Boxing Challenge: Chisora marches on

   Dereck Chisora was thought to be near the end of the line as a heavyweight contender and his fight with Otto Wallin was the boxing equivalent of a gold watch with one final large payday on his way out of the sport.

Instead, Chisora arrived in tremendous shape, didn't tire as quickly as he had often done in recent years, and survived an awful cut over his left eye to defeat Wallin via a unanimous decision in Manchester, England.

Chisora outworked Wallin throughout and twice scored knockdowns (in rounds nine and twelve) to cement the win.

Neither knockdown placed Wallin in danger of being stopped. Still, they did solidify Chisora's lead on the scorecards in a victory with scores of 117-109, 116-110 (my score), and a surprisingly close 114-112 with the knockdowns giving the edge to Chisora on that card.

For Chisora, who claimed before the fight that this would be his final fight in the UK, he suddenly has unexpected options.

The IBF decided to make this fight an eliminator for their second spot in the ratings and Chisora could choose to face the winner of the Martin Bakole-Efe Ajagba match and should he win, move into their mandatory challenger position.

Chisora may also pursue Anthony Joshua for a guaranteed large purse and of the three names that Chisora mentioned after his win, the possibility of Joshua bringing a larger cheer from the crowd than either champion's name, so perhaps that could be in play.

I don't want to see Chisora against the Bakole-Ajagba winner because both men are big punchers and Chisora soaks up punishment.

Joe Joyce was at ringside and should Chisora decide to face Joyce in a rematch of their terrific fight last July, I'd be okay with that.
Joyce punches hard but is painfully slow and Chisora could avoid some of Joyce's lobbing bombs.

Chisora against IBF champion Daniel DuBois could end similarly and a rematch against three-titleholder Oleksandr Usyk (Usyk won a unanimous decision in 2020) might be less competitive but Chisora could take less punishment against the supremely skilled champion.

As for Wallin, he will slip back into the fringes of contention as he came up short in a fight that was made for him to win against a smaller, limited, aging fighter and wasn't good enough.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 13 Pts (0) 

TRS: 13 Pts (0)

Vince Samano: 6 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge

     The boxing challenge is brief this week with only one fight from Manchester, England from DAZN.

Veteran heavyweight warhorse Derek Chisora claims that Saturday's bout will be the final one for Chisora in England.

Chisora did say he would consider a final fight elsewhere, so it makes sense that the bout is being promoted as The Last Dance.

However, earlier this week, the IBF may have lengthened Chisora's career as the sanctioning body announced that the winner of Chisora's match with Sweden's Otto Wallin would become their second-ranked contender, and would face the winner of the Martin Bakole-Efe Ajagba match to become their mandatory challenger to Daniel DuBois or Joseph Parker, should Parker win their fight later this month.

The forty-one-year-old Chisora has taken tremendous punishment throughout his career and I'd hate to see him against Ajagba or especially Bakole, both possessing excellent punching power.

Wallin is a pure boxer and was chosen because he isn't likely to hurt Chisora if Wallin outboxed him.

Wallin has fought only once since Anthony Joshua stopped him in five in 2023 while Chisora last fought in July with a close and fun-to-watch decision win over Joe Joyce.

If Wallin boxes and doesn't fall for the Chisora tricks and mind games, Wallin could win comfortably.

Chisora's only chance is to rough it up, hope Wallin takes the bait and Chisora will have the home arena on his side, which can sway the judges.

Boxing Challenge

Heavyweights 12 Rds 

Derek Chisora vs Otto Wallin

Ramon Malpica and TRS: Wallin Unanimous Decision

Vince Samano: Wallin KO 8

Cavaliers obtain De'Andre Hunter from Hawks

    Koby Altman must have been frustrated with his Cleveland Cavaliers' recent struggles against the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder, arguably the two best teams the Cavaliers must face to win an NBA championship.

Altman needed to do something to upgrade the roster. Still, with limited resources to trade if he didn't want to trade any of Cleveland's "Core Four" of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, the Cavaliers weren't tabbed as a team likely to acquire a player that could be more than a role player by the NBA's trade deadline.

Anyone believing that would have been incorrect as Altman not only landed a player that improved the roster, Altman did so at a surprisingly low cost as the Cavaliers acquired De'Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks for Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three future second-round draft picks, and pick swaps in the future, which sometimes never are used.

Hunter was the fourth overall draftee in the 2019 draft from Virginia and is enjoying his best season as a professional with averages of nineteen points and almost four rebounds a game for the Hawks.

The twenty-seven-year-old Hunter is signed through this season and the following two years so Hunter won't be a rental and can be planned into the Cavaliers future.

Hunter is shooting forty-six percent from the floor and a career-high thirty-nine percent from beyond the three-point line.

Hunter is the "three and D" on the wing that Cleveland lacked. At 6'8", he can play the four position if circumstances require it. While Hunter may not have been the defensive stopper he was in college, he is still better than average on the defensive end.

Cleveland's cost for Hunter seems light compared to their return, losing two players from their second unit.

Caris LeVert averages ten points and just under four assists per game in almost twenty-four minutes a night. He is capable of offensive explosions, but it's difficult to consistently rely on him. His expiring contract may have appealed to the Hawks most in the trade.

Georges Niang was averaging eight points a game in twenty minutes per game off the bench and was shooting forty percent from three-point range in a season that saw improved play from Niang after a disappointing first Cleveland campaign.

The second-round picks are a tangible asset and not something that I worry about trading, and I doubt the option for Atlanta to switch first-rounders with Cleveland will ever occur.

The amazing thing for me is that the best two assets that could have been traded, the Cavaliers next available first-rounder in 2031 and their most recent first-round pick in Jaylon Tyson, Cleveland managed to keep both!

Tyson isn't playing a large role yet but impressed when he has had the opportunity and Cleveland hopes to develop Tyson into a key performer when the Cavaliers may have to make salary cap decisions down the road.

Caris LeVert and Georges Niang are both reported to be great locker room guys and losing them certainly weakens the second unit.

However, neither player would have been a playoff regular and Niang in particular would see his playing time decrease drastically during the postseason.

Both players will be missed but Koby Altman has to be praised for adding a player such as De'Andre Hunter to fill the team's largest weakness at a reasonable price.

Clearly, Cleveland has improved their chances of dethroning the Boston Celtics with the acquisition of De'Andre Hunter.

Myles Garrett requests trade

     Andrew Berry stated that the Cleveland Browns had no interest in trading star defensive end Myles Garrett and added the quote that Garrett would be "going from Cleveland to Canton", inferring that Garrett would be a career-long member of the Browns.

Less than a week later, the Browns received Garrett's thoughts on the matter, as he not only requested a trade from the team but added that his goal "was never to go from Cleveland to Canton but to compete for and win a Super Bowl"

The Browns hold some of the cards here as Garrett is signed through 2027 but by going public with his request, Garrett took away some of the Browns leverage in shopping his services.

Garrett also slapped the Browns and Andrew Berry in particular in the face by using the same phrase Berry used only days before in describing why Garrett was staying in Cleveland.

Andrew Berry is lucky to have a job after creating this mess and somehow is receiving a chance to fix it (or make it worse) now has been emasculated in public as Garrett mocked Berry with his own words.

The Browns would take a massive salary cap hit in dead money should they trade Garrett and the best thing for cap reasons would be for the Browns to sign Garrett to a renegotiated contract extension.

Wave the money at Garrett and see if that makes his problems better.

If not you try to bring in as much as possible for him in trade, preferably picks in the 2026 draft, and hope for the best.

I've seen many in the Cleveland media state that Andrew Berry should be fired immediately for being the man who traded for DeShaun Watson and the man who traded Myles Garrett or that his seat is now even hotter than it already was.

I beg to differ.

I believe that trading Myles Garrett may help Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski as they will have the built-in excuse of "How could we be expected to succeed without our best player?" and they should have the right and another draft to show progress.

Jimmy Haslam is very fond of Andrew Berry and while Berry should have been removed already, don't be surprised if we are here in January 2026 with Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski preparing for one more " all in" season.

Ohio State Offense loses Chip Kelly, Justin Frye

     Life and college football never stops as less than two weeks after Ohio State won the National Championship, the Buckeyes are now replacing both of their coordinators and their offensive line coach.

Ohio State had lost defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Penn State and now offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and offensive line coach Justin Frye will be leaving Columbus to coach in the NFL, Kelly with the Las Vegas Raiders and Frye to the Arizona Cardinals.

Kelly spent one season in Columbus after his surprising decision to resign as UCLA's head coach to serve as the Ohio State coordinator and one cannot argue with the result after the National Championship but if one report can be believed, Kelly will receive a six million dollar payday with the Raiders, which would triple Kelly's salary with Ohio State.

There is no way that Ohio State could come close to equalling that number, so one cannot blame Ohio State for not matching the Raiders offer or Kelly for accepting.

Frye was paid one million by Ohio State last season and while the terms of Frye's deal with the Cardinals are undisclosed, it's likely Frye will be accepting a healthy salary increase.

Frye's three-year tenure had its ups and downs but Frye did his best work in 2024 with an offensive line that suffered injuries to his two best linemen during the season, Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin.

At first glance, I think that Kelly might be the easier coach to replace than Frye with the availability of Kevin Wilson, who was fired as the head coach at Tulsa after spending six years as the coordinator with Ohio State.

Wilson would be an easy fit with Ryan Day as they had success working together in the past and now that Wilson's head coaching career appears to be finished after his Tulsa tenure (7-16, fired with one game to go last season) and his age (64 in October), Wilson could look at Ohio State as a place that he could finish his career.

Ohio State could also move to Brian Hartline, who between his recruiting and development of wide receivers is a keeper at all costs, so if keeping Hartline means giving him this job, so be it.

It's risky since Hartline has never called plays but considering his importance to the program if he wants it, it's his.

Other mentioned candidates have been Toledo head coach Jason Candle, Akron head coach Joe Moorehead, Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon, and Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.

Replacing Frye could be harder when you consider the recruiting aspect of the job.

Kevin Wilson could be a candidate for this position as well but the leader in the eyes of fans appears to be former Buckeye and All-Pro center LeCharles Bentley, who is renowned for his work with college and NFL prospects.

Bentley may not be interested but if he is, he would be a huge addition to the staff.

Should Ryan Day decide to go internal, Tim Drevno spent last season on the staff as a quality control staff but has a long record as an OL coach.

Notre Dame's Joe Rudolph has had success at three stops (Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame) and was once a graduate assistant at Ohio State.

Those are my top candidates but here are other possibilities.

Two weeks isn't very much time in the real world but in the college football world it's enough time to change a program.

At the very least, Ohio State will have three major changes for 2025 on a staff that could have used some stability.

Boxing Challenge: Benavidez decisions Morrell, Fulton dethrones Figueroa

     On paper, PBC's Saturday night pay-per-view from Las Vegas was their best, from top to bottom, and it was a good evening of boxing.

Still, it felt like a mild disappointment despite providing some strong action and it started at the top of the card with David Benavidez winning a unanimous decision over David Morrell to make Benavidez the top contender to the winner of the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol rematch that will occur later this month.

Benavidez-Morrell was a good fight but far from the light-heavyweight Armageddon that many thought was possible as Benavidez added Morrell's minor title to the minor belt that Benavidez already owned.

Benavidez threw more, landed more, and simply outworked Morrell, although Morrell had his moments most notably his eleventh-round knockdown of an off-balance Benavidez.

Morrell lost that extra point at the end of the same round when he hit Benavidez after the bell and had a point deducted, which was clearly a foul.

Benavidez won on the scorecards of 118-108 and 115-111 twice, the latter agreeing with my card.

The co-feature was a story of redemption and disappointment as Stephen Fulton won the WBC featherweight title unanimously over Brandon Figueroa in a rematch of their terrific 2021 matchup, won by Fulton by a majority decision.

The redemption comes from Fulton's rebounding from a knockout loss to Naoya Inoue and a controversial decision win over Carlos Castro in his recent two fights.

The disappointment part is that the fight wasn't nearly as exciting as their first fight as Fulton boxed more and Figueroa didn't punch nearly as often which gave Fulton a more conclusive victory.

The scores for Fulton were 117-111 and 116-112 twice, the same as my score.

The fight of the night was expected to be the junior welterweight ten-rounder between Isaac Cruz and Angel Fierro and that lived up to expectations as the two slugged each other for ten brutal rounds.

An absolute battle with Cruz winning on the scorecards 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94, the latter same as my card.

Cruz keeps his viability after losing his WBC championship to Jose Valenzuela but Cruz's aggressive attacking style isn't hurting junior welterweights as badly as lightweights and Cruz should consider dropping back to 135 pounds if he can make the weight.

Fierro made himself some fans with his effort and I'm sure earned himself future paydays.

In the opener, middleweight Jesus Ramos knocked out former junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario in the eighth round after winning all seven of the previous rounds, dropping Rosario in the seventh.

Rosario has never been known for a stern chin but Ramos's win was still impressive.

Saturday afternoon from London, Peacock was expected to stream promising junior welterweight Adam Azim's latest challenge against former IBF junior lightweight champion Sergey Lipinets but the card never appeared on the streaming service for whatever reason.

Azim was deducted two points for low blows in the fight but controlled Lipinets before stopping him in round nine.

I've only seen highlights at this time.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 13 Pts(5)

TRS: 13 Pts (5)

Vince Samano: 6 Pts (4)

Boxing Challenge

      This week's Boxing Challenge is centered in Las Vegas with a pay-per-view card from PBC/Amazon peppered with interesting fights that few may see with an eighty-dollar price tag.

The main event is a much-anticipated contest between light heavyweights David Benavidez and David Morrell for the right to be the mandatory challenger for the undisputed world title currently held by Artur Beterbiev, who meets Dmitry Bivol in a rematch of their unification battle in two weeks.

Both Benavidez and Morrell were more proven as super middleweights but were forced to move to the higher weight division when champion Canelo Alvarez refused to face either man.

Neither were overly impressive in their 175-pound debut, each winning decision's (Benavidez over Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Morrell over Radivoje Kalajdzic) but they should make an exciting fight in this one.

Morrell is the more skilled boxer, while Benavidez is the bigger and stronger fighter, having faced better competition. While Benavidez is the more physical fighter, Morrell could be the harder one-shot puncher.

Placing the meaningless minor titles that each holds, the two boxers have shown legitimate animosity toward each other.

This fight could be a candidate for Fight of the Year.

The co-feature could be another candidate, as WBC featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa defends against former WBC and WBO junior featherweight titleholder Stephen Fulton in a rematch of their excellent 2021 clash won by Fulton via a majority decision that many (including me) giving Figueroa a slight edge.

Since then, Fulton has been knocked out by Naoya Inoue and won a controversial decision in his last bout over Carlos Castro, while Figueroa knocked out the same Castro in six rounds, decisioned former champion Mark Magsayo, and knocked out former junior featherweight champion Jessie Magdaleno in nine rounds last year, so it is Figueroa who is in better recent form.

Figueroa was recently promoted to full WBC champion when injury-riddled champion Rey Vargas was named Champion in Recess.

Former WBC junior welterweight champion Isaac "Pit Bull" Cruz returns for the first time after his upset loss to Jose Valenzuela against Angel Fierro.

Cruz smashed through Rolando Romero before his close defeat to Valenzuela but I thought his aggressive style didn't carry as well in the junior welterweight division as in the lightweight division which could hurt him against the heavier opponents.

Fierro is a rugged fighter who has shown toughness but is a cut below world-class although he should make an entertaining scuffle.

The PPV opener is at middleweight as touted prospect Jesus Ramos faces former WBA and IBF junior middleweight champion Jeison Rosario in a ten-rounder.

Ramos was robbed of a win last year against Erickson Lubin that he deserved and after a comeback knockout win over Johan Gonzalez, Ramos decided to move up to the middleweight division.

Rosario fought to an exciting draw last June with former WBA/IBF junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd but has never been known for a strong chin with knockout losses in his four defeats.

This one could be another explosive one for as long as it lasts!

In the afternoon from London, Boxxer/Peacock will present an interesting main event as unbeaten prospect Adam Azim meets former IBF junior lightweight champion Sergey Lipinets in a twelve-rounder.

Azim knocked out former world title challenger Ohara Davies in the eighth round in October while Lipinets defeated Robbie Davies Jr. (no relation) via a unanimous decision last May.

This looks like the classic veteran of the up-and-coming prospect against an aging gatekeeper.

Boxing Challenge

Light Heavyweights 12 Rds 

David Benavidez vs David Morrell

Ramon Malpica: Benavidez Unanimous Decision
TRS: Benavidez KO 5
Vince Samano: Morrell Unanimous Decision

WBC Featherweight Title. 12 Rds

Brandon Figueroa vs Stephen Fulton

All: Figueroa Unanimous Decision

Junior Welterweights. 10 Rds

Isaac Cruz vs Angel Fierro

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

Middleweights 12 Rds

Jesus Ramos vs Jeison Rosario

R.L: Ramos Unanimous Decision
TRS: Ramos KO 4

V.S: Ramos KO 6

Welterweights. 12 Rds

Adam Azim vs Sergey Lipinets

R.L and TRS: Azim Unanimous Decision
V.S: Azim KO 6