Boxing Challenge: Donaire tears down Burnett, Taylor dazzles

The World Boxing Super Series filled out the dance card for the semi-finals in both their bantamweight and junior welterweight tournaments from Glasgow, Scotland with a shocking ending eliminating their top seed in the 118-pound bracket.

In the bantamweight opener of the two WBSS fights, WBA champion and the top seed in the tournament Ryan Burnett was having a pretty good fight with Nonito Donaire, who dropped eight pounds from his spring loss to Carl Frampton to return to the 118-pound division, until under a minute to go in the round when Burnett fell to the floor in pain grasping his side.
The referee was forced to call it a knockdown and I cannot imagine how much pain Burnett was in as he tried to rise and continue.
Donaire drove a near helpless Burnett into the corner and riddled him with punches as the heavy-hearted Burnett attempted to fend him off until the bell rang.
Burnett was unable to continue after the ring, being taken from the ring on a gurney and the WBA title along with the semi-final berth left with Nonito Donaire.
The ending wasn't only strange, it was an unsatisfying ending to a fight that had shown some pretty strong action after four rounds, which I had scored two rounds for each combatant.
Donaire will unify his newly won title with that of WBO champ Zolani Tete in the next round, while Burnett could have to take a sizable amount of time off to recover from his injury.

In the other WBSS matchup Josh Taylor won every round from a seemingly frozen Ryan Martin before stopping him in the seventh round.
Taylor was far better prepared for the stage than Taylor and it showed in the one-sided beatdown that wasn't even competitive.
The ending was somewhat controversial as Taylor appeared to floor Martin with a shot to the back of the head with the referee immediately waving the bout off despite the protests of Martin.
I thought Martin did indeed receive a punch to the back of his head, but it wouldn't change the result and saved Martin prolonged punishment.
Taylor will face IBF champion Ivan Baranchyk in the semi-finals and that is the fight that I am most looking forward to seeing of the four semi-finals that are currently intact.

On ESPN+ from El Paso Texas, Miguel Berchelt continued to make his case as the top 130 pounder in the world as he dominated mandatory contender Miguel "Mickey" Roman over nine rounds before the brave and beaten Roman finally succumbed to the younger and stronger Berchelt.
Berchelt pounded the consistently moving forward Roman throughout the fight and although Roman would occasionally connect with enough offense to keep the champion honest, he was overmatched in both power and technique.
Berchelt almost finished Roman in round six with two knockdowns, but the gritty Roman had no quit on this night, survived the round and tried his best for the next three rounds, but was dropped and polished off in the ninth.
Berchelt would like unification fights with WBA champ Gervonta Davis or IBF champ Tevin Farmer, but those seem unlikely due to promotional/network problems.
The best fight that could be made, in my opinion, is minor titlist Alberto Machado in what would be an exciting fight between two big (in both size and punching ability) junior lightweights and would be another chapter in the best rivalry in boxing- Mexico (Berchelt) vs Puerto Rico (Machado).
Machado is with Golden Boy and therefore DAZN for television, but Golden Boy and Top Rank have been one of the few promotional pairings that occasionally can work together, so there is some hope.

The final challenge bout was made available on Facebook and it was just as big of a mismatch as expected as light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera handily won a unanimous decision over fringe contender Seanie Monaghan in Brooklyn.
No knockdowns, but other than the first round or two each round was the same monotonous stanza over and over again.
Monaghan showed toughness, but nowhere near top ten quality, while Barrera gets back on the winning trail after losing his last fight to Dmitry Bivol.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored four points to change the score to 181-158.
Ramon earned two points each from wins from Sullivan Barrera and Miguel Berchelt.
I added two from Berchelt and one each from Barrera and Josh Taylor.

No stoppin' the War Machine-Chiefs roll over Browns 37-21

The Cleveland Browns had plenty going against them Sunday with a new head coach, new offensive coordinator, undermanned with injuries and one of the four most powerful offense in the game entering town, things looked bleak.

The Kansas City Chiefs did what they always seem to do under the best young quarterback in the game-run up and down the field, scoring points like the Denver Nuggets under Doug Moe, but the Cleveland Browns hung in there for the most part in a 37-21 loss.

With the exception of one bad pass, Baker Mayfield looked as good as he has since the Browns left Oakland as the former Sooner threw two touchdown passes and just missed a 300-yard day (297) and Duke Johnson caught both of the Mayfield touchdown throws among his team-leading nine catches to lead the Cleveland offense.
The now 2-6-1 Browns will host the Atlanta Falcons next week in what should be another test for the defense before the Browns will serve their off week.

Brownie Bits

1) Baker Mayfield played pretty well, except for his one interception where he was baited into throwing and Stephen Nelson of the Chiefs was waiting.
The Browns did what any offense that uses Baker Mayfield as its operator will have to do- subtle moving of the pocket.
I've written in the past that Mayfield isn't especially fast, but he is elusive and a moving pocket certainly helps his effectiveness.

2) Another part of using Mayfield's movement more? Better pass protection as Mayfield might have had to wriggle out of a few potential sacks (showing his ability to avoid the rush), but on the day the Chiefs would finish with just two sacks, which is far fewer than I expected considering the offensive line play over the last month.

3) I thought Greg Robinson played pretty well in replacing rookie Desmond Harrison at left tackle.
Harrison was hit Friday with an undisclosed illness and Robinson stepped in to play well.
I never understood why so many seemed to be down on Robinson, who was signed for a reserve role and wasn't being counted on to start when the Browns signed him as a free agent.
Robinson was graded as a bust after the Rams picked him second overall in 2014 and spent time with the Lions as well, but he still is just 26 and sometimes it takes a while for linemen to get it right.
I'm not saying to count on Robinson yet, but Baker Mayfield complimented Robinson's play twice at his post-game presser and it might not only help the Browns to play Robinson more, but it might help the development of Desmond Harrison too.

4) I also thought that Cleveland did a good job in making everything flow through Duke Johnson in the offense and considering the teams offensive personnel, that's the way it should be.
Johnson is the only player (yes, I remembered Jarvis Landry) that has big-play potential with each touch of the football and the Browns under Todd Haley had not used Johnson enough, so this is a strong step forward.

5) I normally don't link to the works of others in game recaps, mainly because I can do that later in the week, but I thought this was an interesting and maybe harsh take by Doug Lesmerises in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on the lack of hustle by linebacker Jamie Collins.
I'm not saying Lesmerises is wrong, because I've wondered the same about the highly paid, yet erratic linebacker, but I did find it even more interesting that this was offered by the reporter that has been the biggest supporter of deposed GM Sashi Brown, yet Collins was the owner of the largest contract that Brown dished out.

6) Denzel Ward and E.J. Gaines left the game with injuries and that made a battered Browns defense worse than it started, which wasn't that great with Damarious Randall being inactive with an injury.
However, even with those three players, the Browns were going to have trouble stopping the Kansas City passing game-Without Ward and Randall, it was darn near impossible,

7) How helpless were the Browns against the Kansas City offense?
Three of Kansas City's touchdown drives were 90 yards or longer including a 99-yard drive.
When you allow a team- any team let alone the Chiefs to move 90 yards three times for touchdowns against you, generally there is a case to be made that you barely know the questions, let alone having any answers to the offense.

8) I did like Gregg Williams going for conversions four times (Succeeding three of those).
I mean really, Williams is unlikely to receive the job for 2019, the Browns are unlikely to win more than two games tops (If I had to pick two and both are stretches- at Denver and Cincinnati at home) over the rest of the season and if they are going to win games, they need to take as many chances as they can.
I really liked that.

9) As much as I liked Gregg Williams and his gambling on fourth down, I hated going for two-point conversions after all three Cleveland touchdowns.
When you are the underdog, you need to put every point on the board that you can and even though this wouldn't have mattered a bit, had the Browns kicked the extra point in all three of those instances, two touchdowns in the fourth quarter ( I know, I know) would have won the game.
In this hypothetical, it would have taken two touchdowns and two two-pointers merely to tie.

10) This game showed the difference between second-year man Patrick Mahomes and rookie Baker Mayfield's supporting cast in both the skill positions and the offensive line, Mahomes has far more help in both than Mayfield does, so it's not hard to see that Mahomes has it easier each Sunday than Mayfield does.
However, you have to be the most extreme Mayfield fan/believer to think even with the Browns hoped for improvement that Mayfield will be the equal of Mahomes.
Mahomes, who threw for 375 yards with three scores and a late hail mary interception to end the first half, simply is a more talented quarterback than Mayfield and I'm amazed that more people didn't see it (I DID COUGH COUGH ) before the 2017 draft.
Baker Mayfield very well may be an excellent quarterback, but I don't see him ever reaching the level of Patrick Mahomes.

Back later with the weekend in boxing!

Buckeyes grind out Nebraska,but are they back?

 Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Photo Editor The Lantern

 J.K Dobbins rushed for 163 yards and three touchdowns in a renewed commitment to the rushing games as the Ohio State Buckeyes returned to the win column with a 36-31 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the Horseshoe in Columbus.
Dwayne Haskins threw for two more scores with an interception mixed in the victory that saw Nebraska lead at the half.
The now 8-1 Buckeyes (5-1 Big Ten) will travel to East Lansing next week for a tough game against the erratic, but more than capable Spartans.

Olentangy Offerings

1) And indeed there was more of a ground game attack against the Huskers as J.K. Dobbins ran his way to those 163 yards at a seven yards per carry clip.
Dobbins ran with confidence and looked like the back of last season.
A return of that back to the lineup would be welcomed during the homestretch of the season.

2) How did the Buckeyes help Dobbins bounce back as well as Mike Weber, who ran for 91 yards on nine carries?
Using more beef on the offensive line to give the Buckeyes more push off the line and even using backup guard Wyatt Davis at tight end for extra bulk.
I know this will tip off defenses on a run/pass preference, but if that is what it takes to re-establish a running presence, I'm fine with that.

3) Dwayne Haskins didn't exactly struggle in the win, but nor did he dazzle in the win either.
Haskins only threw one interception,(He lost a fumble as well) but his accuracy seemed a bit off.
Not sure if it was the protection to be certain, but Haskins could have been simply adjusting to the differences in the line play.
It'll be interesting to see if this is a factor in East Lansing next Saturday.

4) The player of the game might have been a player that wasn't expected to play much if any as Brendan White entered the game when Jordan Fuller was ejected in the second quarter for everyone's favorite penalty-targeting.
White finished the game with eight solo tackles with two of those for loss.
Fuller will return for the Michigan State game, but White has certainly earned more playing time.

5) The defense gave its share of points up, but with one notable exception, it managed to keep the Men of Corn off the scoreboard and only on that drive, did they give up those big plays with large chunks of yardage to go with it.
It may have been a small step forward, but I'm hoping that it was a step forward.

6) It was only worth two points, but it was a good sign for the special teams when Keandre Davis rushed through in the first half to block a punt through the back of the end zone.
Quality special teams haven't always been a given for Urban Meyer's team despite his having a hand in them, so I take anything that I can get!

7) Dwayne Haskins may only have completed seventeen passes, but he set another Ohio State record as he broke the record for completions in a season.
That record was set by J.T. Barrett last season and I don't remember that record being set, nor do I remember Barrett throwing the ball all that often.
Considering that Haskins has at least three games to go, with the potential for as many as six (In case the Buckeyes go to the Big Ten title game and two playoff games), that record is going to be placed out of reach for a while.

8) Three turnovers inside Nebraska territory brings good news and bad news.
The good news is that the Buckeyes could have won this in a romp and that the offense was clicking, so with a little bit of improved ball control, OSU could be back in form.
The bad news is that is fundamental football and it is not always that easy, especially next week in a hostile East Lansing.

9) J.K. Dobbins moved over 2,000 yards for his career and with Mike Weber already past that mile marker, that gives the pair a notable achievement in Buckeye lore.
Dobbins and Weber are now the first set of teammates in Ohio State history to gain that amount of rushing yardage.

10) Michigan looked very impressive in dispatching Penn State 42-7 and they are playing quite well.
Las Vegas placed Michigan as a three-point favorite over Ohio State if they played tomorrow.
Keep in mind that home field is worth three points so oddsmakers would make Michigan a six-point favorite on a neutral field.
I don't think Ohio State is "back to normal", but I'm not sure Michigan hasn't peaked and with the game at Columbus, I'd rate it as an even matchup.

11) Michigan State is 6-3 and the Spartans always worry me.
The Spartans running game will test Ohio State, but they haven't scored more than 24 points in over a month.
If this becomes a shootout, it's Ohio State's game to win.
At this point, every game is important, I have a feeling "the Big Game Gambler" Mark Dantonio is going to be ready and have more than just one trick ready to go.

Boxing Challenge

The boxing challenge is back with a four-fight weekend with three different venues and some interesting fights.

In Scotland, the World Boxing Super Series is back with matches in the bantamweight and junior welterweight tournaments that will complete the semi-final round in both brackets.

In the bantamweight division, WBA champion Ryan Burnett will defend his title against veteran Nonito Donaire.
Burnett, an aggressive fighter that lacks a big punch, selected Donaire, a one-time great fighter that seems to be on the downside of his career and is dropping back down in what at one time was his best weight.
The interesting part is seeing just what Donaire has left at the end of a great career and how much does he lose dropping eight pounds and two divisions from his April fight against Carl Frampton?
If this weight loss doesn't take too much out of him and if he can summon another sizable effort, Donaire has the ability to win this title and pull an upset.
The winner of this fight will meet WBO champion Zolani Tete in the semi-finals.

The other challenge fight from Glasgow does not have a title on the line but is a WBSS quarter-final at 140 pounds as Scotland's Josh Taylor meets American Ryan Martin for the right to meet IBF champion Ivan Baranchyk in the next round.
Taylor, who defeated former WBC champ Viktor Postol impressively in his last fight, has defeated two former champions in his 13 wins (Postol and Miguel Vasquez) and is the second seed in tournament, while Martin is 18-0, but faces his first quality opponent (other than the shopworn Bredis Prescott in his last fight) and has a tough task on the road in Scotland.

ESPN+ beams their signal from El Paso as the challenge fight matches WBC junior lightweight champion Miguel Berchelt in a mandatory defense against Mickey Roman.
Berchelt will be making his fourth defense against the rugged veteran Roman, who moved to the mandatory position after an upset of Orlando Salido last December.
The big punching Berchelt should be able to look very strong against the straightforward Roman.

The final challenge fight is the main event from a Facebook Live card in New York as light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera takes on local fringe contender Seanie Monaghan.
This appears to be a mismatch made mainly because Monaghan can sell tickets in the New York area and was brutally overmatched in his only attempt at world class opposition when Marcus Browne knocked him out in two rounds.
Barrera is coming off a knockout loss to WBA champion Dmitry Bivol in his last fight but owns wins over far better opposition than Monaghan.

I lead Ramon Malpica 177-154 in the boxing challenge

WBA Bantamweight Title/World Boxing Super Series Quarter-Final 12 Rds
Ryan Burnett vs Nonito Donaire
R.L: Burnett Unanimous Decision
TRS: Burnett Split Decision

World Boxing Super Series Junior Welterweight Quarter-Final. 12 Rds
Josh Taylor vs Ryan Martin
R.L: Martin Unanimous Decision
TRS: Taylor Unanimous Decision

WBC Junior Lightweight Title.12 Rds
Miguel Berchelt vs Mickey Roman
R.L: Berchelt KO 8
TRS: Berchelt KO 6

Light Heavyweights. 12 Rds
Sullivan Barrera vs Seanie Monaghan
R.L: Barrera Unanimous Decision
TRS: Barrera KO 4

PPM

Another good week in the PPM as we enter November and the home stretch of the college football season.
The college schedule is so strong that we added a few extra games to the games of the week

Last Week: 8-1
Overall: 67-13-1

College
Ohio State over Nebraska 45-17
Middle Tennessee over Western Kentucky 33-21
Houston over SMU 52-30
Oklahoma over Texas Tech 49-39
Washington over Stanford 20-19
Boise State over BYU 40-36

Games of the week
Alabama over LSU 20-10
Georgia over Kentucky 38-17
Michigan over Penn State 32-24
West Virginia over Texas 49-47

Pro
Chiefs over Browns 38-21
Saints over Rams 35-32

Game of the Week
Patriots over Packers 34-31

TRS Boxing Ratings:Part Two

The TRS boxing ratings conclude with part two which moves us from the lightweights down to the junior flyweights as well as adding our pound for pound ratings for the period.

The next ratings will be in January as these are a little behind our normal schedule by a bit.

The interesting note comes from differences between ratings in divisions and pound for pound, where fighters ranked behind another in their division are ranked ahead of that fighter in the pound for pound rankings.
In the welterweights, Errol Spence is ranked first with Terence Crawford second, but in P4P Crawford is ahead of Spence.
In the middleweights, Canelo Alvarez leads Gennady Golovkin inside the division but trails him in P4P.

I won't speak for the other voters, but I'll explain my votes and they are different.
At welterweight, I voted for Crawford over Spence at one, by a hair because both are undefeated and yet untested (for the most part) and I leaned Crawford's way at both welterweight and P4P.
At middleweight, I voted for Alvarez over Golovkin at middleweight in respecting the judges decision (I thought GGG won), but since I thought Golovkin should have won their bout, I gave him the edge in pound for pound.
I hope that clears up anyone wondering on that issue.

Lightweights
1) Vasyl Lomachenko WBA Champion 14 Pts
2) Mikey Garcia WBC Champion 13 Pts
3) Jorge Linares 9 Pts
4) Jose Pedraza WBO Champion 5 Pts (Unranked)
5) Robert Easter 3 Pts (Down One)
Also Received Votes: Richard Commey

Junior Lightweights
1) Miguel Berchelt WBC Champion 15 Pts
2) Gervonta Davis WBA Champion 11 Pts
3) Alberto Machado 10 Pts
4) Tevin Farmer IBF Champion 3 Pts (Unranked)
     Francisco Vargas
Also Received Votes; Jezreel Corrales
                                   Mickey Roman

Featherweights
1) Leo Santa Cruz WBA Champion 15 Pts
2) Gary Russell WBC Champion 11 Pts
3) Carl Frampton 10 Pts
4) Oscar Valdez WBO Champion 6 Prs
5) Josh Warrington IBF Champion 3 Pts

Junior Featherweights
1) Issac Dogboe WBO Champion 13 Pts (Up One)
2) Guillermo Rigondeaux 12 Pts (Down One)
3) Rey Vargas WBC Champion 11 Pts
4) Danny Roman WBA Champion 5 Pts
5) T.J. Doheny IBF Champion 3 Pts (Unranked)
Also Received Votes: Jessie Magdaleno

Bantamweights
1) Naoya Inoue 15 Pts
2) Luis Nery 9 Pts
3) Ryan Burnett WBA Champion 8 Pts (Down One)
4) Emmanuel Rodriguez IBF Champion 7 Pts
5) Zolani Tete WBO Champion 6 Pts (Down One)

Junior Bantamweights
1) Srisaket Sor Rungvisai WBC Champion 15 Pts
2) Juan Francisco Estrada 12 Pts
3) Kai Yafai WBA Champion 8 Pts (Up One)
4) Jerwin Ancajas IBF Champion 7 Pts (Down One)
5) Roman Gonzalez 2 Pts
Also Received Votes: Alejandro Santiago

Flyweights
1) Artem Dalakian WBA Champion 13 Pts
2) Cristofer Rosales WBC Champion 10 Pts
3) Kosei Tanaka WBO Champion 7 Pts (Unranked)
4) Vincent LeGrand 6 Pts (Down One)
5) Moruti Mtalane IBF Champion 4 Pts
Also Received Votes: Andrew Selby
                                    Sho Kimura

Junior Flyweights and Under
1) Ken Shiro 13 Pts
2) Hekkie Budler 8 Pts
     Wanheng Menayothin
4) Angel Acosta 7 Pts
5) CP Freshmart 5 Pts
Also Received Votes: Milan Melindo
                                    Felix Alvarado
                                    Ryo Taguchi

Pound for Pound
1) Vasyl Lomachenko 28 Pts
2) Terence Crawford 24 Pts
3) Errol Spence 22 Pts
4) Naoya Inoue 21 Pts
5) Gennady Golovkin 16 Pts
6) Mikey Garcia 12 Pts
7) Canelo Alvarez 11 Pts
8) Srisaket Sor Rungvisai 5 Pts
    Deontay Wilder
10) Oleksandr Usyk 4 Pts
Also Received Votes: CP Freshmart
                                   Anthony Joshua
                                   Wanheng Menayothin

TRS Boxing Ratings-Part One

The TRS boxing ratings return a little later than usual, but that's more than okay when you consider the number of fights that have been taking place of late.
There are quite a few changes since our last ratings in July with so many important fights during that period.

The votes were in before the fights of this past weekend, so the results of those bouts are not reflected in the ratings.

Also with the Cruiserweight division having a world champion that holds all four titles, Oleksandr Usyk is recognized as the world champion and he has five contenders, which is why the cruiserweights look a bit different than the other divisions.
This will only apply when a champion possesses all four titles.

Per usual, today's ratings cover the heavyweights through the junior welterweights, while part two will cover the lightweights down through the flyweights.
That will hopefully be finished tomorrow unless something pushes that post off the page.

Heavyweights
1) Anthony Joshua WBA/WBC/IBF Champions 15 Pts
2) Deontay Wilder WBC Champion 12 Pts
3) Luis Ortiz 6 Pts
4) Dillian Whyte 5 Pts (Unranked)
5) Jarrell Miller 4 Pts (Unranked)
Also Received Votes: Tyson Fury, Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin

Cruiserweights
WORLD CHAMPION: Oleksandr Usyk
1: Marius Breidis 9 Pts (Up Two)
    Murat Gassiev
3: Yunier Dorticos 5 Pts (Up One)
    Krzysztof Glowacki (Up One)
5: Andrew Tabiti 2 Pts (Unranked)

Light Heavyweights
1) Adonis Stevenson WBC Champion 14 Pts (Up Two)
2) Dmitry Bivol WBA Champion 13 Pts
3) Artur Beterbiev IBF Champion 8 Pts (Up Two)
4) Elieder Alvarez WBO Champion 5 Pts (Unranked)
5) Oleksandr Gvozdyk 4 Pts (Down One)
Also Received Votes: Sergey Kovalev (Down Five)

Super Middleweights
1) Gilberto Ramirez WBO Champion 15 Pts
2) Callum Smith WBA Champion 11 Pts (Up Three)
3) David Benavidez 8 Pts (Up One)
4) James DeGale 5 Pts (Down One)
    Jose Uzcategui IBF Champion (Unranked)
Also Received Votes: George Groves (Down Four)

Middleweights
1) Canelo Alvarez WBA/WBC Champion 15 Pts (Up Two)
2) Gennady Golovkin 12 Pts (Down One)
3) Daniel Jacobs IBF Champion 7 Pts (Up Two)
4) Billy Joe Saunders 6 Pts (Down Two)
5) Jermall Charlo 4 Pts (Down One)
Also Received Votes: Demetrious Andrade WBO Champion

Junior Middleweights
1) Jarrett Hurd WBA/IBF Champions 15 Pts
2) Jermell Charlo WBC Champion 12 Pts
3) Erislandy Lara 8 Pts
4) Jaime Munguia WBO Champion 7 Pts
5) Julian Williams 2 Pts
Also Received Votes: Austin Trout

Welterweights
1) Errol Spence IBF Champion 14 Pts
2) Terence Crawford WBO Champion 13 Pts
3) Shawn Porter WBC Champion 8 Pts (Up One)
4) Manny Pacquiao 7 Pts (Up One)
5) Keith Thurman WBA Champion 2 Pts (Down Two)
Also Received Votes: Danny Garcia

Junior Welterweights
1) Regis Prograis 14 Pts
2) Jose Ramirez WBC Champion 13 Pts (Down One)
3) Kiryl Relikh WBA Champion 7 Pts (Up Two)
    Josh Taylor (Up One)
5) Maurice Hooker WBO Champion 3 Pts (Unranked)

Also Received Votes: Rances Barthelemy