Boxing Challenge: Part Two

  We move to the second part of the boxing weekend and the half that isn't at Madison Square Garden, with three of the four junior middleweight titles at stake at two sites.

In Newcastle, England, Bakhram Murtazaliev defends his IBF junior middleweight title against former Olympian Josh Kelly on DAZN.

Murtazaliev knocked out Tim Tszyu in the third round in October 2024 to retain his title in an upset win.

Kelly was knocked out in six by welterweight contender David Avanesyan in 2021 in his only fight above the European level, so Murtazaliev is a deserved heavy favorite.

Top Rank on their FAST channel moves to Puerto Rico for Xander Zayas meeting Abass Baraou in a junior middleweight unification of the WBO (Zayas) and WBA (Baraou) titles.

Both Zayas and Baraou will making their first defenses of titles won last year, and in a division with several solid fighters in need of a standout, the winner could shove their way near the top.

Sunday night in Las Vegas, Zuffa returns with its second card on Paramount+ and a much-improved one with three crossroads bouts.

The main event pits former WBA junior welterweight champion Jose Valenzuela, returning to the ring for the first time since losing the title to Gary Antuanne Russell last year.

Opponent Diego Torres has just one loss, but it was to his best opponent, current IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla, who stopped Torres in eight rounds in 2023.

Two former contenders meet at middleweight as Serhii Bohachuk battles Radzhab Butaev.

Bohachuk was the mandatory challenger for WBC champion Sebastian Fundora before attempting to avenge a loss to Brandon Adams in a stay-busy fight last September.

Adams surprised Bohachuk for the second time, knocking him out of a title chance.

Butaev has fought just twice since his only loss in 2022, a split decision to Eimantas Stanionis.

The winner will move up the ladder, and the loser will take a step back.

Two former victims of Artur Beterbiev face off in the opener as former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk meets Radivoje Kalajdzic.

Both are attempting to rebound from recent losses, Gvozdyk to David Benavidez, Kalajdzic to David Morrell.

This appears to be a good style match, so it might be a very entertaining fight.

Boxing Challenge

IBF Junior Middleweight Title 12 Rds

Bakhram Murtazaliev vs Josh Kelly

Ramon Malpica: Murtazaliev Unanimous Decision
TRS and Vince Samano: Murtazaliev KO 6

Unification WBA vs WBO Junior Middleweight Titles, 12 Rds

Abass Baraou vs Xander Zayas 

All: Zayas Unanimous Decision

Lightweights 10 Rds

Jose Valenzuela vs Diego Torres

R.L: Valenzuela Unanimous Decision
TRS: Valenzuela KO 9
V.S: Valenzuela KO 4

Middleweights 10 Rds

Serhii Bohachuk vs Radzhab Butaev

R.L and TRS: Bohachuk Unanimous Decision
V.S: Bohachuk KO 4

Light Heavyweights, 10 Rds

Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs Radivoje Kalajdzic

All: Gvozdyk Unanimous Decision

Boxing Challenge- Part One

   It's the first big weekend of the 2026 boxing calendar, and when I say big, I mean it with ten matches in the boxing challenge.

The biggest of the bunch is part of the DAZN/Ring Pay-Per-View, with two of the biggest names in the sport, as Teofimo Lopez defends his WBO junior welterweight title against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson at Madison Square Garden.

Lopez is an underdog to the talented Stevenson, and he has struggled the most against boxers, winning questionable decisions to Sandor Martin and Jamaine Ortiz, but Lopez seems to fight his best when he's the underdog, with his best victories over Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor in that role.

Stevenson continues his move up in weight in a career that started at featherweight and he was even fun to watch in his most recent win (and arguably best) in his unanimous decision nod over William Zepeda.

Style-wise, I'll pick Stevenson all day, but Lopez always surprises most when he's counted on least, so I'm open to either man getting the duke!

Former WBO lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis returns to the ring for the first time since losing his title on the scales last year and then getting into a brawl behind the scenes against Jamaine Ortiz in a junior welterweight match.

Ortiz is known for his close losses to Vasyl Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez, and his boxing could give Davis, who has been off for close to a year (a knockout win over Denis Berincyk in four rounds), problems if Davis is rusty.

Davis, a former Olympic silver medalist, could use an impressive win to wipe the stench of his fiasco last June away a small amount.

The vacant WBC featherweight title, vacated by Stephen Fulton, will be contested between top prospect Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington and Carlos Castro.

Carringron received lots of attention on the Top Rank cards on ESPN and is an excellent young fighter, but has yet to face a contender in his short career.

Castro has failed against his best opposition but was robbed against Stephen Fulton in his last fight (September 2024), losing a majority decision when he knocked Fulton down in the fifth round and deserved the victory.

Carlos Adames and mandatory challenger Austin "Ammo" Williams have a recent common opponent in their fight for Adames's WBC middleweight title- super middleweight contender Hamzah Sheeraz.

Sheeraz stopped Williams in the eleventh round in 2024, but Williams has won three straight bouts since that loss.

Adames drew with Sheeraz last February in a fight that most thought Adames won.

Editor's Note: Adames was unable to make weight due to dehydration and was forced to drop out of the fight.

Heavyweight Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller continues his comeback against Kingsley Ibeh.

Miller drew with Andy Ruiz in August 2024 in his first fight since his initial career loss to Daniel DuBois.

Ibeh has won eleven straight since a 2021 loss to Jared Anderson.

In part two of the challenge, we'll write about this weekend's fight outside the MSG PPV.

Boxing Challenge

WBO Junior Welterweight Title. 12 Rds

Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson

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

Junior Welterweights 12 Rds

Keyshawn Davis vs Jamaine Ortiz

All: Davis Unanimous Decision

Vacant WBC Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Bruce Carrington vs Carlos Castro

R.L: Carrington Unanimous Decision
TRS: Carrington KO 9
V.S: Carrington KO 8

Heavyweights. 10 Rds

Jarrell Miller vs Kingsley Ibeh

R.L: Miller KO 5
TRS: Miller KO 8
V.S: Miller Unanimous Decision

Browns hire Todd Monken as head coach

    After a month of searching, the Cleveland Browns came up with a coach they could have hired three weeks ago: Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

Monken had been the offensive coordinator for Baltimore for the last three seasons but had struggled in 2025 with Lamar Jackson, both on and off the field.

The soon-to-be 60-year-old Monken has been a head coach only once in his career, compiling a 13-25 record in three seasons with Southern Mississippi, though after winning one game in his first season there, He won nine games in his final season before moving to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator.

Monken was with the Browns before, serving as their offensive coordinator in 2019 during the one season that Freddie Kitchens was Cleveland's top man.

Monken's offenses with Baltimore were at the top of the league in their first two seasons, but slid in 2025 due to injuries to Lamar Jackson and an offensive line that was worse than in past seasons.

The Browns have had several candidates remove themselves from consideration due to the team's insistence on the new head coach keeping Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator, but Schwartz is reported to have said his goodbyes inside the Browns headquarters and isn't interested in returning to the Browns.

The Browns have bungled this beyond even the Browns' usual screwups.

I wasn't thrilled with the Browns going too young with Jacksonville's Grant Udinski or the Los Angeles Rams Nate Scheelhasse, but I could see why they would decide on that path.

Monken, who has been described by The Athletic's Zac Jackson as a "Grumpier Kevin Stefanski," doesn't bring youth, a dynamic personality, or a winning head coaching background and might have been the compromise candidate between Jimmy Haslam and Andrew Berry (Berry, who shouldn't be here to begin with) as a coach who would take the job with Jim Schwartz, only to see that go awry when Schwartz (rightfully so) is angry about not getting the job and doesn't want to return.

In the end, the Browns took over a month to hire a coach who no one else interviewed (sound familiar?) because it was so important to keep Jim Schwartz, yet not important enough to give the head job to Schwartz, who now wants to leave the team and cause the one unit that has worked (the defense) to be in an uproar.

 I just don't understand the decision or rationale in hiring Todd Monken.

The Browns somehow took the worst-case scenario and made it their own.

Keeping Andrew Berry as GM, hiring another candidate no one else is looking to hire, losing Jim Schwartz, turning off their players, and sending their fan base into "business as usual" mode is clown show material.

Clownshow- meet Brownshow.

Devils obtain Tsyplakov for Palat

  While watching the New Jersey Devils 4-3 loss against the Winnipeg Jets (I haven't seen many games and written about what I have watched), the Devils announced a trade that will help the team under the salary cap next season.

New Jersey sent veteran winger Ondrej Palat, with 2026 third, and 2027 seventh-round picks, to the New York Islanders for right winger Maxim Tsyplakov.

Maxim Tsyplakov is twenty-seven years old and is in his second season in the NHL after playing several years in Russia's KHL.

Tsyplakov scored ten goals with twenty-five assists for the Islanders last season, but has scored just one goal with one assist in twenty-seven games this season.

Ondrej Palat was in his fourth season with the Devils after the team signed him as a free agent from Tampa Bay in 2022.

Palat scored four goals and six assists in fifty-one games for New Jersey this season, and with the trade, the Devils will save six million dollars on next season's salary cap.

The savings on the cap are why the Devils had to add the draft picks to make the deal, as Tsyplakov will be under contract for next season at a more palatable 2.25 million.

Road Trip: Day Two

       Day two started with us heading to Springfield, Ohio, and the Springfield Antique Center.

I've had luck there in the past, and I would again this time as I grabbed the pictured Sesame Street clubhouse from 1977 for Archie.

It came with a few figures, but it gives me a project to work on for when he visits.

I found a few programs, most notably a 1971 Ohio State vs Michigan State and an Arkansas vs Navy game from 1982, but the big find was for Archie.

Fred found a silver dollar for his collection, so both of us were pleased leaving Springfield.

We drove to another place in Dayton, Antiques Village, but I didn't make a purchase there.

We grabbed a light lunch at a combined A&W Root Beer/Long John Silvers which was up the street from Antiques Village.

I've always liked LJS, but in recent years, all of the local stores, with one exception (Martinsburg, WV), had been closed, so this was a nice treat.

We then drove to the Cincinnati area for our evening stay at the Fairfield Hampton Inn.

Located next to the former Cincinnati Mills Mall, which was in the midst of demolition during our visit, the Hampton was a little different, as many of the lights weren't functioning!

The front desk person was helpful and gave me some bulbs, but the issue must have been with the lights or wiring, as none of the new bulbs worked either!

I gave Fred the choice of our dinner location and, befitting the name Landucci, Fred chose an Italian chain, "The Old Spaghetti Factory." 

It wasn't very good, and the service was slow.

It was actually so bad that Fred gave me a future "Chip" to cash in on a place that Fred might not select, but I'd like to try!

We returned to the hotel to watch the Browns 31-29 loss to the Tennessee Titans from earlier in the day and rested for the third day, which would see one of the favorite items that I've ever found, and it wouldn't even be mine!

Boxing Challenge: Muratalla Shades Cruz

    Raymond Muratalla used an aggressive yet controlled style to force the superior boxer, Andy Cruz, to engage more and move less, winning a close majority decision to retain his IBF lightweight title in Las Vegas.

The fight reminded me a lot of the two Artur Beterbiev-Dimtri Bivol fights, as it was a fight that had plenty of action but was done with skill, not with crude punches.

Muratalla was the slightly harder puncher, had the advantage in the final few rounds, and deserved the very close decision, which he won by scores of 118-110 and 116-112 for Muratalla and 114-114 even.

I thought Muratalla won by a tight 115-113 score and believe the 118-110 card was out of touch with reality.

Muratalla was making a mandatory defense and was the visiting fighter (Muratalla is promoted by Top Rank) on a Matchroom/DAZN card.

Muratalla surprised me a little with the win and is going to be a tough out for anyone in the division but unification fights may have to wait a while with the WBA title being vacated (Gervonta Davis had the title removed due to his out of the ring issues) and the WBC title could be vacated should champion Shakur Stevenson win his junior welterweight championship match with Teofimo Lopez next week.

WBO champion Abdullah Mason is also promoted by Top Rank but is still relatively untested, and Top Rank may not be in a hurry to have a prized prospect meet Muratalla too early.

Cruz fought well, and after a close loss, I wouldn't be surprised to see his name in the mix for vacant titles.

Former WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov returned to the ring after a long absence but didn't thrill anyone in a rout of Luis David Salazar.

Madrimov won on all three cards (and mine) 99-91 and hurt Salazar in the final round, but otherwise trudged his way to the easy win.

Khalil Coe blew weight by an astonishing eight pounds before his light heavyweight fight against Jesse Hart, lost a point for bodyslamming Hart, and appeared to be defeated by Hart, a former super middleweight title challenger.

Yet, Coe was rewarded with a majority decision that he didn't deserve, winning by scores of 96-92, 95-93, and 94-94.

Hart didn't help his cause when he lost a point for holding in round six, but it didn't cost him the fight on those cards.

I scored Hart the winner 95-93.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica; 8 Pts(4)

Vince Samano: 7 Pts (3)
TRS:  6 Pts (2)

PPM

  The college season is over, and we move to the NFL's conference finals to determine who will be playing in the Super Bowl! 

Last Week: 4-1 

Overall: 167-81

AFC Championship

New England over Denver 24-14

NFC Championship 

Seattle over Los Angeles 37-35

 

Boxing Challenge: Zuffa Boxing Debut

     The debut card for Zuffa Boxing on Paramount+ showed that there is much work for the infant promotion to do, but one thing was definite: the fighter who was hoped to be their first homegrown star has a long way to go to become a standout.

Junior middleweight Callum Walsh outclassed former title challenger Carlos Ocampo in winning an easy unanimous decision. Still, for the second fight in a row, Walsh was given a prime stage to shine and instead proved to be simply workmanlike.

Walsh won by scores of 98-90 on two scorecards and 97-91 on the third (I scored Walsh the winner 97-91).

Ocampo was deducted one point while Walsh's glove touched the canvas in the sixth round, which gave Ocampo a knockdown, but Walsh wasn't hurt in the slightest.

Walsh appears to be a solid if unexciting fighter who could contend for a title in the right situation but is unlikely to develop into a star.

I did watch the broadcast with interest as Zuffa started its production.

The commentary was mixed as Joe Tessitore moved over from ESPN for blow-by-blow with Max Kellerman and Andre Ward providing the analysis.

Tessitore isn't a favorite of mine, but he's not terrible.

I've always liked Max Kellerman, but I'm not thrilled to see Andre Ward back.

Everything with Ward revolves around how great he was, and his analysts tend to fall into the trap of complementing him at the cost of the match in the ring.

I liked Tim Bradley's work at ESPN, and he improved a lot after Ward left, simply because he could call the fight rather than talk about Ward.

Kellerman was always a Ward admirer when Ward was active, and I fear he is falling into the same habits as Tim Bradley had when he worked with Ward.

I didn't see much of the pre-fight or desk portions of the broadcast, but I'll try to see those when Zuffa returns with what appears to be a much better slate of fights on February 1st.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 4 Pts (2) 

Vince Samano: 4 Pts (2)

TRS: 4 Pts (1) 

Boxing Challenge

    The boxing challenge will feature three intriguing fights from Matchroom/DAZN, as well as the first event from newcomer Zuffa Boxing on Paramount+. 

Las Vegas will host the only world title bout of the weekend as Raymond Muratalla defends his IBF lightweight title against Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz.

Muratalla won the vacant title last May with a unanimous decision win over Zair Abdullaev, while Cruz last fought only six times as a pro, his most recent win a fifth-round knockout of Hironori Mishiro last June.

 Muratalla has met the better competition of the two, but that's balanced by Cruz's extensive amateur experience at the highest level.

Cruz has the better skills, but he also has questions about his chin, having never faced a puncher as a professional.

I think this is a close fight, and I lean slightly toward Cruz, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Muratalla grab the win.

The co-feature will see the middleweight debut of former WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov.

Madrimov has lost his two recent fights by close decisions to Terence Crawford and Vergil Ortiz, so he has no shame in those defeats.

Madrimov's opponent is 20-1 Luis David Salazar, who is untested and has only seven KO's in his twenty wins and was stopped in his only loss, in which he was dropped four times.

The other challenge event from Las Vegas is an interesting light heavyweight match between prospect Khalil Coe and former super middleweight contender Jesse Hart.

Coe avenged his only loss when he knocked out Manuel Gallegos in six rounds last summer, while Hart has won five straight against lower competition since his 2020 split decision defeat to Joe Smith.

This one could be very entertaining.

The Friday action is also in Las Vegas with Zuffa Boxing's first show on Paramount as unbeaten junior middleweight Callum Walsh meets former world title challenger Carlos Ocampo.

Walsh trudged to a dull unanimous decision over then-unbeaten Fernando Vargas Jr. on the Crawford-Canelo undercard in his last win.

Ocampo has lost each of his three attempts at the world-class level, losing to Errol Spence, Sebastian Fundora, and Tim Tszyu.

Boxing Challenge

Junior Middleweights. 10 Rds 

Callum Walsh vs Carlos Ocampo

Ramon Malpica and Vince Samano: Walsh Unanimous Decision
TRS: Walsh KO 4

IBF Lightweight Title. 12 Rds

Raymond Muratalla vs Andy Cruz

R.L: Muratalla Unanimous Decision
TRS and V.S: Cruz Unanimous Decision

Middleweights 10 Rds

Israil Madrimov vs Luis David Salazar

R.L and V.S: Madrimov Unanimous Decision

TRS: Madrimov KO 6

Light Heavyweights 10 Rds

Khalil Coe vs Jesse Hart

All: Coe Unanimous Decision

Forgotten Superstars: Jose Luis Castillo

    Some people have just been unlucky in life.

It's hard to call Jose Luis Castillo unlucky in his career. 

After all, Castillo was a two-time lightweight champion and is remembered as one of the two participants in the greatest fight of all time. So how could he be unlucky?

Well, Castillo lost the greatest fight of all time, possibly due to a referee error, may have beaten the never-defeated Floyd Mayweather, only to be denied on the scorecards, and defeated five world champions during his career (Six if you count Floyd). Yet, he's not in the boxing hall of fame.

Castillo has wins over Diego Corrales, Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz, Stevie Johnston, and Jorge Paez, and has fought world champions Ruslan Provodnikov, Ricky Hatton, Cesar Soto, and Floyd Mayweather, all in losing efforts.

Castillo's credentials make him deserving of the Boxing Hall of Fame, but there are a few reasons that he's missing his plaque.

First, he didn't receive the decision he deserved against Floyd Mayweather.

That evening and the resulting ripple effect would affect boxing for years.

I've always thought that if Castillo had won, Mayweather's career might have been even better. As his career advanced, Floyd would have been a fighter rather than a businessman, not worrying about protecting an unbeaten record.

It would also have raised Castillo in the eyes of boxing historians as the only man to have defeated an all-time great, and adding that victory to an already-qualified resume would have put him over the top for induction.

I think Castillo's win is held against him, which sounds silly, but allow me to explain.

Castillo badly missed weight for his rematch against Diego Corrales, and after paying a fine to Corrales, Corrales agreed to fight, and the much bigger and stronger Castillo stopped Corrales in the fourth round.

It was one of the first cases of what has become a problem in the sport, weight bullying, where a fighter doesn't try to make the weight, accepts his punishment (which in a title fight means the title is no longer at stake, pays a fine to the opponent, and often gives himself a better chance of winning.

Castillo had a huge advantage in the second Corrales fight (Corrales made the weight), and when the third fight saw Castillo miss the mark by an even larger number, Corrales, who again made the weight, refused to fight under those conditions, and the fight never happened.

I believe missing weight is held against Castillo (he also missed weight for a fight against Timothy Bradley, forcing a cancellation) by Boxing Hall of Fame voters(In which I'd do a far better job as a voter than many, by the way), and it shouldn't be.

While Castillo wasn't always professional about making the contracted weight, those issues shouldn't keep him from the Hall.

After all, Castillo moved from the top sparring partner for the great Julio Cesar Chavez to a successful two-time lightweight champion with several prominent victories and an exciting, fan-friendly style, so it has to be held against Castillo for the two blown weights against Corrales, because I can't think of another reason.

Jose Luis Castillo deserves a spot in boxing's hall. For now, he will have to settle for being the latest to enter the Forgotten Superstars universe. 

Hagerstown receives Soccer Franchise

     I was scrolling the internet recently and stumbled upon the logo to your right.

Hagerstown will host a minor league soccer team, although it's unclear whether it is a true minor league or semi-pro team, with the season running from May through July.

The Hub City Football Club (Black Roses) will start play in May as a member of the National Premier Soccer League, which is listed as a Tier One league, the top level of amateur soccer in the country.

I have become quite an ardent admirer of the English leagues (all four levels, which can be streamed on the Peacock (Premier League) or Paramount (EFL) ), I haven't followed the other top European leagues (Spain, Germany, France, or Italy), the U.S.-based MLS, or the national competitions such as the World Cup.

I'm intrigued, at least for now.

Much would depend on where their games would be (It would almost have to be either Meritus Park, where the Atlantic League Boxcars play, or one of the two Hagerstown high school stadiums), and when the games would take place (Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays would be out due to work commitments) would be a factor in how many I could attend.

North Hagerstown's Mike Callas Stadium is newer and nicer than South Hagerstown's School Stadium, and they have the advantage of not being located where people can watch the game from the Pizza Hut parking lot for free, so if I had to guess on where the team will play, I'd pick North Hagerstown.

I enjoy soccer, although I don't write about it often here.

I don't have enough knowledge about the sport to feel like I'm adding anything valuable to discourse, or I'd write about Newcastle United here at TRS.

I watch all their games, but I would be re-warming other people's work because I don't know enough about the nuances of the game.

Still, I'm interested in the arrival of HCFC, and I could see a world (presuming things fall the right way) where I attend some games and cover them here.

Hopefully, things work out for a successful debut.

Road Trip: Landucci Hits Ohio

    In December, I was able to do something that I've wanted to do for a while.

I've written about Fred Landucci many times through the years, and in recent times, Fred has had his share of physical issues, but he's always wanted to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I wanted to be able to deliver that for him.

Fred's always been there for me, and I wanted to do this for him.

Originally, the trip was planned for Mike Oravec to join us, but his mom had been in poor health, and he needed to stay home in case he was required, which is more than understandable.

Fred and I left in the morning with one early stop planned in Steubenville, Ohio, at the Naples Spaghetti House.

Noted as the favorite restaurant of the late Dean Martin, Mike Oravec, and I had stopped there in 2024 and enjoyed it so much that Fred wanted to eat there as well.

However, there was one problem- there were no parking areas near Naples due to a town parade/event!

Fred was disappointed, as was I, but with Fred's limited movement, it would have been just too difficult for him to navigate.

Leaving Steubenville with regrets, we traveled to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I've been to the Hall many times (and this is my third visit this year!), so I'm not getting too deep into the Hall, other than Fred had a great time, and I was happy to help him see something he has always wanted to see.

We traveled to Ashland to spend the night, and bought a few things from the store, along with me buying some items for someone from work.

We ordered some pizza from Donna D's before watching the Big Ten title game with Ohio State losing a disappointing 13-10 decision to Indiana.

We got up early for a big day on day two, with a gas stop where I was able to buy Fred his Christmas present- an old school football from Ohio State with a neat look of worn leather.

The photo above is a small hint of one of the hits from day two, which I'll write about at a future date!

PPM

   The collegiate game decides a national champion, and the NFL showcases its best weekend of the year!

Last Week: 4-2  

Overall: 163-80

College

Indiana over Miami 32-27

NFL

Seahawks over 49ers 24-17

Rams over Bears 38-33

Bills over Broncos 27-22

Patriots over Texans 17-14

 

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

 We return to the world of tributes to a few recent passings from the sports world.

Goodbye to Rodney Rogers at the age of 54.

Arguably the second-best player (after Tim Duncan) in the history of Wake Forest basketball, Rogers was a lottery selection (ninth overall) in the 1993 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets after winning the ACC Player of the Year award the previous season.

Rogers would play twelve seasons in the NBA for seven teams and would win the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2000 with the Phoenix Suns.

Rogers had been paralyzed from the neck down since a dirt bike accident in 2008.

Goodbye to Elden Campbell at the age of 57.

The all-time leading scorer for the Clemson Tigers, Campbell was named All-ACC three times in the late 1980s before being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, where he played for the first nine years of his fifteen-year career.

Campbell led Clemson to the only regular-season ACC title in the program's history and is the surprising answer to a question: Who scored the most points for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1990s?

Goodbye to Dave Morehead at the age of 82.

Morehead was one of a group of pitchers that the Boston Red Sox hoped could return to contention in the early sixties, but were not part of the eventual Impossible Dream team in 1967.

Morehead pitched for the 1967 American League champions but was not a key contributor, finishing 5-4 in ten starts.

Morehead fired a no-hitter at Fenway Park for Boston over Cleveland in 1965 in a game attended by only 1,200 fans.

Goodbye to Steve Taneyhill at the age of 52.

Known for his long ponytail and his homerun swing touchdown celebration, Taneyhill set the South Carolina record for passing yards and led the Gamecocks to the first bowl victory in their history with a 1995 CarQuest Bowl win over West Virginia.

Taneyhill spent two seasons on the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad but never appeared in a game for them.

Goodbye to Steve Regal at the age of 73.

Often remembered as the "other" Steven Regal," Mr Electricity" held the NWA and AWA's light heavyweight titles, and with "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin, held the AWA tag team titles, defeating the feared Road Warriors in a match with tons of outside interference.

Regal would later wrestle for the NWA and WWF as a preliminary wrestler after Garvin and Regal's title reign ended with a loss to Scott Hall and Curt Hennig.

Regal was the son-in-law of the star wrestler of the Golden Age, Wilbur Snyder.

Goodbye to Jawann Oldham at the age of 68.

The second round pick of the Denver Nuggets in 1980 from the University of Seattle, Oldham would play until 1995, playing for eight teams as a backup big man known for his shot blocking and defense.

Oldham would later play a key role in starting the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean professional leagues.

Goodbye to Rags to Riches at the age of 21.

The first filly to win the Belmont Stakes in over a hundred years was in the 2007 edition.

Rags to Riches also won the Kentucky Oaks and would win the Eclipse Award for Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

Boxing Challenge! Smith knocks out Matias

   Most people thought Dalton Smith had a chance to upset Subriel Matias in his attempt to take the WBC junior welterweight title from Matias.

Few thought that Smith could knock out Matias, who had shown a strong chin in his many slugfests, but Smith surprised everyone with a fifth-round KO to lift the WBC title from Matias in New York City.

The fight was filled with toe-to-toe combat, and with Smith bleeding from a cut over his left eye, Matias seemed to be edging ahead in what promised to be a bruising affair.

Smith ended all of that when he landed a right hand in the fifth that took away the legs of the champion, and as he wobbled, a second right hand dropped him face-first to the floor.

Matias managed to reach his feet, but his legs were clearly not listening to him, and the fight was waved off.

I had Matias slightly ahead 39-37 at the time of the stoppage.

Smith will meet former champion Alberto Puello next in a WBC-mandated bout.

Puello lost his title to Matias last year in a close fight, so he's a deserving challenger and should test Smith.

Smith moves to the top of a division filled with talented young champions (Teofimo Lopez WBO, Gary Antuanne Russell WBA, and Richardson Hitchens IBF) and could make good matches with any of them should he defeat Puello.

Matias may have taken a step back after being knocked out, as his style is built on wearing fighters down until they wear out.

Now that his chin has shown some vulnerability, Matias could be at the beginning of a slide down the division, and his next fight is worth watching to see how being knocked out for the first time will affect him.

In Germany, heavyweight contender Agit Kabayel survived a strong first round from Damian Knyba to score a third-round stoppage.

Knyba landed several right hands in an aggressive first round and bruised Kabayel around his left eye, but the German landed well in the second round before hurting a dazed Knyba with right hands of his own.

I thought the ending could have been a little premature, but I think Kabayel would have ended the fight anyway, so Knyba was spared some punishment.

Boxing Challenge

Kabayel should be in line for a possible future challenge of Oleksandr Usyk, who owns three of the four heavyweight titles, but a potential fight against recently promoted WBO champion Fabio Wardley (Usyk vacated that title after his win over Daniel DuBois) would be an almost-guaranteed firefight.

TRS: (3) 

Ramon Malpica: (2)

Vince Samano: (1)

PPM

   The NFL postseason arrives with six playoff games over three days!

Last Week: 3-4

Overall: 159-78

AFC
Patriots over Chargers 24-21

Bills over Jaguars 35-33

Texans over Steelers 20-17

NFC

Packers over Bears 31-29

Eagles over 49ers 27-21

Rams over Panthers 35-17

Boxing Challenge

    January is a slow month in boxing, usually because few want to train during the holidays.

But this weekend, there are two fights of interest for the boxing challenge for 2026.

In Germany, heavyweight contender Agit Kabayel makes his ring return with a minor title defense against unbeaten Damian Khyba.

Kabayel has stopped his last three opponents, each a notch higher up the ladder, with a 2023 knockout over then-unbeaten powerhitter Arslanbek Makhmudov, a 2024 KO of smooth boxing Frank Sanchez, and last year's knockout of perennial contender Zhilei Zhang, and has made himself a deserving championship contender.

The unbeaten Khyba hasn't fought top competition yet, with his best wins coming against then-unbeaten Marcin Siwy and journeyman Joey Dawejko, and takes a big jump forward against Kabayel.

In New York City, Subriel Matias defends his WBC junior welterweight title against his mandatory contender, England's Dalton Smith.

Matias, who held the IBF version of the title before an upset loss to Liam Paro, won the WBC title last July with a majority decision win over Alberto Puello.

Smith, the youngest and most heralded of the British Smith family, is an aggressive fighter, but other than a KO win over a washed-up Jose Zepeda, his opponents have been of the European level.

Style-wise, this should be a very entertaining fight, with both fighters enjoying a more aggressive approach, so I'm looking forward to this one!

Boxing Challenge

Heavyweights 12 Rds 

Agit Kabayel vs Damian Knyba

Ramon Malpica: Kabayel KO 6
TRS: Kabayel KO 4

Vince Samano: Kabayel Unanimous Decision

WBC Junior Welterweight Title 12 Rds

Subriel Matias vs Dalton Smith

R.L and V.S: Matias Unanimous Decision
TRS: Smith Split Decision

Cleaning out the Inbox

  The inbox is overdue for a cleaning, so I'll do so here!

Apparently, whether you want to blame it on climate change or a natural coincidence, the range for animals continues to stretch, and when that happens, new breeds can intermix with each other.

Weather.com writes of the new hybrid species, the "Grue Jay," which is a breed comprised of a Blue Jay and a Green Jay.

The Green Jay, a warm-weather bird, has moved a few hundred miles north from its previous northern border along the Texas/Mexico border.

The Blue Jay has extended its range westward, and now the two have started interbreeding, producing birds with mixed characteristics.

NHL.com shares the inspirational story of Seattle Kraken reporter Piper Shaw, who has overcome a challenging childhood to achieve her goal of working in media. 

Shaw's story has to be read to be believed that she survived such awful treatment, and I'd recommend that you do so!

The Athletic offers "Trouble with the Snap, which discusses the tenth anniversary of the Michigan-Michigan State game that saw the Spartans win on the final play of the game when Michigan's punter fumbled the snap, and Michigan State recovered and scored for the victory.

The article also digs into the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry, which is often overshadowed by the Ohio State-Michigan wars but is almost as heated between the two schools.

Cleveland Magazine writes about the retro Pizza Hut restaurants that pop up around the country, yet the chain doesn't actually acknowledge they exist.

The Pizza Huts are decorated and designed exactly as they looked in the 1980s!!

The redesigns were offered for a limited time and aren't available after a change in management.

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings: Non-Sports Edition

      It's the non-sports edition of tributes from a few notable people who have recently left our world.

Goodbye to Ace Frehley at the age of 74.

The long-time guitarist for KISS, Frehley, was with the band from 1972-1982 before going on his own. 

Frehley returned to the band from 1996-2002, but eventually left on bad terms with band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.

When KISS's four members released solo albums in 1978 under the KISS banner, it was Frehley who had the only hit with "New York Groove," which reached the top twenty.

Goodbye to Sonny Curtis at the age of 88.

Curtis played guitar with Buddy Holly and the Crickets and, after Holly's death, moved into the lead vocals position with the group.

Curtis was more famous as a songwriter, penning such songs as "I Fought The Law", "Walk Right Back", "More Than I Can Say", and the theme song of the "Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Love Is All Around.

" Love Is All Around" was a hit ten years apart for Curtis, with the theme hitting in 1970 (sung by Curtis) and again in 1980 with a slower, country-style ballad by Curtis.

Goodbye to Steve Cropper at the age of 84.

"The Colonel" was the guitarist in the 1979 film classic "The Blues Brothers" for the band, but was also a key part of the "Mar-Keys", who scored a hit with the instrumental "Last Night" in 1961.

"Last Night" is fondly remembered by me from my childhood, thanks to its use in the opening introductions of NBA broadcasts by CBS, with Brent Musberger breathlessly adding his comments.

Cropper was also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from his membership with "Booker T and the MG's" and was a noted songwriter with credits from co-writing hits such as "Knock On Wood", "In the Midnight Hour", and "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay".

Goodbye to Adam the Woo at the age of 51.

I'm not really the target audience for YouTube influencers, but I did enjoy watching videos made by "The Woo," as he was actively in the travel community.

Woo also traveled to abandoned places and into places behind the scenes, which he often didn't have permission to visit, which caused him to be banned from the Disney parks.

I didn't watch every one of his videos because, after a while, there are only so many amusement park videos that I can watch, but he seemed like a nice guy who found a niche that touched many people.

Garrett breaks record in Browns winning finale

     Myles Garrett got the sack that he needed to set his record, the Cleveland Browns' defense scored the team's only two touchdowns, the Cincinnati Bengals missed two extra points, and Andre Szymt kicked two 49-yard extra points.

All of that occurred before Szymt kicked a 49-yard field goal on the last play of the game to give the Cleveland Browns a 20-18 win in Cincinnati, the final game of the Kevin Stefanski era, if not the Andrew Berry era, in Cleveland.

Devin Bush grabbed a tipped Joe Burrow pass and ran ninety-seven yards for one touchdown, and Sam Webb ran fifty-three yards after recovering a Noah Fant fumble for the other Browns touchdown.

The Browns finish with a record of 5-12 and will return for the 2026 season with a new head coach.

Brownie Bits

1) It took until the fourth quarter, but Myles Garrett did get the one sack that he needed to set a new NFL record for sacks in a season.

The Bengals did an excellent job keeping Garrett off Joe Burrow until the record-setting sack, when Garrett was able to get off the line with an incredible jump, and Burrow had no way to avoid Garrett.

2) I was interested to hear that Michael Strahan commented that his was the real record because he did it in sixteen, not seventeen games.

Strahan is right that his task was accomplished in fewer games, but the NFL used to play twelve and then fourteen before Strahan's day of sixteen games, and I don't remember him complaining about that.

The record is the record for most in a season until the NFL decides to have a record for 12, 14, or 16 game seasons.

3) Shedeur Sanders's day wasn't very impressive as the rookie lostt a fumble and was fortunate to finish without an interception as the Bengals dropped two that should have been caught.

Sanders finished with a paltry 111 yards and was sacked six times.

4) Sanders did come through on the final drive, as he led the Browns into position for Andre Szymt's game winning boot, twice converting third downs with ten plus yard completions.

Sanders has been a mixed bag in his start, he did win three of his starts (Raiders, Steelers, and Bengals) but didn't really stand out in any of them.

5) Shedeur Sanders played well enough to be in the mix for the starting job in training camp but not well enough to hand him the top job.

I saw some things I liked and some I didn't, so consider me unsold but not on a permanent basis.

6) You have to be happy for Andre Szymt who came full circle after missing a field goal against these same Bengals that would have won the season opener, only to beat the Bengals with a field goal in the final game of the season.

Szymt finished the season twenty-four of twenty-seven on field goal attempts and proved me wrong when I wanted him released after the opener.

7) Cincinnati kicker Evan McPherson is usually one of the better booters in the league.

McPherson had missed only one extra point all season but in this one, McPherson missed two extra points in a game that Cleveland won by two.

8) The Bengals scored the first touchdown (Evan McPherson missed the XP) and appeared to be ready to go up by two touchdowns when Shelby Harris stuck up his hand to deflect a Joe Burrow pass into the hands of Devin Bush, who ran ninety-seven yards for the score.

Harris has always brought a knack for deflections as a defender and in blocking kicks and if the veteran doesn't return, that ability will be missed.

9) The Browns made life tough on Andre Szymt as he had to kick forty-nine yard extra points twice as both Devin Bush and Sam Webb were flagged for excessive celebrations as both dived into the end zone untouched on their scores.

I can excuse Bush's penalty a little but after seeing that call, Webb's penalty was really mindless.

10) The Browns will pick 6th in the first round and the win over the Bengals didn't hurt their position thanks to Washington's win over Philadelphia.

Had Washington lost that game, the Browns would have selected seventh.

11) Final note: The Browns won their final two games.

Had they lost both games, they would have selected first as they would have won the tiebreaker with the other three win teams.

Browns Fire Kevin Stefanski, Keep Andrew Berry

   I'll be reviewing the Browns' win in Cincinnati later, as the bigger news came on "Black Monday" with the Cleveland Browns firing head coach Kevin Stefanski and deciding to keep general manager Andrew Berry.

Stefanski, as has been noted ad nauseam, won two Coach of the Year awards and took the Browns to two playoff berths, along with one playoff victory when they won in Pittsburgh during the Covid era.

However, the Browns won just eight games in the last two seasons, including two meaningless games at the end of this season, and Stefanski's offenses struggled badly since the team fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt in an attempt to tailor the offense to the then-starting quarterback, DeShaun Watson.

Stefanski's mantra of "Tough, Smart, and Accountable" slowly frittered away as a team consistently committed stupid penalties ( including Stefanski's final game that saw two touchdowns tagged with excessive celebrations that forced Andre Szymt to make two 49-yard extra points), and generally played undisciplined football and rarely paid any type of price for it.

Stefanski's Achilles heel was his inability to work with quarterbacks, which is confusing considering his arrival from Minnesota was heralded with Stefanski's reputation as a quarterback guru.

Stefanski was unable to revive Baker Mayfield's early success, struggled to connect with DeShaun Watson, his belief in rookie Dillon Gabriel proved to be unfounded, appeared reluctant to give Shedeur Sanders a chance despite Gabriel's struggles, before he was forced to play Sanders after an injury to Gabriel.

Stefanski finished his Browns tenure with a record of 45-56, a record that took a serious dip in his final two seasons after finishing those years with a slate of 8-26.

Stefanski won't be unemployed for very long, as it's been reported that he will interview for at least three teams with head coaching vacancies (Giants, Falcons, and Titans), and was rumored during the season to be the top choice to become the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive coordinator, if he was not hired for a head coaching position.

As for Andrew Berry, the man who built a flawed squad without investing in skilled players to help any of the questionable quarterbacks he provided, he managed to retain his position as general manager due to his first solid draft in the six drafts he oversaw.

While I credit Berry with a solid draft that shines compared to his five previous attempts, with the additions of three or four potential stars (Carson Schwesinger, Harold Fannin, Quinshon Judkins, and Mason Graham), even in that draft, Berry wasted a third rounder on Dillon Gabriel.

Berry has made more errors than I list, even before the DeShaun Watson debacle, with ridiculous extensions to Jerry Juedy and Dustin Hopkins, to name a few, awful drafts that included selecting Jedrick Wills, now out of football, over perennial All-Pro Tristan Wirfs as the Browns' left tackle for the decade, and each time the Browns drafted a wide receiver or offensive lineman, they went bust or below average at best.

Berry drafted Grant Delpit and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah before the possibly career-ending neck injury to JOK.Outside of those two players, Berry's picks made average to no impact for the Browns.

Berry has especially struggled in picking players at three positions: quarterback, wide receiver, and offensive linemen, which are the team's biggest needs in April's draft, and it gives me anxiety with Berry picking these positions.

I plan a deeper dive into the Andrew Berry-led personnel decisions in the future, but when you consider his picks at quarterback (Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders), wide receiver (Anthony Schwartz, David Bell, Michael Woods, Cedric Tillman, Jamari Thrash), and offensive line (Jedrick Wills, Nick Harris, James Hudson, Dawson Deaton, Dawand Jones, Luke Wypler, Zac Zinter), it's easy to see my concern.

To be fair, only Jedric Wills was picked in the first two rounds, and some of these picks have been hampered by injury throughout their career, such as Cedric Tillman and Dawand Jones.  Berry hasn't been able to land even an average player who starts with consistency at these positions.

When you add in arguably the worst trade in football history, his bungling of the salary cap, and his drafting limitations before 2025, it's fair to question how Berry kept his job.

A narrative of supporters of Kevin Stefanski was that Stefanski deserved the chance to return with his own quarterback, and they often pointed to the lack of offensive talent on the Browns.

The man in charge of building those units was Andrew Berry, and he is being given a mulligan for his mistakes.

I don't feel sorry for Kevin Stefanski. The time was right for him to leave Cleveland.

The problem is that the creator of this roster mess is allowed to stay and continue in his "roster building".

Kevin Stefanski wasn't screwed by losing his job.

Kevin Stefanski was screwed by the Haslams and the Browns, who chose him as the scapegoat as the person most responsible for the disaster that is the Cleveland Browns.

That person kept his job.

I'll be working on the Browns' win over Cincinnati later, and the Andrew Berry deep dive will be coming very soon.

Thanks for reading this extra-long post.

One missed block, one missed boot costs Buckeyes in Cotton Bowl defeat

    The Ohio State Buckeyes missed execution on a few key plays, and it was too much to overcome against a well-prepared Miami Hurricanes team, who upset the Buckeyes 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Julian Sayin finished with 287 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, with Jeremiah Smith catching seven passes for 157 yards and a touchdown.

Ohio State ends its season with a 12-2 record and will start its 2026 season in September at home against Ball State.

Olentangy Offerings

1) The one missed block came in the first half when a play developed in slow motion (it seemed) as Julian Sayin attempted a screen pass.

Jeremiah Smith didn't block his man, so Kelonte Scott shot through to grab the lob and race seventy-two yards for the score that Ohio State never really recovered from.

2) Watching the replay. It's hard to see whether Smith missed the block or just thought he could get away with minimal contact.

Either way, that missed block set the tone for the remainder of the game.

3) The first half saw the Buckeye offense struggle until the final drive of the half, and Jayden Fielding trotted onto the field for his first field goal attempt since his catastrophic short miss against Indiana in the Big Ten title game.

Forty-nine yards is hardly a chip shot, especially for a college kicker, but you need your kicker to come through when needed, especially when 14-3 and some momentum would have meant so much compared to 14-0.

Fielding missed.

4) Another underrated play of note happened in the final quarter when punter Joe McGuire smashed a fifty-three-yard punt and forced a Hurricane fair catch at their own eleven.

This would have been a great chance for Ohio State, then trailing 17-14, to get a stop and the ball back for a potential winning drive.

Ohio State was called for illegal formation, McGuire's second punt traveled twenty yards less, and Miami started at their own thirty-one instead.

5) Ryan Day needs to re-evaluate the program's acquisitions of kickers and punters because, far too often in recent years, the kicking game in Columbus has come up short against good teams.

I know the theory against using scholarships, etc., on kickers who so seldom make a difference during the season at powerful programs, but they can make a tremendous difference in big games and often cost one.

6) And sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way.

In the third quarter, Miami's Malachi Toney took a tremendous lick from Caleb Downs, causing him to fumble.

However, the ball bounced right back into the arms of a stumbling Toney, who recovered the ball and allowed Miami to kick a field goal on the next play.

Honestly, that might have been the biggest play in the game, as a turnover would have resulted in three fewer points for the Canes and kept momentum rolling for Ohio State, who had scored their first touchdown on the previous drive.

7) On the final scoring drive of the game, when Ohio State needed a stop, it was the Hurricane offensive line that made the difference as they physically pounded the Buckeye defense with their running game.

Miami moved seventy yards and threw the ball only twice on the drive that put the game in the Miami column.

8) The offensive line struggled to keep the Miami pass rush off Julian Sayin, especially in the first half.

Miami does have two defensive linemen who are expected to be high first-rounders (Reuben Bain and Akheem Mesidor) in the NFL Draft, and the Buckeyes did a better job protecting Sayin in the second half. The Hurricanes sacked Sayin five times, equalling Indiana's sack haul against Ohio State.

9) Now we head to the silly season of the transfer portal, where the Buckeyes will bring in players and lose others.

Ohio State will lose several defensive starters, and especially the back seven will take its share of new arrivals.

Face it, the bottom third of the roster is going to churn over constantly in the new world of college football, and whether we like it or not, college football has changed, and Ohio State has to be prepared to change with it.

10) I'm disappointed with the end of the season, but I'd grade it as an average season.

Had you asked me before the season if I would take two regular-season losses, a CFP berth, and a dominating win over Michigan if offered?

I would have.

Remember, Texas and Penn State were regarded as top-five teams entering the season, and losses to each of those teams weren't out of the realm of possibility, so I would have taken the offer.

Still, losing the final two games was a bit galling, I can't lie, but I've felt worse at the end of seasons.

11) Watch for the CFP to move to sixteen teams without byes.

I don't blame rust for the defeat to Miami, who outplayed OSU and deserved the win, but it's fair to wonder if that will change after seven of the eight teams that received byes in the first two years of the CFP were defeated.

I'm okay with sixteen, although there will be even more non-competitive first-round games. However, I would prefer that the first two rounds be held at campus locations.

I'm not sure if the current contract for the playoffs would allow so many non-neutral games, but that's my hope.

PPM

 The final week of the NFL season is here, and the college playoff is down to a surprising final four.

Last Week: 2-6 

Overall: 156-74

College Playoffs

Ole Miss over Miami 31-27

Indiana over Oregon 26-19

NFL
Bengals over Browns 22-17

Falcons over Saints 24-17

Games of the Week

Seahawks over 49ers 37-35

Panthers over Buccaneers 29-28

Ravens over Steelers 20-14

Happy New Year

    Happy New Year to everyone!

I'm due for a good year, as 2023 saw crazy work horrors followed by a great 2024 with the birth of our first grandchild.

2025 wasn't a great year, with my hospitalization and other setbacks, both in my personal and family.

2026 is in an even year, so I'm hoping for a bounce-back year!

Best to all of you and yours!