Category: News (Page 11 of 199)

      Pacquiao survives spilt decision vs Marquez

      November 13, 2011 /
      Manny Pacquiao (L) of the Philippines takes a punch from Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico during their WBO welterweight fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada November 12, 2011. REUTERS/R. Marsh Starks (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BOXING)

      Manny Pacquiao defeated Juan Manuel Marquez in a split decision last night in Las Vegas that is already controversial. It was an action-packed fight, but given the potential payday for a fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., it’s not surprising that the decision will be questioned by many.

      The reaction from Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports will likely be typical from the boxing world:

      When the final bell rang, 12 rounds of furious fighting complete, Juan Manuel Marquez lifted his right fist high into the air, turned to the ringside crowd and offered a knowing wink through an eye nearly swollen shut.

      Standing in front of him at that very moment, his opponent, Manny Pacquiao, let his head sag as he turned to walk to his corner. Seconds later Marquez was carried around the ring on the shoulders of two of his corner men. Pacquiao was on his knees in prayer.

      What Pacquiao lost was clearer – his cloak of invincibility, his reputation for destruction, even, in some ways, a measure of his credibility.

      Marquez is 38 years old and was dominated in his fight with Mayweather.

      Attention will now turn to that potential blockbuster fight, and this close call probably won’t dampen excitement for that fight too much.

      Boxing, External Sports, News

      UFC on FOX Results – Dos Santos Pummels Velasquez

      November 12, 2011 /

      In the UFC’s anticipated debut on FOX, it didn’t take long for the inaugural fight to end.

      Junior dos Santos won the UFC Heavyweight Championship in a little over a minute as he knocked out the champion, Cain Velasquez from the Honda Center in Anaheim.

      Dos Santos came into the fight as the betting underdog, but a devastating right hand early in the first round caught the champion in the ear and sent him crashing.

      With Velasquez’ equilibrium admittedly thrown off, dos Santos was able to finish the fight with a series of ground-and-pound strikes that left Velasquez face down in the octagon.

      The Brazilian exploded with joy as he becomes the third Brazilian to hold a UFC title, joining middleweight champ Anderson Silva and featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo.

      In the night’s co-main event, Ben Henderson earned a lightweight title shot against Frankie Edgar with his unanimous decision win over Clay Guida.

      The contest was very competitive and neither man seemed to have an obvious superiority over the other, but Henderson was able to gain more dominant positions than Guida and he also exhibited more control during the fight.

      For complete UFC on FOX 1 results, check out the jump.

      Continue reading »

      Mixed Martial Arts, News, UFC

      For second straight year, kicker costs Boise State shot at BCS

      November 12, 2011 /
      Boise State Broncos defensive tackle Chase Baker (97) sacks Louisiana Tech Bulldogs quarterback Ross Jenkins (11) on fourth down during the first half at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho, October 26, 2010. REUTERS/ Brian Losness (UNITED STATES)

      That cigar smoke you see floating over your house is coming from BCS headquarters, where they’re lighting them up at a furious pace for the second straight season.

      Boise State lost to TCU 36-35 today, and just like in last year’s shocking loss to Nevada, the Broncos missed a very makeable field goal at the end of the game. This time, it was Dan Goodale who missed a 39-yard kick as time expired to give the Horned Frogs the win in stunning fashion.

      Like last year, the Boise State defense gave up a late lead, and that’s probably where a lot of the blame lies. But watching Goodale miss that kick certainly had to give Boise fans flashbacks to Kyle Brotzman’s miscue against Nevada. One big difference with this is that unlike Brotzman, Goodale hasn’t built up a ton of goodwill around campus for having been a spectacular kicker throughout his career.

      The loss puts an end to any hopes the Broncos had of possibly squeezing into the national title game, and probably douses all hopes of getting into a BCS game at all.

      And how’s this for schadenfreude? The game was played in Boise only because the Mountain West was trying to stick it to TCU as it was set to leave for the Big East. That worked out well, didn’t it?

      College Football, External Sports, News

      Candlelight vigil at Penn State

      November 12, 2011 /
      More than 10,000 Penn State students show their support for the victims of a Penn State child sex abuse scandal at a peaceful gathering in front of Old Main on Penn State’s campus in State College, Pennsylvania on November 11, 2011. A candlelight vigil for the alleged victims of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was held instead of a pep rally for the football game against Nebraska. Long-time head coach Joe Paterno lost his job in the wake of the allegations. UPI/Archie Carpenter

      After some Penn State students acted like idiots on Wednesday by staging violent protests after Joe Paterno was fired, many more students did the right thing and tried to show their support for the alleged victims of Jerry Sandusky. An estimated 10,000 students gathered for a candlelight vigil on campus last night.

      Penn State plays Nebraska today in a game that has Big Ten implications, but everyone will be focused on the crowd and how everyone reacts. Let’s hope that the class showed last night is repeated again today at the game.

      College Football, External Sports, News

      UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos Preview

      November 11, 2011 /

      The UFC makes its national television debut on FOX Saturday night with one of the biggest heavyweight fights in the history of the organization as Cain Velasquez defends his heavyweight championship against Junior dos Santos.

      Coming into the fight, the oddsmakers like the champion Velasquez to retain, as he has a money line of -190 to win on Saturday night. Dos Santos comes in with odds of +155. These two will clash from the Honda Center in Anaheim at 9 p.m. ET live on FOX.

      Here is a look at both fighters and my pick for the winner.

      Cain Velasquez (9-0) – The former wrestler from Arizona State is unbeaten in his short MMA career and he holds wins over top fighters like Cheick Kongo, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Brock Lesnar. Velasquez started as a wrestler, but has quickly developed his boxing and turned into one of the top knockout artists in the division. The questions for the champion coming in are his conditioning and health, as he is coming off rotator cuff surgery that has sidelined him for over a year. His longest fight in the UFC is 15 minutes and he struggled to make it to the end there, so if this fight goes deep, he could be in rough shape.

      Junior dos Santos (13-1) – The Brazilian is 7-0 in the UFC and holds wins over the likes of Fabricio Werdum, Mirko CroCop, Roy Nelson, and Shane Carwin. Junior is a powerful striker that likes to throw heavy punches. His uppercut has been his signature strike to finish opponents, but he also works in devastating body shots. A black belt in jiu-jitsu as well, dos Santos hasn’t had to show those skills because he has been able to dominate fights standing. The test for him in this fight will be whether or not he is able to stuff the takedowns of Velasquez, as he has not faced a tough wrestler in the octagon. Like Velasquez, dos Santos hasn’t been pushed past 15 minutes yet, so fatigue could be an issue if this bout reaches the championship rounds.

      Who Will Win? – This fight could go 25 minutes and it could go 25 seconds. Both fighters have a lot of explosiveness to them but both also have some big questions coming in. Ultimately, I feel Velasquez’ striking is closer to matching dos Santos’ as opposed to dos Santos’ wrestling being anywhere near Velasquez’. I think both fighters will land some early strikes, but Velasquez will be the one to get the fight to the ground and control Junior from there. I am actually going to be part of the minority that sees this fight going the distance due to Velasquez going with the wrestling.

      Mixed Martial Arts, News, UFC

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