice since the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal game in basketball, Ohio State dispatched its MAC opponent with ease as the Buckeyes scored two touchdowns in each quarter in a 56-3 thrashing of Ball State. 

Julian Sayin threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns, with Jeremiah Smith catching eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns.

Ohio State will travel to Texas next Saturday for a rematch of last season's Buckeye win.

Honestly, I fell asleep during the game, so I'm not offering a recap.

I do plan on watching an edited replay, and if time permits, I may write about the reserve quarterbacks who each played and threw a touchdown in the win: Luke Fahey and Tavian St.Clair

PPM

       It's a new year of football and a new year of the Pigskin Picking Machine, or as we call it- the PPM.

First, with the shakeup in Western football, with schools leaving the Mountain West to join the returning Pac-12, we have some changes in the schools in the PPM.

The PPM has always featured one team from each conference in college football and two games of the week. Perennial favorite Boise State has moved to the Pac-12 from the Mountain West, where the Broncos will replace Oregon State.

This leaves a gap as the Mountain West will need a team; the team selected will be the Wyoming Cowboys.

We also change the "face of the PPM" every season, and this year, I didn't have a standout choice.

So, I selected one person from Entertainment, News, Sports, and Wrestling (not listing the runners-up, as they could be future choices) and asked Fred Landucci to make the call.

Fred selected CNN host and rabid Alabama football fan, Kaitlan Collins, and Collins will be this season's Face of the PPM.

Thanks for the help, Fred!

College Football

Ohio State over Ball State 56-3 

Texas Tech over Abilene Christian 72-10

Arkansas over North Alabama 39-14

Oregon over Boise State 41-35

Wyoming over Colorado State 24-21

UTSA over UT-Rio Grande 45-21

Georgia Southern over Charleston Southern 37-24

Bowling Green over Tarleton State 23-19

Middle Tennessee State over Murray State 17-12

Games of the Week

LSU over Clemson 35-20

Ole Miss over Louisville 39-34

Boxing Challenge

  The boxing challenge is rather light but interesting, with the comeback of former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz.

Ruiz has been inactive since his August 2024 draw with Jarrell Miller, but he's matched well with Damian Knyba.

The 6'7 Knyba has only one loss, but it was against his best opponent earlier this year, losing in three rounds to WBC champion Agit Kabayel, before Kabayel was named champion following Oleksandr Usyk's vacating all of his titles/

Ruiz needs a win first of all, but an impressive win could go a long way in earning Ruiz a better opponent in his next fight.

The co-feature is interesting with a crossroads middleweight match between popular but untested Vito Mielnicki and former world title challenger Austin Williams.

Williams lost both his bouts against world-class opposition (Hamzah Sheeraz and Carlos Adames) but Mielnicki has fought no one of that status.

On the Katie Taylor undercard, top welterweight contender Paddy Donovan meets countyman Tyrone McKenna.

Donovan is the mandatory challenger for IBF champion Liam Paro.

Boxing Challenge

Heavyweights 12 Rds 

Andy Ruiz vs Damian Knyba

Ramon Malpica: Ruiz KO 9

TRS: Ruiz KO 6

Vince Samano:

Middleweights 10 Rds

Vito Mielnicki vs Austin Williams

R.L: Mielnicki Unanimous Decision

TRS: Williams Unanimous Decision

V.S:

Welterweights 10 Rds

Paddy Donovan vs Tyrone McKenna

R.L: Donovan Unanimous Decision

TRS: Donovan KO 8

V.S:

Devils trade for Luke Evangelista

     The New Jersey Devils continue building toward a 2026-27 postseason return, trading two high future draft picks to the Nashville Predators for right winger Luke Evangelista. 

New Jersey will send Nashville a first-round pick that originally starts with Colorado, which could be in 2027, 28, or even 29 depending on the conditions at the time, and the Devils' second-round draft choice in 2028 for Evangelista. 

The twenty-four-year-old Evangelista is under contract for this season at three million and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Last season, Evangelista produced career highs in points (56) and assists (44) for the Predators while scoring twelve goals for Nashville.

Evangelista is noted for passing more than his shot, and while he's defensively responsible, he's not the most physical forward and can be pushed off the puck.

The acquisition of Evangelista bulks up the forwards, as he'll fit well on either of the Devils' first two lines, but it does mean that the team isn't likely to be complete with their offseason moves, as the Devils have a surplus and a decision to move a forward might pay dividends with extra cap room when the deadline arrives.