Boxing Challenge: Charlo Unifies over Castano!

 In another action fight, Jermell Charlo suddenly ended his rematch with Brian Castano with a left hook in the tenth round and stopped him after a second knockdown to take Castano's WBO junior middleweight title and add it to the three (WBA, WBC, and IBF) championships to create the undisputed title in the division for the first time in the four championship era.

I had Charlo leading by one point (86-85) entering the tenth round, so it was another close and exciting fight on my card but Charlo was far ahead on the official judges' cards (by three, five, and seven points) and little did anyone know that at the start of the round, it was Castano that needed a knockout to win.

I thought all of the cards were ridiculous and anything more than a point or two in favor of either fighter was an awful scorecard.

Castano landed more punches and more power shots, yet Charlo led by seven points on one scorecard?

This fight was even better than their first and the styles mesh so well that should Castano win a fight or two on the comeback trail, I would have no issues with the two fighters hooking it up for the third time.

Charlo doesn't seem to have a lot of options for big money despite his status as the undisputed king of the division.

In the division, fights against promising, undefeated mandatory challengers Sebastian Fundora (WBC) and Tim Tszyu (WBO) would provide Charlo with interesting and action affairs with each having a solid chance to dethrone Charlo but neither will provide the champion with an excessively large paycheck either.

What would be a big money fight could be the winner of the Errol Spence-Terence Crawford fight as the unified welterweight champion challenging Charlo for all four of the junior middleweight titles but that likely only happens if Crawford wins as Spence is a Charlo buddy along with sharing a trainer to make a Charlo-Spence fight unlikely at best.

Charlo's brother, Jermall, is having trouble finding big fights at 160 as the WBC champion, so moving to middleweight for big paydays seems to be a long shot, although a title challenge of someone wouldn't be.

Now that I think about it, Charlo could force a challenge against WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade now that he holds their championship, Charlo could use the WBO's rule of a champion vacating their title to move up in weight could immediately become their number one contender at their new weight class.

While I am not always a fan of the Charlo brother's act outside the ring, give Jermell (and not Jermall) all the credit that he deserves- he earned those four titles by fighting everyone that he could and with no excuses.

Charlo may have been aided in his quest by his promotional company controlling all the stars in his division which made unification fights easier to make but the fighter still fought the fights and didn't back down- full credit to Jermell Charlo.

However, the star of the night once again was welterweight sensation Jaron "Boots" Ennis as Ennis became the IBF's mandatory challenger with a destructive second-round knockout of Canadian Custio Clayton with one right hand.

Ennis landed a shot behind the temple that floored Clayton and even though Clayton rose, his balance was severely impaired and the fight was stopped.

Ennis will now wait for the Errol Spence-Terence Crawford drama to play out and will eventually face the winner but will have to wait again for the fight to happen and what is more likely to happen is the titles are vacated after Spence-Crawford with Ennis fighting for one of those belts.

An idea for Ennis?

How about Ennis vs Jermell Charlo?

If the situation at welter drags out for a while and Charlo gets past whichever mandatory challenger is given first dibs between Sebastian Fundora and Tim Tszyu, tell me you wouldn't be all in for a Boots Ennis challenge of Jermell Charlo?

In 1980 lightweight contender Aaron Pryor was ducked by champions Ernesto Espana (WBA) and Jim Watt (WBC) and couldn't find anyone to fight him.

The Robin Hood of Boxing, Harold Smith, financed a title shot for Pryor at junior welterweight against legendary WBA champion Antonio Cervantes and four rounds later, Pryor was the champion and never saw lightweight again.

Ennis certainly has the frame and power for such a move and despite never fighting at the weight, I'd still pick Ennis over Charlo.

Unlikely to occur but fun to think about.

The reason that I didn't howl too loud about the bad scorecards for Charlo-Castano II was it seemed almost normal compared to the heist that was almost pulled in Paris, France as heavyweight Martin Bakole battered former Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka around the ring for ten rounds, knocking him down twice, and yet would only win a majority decision.

Bakole knocked down Yoka in the first and almost finished him off in round one and would be given credit for a fifth-round knockdown that was really more of a shove.

Bakole, the younger brother of WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makubu, dominated Yoka, broke his nose early in the fight, and bullied him to the point of Yoka fighting for mere survival in the final round when Yoka needed a knockout to save his undefeated record.

But then the scorecards that had Bakole winning by scores of 96-92 (6-4 minus two knockdowns), 95-93 (5-5 and knockdowns), and a downright amazing 94-94 (6-4 for Yoka and knockdowns) were announced to the amazement to those watching.

I had Bakole winning 99-89 with Yoka only winning round seven and maybe if you were kind, one may have been able to give Yoka round six but nothing else was remotely close.

That would have easily been the worst decision that we have seen in a long time and I'd start counting on having to knock Yoka out if my fighter was going to fight him in France.

Boxing fans often talk of fighters being "exposed" as far as their weaknesses and flaws in particular fights and although that's an overused take, it seems to ring true for Yoka, who seemed to have no clue on how to fend off the aggression of Bakole and had little success doing anything more than a jab that Bakole usually walked through and an occasional right hand.

Yoka entered the fight rated fifth by the IBF, ninth by the WBC, and thirteenth in the WBA ratings, so Bakole's win should allow him to appear in the ratings and might see him leap into involvement in the eliminators held by the IBF to establish their mandatory challenger for the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch.

It's too bad that the judges will be remembered longer than the best effort of Bakole's career.

I'll be back later with the rest of the boxing weekend from DAZN and the return of Triller PPV.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 72 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 64 Pts (5)

Ramon Malpica: 62 Pts (4) 

Boxing Challenge

 The boxing weekend is filled with interesting fights with the top fight from Carson, California from PBC, and Showtime with what should have been settled last summer- an undisputed junior middleweight champion.

Most people thought WBO champion Brian Castano had done enough to defeat WBA, WBC, and IBF champion Jermell Charlo at the end of twelve grueling rounds with the scorecards resulting in a draw.

Most observers this time again favor Charlo, believing that he is the more adaptable of the two and the one that is capable of improving on the first fight.

I disagree as Castano, an attacking fighter that throws lots of punches is capable of upping his output and if he does so, I think California judges will be more appreciative of Castano than the home-state Texas judges of Charlo were in the first fight.

This could go either way and I wouldn't be even mildly surprised to see Charlo notch a win and even a KO victory but I think for the second time that boxing people are sleeping on the chances of Brian Castano.

The co-feature brings back everyone's favorite young bomber in welterweight Jaron "Boots" Ennis and this time, Ennis can force Errol Spence (or Terence Crawford, should that fight come off) to fight him with a win as this one is an IBF eliminator and will establish Ennis as the mandatory challenger. 

Ennis has notched his two biggest wins in his last two fights in a sixth-round knockout of former junior welterweight champion Sergey Lipinets and last time out, a one-round punishment of division gatekeeper Thomas Dulorme.

Ennis will have to dispose of undefeated Canadain Custio Clayton, who has a draw against Lipinets, as his best resume' note, and even though Clayton doesn't appear to be a pushover for Ennis, he clearly appears to be outclassed.

DAZN and Golden Boy are also in California on Saturday night as former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez attempts to solidify his sport as the mandatory challenger for WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.

The undefeated Ramirez has worn down and stopped aging former contenders in his last two fights in wins over Sullivan Barrera and Yunieski Gonzalez and is a prohibitive favorite against former minor titlist Dominic Boesel.

Boesel avenged an October 2020 third-round knockout loss to Robin Krasniqi with a split decision win last October but has been knocked out in both of his losses (Krasinqi and former title challenger Karo Murat) and could give Ramirez an excellent chance at another knockout nod.

The co-feature will pit undefeated lightweight prospect William Zepeda in his biggest test against former minor junior lightweight champion Rene Alvarado in what should be an action fight for as long as it lasts.

Zepeda posted a weird win over journeyman Luis Viedas in February while Alvarado has lost three in a row, all by decision, since winning his minor title over Andrew Cancio in losses to Lamont Roach and twice to current WBA champion Roger Gutierrez, and will be moving up in weight for the Zepeda fight.

This should be a good affair with the question to be answered as- How long can the smaller fighter in Alvarado take the punches of the younger, larger, and more powerful puncher and if he can survive into the middle to later rounds, how will Zepeda respond?

And a final California card, from Triller and for some reason on pay per view, headlined by former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev's return at cruiserweight after a two-and-a-half-year layoff following his knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez.

I had Kovalev leading after ten rounds (although he was trailing on the official cards) but at 39 and with problems away from the ring, it's easy to see that Kovalev is ripe for the picking by the next good fighter that he faces.

However, is that fighter Tervel Pulev of Bulgaria?

Pulev does have an amateur pedigree with a bronze medal at the London Olympics (his loss was to Oleksandr Usyk) but like Kovalev is 39 and in his undefeated career of sixteen fights hasn't beaten even a fringe contender.

This one is interesting to see which is closer to the truth- Does Kovalev's experience against better competition carry him by the untested Pulev? Or does the heavy mileage on Kovalev show its wear and tear to give Pulev the edge?

Pulev's brother, former heavyweight title challenger, Kubrat Pulev makes his return to the ring after his knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in 2020 against veteran workhorse Jerry Forrest.

Forrest usually gives rounds to his opponents and has taken fighters of Pulev's level to the edge with a draw to Zhilei Zhang and close losses to Carlos Takam and Michael Hunter, so he could do the same against Pulev.

The final fight in the challenge is the first of the day from Paris on ESPN+ as former Olympic heavyweight gold medalist Tony Yoka faces Martin Bakole.

This fight was postponed once and Yoka attempted to participate in an IBF eliminator that was disallowed due to agreeing to face Bakole.

Yoka has beaten some European level fighters of note (Christian Hammer and former title challenger Johan Duphaupas) but no one better while Bakole holds a decision over Sergey Kuzmin, his only loss is nothing to be ashamed of in a tenth round knockout loss to Michael Hunter, and a Yoka win would be the best of his career.

Boxing Challenge

Unification WBA/WBC/IBF- WBO Junior Middleweight Title. 12 Rds

Jermell Charlo vs Brian Castano

R.L: Charlo KO 8

TRS: Castano Split Decision

V.S: Charlo KO 10

Welterweights. 12 Rds

Jaron Ennis vs Custio Clayton

R.L: Ennis KO 6

TRS: Ennis KO 3

V.S: Ennis KO 4

Light Heavyweights. 12 Rds

Gilberto Ramirez vs Dominic Boesel

R.L and V.S: Ramirez KO 10

TRS: Ramirez KO 6

Lightweights. 10 Rds

William Zepeda vs Rene Alvarado

R.L and V.S; Zepeda Unanimous Decision

TRS: Zepeda KO 7

Cruiserweights.10 Rds

Sergey Kovalev vs Tervel Pulev

R.L: Pulev KO 6

TRS: Kovalev Unanimous Decision

V.S: Pulev Unanimous Decision

Heavyweights. 10 Rds

Kubrat Pulev vs Jerry Forrest

R.L: Pulev KO 9

TRS: Pulev Unanimous Decision

V.S: Pulev KO 6

Heavyweights.10 Rds

Tony Yoka vs Martin Bakole

R.L and V.S: Yoka KO 4
TRS: Yoka KO 8 

Devils move up in Lottery, choose second in draft

   After a season that seemed so bad that it was soul-sucking but still finished with only the fifth-worst record in the NHL as their 63 points were more than Montreal, Arizona, expansion Seattle, and Philadelphia, the New Jersey Devils were rumored to be floating rumors that the Devils could be persuaded to move their first-rounder in a move that would attempt to settle the worst goaltending situation in the league.

Instead, after yet another change to the process in how the NHL version of the lottery works, the Devils moved up from fifth to second in June's draft and will add another chance to draft an impact player.

Montreal with the league's worst record won the lottery and is expected to select Canadian center Shane Wright with the selection.

Entering the lottery, American center Logan Cooley was the slight choice for the second-rated player of the class with Slovakian winger Juraf Slafkovsky as the best wing in the draft but when you consider that the Devils already have two young centers locked down for the first two lines with long extensions that New Jersey and general manager Tom Fitzgerald could select Slafkovsky as a better fit on the organization's depth chart.

I'll have a bit more draft talk closer to the draft but to the few readers that wondered why I didn't cover the teams so much this year, besides my issues with time due to working so much, I wasn't able to watch as many full games but I tried to watch as many condensed games as I could and there were two other factors.

Rachel has gotten busier with her job and watching a terrible time has taken its toll on making the time from work to watch.

In addition for me personally, the absolutely awful goaltending situation just made some of these games hard to watch.

Normally, I can sit through bad teams and bad seasons, but there was something so putrid about watching a team with the heritage of goaltending and defense as the Devils have, struggle with such issues as this year's teams found it hard to watch.

I'm sure that I'll be watching more often in 2022-23.

Spence vs Crawford- Finally?!

   Errol Spence's recent tenth round TKO stoppage of Yordenis Ugas not only gave him three of the four welterweight titles in boxing, but it also gave him a chance to be a man of his word.

For the last few years, whenever Spence was asked about Terence Crawford and the biggest fight that could be made in a division under wherever Canelo Alvarez is fighting at a given time, Spence's reply would be that he wanted to only face PBC fighters (with the common "wrong side of the street" quote) and once he cleaned all of those fighters out, he would then be happy to face Terence Crawford.

Spence has now done so and he stated that he is now ready to face Crawford in one of the few bouts in boxing that you could legitimately have a solid opinion on why either fighter will emerge victoriously and yet remain a 50/50 fight.

While the fight between the best two welterweights in the world is long overdue, one can make an argument that it hasn't been quite overcooked to past its expiration date.

Crawford's knockout win over Shawn Porter last November was the biggest win of his career and Spence's win over Yordenis Ugas to add a third championship to his coffers may have been his biggest with Ugas coming off a win that retired Manny Pacquiao, although you could also say that Spence's wins over Porter or either Danny or Mikey Garcia will wear just as well after Spence's career is completed.

The time is right with interest at a record high from even some casual fans to make the welterweight division's biggest full unification fight with two undefeated champions since the 1985 pairing of Donald Curry and Milton McCrory (Remember that the unification between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad did not have the WBA title involved as it was held by James Page at the time).

Assuming that a deal can be made and for the first time, both fighters, Spence's promoter (PBC) and Crawford without a promoter to add to the mix since his contract with Top Rank expired after the knockout of Shawn Porter, all parties seem to motivated for this fight to happen in the fall. 

If I was Crawford, I'd never agree to the fight taking place in Spence's native Texas, where the commission and judges are terrible and the commission head Dickie Cole will likely strongarm his son Lawrence into refereeing the bout and it's rare that a Lawrence Cole officiated affair doesn't have a degree of controversy.

Las Vegas or Los Angeles is likely the site with the Barclays Center in Brooklyn a dark horse contender but allow me to offer an idea that is unlikely to be accepted to hold the fight.

Wichita Kansas isn't known as a boxing hotbed but neither was Omaha, Nebraska until Crawford came along but it has two things that make sense for this fight.

Omaha has been known for its strong support of Terence Crawford and the converse is true for Errol Spence's fan base in Dallas, so I am sure that fans of both fighters would love to support their champion in the legacy-defining fight of their career.

Wichita has a nice facility in the 15,000-seat InTrust Bank Arena, has a population of close to 400,000, and most importantly- happens to be almost halfway between Dallas and Omaha (301 miles from Omaha, 364 from Dallas) and can be almost a straight shot from I-75 from both areas.

In other words, a neutral site that has a nice building, both fan bases can make the trip and it's a drivable trip, if you choose not to fly,

The perfect place for all involved and an atmosphere that could be worthy of such a great fight, but my guess is no one has thought about it, and even if so, the chances are still slim.

As for the fight in the ring?

It's a boxing cliche to use the term "50-50 fight" but for a prospective Errol Spence-Terence Crawford fight that adage is deadly accurate.

One can make a very good case for a Spence win or a Crawford victory and neither could be dismissed very easily by even the most devout fan of either champion.

Spence is thought to be the bigger puncher yet it is Crawford that is the better finisher.

Crawford is thought to be the better boxer yet it is Spence that has fought the twelve-round distance more often.

Neither fighter scores many early-round knockouts but are considered to have above-average power.

Both fighters have good chins but have been unofficially dropped in recent fights that were scored as non-knockdowns (Crawford vs Egid Kavaliauskas, Spence vs Yordenis Ugas).

Spence is the naturally bigger and stronger fighter but Crawford appears to be the more fluid and naturally athletic boxer.

I believe that Spence is underrated as a boxer and Crawford is underrated as a puncher.

How do I see the fight playing out?

Often what happens when two elite fighters at their peak get into the ring is that their styles often reverse and if that happens that's definitely to the advantage of Terence Crawford.

Errol Spence doesn't fight as well off his back foot and should he be forced to box more than usual, the edge definitely swings to Crawford.

Spence is the better fighter from close range and if Spence is able to make this an inside affair, Spence should be the fighter that receives the most benefits.

Neither fighter is a particularly fast starter, so I think a chance of an early knockout is unlikely.

I think that the most likely scenario for a Spence win would be Spence slowly wearing Crawford down, taking his legs away, and dominating the late rounds for a decision win.

The most likely path for Crawford's victory would be mixing boxing and punching over the first half of the fight before changing styles in the middle rounds and stalks Spence as he busts him up around the eyes and wins via a late-round TKO or perhaps a battered Spence barely survives until the final bell before a decision win for Crawford.

I think this is the best fight that boxing can make and I think the styles should mesh well for sustained action, which isn't always the case (De La Hoya-Trinidad wasn't a great action fight despite the anticipation) and it had better be an action fight after the time and lengths taken in order to finally get these two fighters in the ring against each other.

I've been back and forth already on which fighter I lean towards but I'll reserve that choice until the fight is ready to take place- besides it gives me plenty of time to change my mind... 

Boxing Challenge: Bivol Upsets Canelo!

      Dmitry Bivol pulled the surprise of the last few years in boxing as Bivol retained his WBA light heavyweight title via a closer on the cards than expected unanimous decision over Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas.

The judges all had the same score of 115-113 (7-5 in rounds) which seems far closer than I saw it (117-111) and many others had the bout even larger in favor of Bivol, who overcame the judges giving Alvarez the first four rounds and placed Bivol in the position of needing to win the final three rounds of a fight he controlled to win the decision.

Bivol did just that and avoided yet another controversial decision given to Alvarez in Las Vegas.

Bivol used a heavy jab to keep Canelo's offense at bay much as Gennady Golovkin did with his jab in his two fights vs Alvarez and even more effectively as Alvarez spent much of the fight with his back against the ropes, again much as he did against Golovkin in their first fight.

Canelo won the first and third rounds on my card but his face was reddening as early as the second round and Alvarez started to show signs of fatigue as early as the fifth round as Bivol began to pick up speed and dominate the exchanges.

Alvarez did have a strong ninth round as he attempted to try for a stoppage that his corner must have thought that he needed although the scorecards would have him leading entering and leaving the ninth round.

Bivol took back control against Alvarez, who had clearly used his final bullet in the ninth round, and swept the final three rounds, which he needed due to the ridiculous scorecards of the judges.

For Bivol, it was the performance of his career and restored some shine to an undefeated career that had sputtered of late with uninspired efforts against underwhelming opposition and a less than willing desire to attempt to score exciting victories.

For Alvarez, it may have shown the limits of pushing a stocky but smaller frame too high and that his win over Sergey Kovalev at the weight may have been defeating an aging and flawed champion more than an ability to compete at the top level at 175 pounds.

Bivol could fight the winner of the three belt unification between Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith (Bivol owns a decision win over Smith) to an undisputed title but the big money is in a Canelo rematch.

Canelo could make sizable dollars defending his four titles in a planned third fight against Gennady Golovkin or even a defense against a lesser contender in England or Mexico but he may decide to take the Bivol rematch instead strictly on pride.

A stunning upset in the world of boxing with ramifications throughout the sport, shaking it with more than only a championship as the top star in the sport could have his schedule for the next eighteen months changed over only one night.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 70 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 59 Pts (0)

Ramon Malpica : 58 Pts (2)

Boxing Challenge

 The boxing weekend isn't loaded with bouts but it is always a big weekend when the biggest star in the sport is scheduled for action as World Super Middleweight Champion Canelo Alvarez takes on a dangerous opponent in WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in Las Vegas.

While Bivol isn't the most exciting opponent for Alvarez, he is a very difficult one as Bivol has an excellent jab, is light on his feet, and has shown a good right hand.

The problem with Bivol is this- since he took a huge right hand from now-WBO champion Joe Smith in a 2019 title defense that he otherwise won easily, Bivol has changed his game from that of an exciting boxer-puncher to a distance fighter that seems reluctant to press the attack with the results showing three lopsided and less than scintillating wins over outmatched opponents (Lenin Castillo, Craig Richards, and Umar Salamov).

Steve Kim uses the term "Rosarioed" for a fighter that changes their style completely after the first time that a fighter is badly hurt in a fight, in an attempt to avoid taking a big shot.

The term is named after former lightweight champion Edwin Rosario, who badly hurt Hector Camacho twice in their 1986 fight but lost a split decision to Camacho, who was never the same fighter in changing from a flashy boxer-puncher to a safety-first move and clutch performer.

Bivol's three post-Smith affairs give some signs that he could possibly have the same condition.

As for Canelo, he has broken down tall boxers in three of his last four fights in wins over Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, and Caleb Plant and style-wise seems prepared for Bivol but beware as Bivol's jab is elite, not merely good, and elite jabs (as Gennady Golovkin proved) will give even the best fighter some issues.

While I'm not sure that this will be an entertaining fight (Unless Bivol decides to engage more often) it is should be an interesting fight and one that Bivol could be leading on the scorecards  (or he should be, Canelo has gotten the edge with some strange scorecards over the years) moving into the final third of the fight.

The co-feature will pit undefeated junior welterweight Montana Love against Gabriel Valenzuela in a twelve rounder.

Love looked very strong in dismantling former IBF champion Ivan Baranchyk last year and forcing Baranchyk's corner to stop the fight after the seventh round and followed up with a third round knockout of Carlos Diaz, who entered the fight with one loss.

Valenzuela holds upset wins in the UK over Joe Hughes and Robbie Davies and only has two losses, so he's not a pushover but Love seems to be preparing to take the final step into perhaps being in the mix for one of the expected to be vacated titles at 140 pounds with an impressive win.

Boxing Challenge

WBA Light Heavyweight Title. 12 Rds 

Dmitry Bivol vs Canelo Alvarez

R.L: Alvarez Unanimous Decision
TRS: Alvarez KO 10

V.S: 

Junior Welterweights. 12 Rds

Montana Love vs Gabriel Valenzuela

R.L: Love Unanimous Decision

TRS: Love KO 8

V.S:

Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

    The recent passings hit the hockey world very hard with the loss of two all-time great goal scorers of the 70s and 80s within days of one another.

Goodbye to Guy Lafleur at the age of 70.

LaFleur was the top overall pick in the 1971 draft by the Montreal Canadiens, who were looking a year ahead with their desire to land LaFleur and traded their 1970 first-rounder and Francois LeCombe to the California Golden Seals for their 1971 first-round pick and Ernie Hicke.

California then finished with the league's worst record which was transferred to Montreal, who then selected LaFleur.

Lafleur led Montreal to five Stanley Cup wins and scored over fifty goals for six consecutive years for the Canadiens but issues with coach Jacques Lemaire led LaFleur to retire and after being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, LaFleur returned in 1988.

Lafleur would play one season with the Rangers and two with the Quebec Nordiques before retiring for good in 1991.

Lafleur is still the all-time leader in points in Canadiens history and second in goals behind Maurice "Rocket" Richard.

Goodbye to Mike Bossy at the age of 65.

Bossy was the sniper from the right-wing for the New York Islanders teams that won four straight Stanley Cups and never scored less than fifty-one goals in his first nine seasons before retiring after scoring thirty-eight goals in his final season in 1986-87 with a bad back injury,

Bossy led the league in goals twice and finished second on three other occasions as well as being a three-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly conduct on the ice.

Bossy is the Islanders all-time leader in goals (573) and playoff goals and holds the league record for 50 plus goal seasons (nine tied with Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin), most 60 plus goals seasons (five tied with Gretzky), and of players with 200 goals or more in their career, Bossy holds the highest average in goals per game at .762 per game.

Bossy was also the subject of a prototype pinball machine "Mike Bossy The Scoring Machine" but only one machine was ever produced.

Goodbye to Erich Barnes at the age of 86.

Barnes played in six Pro Bowls during a fourteen-year career with the Giants, Bears, and Browns and is one of those very good players that slipped through the cracks for the football hall of fame.

Barnes still holds the Giants record for longest interception return when he intercepted a Dallas pass and ran 102 yards for a touchdown in 1961.

Barnes also is remembered for a tactic that has long been outlawed as when the goalposts were placed inside the end zone, Barnes would stand in front of the goalposts and attempt to leap into the air and bat the ball down before it could clear the crossbar.

Goodbye to Freeman Williams at the age of 65.

Williams was a prodigious scorer at Portland State, where he led the nation in scoring in both 1977 and 1978 before being selected eighth overall in the 1978 draft by the Boston Celtics.

Williams would never play for Boston as he was part of the franchise swap between Boston and the Buffalo Braves, who then moved to San Diego as the Clippers.

Williams averaged over eighteen points a game in both his second and third seasons in San Diego before being traded to Atlanta where his career quickly trailed downhill and he was out of the league after six seasons.

Goodbye to Clayton Weishuhn at the age of 62.

Weishuhn was the Patriots best all-around linebacker at a time when the team also had future Hall of Famer Andre Tippett and still holds the team record for tackles in a season which he set in 1983.

Weishuhn suffered a knee injury in the 1984 opener that would cost him the rest of the 1984 season and all of 1985 and would play only thirteen more games in the NFL (four in 1986 with New England and nine with Green Bay in 1987) before retiring.