Boxing Challenge: Fundora outpoints Ocampo

 Showtime's evening of boxing was better than expected in some ways and less than expected in others as the only show over the weekend was broadcast from Carson, California.

In the main event, junior middleweight Sebastian Fundora had a rougher time than expected from Carlos Ocampo but still emerged with a unanimous decision to retain his minor title and more importantly, a likely title shot against the winner of the Jermell Charlo-Tim Tszyu fight that is scheduled for January.

Fundora is the rare fighter in boxing that would be better suited to be less exciting but rather than use his huge wingspan, prefers to rumble on the inside and outwork his opponents.

Fundora has been able to use this style to be effective but I still think that he makes fights far harder than he has to and it will cost him sooner or later.

Ocampo landed his share of punches but Fundora threw and landed more and while Ocampo's brave attempt was surprising to me, he still was far short on the cards (mine was 117-111 for Fundora) with Fundora winning via scores of 119-109, 118-110, and 117-111.

Fundora is trying to stay active which is more than I can say for unified champion Charlo, who hasn't fought more than once a year since 2019, although in each fight Charlo has fought quality competition, and announced his January defense against Tszyu SIX MONTHS in advance.

Fundora makes every fight a grueling one and against the right fighter could be tripped up before receiving his title chance, so there is some concern with every one of his outings.

The most impressive winner of the night was Carlos Adames, who snuffed out Juan Macias-Montiel in three rounds to gain a minor title and move into the mandatory position for WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, who is more likely to drop the title to move to 168 pounds than face Adames.

Adames raised even further questions about Charlo, who beat Montiel last year by a decision but surprised watchers by allowing Montiel to last the distance and never seriously endangered a fighter that was stopped by Jaime Munguia in two rounds before facing Charlo and now after losing to him, falling to Adames in three.

Adames began ripping Montiel in the second and finished him in the third with several heavy shots that drove Montiel into the ropes and kept him there under heavy fire before the fight was stopped.

I was surprised to see that some criticized the stoppage but I thought things were only going to get worse for Montiel and the ending was very just.

The win was the second impressive victory in a row for Adames after a decision win over Sergey Dereyvanchenko and should he receive the opportunity to face Jermall Charlo, I'd give Adames a decent chance to pull a surprise against Charlo.

In the opener, Argentina's Fernando Martinez repeated his win over Jerwin Ancajas to retain his IBF junior bantamweight title by a unanimous decision.

The rematch wasn't quite as exciting or as close as their first fight but there was still plenty of action from both fighters.

Martinez repeatedly beat Ancajas to the punch as the younger and faster fighter and removed any questions from the much closer first fight when Ancajas barely made weight before the fight.

Martinez took the duke by scores of 119-111 and 118-110 times two with my card repeating the first fight's scorecard of 117-111.

Martinez is a fine fighter but like Ancajas was as champion, could be in a position of not being able to make the biggest fights in the division as most of the other top fighters at junior bantamweight are associated with Matchroom Boxing.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 166 Pts (4) 

Ramon Malpica: 142 Pts (0)
Vince Samano: 134 Pts (3) 

Boxing Challenge

    The boxing weekend is in a bit of flux as of this writing with questions about whether or not the Conor Benn- Chris Eubank Jr event will take place after questions about a failed drug test by Benn.

If the DAZN main event takes place it will be the biggest fight of the weekend but either way, there will be an interesting three-fight slate on Showtime.

Editor's Note: The fight has been "postponed" not canceled according to promoters for both fighters.

The main event of Showtime's card from Carson, California will feature junior middleweight Sebastian Fundora defending a minor title against Carlos Ocampo.

Fundora was very sharp and impressive in stopping Erickson Lubin earlier this year in the ninth round in a battle that saw both competitors hit the floor during a fight that is currently in contention for the fight of the year,

The 6'6 Fundora has matured into a solid contender that deserves an eventual chance against the world champion in the division Jermell Charlo and is a heavy favorite over Ocampo, who has only one loss but it was against the only world-class fighter that he has ever faced as he was polished off in only one round in a challenge to welterweight champion Errol Spence in 2018.

This may not be a total squash match but it certainly is set up for Fundora to shine.

The co-feature is for a minor middleweight title as Carlos Adames will take on Juan Montiel in what could be an exciting fight with both men taking and landing lots of punches.

Adames returned to the world title scene at middleweight with an upset majority decision win over former world title challenger Sergey Dereyvanchenko last December after losing as the heavy favorite to Patrick Teixeira for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title in November 2019.

Montiel was booked as the overmatched opponent in a WBC middleweight title defense against champion Jermall Charlo in June 2021 and instead gave Charlo all he wanted in lasting the distance in a fight that he was expected to exit early.

This should be a very entertaining affair.

The Showtime curtain-raiser is a rematch as Fernando Martinez attempts to retain the IBF junior bantamweight title against the opponent that he won it from- Jerwin Ancajas.

Martinez scored a surprising upset in a bomb-filled battle to lift the title from Ancajas, who had successfully defended the championship nine times before losing to Martinez and had a scheduled title unification bout in Japan against WBO champion Kazuto Ioka scuttled by the loss.

The first two fights will have to carry the card for Showtime because the main event doesn't look competitive at all but I think both of the early fights could be very action-packed.

Boxing Challenge

Junior Middleweights. 12 Rds 

Sebastian Fundora vs Carlos Ocampo

Ramon Malpica;
TRS: Fundora KO 6
Vince Samano: Fundora KO 10

Middleweights. 12 Rds

Carlos Adames vs Juan Montiel

R.L:
TRS and V.S: Adames Unanimous Decision

IBF Junior Middleweight Title. 12 Rds

Fernando Martinez vs Jerwin Ancajas

R.L:
TRS: Martinez Unanimous Decision
V.S.: Martinez KO 10

PPM

  The football weekend looks to be filled with interesting and important games with Ohio State playing its first road game of the season in East Lansing against Michigan State

Last Week: 14-3 

Overall: 54-27

College

Ohio State over Michigan State 45-20

Oklahoma State over Texas Tech 38-28

Boise State over Fresno State 27-23

Houston over Memphis 31-17

Arkansas over Mississippi State 24-21

Bowling Green over Buffalo 26-24

Georgia Southern over Georgia State 30-23

Middle Tennessee State over UAB 32-29

N.C. State over Florida State 27-24

Oregon State over Stanford 24-17

Games of the Week

TCU over Kansas 35-21

Utah over UCLA 29-24

NFL 

Chargers over Browns 31-17

Saints over Seahawks 27-24

Games of the Week

Rams over Cowboys 27-17

Ravens over Bengals 37-35

Sometimes

     There are occasions that I'm not sure how long I'll be writing here.

Sometimes, I think, other than talking about boxing or the teams that I try to cover here, that after over fifteen years, I've told all the stories that I can tell about myself and memories from my past.

I look at the last year and it's clear that I've cut back in writing about topics other than the above-mentioned, tributes, and cleaning out the inbox, and while I've always liked writing about varied issues, I've been almost blocked of late.

I don't wish to write about politics as our country is so fractured that I've become weary of even watching the news of late and since the end of my autographing travels, I've taken few trips to see new places to write about.

I've thought about adding an occasional post about some of the television and film projects I've been such a fan of through the years but I'm often unmotivated even to write about those topics.

I just wonder if I have run out of steam on some topics and then I think that this is a dry spell that has happened before and I just need to hang in there.

I'll do just that and hopefully some fresh memories come to mind or maybe even accept that yet another transition in this tiny corner of the cyber-verse is here, as has happened before.

I'm trying to plan some ideas to reenergize, so hopefully, they will develop soon.

 

Browns lose to Falcons 23-20

     Questionable coaching decisions and yet another late-game pass defensive breakdown cost the Cleveland Browns as the Browns lost a 23-20 verdict to the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta.

Jacoby Brissett scored a rushing touchdown and finished with 234 passing yards but didn't throw for a score and threw an interception on the game's final drive.

Nick Chubb ran for a touchdown and ran for 118 yards to lead the Cleveland offense in the disappointing defeat.

Cleveland drops to 2-2 and will host the Los Angeles Chargers in Cleveland next Sunday.

Brownie Bits

1) I've stated before that I am a moderate on the topic of "analytics".

I believe that there is a place for considering trends and data and while I do believe that there is something to be said for the human aspect of decision-making and talent evaluation, I believe that being a slave to one side or the other is narrow-minded thinking.

Kevin Stefanski continues to believe that sticking consistently to his numbers overrides judging by each situation and it often has cost the Browns.

2) And it cost them in this one as the Browns marched down the field on their first possession and had a third down and one that saw them hurry to the line of scrimmage as they tried to catch the Falcons out of sync.

Instead, Nick Chubb lost two yards to set up a fourth down and three from the four-yard line.

3) Analytics says go for the touchdown in this spot while old school thinking says to take the short field goal and the three points for a team that needs to take every point opportunity that they have.

One side states six is more than three and the other says three is more than zero.

Stefanski keeps the offense on the field and Jacoby Brissett's pass is thrown out of the end zone and Cleveland has nothing to show for a dominant drive.

In other words-three points were tossed aside in a game that would be lost by three points.

4) Why did I dedicate so much space to this decision?

Because it is not an anomaly with Kevin Stefanski and it's starting to have adverse effects on his football team.

The Browns under Jimmy Haslam from day one have been an organization that believes that they are smarter than everyone else even when the evidence is to the contrary and it trickles down from Paul DePodesta (and Sashi Brown in his era), Andrew Berry, and ending with Kevin Stefanski, which then appears in situations such as this and that ends with Stefanski answering bizarrely at the post-game press conference that "we had to get points there".

Then why didn't you?

5) And it wouldn't be the Browns without a catastrophic pass defensive breakdown in the fourth quarter as Marcus Mariota hit Olamide Zaccheaus for a 42-yard gain and then Denzel Ward was called for a facemask penalty to place the Falcons into position for the game-winning field goal by Younghoe Kim.

6) That completion was the only pass attempt from Marcus Mariota on the game-winning drive for Atlanta, who possessed the ball three times in the final quarter and scored on all three against the Cleveland defense on drives of 75, 73, and 64 yards.

Add them up and the Cleveland defense gave up 212 yards in the final quarter.

7) Marcus Mariota completed only seven passes and threw just nineteen but what Atlanta did was what Cleveland was supposed to do to teams- pound the rock and wear defenses down late in the game.

Atlanta rushed for 202 yards with non-household names Tyler Allegeier (84) and Caleb Huntley (56) accounting for most of the total.

8) Cleveland, on the other hand, threw 35 passes and ran the ball 35 times.

Jacoby Brissett didn't play badly but this wasn't a good effort either.

9) Some of that may have been Brissett but Kevin Stefanski's playcalling didn't help either as only four passes were thrown to Amari Cooper, completing one for only nine yards.

Cooper is the team's top playmaker and one catch for nine yards isn't going to open up the offense very often.

10) Of course, the Browns were going to miss Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney and for the most part the defensive line was decent enough until the final period.

Cleveland did receive a sack from Jordan Elliott, the Browns were shorthanded on the defensive line, and playing the depth guys will eventually cost you and it did in the fourth quarter.

I'd add more but it's getting late.

I may add more tomorrow, should I have time.

Day squares off vs Schiano in OSU rout.

    Ohio State's feared passing attack never seemed to find its groove but the ground game behind Miyan Williams more than carried its weight as Ohio State pummeled another sad sack league bottom feeder in a 49-10 rout of Rutgers at Ohio Stadium.

Williams finished with 189 yards rushing and rushed for five touchdowns as Williams received more carries with TreVeyon Henderson sitting the game out due to an injury.

C.J. Stroud threw two touchdown passes but was held to only 154 yards passing with an interception in what could be noted as a dreary game.

Ohio State moved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten and will travel to East Lansing next Saturday against a slumping Michigan State Spartans team that has dropped its two most recent games but will be entering the game off an open week,

Olentangy Offerings

1) TreVeyon Henderson aggravated his injured foot in pre-game warmups and sat out the game, which I thought was an excellent decision by Ohio State.

I'd hate to see a nagging injury that lasts longer than it should (as is happening with Jaxon Smith-Njigba)  and affect the team against tougher challenges.

2) The Henderson injury gave Miyan Williams the ball more often and Williams responded with 189 yards and five touchdowns on twenty-one carries.

The five touchdowns tied the Ohio State record held by Pete Johnson (1974) and Keith Byars (1984).

For all of Henderson's abilities and publicity, Miyan Williams has been his equal thus far this season and while some of that is due to the injuries that have hampered Henderson a bit, Williams has played well enough to at least consider the thought.

3) C.J. Stroud just seemed a bit out of sync and it showed with an average day that he might not have gotten away with against better teams.

Every Heisman candidate will have average games, the key is to avoid them when the stage is largest and not cost your team a game.

4) The player that has shined most under Jim Knowles in his first season as Ohio State's defensive coordinator has to be linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, who has shown the ability to be a three-down linebacker that can occasionally rush the passer.

5) And the biggest news on this day was the nose-to-nose screaming match between Ryan Day and Rutgers's head coach Greg Schiano.

Day and Schiano were on Urban Meyer's staff together and are friendly but after a fake punt in the fourth quarter by punter Jesse Mirco (Day said afterward that was a read by Mirco, not a called fake), Mirco was drilled well out of bounds by Rutgers WR Aron Cruickshank for a roughness penalty.

6) After the play, Cruickshank and several Buckeyes began pushing and shoving with Schiano running across the field to try to help keep things calm but instead Day and Schiano went at each other with the type of confrontation that looked to be far more serious than just a little screaming.

7) Both men shook hands after the game and didn't rip the other, both stating that they understood that the other was only defending their team with no hard feelings.

8) I could understand Rutgers being ticked about the fake but watching the replay, Rutgers had their punt block on and overloaded one side of the line, Mirco saw the alignment and ran around it for the big gain as it was evident that Rutgers would have an excellent chance of blocking the punt.

9) Rutgers did lead seven-nothing after their first drive stalled but Emeka Egbuka fumbled the punt with Rutgers recovering and scoring their only touchdown on a fourteen-yard touchdown pass.

10) Ohio State would tie the game on their next drive, so the few minutes during that drive is only the second time all season that Ohio State has trailed.

The other?

Against Notre Dame, trailed 3-0 and 10-7 at the half. 

PPM

The PPM returns after an average week and without any boxing this weekend to watch, it should be mostly football viewing for TRS.

Last Week: 8-9 

Overall: 40-24

College

Ohio State over Rutgers 51-17

Kansas State over Texas Tech 30-24

Boise State over San Diego State 28-27

Houston over Tulane 30-21

UTSA over Middle Tennessee State 35-31

Alabama over Arkansas 30-21

N.C State over Clemson 41-38

Bowling Green over Akron 23-17

Coastal Carolina over Georgia Southern 29-27

Utah over Oregon State 21-17

Games of the Week

Oklahoma State over Baylor 38-31

Ole Miss over Kentucky 27-21

NFL
Browns over Falcons 24-21

Chargers over Texans 31-21

Vikings over Saints 30-24

Games of the Week

Bills over Ravens 27-21

Chiefs over Buccaneers 28-24