Floyd Mayweather moved his perfect record to 43-0 with a victory over Miguel Cotto on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
It was another dominating performance for Money as he won a unanimous decision, 117-111, 117-111, 118-110.
Despite the lopsided scorecards, it was an entertaining fight. Money landed a few blows that would have floored a lesser fighter, but Cotto kept charging, and he was even able to draw blood from Mayweather's nose.
In the end, it was just another tidy victory for the undefeated champ.
At this stage of the game, talking about a Mayweather win is like saying USA Basketball was really good in the early 1990s.
Money was able to come back from a 16-month layoff last September and defeat Victor Ortiz via knockout. That bout did end in some controversy, as Ortiz was trying to touch gloves with Mayweather before getting blasted with a vicious right hand.
Say what you want about the victory, but it is a testament to Mayweather as a fighter that he would be able to come right back after being gone for so long against a really good boxer who was nearly 10 years younger than him and look so good.
Cotto was not exactly the opponent fight fans were hoping to see Mayweather go up against on Saturday night. That is not to say he was a bad choice, just not the most popular choice.
Now that Mayweather has taken care of business against Cotto, all eyes will be on Manny Pacquiao and his June 9 bout against Timothy Bradley.
Like Cotto, Bradley is not exactly the opponent that everyone envisioned for Pacquiao. It will be interesting to see what happens with these two superstars if Pacquiao walks away with a victory next month.
For now, all we can do is bask in the glow of another Mayweather victory, this time against Miguel Cotto.
Watch our FREE LIVE STREAM of one of the most anticipated fights in boxing this year, Floyd Mayweather Junior VS Miguel Cotto for the WBA Junior Middleweight Title, plus Canelo vs Mosley tonight Saturday, May 5, 2012, 9 PM ET live from Las Vegas.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. delivered quite a performance Tuesday and it had nothing to do with his boxing skills.
A question sparked a 10-minute speech from Mayweather, regarding the tireless topic of why he and fellow pound-for-pound great Manny Pacquiao have not come to terms on a potential multimillion dollar fight.
In a response that eventually drew applause from his entourage, Mayweather once again said it is "basic common sense" that Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs and getting in the ring with him would be a risk to his future health.
"Health is more important than anything," Mayweather said. "Because guess what? When my career is over, if I'm hurt because of something that has happened in a fight, I can't come to you and say, 'I need (money).' "
Mayweather's hardest point came when he admitted that he believes the boxing world doesn't even care if Pacquiao is using or not -- that the desire to see the two fight now surpasses any concern over his safety.
"People say, 'We don't give a f--- if he's taking or not; we just want to see the fight. We don't give a f--- about your health and we don't give a f--- about your family.' " Mayweather said.
"I care about my family. I love my family. They're going to be there when no one else is there. When my career is over, you're all going to move on to the next one."
He went on to accuse Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who represents Pacquiao, and Don King of not caring about fighters' well being and re-emphasized he won't forfeit health for money. A fight against Pacquiao would be expected to be the highest grossing bout in boxing history.
"Don King and Bob Arum don't see out the eyes of a fighter because they're not a fighter," Mayweather said. "All they care about is some f------ money. I care about a fighter's well being because I am a fighter.
"I know how it is to have a broken rib the rest of your life. I know how it is to piss blood. You all don't know nothing about this."
Mayweather has pointed to Pacquiao's rise through weight classes and the transfer of his power through them as evidence of steroid use. Since 2008, Pacquiao has won titles in five weight divisions and recorded four knockouts in nine fights.
"It took me years to get to here -- years," Mayweather said. "I'm going up in weight but I'm not walking through no damn fighters. (Pacquiao) is 106; now he decides to walk through (Miguel) Cotto? Cotto can't knock down (Shane) Mosley, but can he?"
Mayweather began his professional career at 130 pounds in 1996. He's fought the majority of his career as a welterweight. Saturday's fight against Cotto will be contested at 154 pounds.
In December 2009, a deal between the two nearly came to terms but ultimately fell through when Pacquiao refused to submit to random blood testing.
The Filipino and Arum, who represented Mayweather earlier in his career, since have softened their stance on that request. Mayweather scoffed at Arum's comments Tuesday, referring to him as a "professional liar."
"This is how the world is, you get writers saying, 'Floyd is scared,' " he said. "No, Floyd cares about his family. Floyd is smart.
"You all know for a fact I'm not scared. You all know that."
On Saturday in Atlanta, the UFC 145 card is well underway. There are three fight in the books on the main PPV, which will be headlined by the big title match between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans.
The third match on the card featured Modesto native Michael McDonald getting the highest-profile match of his career, as he matched up in a featherweight bout against Miguel Torres.
The Philippine Volcanoes made rugby history on Saturday by surviving Sri Lanka’s furious rally late in the game to grab the Division 1 crown of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations.
The victory earned the Philippine team a chance to compete in the 2013 HSBC Asian 5 Nations Championship, the first for the country.
Oliver Saunders spearheaded the Volcanoes’ first half surge en route to a 28-18 victory over the top seed Sri Lanka.
Saunders tallied three penalty kicks to go along with his two conversions.
Joe Matthews and team skipper Mike Letts added two tries to post a 23–3 half time lead over the Sri Lankans.
In the second half, Sri Lanka immediately knocked in a couple of tries followed by one conversion to put the scores at 23-15.
Another penalty kick brought the Sri Lankans within 5 points with over 25 minutes remaining in the game.
But Justin Coveney pulled the Volcanoes away, 28–18, giving the Philippine side a defensive leeway to secure the win.
“We worked really, really hard. It's an amazing feeling to be part of this,” said Saunders. “Sri Lanka really gave it to us in the second half.”
Philippine coach Expo Mejia said the team, composed mainly of Filipino-foreigners, dedicates the achievement to the country.
“I've never coached a team like this… it has so much team spirit and they have team pride. They're proud of their Filipino heritage and they did this for the people today,” he said.
Mejia said the Volcanoes will now have the chance to join the 2015 Rugby World Cup if they perform well at the Asian 5 Nations Top 5.
He hopes the team will finally get the backing it deserves from the Filipino sports fans.
“It takes us to the top 5 of countries in Asia and allows us to qualify to the World Cup. It's a tremendous win for the country and I hope the Filipino people will get behind our sport,” he said.
The final statistics showed the Philippines had 3 tries, while Sri Lanka had 2. The Volcanoes also had 2 conversions against Sri Lanka’s 1.
The Philippines scored on 3 penalties, all by Saunders, while the opposition had 2.
Sri Lanka had more tackles with 57, most of them taking place in the second half. The Philippines, on the other hand, had 50.
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Volcanoes dominated Chinese Taipei for their second-straight win in the HSBC Asian 5 Nations rugby tournament at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
The scores ended at 32-12 in favor of the Volcanoes, who proved to be too much against their Taiwanese counterparts.
Luke Matthews was the man of the match after scoring 2-straight tries in the first half.
Bryan West also scored 1 try, while Oli Saunders had 3 conversions and a successful penalty kick.
The Philippines' defensive grip silenced their opponents.
Chinese Taipei only scored 2 tries late in the second half when the game was already beyond reach.
The final statistics showed that the Philippines had a total of 5 tries against Chinese Taipei's 2.
The Volcanoes also had 3 conversions, while the Taiwanese were limited to just 1.
“I think our defense tonight is gonna put us in good step for our upcoming match against Sri Lanka,” said Matthews.
Just like the Philippines, Sri Lanka also has 2 victories in the ongoing Asian 5 Nations.
Both Chinese Taipei and Singapore, meanwhile, remained winless in 2 games.
The Philippine Azkals made history once again after defeating Palestine, 4-3, in a thrilling game to wind up in third place in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup Monday afternoon in Nepal.
It was the Philippines’ best ever finish in the biennial tournament for developing football nations.
Phil Younghusband scored two goals to raise his tournament total to six, while Angel and Juani Guirado both added to the goal-fest for the Azkals.
Younghusband broke the ice in the third minute, taking a beautiful pass from team captain Chieffy Caligdong before weaving his way through three Palestinian defenders to score his fifth goal of the tournament.
But after two straight shots on goal, Palestine finally broke through in the 21st minute when Abudalhamid Abuhabib struck the equalizer, which sailed past Azkals keeper Eduard Sacapaño.
The Azkals were able to restore their lead just four minutes later when Caligdong was brought down inside the penalty box. Younghusband coolly delivered the penalty kick to put the Philippines ahead 2-1.
Just before half time, Angel Guirado made it 3-1 for the Philippines after he evaded Palestinian keeper Ramzi Saleh and slotted the ball through.
Palestine was able to close the gap when Abuhabib scored his second goal of the game in the 66th minute, but Juani Guirado restored the Azkals’ advantage with a superb strike two minutes later.
Guirado received the through ball from James Younghusband and evaded the offside trap to put the Philippines ahead 4-2.
Palestine was able to cut in the lead three minutes later, when a defensive lapse by the Azkals allowed Fahed Attal to score.
Though Palestine attempted numerous times to go for the equalizer, the Azkals defense held.
It was a historic victory for the Philippines, who missed the chance to make the Challenge Cup finals after a heartbreaking 1-2 setback against Turkmenistan in the semi-finals.
They also booked impressive victories against former champions India (2-0) and Tajikistan (2-1) during the group stage.
Philippine Azkals lost in their 2012 AFC Challenge Cup semifinals match against Turkmenistan held on March 16, 2012 in Nepal.
The game ended with a score of 2-1. The sole goal of the Azkals was courtesy of Phil Younghusband during the first half. They were the first to score a goal but Turkmenistan scored two goals, taking away their dream to reach the finals.
"It's a very disappointing end to the tournament although we still have the third-place play-off and we will do our best to win that,” coach Michael Weiss said.
The team will play against the the defeated team between Korea and Palestine on Monday, March 19, 2012.
The Philippine Azkals achieved history by barging into the semifinal round of the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. The Azkals beat 2006 titlist Tajikistan, 2-1, during their group B eliminator in Kathmandu, Nepal. Phil Younghusband and Angel Guirado scored one goal each to make sure the Filipinos get past the Tajiks.
Philippines football team Azkals defeated team India, 2-0, in their Group Stage match held at the Dasarath Rangasala Stadium in Kathmandu on Sunday, March 11, for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup in Nepal.
This victory is the first for Philippines after losing several times to team India in the past years - 5-1 in 1971, 2-0 in 1996 and 1-1 (deadlock) in 2006.
The Philippines is now tied with Tajikistan in the Group B standings with 3 points each.
North Korea leads the group with 6 points following their 2-0 drubbing of Tajikistan.
India, meanwhile, remained scoreless after two successive losses to Tajikistan and the Philippines.
On Tuesday, March 13, Philippine Azkals is set to face another former Challenge Cup champion in Tajikistan. Should they win, Azkals will now be assured of a seat in the Challenge Cup semis.
If she had her way, former First Lady Amelita "Ming" Ramos wants the Philippine Azkals to change their name after 2 of their players were accused of sexually harassing her daughter, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) match commissioner Cristy Ramos.
Ramos said she fully supports her daughter's decision to file a sexual harassment complaint against Azkals Lexton Moy and Angel Guirado. She urged her daughter to remain firm and fight for the rights of women.
The former First Lady said the behavior of the 2 national players reflects badly on the name of the team. The name Azkals is an abbreviation of "asong kalye" or stray dog.
She said the Azkals should consider changing their name to bring back their dignity as the country's official football team.
Former president Fidel Ramos, meanwhile, said his daughter has been a sports official for a long time and obviously knows what she is doing.
He said the team should learn to respect sports officials and should start winning games.
Cristy Ramos, daughter of former president Fidel V. Ramos and match commissioner during the Philippines-Malaysia friendly game last February 29th, filed sexual harassment complaints before the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) against Philippine national team players Angel Guirado and Lexton Moy.
In a statement, Cristy narrated what happened inside the Azkals’ locker room while she was checking the players individually for their accreditation cards and kits. When she called Moy, the player stood by her right side and said loudly, “Must be a B cup,” which was loudly laughed at by the rest of the team. The match commissioner said she was the only female in the room which made her sure that he was referring to her bra size.
Meanwhile, when she was checking on Guirado, the player “stood purposely” in front of her just wearing his briefs. The player “made no attempts to wear shorts or cover his underwear.” The team again laughed loudly while Guirado was being checked.
She further said that no one among the team officials present made no attempts to even tell the players to behave properly, not even the team captain James Joseph Younghusband. The officials and the captain were all allegedly laughing as well. She cleared the names, however, of manager Dan Palami and head coach Hans Michael Weiss by saying the two were not inside the changing room at that time.
According to Cristy, the incident happened at the team’s Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium locker room at around 5:45 PM of February 29th.
In her letter of complaint addressed to the AFC Disciplinary Committee Chairman Lim Kia Tong, Cristy said both players should be sanctioned for their “kind of sexist and demeaning behaviour.”
Cristy Ramos’ letter of complaint:
ATTN: AFC DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE (Mr LIM KIA TONG, Chairman) RE: SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMPLAINT AGAINST PHILIPPINE MEN’S TEAM PLAYERS LEXTON MOY AND ANGEL GUIRADO (PHILIPPINES VS MALAYSIA, 29 FEB 2012, MANILA, PHILIPPINES)
Dear Mr Lim:
This to file a formal complaint against Messrs LEXTON MOY (no. 25) and ANGEL GUIRADO (no. 12) of the Philippine men’s national football team, for SEXUAL HARASSMENT during the team check for the friendly match between the Philippines and Malaysia (both “A” teams) on 29 February 2012, 1900H, at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, Manila, Philippines.
During the Team Managers’ Meeting on 28 February 2012 at the Discovery Suites in Pasig City, Philippines, I mentioned to the representatives of both the Philippine team and the Malaysian team that I would be serving as the Match Commissioner for their match.
As stated in the AFC’s regulations and Official Countdown, the Match Commissioner together with the Fourth Official check the teams before the match to verify their identification (accreditation) cards and ensure that their kits are in proper order. However, being a woman Match Commissioner doing a men’s match, I had to explain that I would give the teams sufficient warning and preparation time before I would come inside their changing rooms to do the team check together with the Fourth Official, Mr Wilfredo Bermejo.
Whenever I serve as the Match Commissioner, I always follow a standard procedure for the team check regardless of the type of match. At the time of the check I initially knock loudly at the door of the changing room as a sign of courtesy and warning to the team, and then let the Fourth Official first enter the changing room to check if the players are ready before I finally enter the room.
Before doing the check itself, I properly introduce myself as the Match Commissioner and also introduce the Fourth Official. I also explain the procedure of how the check will be done. I always tell the players that I will be checking their accreditation cards first then their jerseys, and that the Fourth Official will thereafter check the rest of their kits and other items, e.g., jewellery, hair accessories, fingernails etc. I also tell them the sequence of the check, i.e., I check the starting 11 players first then proceed with the substitutes.
At the appointed time (1745H) on match day, I came to the changing room of the Philippine team for the team check. I was accompanied by Fourth Official Wilfredo Bermejo and my liaison officer, Mr Joseph Gensaya. I initially knocked loudly at the door to signal my arrival. A team official opened the door and said that the team would be ready in five (5) minutes. We then waited for five minutes presuming that the team was getting ready for the team check.
When we entered the changing room of the Philippine team, I properly introduced ourselves and explained the procedure for the check. In spite of the introduction the players remained rowdy and noisy, apparently not taking the team check seriously and almost ignoring our presence.
As I called the players individually so that we could check their accreditation cards and kits, Philippine player LEXTON MOY (no. 25) stood by my right side and said in a loud voice “Must be a B cup,” to which the players laughed loudly. As I was the only female in the room, he was apparently referring to my bra size. He could not have been talking about men’s athletic cups, as their sizes are specified as extra-small, small, medium, large, and extra-large vis-a-vis cup sizes of women’s brassieres, which are specified in letters.
Additionally when I checked Philippine player ANGEL GUIRADO (no. 12) he stood in front of me purposely just wearing his briefs and made no attempts to wear shorts or cover his underwear. Again, the players loudly laughed while I was checking this player.
While all this was happening, none of the Philippine team officials present nor the team captain, JAMES JOSEPH YOUNGHUSBAND (no. 7), made any attempts to discipline the players and tell them to behave properly. In fact they were also laughing and seemed to be enjoying the revelry at my expense. Philippine Team Manager DAN STEPHEN PALAMI and Philippine Head Coach HANS MICHAEL WEISS were both not present in the changing room at the time of the team check.
Having been a Match Commissioner for girls’, women’s, boys’ and men’s matches since 2003 at both AFC and FIFA levels, I have not experienced this crude and totally shameful behaviour from a national team anywhere before this incident. I truly regret and feel very ashamed that this disrespect comes from the national team of my country, the Philippines. This kind of sexist and demeaning behaviour has no place in football, and should therefore be sanctioned.
Sincerely, Cristina RAMOS
Past Member, Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cups (2004-2011) Past Member, AFC Women’s Committee (2003-2010) Past President, Philippine Olympic Committee (1996-1999)
Meanwhile, Palami posted a statement on the Azkals’ official website, apologizing to Cristy Ramos and reassuring her that proper investigation regarding the incident will be conducted.
He said in the statement that he first heard about the incident from media sources and as much as he wanted his players to have a dialogue with the match commissioner, it is not possible as of the moment because they have already left the country for the AFC tournament.
Palamis’ statement:
I would like to reassure Commissioner Cristy Ramos that the PFF and I take these allegations seriously. We will promptly investigate this incident. In fact, we already met with Commissioner Ramos today to discuss the incident report she filed. For this reason, I postponed my scheduled trip to Nepal.
It is unfortunate that we learned about this first from media sources. In my brief conversation with Commissioner Ramos after the match, we exchanged pleasantries and there was no mention of the incident that transpired. As I told her in our meeting today, I would have addressed the issue right then. Since the players have already left the country for the AFC tournament, a dialogue between them and Commissioner Ramos is not possible at the moment.
Nonetheless, we will not put off the investigation even as we prepare for a major tournament. I will sit down with my players and staff and get to the bottom of this.
In my personal experience of the usual goings-on in the men’s locker room, the tension, excitement and nervous energy before a match often result in a lot of boisterous bantering. For someone who walks into this situation, this might appear as bordering on disrespect. But again, I am speaking only from my personal experience. I was not witness to the particular incident which is the subject of the incident report. Until I hear from all sides, I cannot comment substantially on the matter.
Like Commissioner Ramos, I also believe that sexual harassment should not be tolerated in any situation. I will look into the circumstances of this alleged incident and cooperate with any investigation. If it is proven that there was in fact malicious intent, I will make sure that proper sanctions are meted out.
On behalf of the team, I sincerely apologize to Commissioner Ramos for the distress this situation has caused her.
The Kevin and Kobe show won it for the West at the NBA All-Star game, holding off LeBron James at the end.
They got an MVP and a scoring record, too.
Bryant scored 27 points, moving past Michael Jordan as the career scoring leader in the game, Kevin Durant had 36 in an MVP performance, and the Western Conference held on for a 152-149 victory over the East on Sunday night.
James and the East cut a 21-point deficit to one in the closing seconds, but weren't able to move in front. James had 36 points and fellow Heat star Dwyane Wade finished with a triple-double.
"With all these great players on the floor, you never know what will happen. Guys making big shots and they cut it down to one. We were up 18 (at halftime)," Durant said.
"It was fun. That's the type of All-Star game you want to see."
Blake Griffin scored 22 points for the West, which rang up 89 points in the first half, setting an All-Star record. But he won the game with his defense, picking off James' pass when the East had a chance to tie in the final seconds.
"I can't turn the ball over like that," James said. "I let my team down, but overall it was a great weekend."
Griffin then hit one free throw with 1.1 seconds left, and Wade was off on a 3-point attempt from the corner. He finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, joining Jordan and James as the only players with All-Star game triple-doubles.
Durant was the MVP, leaving Bryant tied for the All-Star record with his four. But he got a bigger mark in his 13th All-Star game.
He broke Jordan's record of 262 points on a dunk with 4:57 left in the third quarter and now has 271 for his career. He entered with 244 and passed Oscar Robertson (246 points) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (251) earlier in the game.
It nearly wasn't enough, as the East's comeback had the crowd filled with entertainers and athletes chanting for defense – never a part of the All-Star game vocabulary – in the final seconds.
With Bryant covering him, James hit two long 3-pointers in the final period, and the East had a chance when Bryant, with the crowd loudly booing, missed a free throw with 18 seconds left and the West up 151-149.
"Just being a competitor," James said. "They pretty much beat us up all game so we just wanted to make a game of it."
But New Jersey's Deron Williams was short on a 3-pointer, and after the East came up with it, James fired a pass into a crowd that Griffin intercepted.
On a colorful night in Orlando, from pregame performer Nicki Minaj's pink and green hair to the neon sneakers many of the stars wore, Dwight Howard had nine points and 10 rebounds as the game's host.
The NBA's first All-Star game in Orlando in 20 years wasn't close after 2 1/2 quarters. But players always say it gets competitive in the final five minutes, and James was again up for the challenge.
He hiked his scoring average to 25.9 points over his eight All-Star games, and someday he'll probably take the record Bryant set Sunday.
But he couldn't quite catch Kobe in the game.
With the 2-year-old Amway Center considered by many the finest arena in the league, the NBA brought its midseason showcase back to Orlando for the first time since the memorable 1992 game, when Magic Johnson was MVP three months after retiring from the league because of the HIV virus.
This one was once in jeopardy of being lost when the lockout lasted into late November. Without a settlement then, All-Star weekend may have been wiped out, as it was in 1999 following a work stoppage.
The party was saved.
James and Howard, wearing bright orange shoes, danced onto the stage for pregame introductions, Howard breaking into an enormous grin when fans gave him a thunderous ovation as the last All-Star introduced. He insists that he and Magic fans still have a love affair despite his trade request, understanding he still loves the city even if not his team, and urged everyone to ignore the trade talk for a weekend and have fun.
"We did it big for our city," he said in brief pregame remarks to the crowd before the game.
Then Andrew Bynum blocked his first shot attempt.
The speedy Russell Westbrook had the East looking like it was standing still late in the first half, and it was 88-69 at the break.
Howard and Derrick Rose ditched their orange sneakers in the second half – James kept his – and the East quickly got back into it, trimming 12 points off its deficit in less than 6 minutes. They even started to defend – Wade whacked Bryant so hard on a drive that the Lakers star needed a break between free throws to wipe blood from his nose before sinking it to tie Jordan.
Williams scored 20 points for the East. Carmelo Anthony had 19, and Rose finished with 14.
Kevin Love, who won the 3-point contest on Saturday, scored 17 points for the West, which has won two in a row. Chris Paul had eight points and 12 assists.
NOTES: With Bryant, Bynum, Griffin and Paul, four West starters were from Los Angeles. Bynum played only 5 1/2 minutes after a having a procedure on his knee Friday. ... Johnson came onto the court for a standing ovation following the first quarter after highlights of his 1992 performance were shown. He was part of another 20-year anniversary acknowledgement in the third quarter, joined by Olympic Dream Team teammates Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, Scottie Pippen and David Robinson.
Jeremy Lin made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with less than a second to play to cap his finishing flurry of six straight points, and the New York Knicks rallied to beat the Toronto Raptors 90-87 Tuesday night, extending their winning streak to six games.
The NBA's first American-Taiwanese player, Lin had 27 points and a career-high 11 assists in his first game since being named Eastern Conference player of the week.
Despite hurting his powerful left hand early in the fight, Nonito Donaire knocked down Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. once and outworked the Puerto Rican to win a split decision and the vacant WBC junior featherweight title Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
That the fight was a split decision was puzzling. Donaire won 117-110 on the scorecards of two of the judges, Levi Martinez and Don Trella, but judge Ruben Garcia gave the fight to Vazquez 115-112.
Donaire, known as the “Filipino Flash,” greatly outworked Vazquez, landing 68 more punches, and landed at a 42% connect rate. Donaire also landed 91 more power punches than Vazquez, who hails from Puerto Rico and is trained by his father, Wilfredo Vazquez, one of Puerto Rico’s finest fighters.
In the third round, Donaire almost put Vazquez away when he pinned him in the corner and threw a flurry of punches that seemed to daze Vazquez a bit.
In the ninth round, Donaire connected on a nice combination to put Vazquez on his butt. It was the only knockdown of the fight.
Donaire and Vazquez came in with some bad blood between them, after shoving and knocking each other’s hats off during the final press conference Thursday, with Donaire saying Vazquez disrespected him. In addition, their wives had waged a war of words on Twitter leading up to the fight.
After the fight, however, Vazquez (21-2-1, 18 KOs) and Donaire hugged and seemed to work out their hard feelings.
Asked about his hand injury, Donaire (28-1, 18 KOs) said he wasn’t sure if it was broken but said he hurt it between the second and fourth rounds. “I was prepared for anything, but it was early on that I hurt it.”
“There’s something wrong with (the hand),” Donaire said. “I don’t know if it’s broken, but it hurts bad, that’s for sure.”
Donaire was fighting for the first time at 122 pounds, after spending his career at 118 or below. They fought for the vacant belt that Vazquez had lost to Jorge Arce last May.
“They’re definitely more tougher than expected,” Donaire said of fighting at the higher weight. “I thought my power would be able to take him down, but I couldn’t find the rhythm. Maybe I got caught up in all the stuff that happened before, but … we have to go back to the drawing board and work hard and do the best that we can as always and be thankful for everything.”
Blake Griffin did it again. In fact, he somehow did it fiercer, stronger and with less mercy. During the third quarter of the Clippers-Thunder game on Monday night, reigning NBA Slam Dunk champion Blake Griffin rose up and Mozgov'd Kendrick Perkins.
Griffin's powerful slam over the surly starting center for the Thunder was so instantly reminiscent of Griffin's most famous in-game dunk over then-Knicks center Timofey Mozgov that Clippers announcer Michael Smith asked his broadcast partner Ralph Lawler, "Is it possible to top what he did last year?"
Lawler gushed in response, "[It's] almost a Mozgov!"
"It's better than a Mozgov! I didn't think it was possible to top him," shouted Smith.
Griffin quite literally did "top" Perkins, just as he did Mozgov. After setting a screen for Chris Paul and then taking a pass as he rolled to the rack, Griffin rose up. Seemingly too far from the rim to ever get there, he rose up and drew enough contact for the foul and then, somehow, managed to keep pushing toward the hoops and throw the ball through the rim for two points.
After Blake did what Blake does all over the previously intimidating Perkins, Twitter went and did what it does. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this insta-frenzy was the amount of athletes who were tweeting their amazement alongside fans, journalists and the hoops twitterati. Players from the NBA as well as MLB and NFL athletes were wowed by Griffin. Even LeBron James had to concede this posterization bested the mercenary, leap-frogging he'd committed against John Lucas.
Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I'm #2 now. Move over #6
