Cleaning out the Inbox: Non-Sports Passings

   Sadly, only one day after working on tributes to recent sports passings, the passing of Michael Stanley has made it the right time for tributes from the non-sports world.

Goodbye to Michael Stanley at the age of 72.

Michael Stanley may never have hit the highest heights of rock stardom, but in Northern Ohio, there was no one larger.

Stanley's biggest national hit came in 1980 with "He Can't Love You", which was a staple of very early MTV and hit 33 on the charts and 1983's "My Town" slid into the top 40 three years later, but Stanley was biggest of all in Cleveland.

Stanley was bigger than any act that you can name and his popularity continued even as the Michael Stanley Band transitioned to spots in other bands, Stanley maintained his regional star by hosting Cleveland's version of PM Magazine from 1987-90 and then moving to radio from 1990 until last February when his health issues were too large to continue to talk four hours every day.

While Stanley had bigger hits and songs that he was better known for, there is only one Michael Stanley song that defines him and his music to me.

Stanley cut a recording for the Cleveland Cavaliers entitled "Tonight's the Night" and the Cavaliers would play that at the end of each home game during the Richfield Coliseum era when the Mark Price/Brad Daughtery teams were making playoff runs and I remember so vividly that song blaring after the Cavaliers won game seven of the 1992 Eastern Conference semi-finals over Boston.

That was the final game of Larry Bird's career, which also was the end of the Celtics run of great teams and I associate that game with the Michael Stanley Band with the memories of those teams in Richfield.

Holly Gleason's tribute to Stanley covers far more ground than this at Variety. 

Goodbye to Mary Wilson at the age of 76.

A founding member of the Supremes, Wilson was part of the Supremes both with and without Diana Ross and had hits in the same time frame with the group.

The Supremes with Wilson finished with twelve number one singles and were part of the initial class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Wilson performing as both a lead and backup singer at different times and songs during the group's heyday.

Wilson was also involved with the creation of the Music Moderniztion Act in 2018, which cleared up royalties and copyrights for music from before 1972 for streaming and other technologies which were not even thought of when the music was created.

Goodbye to Bruce Kirby at the age of 95.

The veteran character actor may be best remembered for his many appearances on the 70s NBC detective drama Columbo, but his appearances in television and film are too many to recall.

Kirby also was the store owner in "Stand by Me" and was the father of the late actor Bruno Kirby, who appeared in several films including "Good Morning Vietnam" before his death in 2006.

Goodbye to Rennie Davis at the age of 80.

The Vietnam-era activist was a leader in the anti-war movement and involved in the leadership of the SDS in the 60s.

Davis was part of the "Chicago Seven" which pops up every few years in pop culture when a film (it seems like there have been several made ranging from documentary to docudrama to cartoon) is created covering the 1968 Chicago riots at the Democratic Convention and the ensuing trial a year later.

Davis became a follower of the Divine Light Mission and would become a venture capitalist and lecturer on meditation among other holistic topics.

Cleaning out the Inbox:Passings

    Sadly, it's time for a few tributes to folks that recently passed away.

Goodbye to Irv Cross at the age of 81.

A pro-bowl cornerback twice for the Eagles in a nine-year career, after being selected in the seventh round by Philadelphia after playing his college football at Northwestern, Cross broke down barriers for African-Americans in sports television with several "firsts" after leaving the Eagles coaching staff in 1971.

Cross became the first African-American to anchor in sports in 1970, was the first African-American to work as a commentator on games in 1971 when he moved to CBS, and would trailblaze in the studio in 1975 as part of the NFL Today with their legendary lineup with Brent Musberger, Phyllis George, and later Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder.

The popular Cross would return to commentating in 1990 when the NFL Today was revamped following the departure of Musburger from the network and would call games through 1994.

Cross would work as the athletic director at Idaho State and Macalester College before retiring.

Cross donated his brain to the CTE Center at Boston University for research after his death.

Goodbye to John Mendenhall at the age of 72.

Mendenhall was the best defensive player on the mostly-wretched New York Giants teams of the 1970s.

The Giants' third-round selection in 1972, Mendenhall was a rare defensive tackle that could reach the quarterback in the pocket as well as play the run.

After Mendenhall's rookie season, when the Giants finished 8-6, the Giants would never win more than six games through Mendenhall's tenure, and after Mendenhall would play one season (1980) with Detroit, he would retire.

Mendenhall played in the era before sacks were officially recorded, but I would wager he might have finished near one hundred sacks for his career.

The Giants highlight films during his career are filled with Mendenhall pushing aside a guard and sacking a quarterback and it makes me wonder just how many great defensive players aren't going to make the Hall of Fame because of the lack of official statistics for defenders in their time.

Goodbye to Mark Pavelich at the age of 63.

A member of the "Miracle On Ice" gold medal-winning hockey team in 1980, Pavelich had suffered from mental issues and had been judged mentally incompetent to stand trial after a 2019 assault on a neighbor with a piece of metal that gave the neighbor several broken bones.

Pavelich is suspected to have been suffering from CTE to cause his post-career issues.

Pavelich was the center that assisted on the game-winning goal scored by Mike Eruzione that would defeat the Soviet Union at Lake Placid and finished the Olympics with one goal and six assists.

In the NHL, Pavelich played in seven seasons with the first five with the New York Rangers, where Pavelich's best seasons were his first two when he combined for seventy goals and eighty-one assists over those two seasons.

Goodbye to Juan Pizarro at the age of 84.

Southpaw Pizarro won 131 games over his eighteen seasons in major league baseball but was expected to eventually be a top-of-the-line starter when he arrived with the Milwaukee Braves at age 20 in 1957.

Pizarro would win only twenty-three games in his four seasons with the Braves but blossomed after Milwaukee traded him to the Chicago White Sox before the 1961 season.

Pizarro would win fifty-nine games with the White Sox from 1961-64, including two All-Star appearances and nineteen wins in 1964, but following that season, injuries would take away his top form and send him to the bullpen for most of the remainder of his career for six teams.

Pizarro did have one moment of glory for the Cubs in 1971 in a September spot start, Pizarro shutout the Mets at Shea Stadium defeating Tom Seaver 1-0 when Pizarro homered off Seaver in the eighth inning for the Cubs only run.

It would be over 40 years before a pitcher would break up a 0-0 game with an eighth-inning or later home run when Clayton Kershaw accomplished the feat in 2013.

Goodbye to Joe Altobelli at the age of 88.

Altobelli played parts of three seasons for Cleveland and Minnesota but is better remembered for his managerial career when he managed three teams in the majors and managed the 1983 Baltimore Orioles to their last World Series championship.

Altobelli took over for Earl Weaver for the 1983 season and would remain with the Orioles until midway through the 1985 season when he was replaced by Weaver.

Altobelli would manage only one more game in the majors, a one-game interim stint with the 1991 Cubs.

While Altobelli's World Series title had to be the highlight of his career, his best job might have been with the 1978 Giants when he managed them to a surprising 89-73 record and a third-place finish in the National League West six games behind the eventual National League champion Dodgers.

Top Ten Mexican Fighters- Part Two

    Ramon Malpica asked for this list and I've put the Cavaliers and Devils off to the side to make this one for him.

We finish the top ten Mexican boxers of all-time with the top five.

The ranking from six through ten with honorable mentions here.

For the purposes of this list- Here are the ground rules.

I am looking at Canelo Alvarez's body of work as if he announced his retirement today and never returned to the ring.

Canelo will have several opportunities to move higher on this list as his career continues, but for now, I am going on what is, not what could happen in the future.

This is also a list that relies heavily on who you defeated and when you defeated them along with nuances such as Marco Antonio Barrera's final loss to Amir Khan doesn't cost him a lot because of the natural weight differential and Canelo Alvarez's KO win over Khan doesn't gain him very much for the same reason.

Also, I did not include the great welterweight Jose Napoles on this list because even though he fought out of Mexico, he was of Cuban Heritage.

Had I included "Mantaquilla", he certainly would have resided in the top ten.

This is not a list of who would have beaten whom in a mystical tournament of peak fighters without weight advantages

You want that in the future?

Perhaps it can be arranged.

On with the countdown in full Casey Kasem voice with the rankings of 1-5 and I expect some controversy here.

1: Julio Cesar Chavez

Chavez was, at one time or another, the best fighter in three different weight divisions, defeated fourteen boxers that were champions at one time, and won his first eighty-seven matches before a draw with Pernell Whitaker.

A ferocious body puncher, Chavez didn't get hit as much as you would think for an aggressive fighter.

Chavez holds the record for title fight wins (31) and title defenses (27 combining all his title reigns) and known for his rock-like chin, Chavez could stand toe to toe or break a retreating boxer down.

About the only bad things that you could say about Chavez were that late in his career, he was more willing to surrender when times were tough ( losses to Oscar De La Hoya and Kostya Tszyu ended with Chavez ending fights in his corner) and the officials helped in his miracle win over Meldrick Taylor (the famous Richard Steele stoppage with two seconds to go) and the draw with Pernell Whitaker (which Whitaker easily deserved the decision).

On the full body of work, Chavez gets the top spot, but some of the other top five have a strong case as well.

2: Ruben Olivares

Rockabye Ruben has a case as the greatest bantamweight ever (although someone below can make an argument) and won the featherweight title on two occasions as well.

A devastating puncher with either hand with 79 of his 89 victories by knockout, Olivares was undefeated in his first sixty-one fights (Olivares did have one draw during this stretch) before winning the world (both WBA and WBC) titles with a 1969 fifth-round knockout of Lionel Rose.

Olivares suffered his first loss by 14th round knockout to Chu Cho Castillo ( listed in Honorable Mention) after decisioning Castillo in the first fight of their trilogy held from April 1970-April 1971 but won the title back from Castillo in their third fight.

The savage battles against Castillo drained Olivares and he was never quite the same fighter after those fights as he defended the title twice before losing to Rafael Herrera in the eighth round.

After losing a majority decision to Herrera in their rematch, Olivares moved up to featherweight, skipping the junior featherweight division.

Olivares won the vacant WBA title but was knocked out by a young Alexis Arguello in his first defense in the thirteenth round.

Two fights later, Olivares massacred a weight-drained Bobby Chacon (the win over Chacon would be the only win over a Hall of Famer for Olivares) in two rounds to win the WBC version of the title but lost in his first defense to David "Poison" Kotey via a split decision.

Olivares would be stopped by Danny "Little Red" Lopez in his next fight and began to decline with losses to Chacon in a rematch, Jose Cervantes and to Eusebio Pedroza in his final attempt to regain the title, although he did have a second-round knockout over future lightweight champion Jose Luis Ramirez.

3: Salvador Sanchez

Had Sanchez not passed away at only 23, Sanchez might have been tops on this list.

Sanchez defended his WBC featherweight crown on nine occasions, defeating a Hall of Famer in Danny "Little Red" Lopez to win his title, stopping Lopez again in their rematch, and defeated two other Hall members by knockout during his reign in Wilfredo Gomez and Azumah Nelson.

Legendary for his stamina, Sanchez's heart rate returned to normal during the one minute between rounds and he stopped four opponents between the tenth and fifteenth rounds during his time as champion.

An accurate counterpuncher, Sanchez wasn't always comfortable leading, but could when needed as when he jumped on Wilfredo Gomez and almost ended their anticipated meeting in the first round.

Only Sanchez's death kept him from number one on the list as his passing at 23 kept him from possible fights against WBA champion Eusebio Pedroza in what would have likely been an awkward meshing of styles and possibly Julio Cesar Chavez in what might have been the greatest fight in Mexican boxing history.

Sanchez was only three years older than Chavez and it's likely that the two could have met more than once at junior lightweight or lightweight.

4: Juan Manuel Marquez

A champion at featherweight, junior lightweight, and lightweight, Marquez was hurt more than any of these great fighters by unfavorable judging.

Marquez lost six times after a debut loss by disqualification and all were arguable except for a clear loss to Floyd Mayweather.

One could argue that Marquez won all of the first three fights against Manny Pacquiao ( a draw, split decision, and majority decision, was robbed against Freddie Norwood and Chris John (in John's native Indonesia) and his split decision loss to Timothy Bradley could have been given to either man.

Marquez started his career as a speedy boxer-puncher that threw lots of combinations, ended it as more of an aggressive brawler, and was so good that he was shamelessly ducked for two years by Naseem Hamed as the WBO's mandatory challenger.

Marquez defeated nine fighters that held world titles, holds a win over Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera (which was the difference between their 4th and 6th ranking), and his memorable KO win over certain Hall inductee Manny Pacquiao.

With a few breaks, Marquez could have been number one on the list.

5: Carlos Zarate

Zarate and Ruben Olivares each have a case for best bantamweight ever.

Carrying top-notch power with either fist, Zarate didn't fight as long as Olivares, but his KO percentage is even more impressive with 63 of his 66 wins inside the scheduled distance, his nine defenses of his WBC title outshined Olivares as well (Olivares successfully defended four times) and who could forget his non-unification/unification win over then-WBA champion Alfonso Zamora by fourth-round knockout in Los Angeles?

So, why Olivares second and Zarate fifth?

Zarate never defeated a Hall of Famer, lost two of his three biggest fights in his prime, a fifth-round knockout loss to Wilfredo Gomez that made Gomez a star in an attempt to win the junior featherweight crown and a split decision loss to Lupe Pintor that was a terrible decision by the judges, and his petulant retirement at age 28 rather than fight Pintor again, all work against Zarate. 

Zarate did defeat three fighters that held a championship with his title victory over Rodolfo Martinez, his aforementioned win over Alfonso Zamora, and a title defense over Alberto Davila, who would win his title in 1983.

Zarate would come back seven years later to win ten fights in a row against lesser competition other than a fifth-round knockout over top ten rated Richard Savage, before losing to Hall of Famers Jeff Fenech and Daniel Zaragoza at age 37, retiring for good at age 38, but the retirement cost him plenty of his prime and he could have moved higher on the list with a revenge win over Pintor and maybe a win over WBA champion Jeff Chandler.

If I had to pick a winner of a Zarate-Olivares fight, I think I'd pick Zarate.

But picking the better career, I select Olivares by a sliver.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and thanks to Ramon Malpica for the idea.

If you like this and want similar posts in the future, let me know and spread the word on boxing social media...

Top Ten Mexican Fighters-Part One

  Ramon Malpica recently asked me to write about my opinions on the top ten Mexican fighters of All-Time with the ascension of Canelo Alvarez to arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and Ramon wanted to see where I stack Canelo on the all-time list.

I'm not usually happy with ranking active fighters on any all-time lists.

It is hard to do when you don't know how a fighter will finish a career and so much can change over an active fighter's time in the ring.

For the purposes of this list- Here are the ground rules.

I am looking at Canelo Alvarez's body of work as if he announced his retirement today and never returned to the ring.

Canelo will have several opportunities to move higher on this list as his career continues, but for now, I am going on what is, not what could happen in the future.

This is also a list that relies heavily on who you defeated and when you defeated them along with nuances such as Marco Antonio Barrera's final loss to Amir Khan doesn't cost him a lot because of the natural weight differential and Canelo Alvarez's KO win over Khan doesn't gain him very much for the same reason.

Also, I did not include the great welterweight Jose Napoles on this list because even though he fought out of Mexico, he was of Cuban Heritage.

Had I included "Mantaquilla", he certainly would have resided in the top ten.

This is not a list of who would have beaten whom in a mystical tournament of peak fighters without weight advantages

You want that in the future?

Perhaps it can be arranged.

On with the countdown in full Casey Kasem voice with the rankings of 6-10 and I expect some controversy here.

6: Marco Antonio Barrera

Barrera's career spanned two styles, first as a walk-down murderous puncher and then as a smoother boxer-puncher that could transition into boxing or as an aggressive fighter.

Barrera's three fights with Erik Morales and his two (especially the first) with Kennedy McKinney have to take a back seat to very few for exciting action.

Barrera fought any fighter that you could think of in his career, win or lose, and ducked no one.

Three legitimate world titles from 122-130 pounds, wins over Hall of Famers Erik Morales (twice), Prince Naseem Hamed, and Johnny Tapia, arguable losses to Morales (in fight one) and Juan Manuel Marquez, and fighting Manny Pacquiao twice makes the case for Barrera ahead of Canelo by a hair.

I don't think that it will end up this way, but for now (and I'll explain why) Barrera gets the edge.

7: Canelo Alvarez

A fighter that continues to improve and get better, Canelo Alvarez has wins over two Hall of Famers in an aging Shane Mosley and a small for division Miguel Cotto with a controversial win over eventual Hall of Famer Gennady Golovkin with his only loss to Hall member Floyd Mayweather.

Canelo has fought about anyone that you can think of from 154-175 and with one notable blip has not ducked anyone.

Alvarez has been mildly overrated as a puncher and underrated for his boxing skills but based on the body of work, I hold two things against him that could even out over time.

The first is that he has been very fortunate in his career in getting the benefit of the doubt from judges.

I thought he lost both fights to Gennady Golovkin, although the second was much closer than the first, I thought he lost to Erislandy Lara (but Lara's lack of aggression hurt himself on the cards), and if not for a late knockdown, may have lost to Austin Trout.

The other flaw- I do hold it against him that he didn't fight Gennady Golovkin in GGG's prime as he should have.

Promoter Oscar De La Hoya used every reason from mood rings to small rings to duck GGG after Canelo's great victory over Miguel Cotto.

Canelo was too small, needed time to adjust to the weight, threatened Golovkin constantly that if he scheduled fights and got cut, etc, he might not get a Canelo chance and faced with losing the biggest payday of his career, Golovkin lost the edge that he always held of being in the ring often and keeping his skills sharp.

You can argue that Golovkin traded his advantages for dollars and I'd agree, but the games that took two years to make their fight happen is the major black mark on Canelo's career (even more than Clenbuterol) and considering that many think he lost both fights anyway- the "What If" Canelo had fought Golovkin at his best can never go away.

Canelo has been dominating since the Golovkin fights, is coming into his best days as a fighter and I'd favor him against anyone right now from 160-175 except for Artur Beterbiev, so I'd expect upward movement in the future.

8: Vincente Saldivar

A rare southpaw that liked to brawl. Saldivar has been the forgotten star by many, but he held the unified (WBA and WBC) featherweight titles, defending them eight times before retiring, and then came out of retirement to defeat former (and future) WBC champion Jose Legra, Saldivar would take the WBC title back from Legra's conqueror Johnny Famechon.

Saldivar would lose the title in his first defense and fight only twice more to finish his career.

Saldivar defeated Hall of Famer Sugar Ramos to win his title and also holds a win over another Hall of Famer in Ismael Laguna, but while his competition was world-class, he lacks any other great wins.

A great fighter that would have been remembered by more, if he had been born a little later with the 126-pound division developing great depth in the 70s.

9: Miguel Canto

The slick boxing Canto didn't provide many knockouts (15 in 61 wins), but he rarely was hit, and for fans that enjoy the art of boxing, Canto was certainly a practitioner of that art.

Canto defeated six fighters during his title that would hold a flyweight title during their career and made fourteen title defenses before losing the title to Chan-Hee Park.

Canto would draw with Park in the rematch and never challenge for the title again (although he would beat a future champion in Gabriel Bernal before retirement), but his beautiful boxing style and 14 defenses play in his favor.

The downside? Canto never defeated a fellow Hall member although he holds wins over Shoji Oguma and Betulio Gonzalez, both of whom have a lesser case for enshrinement.

10: Erik Morales

I really wanted to pick Pipino Cuevas here and his ten title defense reign at welterweight made me consider it.

However, Cuevas never defeated a Hall of Famer, and despite ruining the career of Angel Espada, who before he ran into Cuevas, was thought to be headed in the Hall's direction, Pipino lost his biggest fights (to Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran).

Morales fought all the best of his era (except for Juan Manuel Marquez), defeated three Hall of Famers Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera (Morales fought each man three times, finishing 1-2 against both men) and Daniel Zaragoza, and was one of the more exciting fighters of his time.

Add in Morales five other victories over once or future champions and despite a to this day inexplicable loss to the pedestrian Zahir Raheem, I gave Morales a reluctant edge over my childhood favorite, Cuevas.

Honorable Mention- Alphabetical Order.

Note-Cuevas, Lopez, Pintor, and Zaragoza are members of the Hall of Fame.

Chu Cho Castillo- Never defended his WBC bantamweight title, but his three-fight series (1-2) against Ruben Olivares was one of the best rivalries in Mexican boxing history.  

Had there been never been an Olivares, could have been an all-time great.

Jose Luis Castillo- A two-time lightweight champion, put on the best fight that I've ever seen against Diego Corrales, knocked out Corrales in the rematch, and I STILL think he beat Floyd Mayweather in their first fight.

Pipino Cuevas- Ten title defenses, crunching puncher, and arguably the best Mexican boxer ever at 147 pounds or above before Canelo Alvarez.

Ricardo Lopez- 51-0-1 and two division titles, but never beat anyone remotely of Hall of Fame-caliber. 

A great fighter, but hurt by his competition.

Lupe Pintor- Overshadowed by two Hall of Famers in predecessor Carlos Zarate (who Pintor defeated via an awful decision) and fellow champion at the time in American Jeff Chandler.

Pintor defended his bantamweight title eight times, would win a junior featherweight crown, and his 14th round loss to Wilfredo Gomez might have been the best fight of the 80s-which says a lot!

Daniel Zaragoza- a two-division champion, Zaragoza defended his 122-pound title nine times over two reigns and holds a win over Mexican legend Carlos Zarate.

Look for the top five later this week!

Boxing Challenge: Canelo Crunches Yildirim

  The boxing challenge was reduced to only three fights for the weekend, but all three would be important ones in their divisions.

The biggest star in boxing took care of an obligation as Canelo Alvarez retained his WBA and WBC super-middleweight titles with a ridiculously easy stoppage of Avni Yildirim after three rounds when Yildirim's corner ended the fight.

Alvarez was barely touched in the three rounds (Yildirim landed four power punches) and the only drama in the WBC-mandated bout (Yildirim had been promised the fight for two years after a controversial loss to Anthony Dirrell)  was this- could Canelo escape without getting cut on a headbutt or a stray elbow?

Alvarez knocked Yildirim down with a straight right in the third and went on the attack and even though Yildirim didn't seem to be in extreme danger, one could see that the end was near.

However, the spectacular ending would be lacking as just as Yildirim's trainer Joel Diaz told him he was going to give him one more round, a member of the corner could be seen motioning for his surrender.

With the promised defense out of the way, Alvarez moves on and will take another step toward the goal of a unified super-middleweight title with an announced May fight against WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders.

The winner of that event will own three of the four titles in the division.

Saunders may not make an exciting fight or even a winning one, but I have a feeling that Saunders will fight better than many expect against Alvarez.

Much like his cousin, Tyson Fury, Saunders is one of those fighters that fights best when he is motivated by strong competition, and against the brightest star in boxing, he better be motivated.

Earlier in the day, the fight of the century in New Zealand had more than only national impact as amateur heavyweight rivals Joseph Parker and Junior Fa squared off with the winner staying in the title picture.

Fa landed the bigger punches and wobbled Parker in the first and seventh, but Parker threw more and was the rougher fighter in close and won a unanimous decision.

My 115-113 card for Parker matched one judge with the other two were more than a bit too wide at 117-111 and a hideous 119-108.

The fight picked up in the late rounds and I wouldn't be surprised to see a rematch eventually, but for now, it seems Parker will face Dereck Chisora next with the winner likely to see the Oleksandr Usyk-Joe Joyce winner as a possible 2022 title challenger or positioned for the also likely vacating of the WBO title by the Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury winner.

The PBC/Fox main event between super middleweights Anthony Dirrell and Kyrone Davis ended in a draw, but I haven't watched it as of this writing.

Editor's Note: I thought Dirrell pulled this out close (115-113), but considering Davis had never fought at the weight and lacked experience against top ten competition, Dirrell looked a bit shopworn.

Dirrell will move on and could fight a rematch against David Benavidez, who dominated him in their first battle, but I expect the fight to be one-sided and it's one that I don't need to see.

Dirrell's problem is that he isn't going to beat champions or contenders, but fighting fights such as this one isn't going to add much to the bank account.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored four points to move the overall total to 20-19.

Vaccine

    I've been away for a few days and despite my intentions to write about victories by the Cavaliers (over Houston), and the Devils (over Buffalo), I was feeling ill.

On Wednesday, I received my second dose of the Covid vaccine (Moderna version) as my job provided it for their employees, which I applaud them for.

I didn't feel bad at all after the first dose and other than some mild pain in my arm, I wouldn't have thought anything extra would have happened had I not thought about it!

The second dose has reported possible side effects for a day or two following the injection and I can confirm that they do exist.

The worst part was the pain in my arm, which was much much worse than after the first dose.

The first day after the shot, my arm hurt very badly to the point of not being able to lie on or lean against anything.

I also had some stomach sickness and some weakness, but nothing that couldn't be gotten past and I did struggle through the workday, but the second day was much improved and it was just about gone except for the arm pain, which still hurts a bit but not nearly as much as on the first day.

Other than that, I feel no different and if you are a person that wonders about getting the vaccine when the time arises that you have an opportunity, I would hope that you would consider it.

I've never gotten a flu shot in my life and I'm not sure that I'll go and get a Covid shot every year, but the process was smooth, the side effects brief, and considering the need to get our country back to normal, I didn't have a problem going and knocking this out.

It seems like every day another expert shows up on television or online and declares that things are close to breaking and normal life could resume by the late summer or says that we are close to hitting another "surge" with variants evolving and problems continuing into the future.

Since we just don't know which extreme to believe, it's hard to lock in on what to think (Which is some of the problems that we have politically currently) about the vaccine and the confusion around us all is certainly enough to make all but the concrete partisan think a bit.

I understand why anything right now could make anyone take pause, but think about it.

It's not so bad...

Boxing Challenge

 Starting the boxing challenge early with one of the matches scheduled for 1:30 AM on Saturday morning.

The biggest fight of the weekend is the brightest star in boxing in action with Canelo Alvarez defending his WBA and WBC super-middleweight championships against mandatory contender Avni Yildirim of Turkey.

Yildirim was installed as the mandatory challenger by the WBC after a controversial split decision loss to Anthony Dirrell for the then-vacant title and was promised a return match under the circumstances.

It was a fair decision as it appeared that Yildirim was beginning to break Dirrell down in the late rounds, but Dirrell took advantage of the WBC's open scoring and surrendered due to a cut to force the bout to the scorecards.

It's far from a headline fight, but it's the type of defense that is more than acceptable for champions that are fighting more than twice a year as Alvarez wants to do this year.

Both Canelo and Yildirim are evidence of how bad decisions are forgotten over time and people just see the W on the records.

For all that Canelo has done in the sport, it's sometimes forgotten that his two fights with Gennady Golovkin should have been one win each in the series and as time (and strong Canelo wins) have shown all but the casual observer refer to his razor-close second win to proof of his superiority and best fighter in the world.

And what's even more forgotten is how Canelo relentlessly dodged Golovkin with refusals, weight demands, and basically waited him out until his prime had slightly passed by.

As for Yildirim, it's forgotten that the Dirrell loss was a split decision that he was rallying through the late rounds.

Most that are bagging this fight look at the Dirrell fight as a loss rather than a possible win, if not for a bad decision over several factors.

People forget the how, they only remember what is on the record.

Julio Cesar Martinez was scheduled to defend his WBC flyweight title against veteran McWilliams Arroyo, but at the press conference, Martinez suddenly claimed a hand injury and pulled out of the fight.

The WBC could do worse than demand some evidence of this injury and make sure it is legitimate as it seems fishy to me.

Early Saturday morning from New Zealand, the two best heavyweights in the nation face off as former WBO champion Joseph Parker meets prospect Junior Fa in the biggest fight in New Zealand in years.

Parker and Fa have an amateur background against each other (splitting four fights) and this fight sells itself in Auckland.

Parker is ranked in the top seven by three of the four sanctioning bodies (Surprisingly the WBA does not) after three lower-level wins following a close and exciting loss to Dillian Whyte in 2018.

Fa is ranked by the IBF and WBO and despite his best win ( over journeyman Devin Vargas) not of world-class quality, Fa is well thought of with his amateur background.

This should be an interesting fight and the winner could be in a position for a title eliminator in their next outing.

PBC returns on Fox with yet another underwhelming card with the aforementioned Anthony Dirrell in a WBC eliminator at super middleweight against Kyrone Davis. 

Dirrell took a beating in losing his title to David Benavidez in 2019 and other than the close win over Avni Yildirim, hasn't beaten a top ten fighter since Sakio Bika in 2014!

Kyrone Davis lost to the late Patrick Day in 2018 and since defeated two fighters with records of 6-3 and 7-2.

There is no reason for Davis to be in a world title eliminator and on paper the two are on different levels, but the X factor is how much Dirrell's pounding against Yildirim and Benavidez have taken out of him.

If Dirrell has anything left, he's the superior boxer, but Dirrell could be a sitting duck with Davis being lucky enough to pick up what's left.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 16-15.

WBA and WBC Super Middleweight Titles.12 Rds

Canelo Alvarez vs Avni Yildirim

R.L: Alvarez KO 6

TRS: Alvarez KO 5

Heavyweights. 12 Rds

Joseph Parker vs Junior Fa

Both: Parker Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds

Anthony Dirrell vs Kyrone Davis

Both: Dirrell Unanimous Decision