Boxing Challenge

The Boxing Challenge is back for the weekend with four bouts on DAZN, two of those four from the World Boxing Super Series and one from Las Vegas on ESPN+.

Two of those bouts will be part of the re-shuffling of the middleweight division.
ESPN+ brings over Japan's Ryota Murata and his minor title to defend against Minnesota's Rob Brant.
A Murata victory might mean a fight with Gennady Golovkin next in Japan, while Brant lost two fights ago in the super middleweight bracket of the World Boxing Super Series to Jurgen Braehmer before dropping back to 160 with a win over 12-11 Colby Courter.
Considering Brant's loss to Braehmer was his only fight against a top 20 level fighter and only a win over Louis Rose gives him a win over a top 100 fighter, it's not unfair to wonder why Brant is even in this fight.
Murata's resume isn't exactly one that is bulky with only a win (should have been two wins) over Hassan N'Dam against anyone of world-class, so this isn't as lopsided as you would think to enter the bout.

DAZN offers two cards with four challenge bouts on Saturday.
In Boston, Demetrius Andrade will face Walter Kautondokwa of Ghana for the vacant WBO middleweight title.
Why the vacant title?
Billy Joe Saunders was stripped of the title recently for failing a PED test and then stripping us of an interesting Saunders-Andrade bout.
Considering Kautondokwa has fought zero notable opponents and the talented if inactive Andrade should be considered an almost sure thing -if such a thing can be considered such in boxing.

The other challenge fight on the card has Tevin Farmer making his first defense of his IBF junior lightweight title against James Tennyson from Britain.
The slick Farmer is going to give anyone trouble style-wise and Tennyson is a fighter that I've never seen fight and is on a six-fight winning streak, but he has arguably the worst loss that I have ever seen for someone challenging for a title.
Tennyson was stopped in two by then 2-64-5 Pavel Senkovs in 2013 and it's going to take a lot of research to find a title contender with a loss that awful!!!
The card also features an IBF eliminator between Toka Kahn-Clary and Kid Galahad along with the return of Scott Quigg in an eight-round staying busy bout.

DAZN also will broadcast two more tournament entries from the bantamweight and cruiserweight divisions from the not exactly known for being a boxing hot spot in Orlando Florida.
The cruiserweight bout features power punching and second seed Yunier Dorticos matches up with Mateusz Masternak.
Dorticos is returning off his exciting loss to Murat Gassiev in what might be the best fight that the WBSS has made yet should be a huge favorite over Masternak.
The winner will face Andrew Tabiti in the semi-finals in a bout that I hope is more entertaining than Tabiti's quarter-final stinker over Ruslan Fayfer.

The bantamweight fight has much more potential as talented IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez faces his mandatory contender Jason Moloney of Australia.
Both fighters are undefeated with one name on their resume'- Rodriguez with Paul Butler from his title win and Moloney with a win over former junior bantamweight champ Kohei Kono.
This looks like an interesting fight, but I was really impressed by Rodriguez in his win over Butler.
The winner faces the "Monster" Naoya Inoue in the semi-finals.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 167-143

Middleweights. 12 Rds
Ryota Murata vs Rob Brant
R.L: Murata KO 7
TRS: Murata Unanimous Decision

Vacant WBO Middleweight Title. 12 Rds
Demetrius Andrade vs Walter Kautondokwa
R.L: Andrade KO 5
TRS: Andrade Unanimous Decision

IBF Jr. Lightweight Title. 12 Rds
Tevin Farmer vs James Tennyson
Both: Farmer Unanimous Decision

IBF Bantamweight Title/ World Boxing Super Series Quarter-Final. 12 Rds
Emmanuel Rodriguez vs Jason Moloney
Both: Rodriguez Unanimous Decision

Cruiserweights. 12 Rds
Yunier Dorticos vs Mateusz Masternak
R.L: Dorticos KO 3
TRS: Dorticos KO 5

Browns trade Carlos Hyde to Jaguars

The trade deadline isn't for another week and a half, but apparently, the Cleveland Browns didn't enjoy the "problem" of having two good running backs as the Browns traded Carlos Hyde to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a fifth-round pick in the 2019 draft.

Hyde rushed for 382 yards on 114 carries (3.4 yards per carry) with five touchdowns as the Browns main bell cow in the backfield.
This means that the sparingly used Nick Chubb will become the main ball carrier and Duke Johnson will see some more snaps, although his role should not change.

Chubb has been spectacular in limited use, but the key word is limited as Chubb has carried the ball just 16 times for a 10.8-yard average that is built around those two long touchdown runs in Oakland.
Nick Chubb certainly deserves more carries and I would have had no problems at all giving those to him.
However, the problem for me is that Chubb has already had a major knee injury at Georgia, has never been the workhorse ( Sony Michel shared carries) and since Duke Johnson is not anything more than a situational back ( love what he does,but not a 15-20 carry a game player), the Browns suddenly lack depth at running back.
My problem is that I would have preferred moving Chubb into the main role, but keeping the carries reasonably close for this season to also test Chubb for durability.

 Again, my issue isn't Hyde vs Chubb, it is that a team that has lacked depth for years has just traded
their depth away for a late fifth round choice.
I just don't see the rush for the Browns, although the Jaguars with an ailing Leonard Fournette are in a hurry to make the trade, but you could make the argument that a desperate team may have paid more, then again perhaps not.

One argument for the trade could be that Hyde was likely to be released at the end of the year anyway, so why not get something for him?
I see that and I'd bet that with Hyde's contract taking an almost three million dollar raise for next year, I'd say that was likely unless Hyde was willing to take a pay cut.
Still, this team has seen what one injury/trade can do to a team at wide receiver and they are walking a dangerous line now at running back.
I don't feel too badly for Carlos Hyde, who will be joining a team that reached the AFC title game and will offer him plenty of carries, at least for a while.

John Dorsey has managed to accumulate a few extra picks for next season, although it is not nearly as glittering as last year's draft of course.
The Browns currently have all of their 2019 picks, the Patriots 3rd and 5th rounders (Danny Shelton and Josh Gordon), the Jaguars 5th (Carlos Hyde) and possibly the Jaguars 7th (If Cody Kessler remains on the roster for the entire season), so they have a little ammo to make a move up into day two positions, should they desire.

I'm not a fan of this trade.
It relies too much on Nick Chubb being a workhorse, that he may or may not be ready for, but what I do think is this- John Dorsey and Hue Jackson aren't on the same page.
Not because Jackson isn't using Dorsey's guy (Chubb), because Dorsey signed Hyde too, so this isn't a case of moving a guy along that an incoming GM was stuck with.
It is more of a case of this- Dorsey thinks Chubb needs more carries after seeing his production in limited use.
Jackson continued to use Hyde far more often and since Jackson does control who plays on the field and Dorsey thinks Chubb is the future but is being held behind Hyde, Dorsey simply forces Chubb on the field by removing Hyde from the equation.
Make no mistake, there are disagreements between these two men, who were forced together via shotgun marriage and if Nick Chubb doesn't perform as well as hoped- there will likely be a clash after this season and Jimmy Haslem will be forced to make a choice on which man should be trusted with the future of the Cleveland Browns.

Back later with the boxing challenge.

PPM

The PPM suffered through a poor week last time out and hopefully, I can rebound a bit.

Last Week:5-6
Overall: 48-19-1

College
Ohio State over Purdue 34-21
Boise State over Colorado State 40-21
Ohio over Bowling Green 35-17
Middle Tennessee over Charlotte 30-20
Washington over Colorado 24-13
Houston over Navy 28-24
Texas Tech over Kansas 56-28

Game of the Week
Michigan over Michigan State 24-19

Pro
Buccaneers over Browns 42-35
Saints over Ravens 28-25

Game of the Week
Chiefs over Bengals 34-28

Cleaning out the inbox

Time for another cleaning of the inbox, as we'll begin with a goodbye of a good type, as Ken "Hawk" Harrelson stepped away from the Chicago White Sox broadcast booth at the end of the season a few weeks back.

As an announcer, he was certainly a polarizing figure, and his blatant homerism certainly was a throwback to radio days long in the scrapbooks.
ESPN looks at Harrelson, the difference between Ken and "Hawk", the routine at the ballpark and at home, and more.
I've always liked Hawk, but I can easily understand why other fans would not!
Still listening to Hawk's calls, I always thought he added fun to a game that needs more and more of just that.


My all-time favorite basketball coach (as far as the NBA anyway) Larry Brown is still coaching at the age of 78- this time in Italy.
Brown, who always seemed to be looking for Camelot and, as a result, lost many opportunities through the years to build dynasties, although he almost always delivered winners at his various stops, has run out of teams in the states between his vagabond ways and his age.
The Athletic checks in on Brown and offers a few notes that I didn't know about, including why he didn't pick Paul Pierce when he was with Philadelphia, even though he knew he was making a mistake.

The SWC Roundup writes of a rivalry between two teams that usually are at or near the bottom of Division I, but usually play very close games that offer memorable endings.
New Mexico State and UTEP play in the "Battle of I-10" and two rivalry trophies are on the line in the Silver Spade and Brass Spittoon.
Often the most torrid rivalries are from teams on the same level and both of these teams that usually (New Mexico State did win six games and a bowl last year) struggle to win more than two or three games look at each other as not only rivals, players from the same high schools that have played against each other before, but as a good opportunity for a victory.
This article looks at three games between 1989-91 where UTEP won all three games by a combined six points.
Their game this season was reasonably close, with the Aggies defeating the Miners 27-20.


Another rivalry from schools of similar quality seems to be fierce despite the teams only playing each other twice as of now, as Texas State (Sun Belt) and UTSA (Texas-San Antonio, Conference USA) have developed some hate with each school drawing over 30,000 for their home game in the series thus far.
There is a nice ( but pretty generic-looking) trophy given to the winner, but it looks more like a larger and shinier version of a fantasy football league trophy.
A regional supermarket (HEB) sponsors the game and trophy, but a fan has come up with an idea that favors neither school but plays to the sponsor with a golden shopping cart.
Weird? Yes, but that's college football!

18 Birdies covers the evolution of the golf ball over the years, going way back to the first golf ball in 1550, which was an all-wooden ball!
Imagine hitting a ball made of wood with the limited clubs of the time and think about just how far that ball "flew"!
The article moves through several other phases that the ball went through in how they were made during each change of the ball, and it was quite interesting to read about what the balls were made of and contained on the inside.

We leave with the passing of former Philadelphia Eagles safety Wes Hopkins at the age of 57.
Hopkins was a second-round pick of the Eagles in 1983, was a first-team all-pro in 1985, a devastating thumper in the Ronnie Lott mold, and seemed to be on his way to an outstanding career.
A devastating 1986 knee injury ruined all of that, and even though Hopkins would return from the injury to be a starter and a fine player, he was never able to reach his previous form, which, had he been able to maintain that level of play, might have placed him in Hall of Fame consideration. 

Nick Bosa leaves Ohio State

College Football continued its evolution and not always for its benefit as Ohio State lost Nick Bosa for the rest of the season as he attempts to recover from the core muscle injury that he suffered in the Buckeyes September win over TCU.

I see both sides as I will explain shortly, but it is one more step towards even more of a sea change for college football that might not be a good one.

For the Buckeyes and as a Buckeye fan, I understand how it feels to have lost one of the best two defensive players in the country and it would have been very nice to hope that Bosa would have been able to return for a potential playoff run or even the Michigan game.
However, after hearing from Bosa's father (Former Dolphin John Bosa), it looks to have been unlikely that Bosa would have been able to return for the playoffs at close to 100 percent and nearly impossible for the Michigan game.

Considering that outcome, that Bosa would be lucky to be back at all and even higher odds that he would be close to peak level, I'm OK with this- For Nick Bosa.
I mean, Bosa is going to be in the top three players selected in the draft and an aggravated injury could cost him millions of dollars, so in this particular case, I understand it.
Since Bosa wasn't going to return for his senior year anyway and he had to rehab his injury, I can understand why he didn't want to squeeze classes into a packed schedule.
I do think as a team captain, that Bosa should have considered that part of the decision a little more, but perhaps he did that or talked to the team and received the OK.
Still, this is a multi-million dollar decision and let's be honest- you go to college for setting up your future and since it is now in order, risking injury can only dilute that future.

Besides, for all that I love Ohio State football, with the exception of support from boosters and people that remember the gridiron heroes of the past with jobs, opportunities etc, Ohio State will move onto the next player that helps pack that stadium.
It sounds cold, it is and until players start receiving some type of compensation ( and any such compensation would have been nowhere near enough for Nick Bosa to return when you consider the money involved), the lack of loyalty will go both ways, no matter how many times you sing "Carmen Ohio".

I get why Nick Bosa did this and with his draft position and the health issue adds a variable that many players that will have to make a similar decision in future will not have to deal with.
However, it is another step down the road in college football towards a change in the game.
Last year, it was Denzel Ward sitting out the Cotton Bowl (a non-playoff game) to avoid injury before the draft, now it's Bosa not attempting to return and the ball could possibly just be beginning to roll downhill.
Players have established that non-playoff bowl games aren't worth the risk, so what's next- conference title games?
If you get there, what are the chances of a hard-hitting rivalry game such as the Michigan game that ends your season?
Those are likely stretches but are at least theoretical scenarios that could happen depending on the situation and player.

Ironically, for all the edges that the Power Five (and especially the elite schools there) have in so many areas, this is an area that the Group of Five schools will be able to avoid for the most part.
Now, there will be exceptions- I'd be amazed if Ed Oliver played in Houston's bowl game unless they were the G-5 representative in the New Year's Day bowls, but usually for those schools, they'll play the bowls with the same players that got them there and that will be an advantage in the small to medium bowl games where they would play a lesser Power Five team.

In closing, I'm not mad at Nick Bosa, I think he made the right call and Ohio State will move on to the next player until this happens again.
Still, I think more and more of these type things are going to happen and it won't be good for the game.
I don't have an answer to solve this problem, but some people are going to have to start thinking about this because it is not going to leave anytime in the future.

Boxing Challenge: Crawford Cuts Down Benavidez

It was a WBO weekend in the Boxing Challenge with three championships being defended in various venues and two quarterfinals in the World Boxing Super Series.

The biggest bout hailed from Omaha, Nebraska where hometown star Terence Crawford ripped home a tremendous uppercut in the final round to drop Jose Benavidez and followed up with the most ferocious finishing attack in the business to end the fight with a beaten Benavidez helpless and sliding along the ropes.
Benavidez fought pretty well for the first half of the fight, but Crawford steadily wore the taller and seemingly larger opponent down and was well ahead on my scorecard (8-3) entering the final round.

The problem for Jose Benavidez and what a talented fighter hasn't been able to figure out to date, is that he has excellent physical advantages for the division (tall and strong), but has never learned to use them.
In other words, Benavidez doesn't fight "tall" and use a strong jab to keep opponents on their back foot.
When Benavidez tried that against Crawford and he didn't do enough of it, he had success and whether Crawford took that away from him or he simply refused to continue using what worked, that is where the fight swung to Crawford.

As for Terence Crawford, arguably the top fighter in the world, it looks like a mandatory defense next and then who knows what waits on the Top Rank side.
Everyone wants to see Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford, but the problem is that the guy that likes to fight and wants to be more active (Crawford) doesn't have a lot of fights available, while the person that is content with one or two fights a year (Spence) has plenty of them that are easy to make.
I hate to say it, but we might look back down the road at Crawford-Spence and that might be another great fight that never happened or at least, happened too late.

On the undercard, Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson knocked down late replacement Viorel Simion three times in the first round in a round one stoppage in showing the power that Stevenson had yet to flash in his start as a pro.
A great performance by Stevenson, but I thought the refereeing was inept as the second knockdown was clearly a slip and despite Simion being badly hurt after the third knockdown, the bell clanged loudly that the round was over after Simion rose, yet the referee stopped the fight rather than allow Simion the minute between rounds to try to put things together.
I'm very doubtful that would have happened, but Simion deserved the chance to try.
Bad refereeing happens so often in states like Nebraska that rarely have fight cards and I know that there would be a certain degree of hassle involved, but I'd really like to see referees (and judges for that matter) be imported that have more experience for the world-class cards that are scheduled for less than world class boxing states.

In Russia, the World Boxing Super Series limped to a slow beginning with two quarter-finals in two divisions that went the distance and excited no one.
In the cruiserweight division, American Andrew Tabiti won a unanimous decision over Ruslan Fayfer in a less than exciting fight.
The most exciting thing in this fight was Fayfer's point deduction in the last round for pushing.
I scored Tabiti a 115-112 winner and Tabiti will face the winner of this weekend's Yunier Dorticos-Mateusz Masternak matchup in the semi's.

The other fight in the bantamweight divisional tournament wasn't more exciting as lanky Zolani Tete retained his WBO title with a unanimous decision over a decorated amateur, but inexperienced professional in Mikhail Aloyan,
Outside of Tete knocking Aloyan down in the first round, the bout was eleven rounds of attempted movement by Tete and loads of grabbing, wrestling, and holding by both boxers to the point of both fighters having a point deducted.
Tete will face the winner of the upcoming WBA title fight between Ryan Burnett and Nonito Donaire in the next round.
Let's hope that both Tabiti and Tete will deliver better fights in their next fights than they did last week.

I'm not sure how many people were watching on Facebook as this fight took place at the same time as Terence Crawford was fighting on ESPN, but WBO light flyweight champ Angel Acosta took out Abraham Rodriguez with a bullet of a left hook in the second round as you'll see anywhere.
I'm not sure what Acosta has next for his future, but for his size, he punches as hard as anyone under 126 pounds.

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica 8-7 on the weekend to increase my lead to 167-143 on the season.

Browns Bubble Burst by Bolts 38-14

The bubble that was the Cleveland Browns did indeed burst against the visiting Los Angeles Chargers, who did anything that they chose in a 38-14 thrashing by the banks of Lake Erie.
Baker Mayfield threw for 238 yards and one touchdown but threw two interceptions in a game that saw the rookie look the way most rookies can at times.
David Njoku led the Browns receivers with seven catches and the only Cleveland touchdown.
The now 2-3-1 Browns travel to Tampa next week in what could be a very fun game to watch against a 2-3 Buccaneers team that has allowed 30 or more points in four of their five games.

Brownie Bits

1) Baker Mayfield returned to Earth in the loss as the Chargers took away his passing lanes and limited his ability to move around the pocket.
Notice that I didn't use the word "Exposed" as that would mean teams would have a concrete way of stopping Mayfield, but the problems that helped me grade him lower than other QB"s arrived on this day- trouble seeing through a dirty passing lane, can he avoid athletic blitzers (The Chargers had success sending corner Desmond King and safety Derwin James), how quickly does he figure out illusions in coverage and how long does it take to get rid of the football.

2) Note that I'm not saying that makes him a failure either. Baker has been able to get the ball out faster in the previous starts than against the Chargers and some of that has to with his lack of targets (more later) and others on what the Chargers did against him.
This game is one of adjustments, the more film that is available on Baker, there will be things that opponents try and he'll have to be able to change accordingly.
The players that have initial success and then fade away are the players that aren't able to do that.
That is what is interesting about watching the maturation of a young quarterback.

3) Jarvis Landry isn't a number one receiver.
That's not a knock. He's a hell of a number two receiver, but he's not a number one.
If the Browns are able to find themselves a number one in the next season or so, we'll all see just how good Jarvis Landry is, but when covered by top corners that are able to push and shove him around because they don't have to worry about him running by them.
In the defeat, Landry saw nine passes tossed his way and he finished with two catches for just eleven yards.

4) Baker Mayfield's line didn't do him any favors either.
The aforementioned passing lanes weren't cleared and Mayfield had little time to throw.
Perhaps the rookie didn't get the ball out as quickly as in his previous three games, but the Chargers sacked Mayfield five times and none of them were by their best rusher in the absence of Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram.
Desmond Harrison struggled for the first time since the Steelers game and the offensive line is going to have to do better.

5) For as poorly as Baker Mayfield played, it wasn't all on him and his numbers should have looked far better as both Antonio Callaway and Damion Ratley dropped very catchable passes in the end zone.
Would the Browns still have lost? Of course, but three touchdowns and two picks on a bad day certainly would have looked better in reviewing the game for Mayfield.

6) Personally, I don't know why the Chargers even bothered to throw the ball at all.
The game hadn't even reached the second quarter yet and I'm noting "Melvin Gordon does whatever he wants, gouging for huge chunks of yardage, UGH".
Gordon would finish with 132 yards on 18 carries with three scores.

7) It wasn't just Gordon, the rest of the Chargers added 118 yards on 18 more carries.
Two points here- first, this is where offensive coordinators get too cute (the Chargers bungled a trick play for a large loss early) and don't catch on that they are bullying the opponent to do what they wish.
Second- I think Keith Lincoln could have entered into this game and rushed for fifty yards.
Keith Lincoln was a Charger great that retired in 1968.

8) The one play that you could circle and say this isn't our day-The 45-yard touchdown pass from Phillip Rivers to Tyrell Williams that dropped through three Browns for the score.
When three guys are on one and the ball is caught without a tip or a fluky bounce- it's usually not your day.

9) And then consider the second Rivers to Williams score from 29 yards away.
Tackle Russell Okung not only moves for a false start, HE STOOD UP, which screams FALSE START!
All the Browns stop and most visibly Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi stand there as the flags stay in EVERY referee's pocket and Rivers just drops back and hits Williams for the score.
The Browns didn't lose because of that call, but boy you are starting to think that someone really hates the Browns or someone on the coaching staff.
Supposedly, Hue Jackson got an apology for that when the game went to commercial.
Big Whoop.

10) On top of that, another wideout injury after losing Rashard Higgins in the win over Baltimore and Derreck Willes on Friday to a broken collarbone, it's Rod Streater that is lost on special teams in the first quarter.
Editor's Note: Streater was announced Monday to be lost for the season.
That meant that only Jarvis Landry and rookies Antonio Callaway and Damion Ratley were available wide receivers for the rest of the game.
I'm not excusing the drops and miscues, but with only those guys available, it had to limit the formations and even play calling.

11) Before the game (and of course, they couldn't use him because he had not even practiced) the Browns signed former Baltimore first-round pick Breshad Perriman to help with the wideout depth.
Now, the Browns will have to sign another receiver in the next day or two as well.
Perriman missed his rookie season in 2015 but had an intriguing 2016 with 33 catches for 499 yards and three scores.
Perriman caught just ten passes last year in eleven games before the Ravens released him in their final cut.
Washington would sign him but only kept him for four days.
I have no idea what Perriman will bring to Cleveland, but at 25 years old and considering the "free" talent, I'm interested.
Perriman's dad is former Saint WR Brett Perriman, a noted Tecmo Bowl legend.

12) Joe Schobert left the game with a hamstring injury and no word on his status for Tampa Bay.
The Browns linebackers aren't a particularly deep bunch as it is and backup James Burgess also left the game with an injury as well.

13) Ok- teams in various stages of growth will throw a shoe every now and then.
It hurts that it was a home game and even though I bought into things a little too much and picked the Browns, the Chargers are a better football team (they'd look even better in the AFL powder blue uniforms) and in hindsight should have been the favorite.
That's over and now it's a trip to Tampa Bay for a huge game.
Why huge at 2-3-1?
Tampa Bay has played five games and allowed 30 points or more in four of them with the one that didn't reach 30, it was close at 27.
Tampa Bay stops no one.
However, they score a lot and if you take away their version of yesterday ( a 48-10 loss at Chicago) they have scored 48,29 and 27 twice, so they will score points.
The Browns will need this one because they will be underdogs at Pittsburgh and home against the Chiefs, so a loss to Tampa Bay could see the Browns quickly at 2-6-1 before hosting Atlanta, a score a lot/allow a lot team before the bye.
So there is a scenario that sees the wheels flying off at 2-7-1 entering the bye and that could mean goodbye to Hue Jackson.
This next one is a big one, bigger than some will imagine and it could decide just where this season goes.