Ruiz upsets Joshua

Andy Ruiz Jr. had six weeks to prepare for the fight of his life.

He'll have a lifetime to celebrate one of boxing's biggest heavyweight stunners.

A massive underdog just like Buster Douglas, Ruiz knocked down British champion Anthony Joshua four times -- four! -- and the final two in the seventh round proved the decisive blows.

Ruiz, the first heavyweight of Mexican descent to win a heavyweight title, capped one of boxing's epic upsets to win Joshua's shares of the heavyweight championship Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

"I just feel so good, man," Ruiz said. "This is what I've been dreaming about, this is what I've been working hard for. I can't believe I just made my dreams come true."

Ruiz etched his name in heavyweight lore by TKO at 1:27 in the seventh round to become the surprise champ in a bout that had shades of Douglas' upset over Mike Tyson for the heavyweight title in 1990. Ruiz barely was on anyone's heavyweight radar when he was summoned as a replacement to fight the undefeated Joshua in front of a packed Garden.

Considered a joke by fans, all Ruiz did was dominate the British champion and used a TKO to turn his life and the heavyweight division upside down. The 270-pound heavyset heavyweight knocked down Joshua twice in the third round and did it two more times in the seventh before referee Mike Griffin ended the fight. Joshua was woozy and seemed to stumble toward the wrong corner after the final blow.

Ruiz stepped in after fighting on April 20, when he stopped Alexander Dimitrenko. Jarrell Miller's failed drug tests sent the challenger to the sideline and paved the way for Ruiz's unexpected title shot. Ruiz (33-1, 21 KO's) seized the opportunity and made boxing history to win the
WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO championships. He raised his arms in celebration and jumped around the ring as his corner quickly mobbed him and a wild celebration kicked off.

"I've got that Mexican blood in me," he said. "Talking about the Mexican style? I just proved it."

The true shock might have been that the Garden was packed on a Saturday night for a fight few expected to be competitive. Yes, Ruiz is up there with Douglas and Hasim Rahman for who-can-believe-it wins, but casual sports fans don't even know the names of most boxing champions -- consider, instead of pay-per-view parties, this card was streamed by DAZN.

When ring announcer Michael Buffer announced the name of the judges "should this fight go the distance," fans laughed at the ridiculous possibility as Ruiz was an ultimate underdog.

Joshua (22-1, 22 KO's) and Ruiz were both knocked down in an electrifying third round that had the sellout crowd of 20,201 howling with each heavy hit. Joshua knocked down Ruiz early in the round and the promise of an early finish seemed horizon.

Ruiz, his trunks a bit too low for his portly frame, came right back and used an overhand right that rocked the champ and sent him to the canvas. Joshua recovered only to get pummeled in the corner. Ruiz knocked him down again in the final ticks of the round as fans in a disbelieving Garden crowd screamed "Oh my God!" Again, Joshua beat the count but the bell saved the Brit from a going a second longer in his weakened state. Had it not been a championship fight, perhaps Griffin would
have stopped the bout.

Alas, for Joshua, it went on.

Fury vs. Wilder

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury fought to a split draw Saturday night, with Wilder retaining his WBC heavyweight title after knocking down his British challenger twice.

Wilder (40-0-1) floored Fury (27-0-1) in the ninth and 12th rounds, yet Fury clearly outboxed Wilder for large portions of the remainder of their entertaining showdown at Staples Center.

Fury looked finished when Wilder put him flat on his back with two minutes left in the fight, but he rose and made it to the bell.

"We gave each other all we've got," Wilder said. "We're the best in the world. The respect was mutual."

Judge Robert Tapper scored the fight 114-112 for Fury, while Alejandro Rochin favored Wilder 115-111. Judge Phil Edwards and The Associated Press scored it a 113-113 draw, with Wilder's knockdowns compensating for Fury's superior technique.

"I hope I did you all proud after nearly three years out of the ring," Fury said. "I was never going to be knocked out tonight. I showed good heart to get up. I came here tonight and I fought my heart out."

While both men thought they won, neither was overly upset by the verdict in front of a frenzied Hollywood crowd. They embraced warmly and immediately talked about a rematch in the spring.

"One hundred percent we'll do the rematch," Fury said. "We are two great champions. Me and this man are the two best heavyweights on the planet."

The bout was a rare meeting of two unbeaten heavyweight stars in their apparent primes, with both fighters putting aside caution and the typical squabbles over money or belts to stage one of the best matchups in the glamour division's recent history.

Mayweather vs. McGregor

[8/26/17] LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. put on a show in the last fight of his spectacular career.

Conor McGregor didn't do so badly, either.

Mayweather figured out a 50th opponent Saturday night, letting McGregor have the early rounds before stalking him late and leaving the mixed martial artist defenseless and exhausted on the ropes in the 10th round.

It was a smashing end to a career that earned Mayweather more money than any fighter before him -- including an estimated $200 million for his last bout.

"I think we gave the fans what they wanted to see," Mayweather said. "I owed them for the (Manny) Pacquiao fight."

Mayweather battered McGregor around the ring in the later rounds, finally stopping him at 1:05 of the 10th with a flurry of punches that forced referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight.

Before a pro-McGregor crowd that roared every time the UFC fighter landed a punch, Mayweather methodically broke him down after a slow start to score his first real stoppage in nearly a decade. He did it in what he said would be his final fight, against a man who had never been in a professional boxing match before.

McGregor boxed surprisingly well but after landing some shots in the early rounds, his punches seemed to lose their steam. Mayweather then went on the pursuit. McGregor backpedaled most of the way, stopping only to throw an occasional flurry as Mayweather wore him down.

"I turned him into a Mexican tonight," McGregor said. "He fought like a Mexican."

Though Byrd cautioned McGregor for hitting behind the head on two different occasions, there were no real fouls in the fight and McGregor never tried to revert to any MMA tactics.

McGregor had vowed to knock Mayweather out within two rounds, and he won the early rounds with movement and punches to the head. But the tide of the fight turned in the fourth round as Mayweather seemed to figure out what he had to do and began aggressively stalking McGregor.

Mayweather was credited with landing more than half his punches, as he solved McGregor's defense after a few rounds. Ringside stats showed him landing 170 of 320 punches to 111 of 430 for McGregor.

In a fight so intriguing that it cost $10,000 for ringside seats, McGregor turned in a respectable performance for someone in his first fight. He switched from southpaw to conventional at times and used his jab well, but Mayweather's experience and his ring savvy paid off as he executed his game plan to perfection.

[8/12/17] McGregor says Mayweather will be unconscious in less than four rounds.

Pacquiuao robbed in Australia

Jeff Horn is the new WBO welterweight champion.

The good news is that it was a very entertaining fight on the big stage, which is all too rare for boxing of late.

The bad news is that it was another controversial decision, which is all to common in boxing.

The outcome is that boxing has a new name and draw in Jeff Horn. The Australian Rocky is a world champion and he won’t be teaching school again anytime soon.

round-by-round / ESPN / punch stats

***

Jeff Horn absorbed tremendous punishment throughout the fight. He took so much in the ninth round that the referee nearly stopped the fight in his corner. He was a bloody mess.

But Horn pulled a massive -- and controversial -- upset, as he was awarded a unanimous decision against Manny Pacquiao to win a welterweight world title before an adoring hometown crowd of some 55,000 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Australia).

Shockingly, all three judges scored the fight for Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs). Judge Waleska Roldan had it 117-111, and judges Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan both had it 115-113.

ESPN.com scored it 117-111 for Pacquiao. ESPN ringside analyst Teddy Atlas also had it for Pacquiao, 116-111.

Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) has been here before, losing a decision and a welterweight title to Timothy Bradley Jr. by split decision in 2012 in one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history. Like he was after that loss, which he avenged twice, Pacquiao was gracious.

"That's the decision of the judges," he said. "I respect that."

*** [7/10/17]

WBO review shows Pacquiao lost 5 rounds to 7.  So much for CompuBox.

Muhammad Ali 1942-2016

He was fast of fist and foot — lip, too — a heavyweight champion who promised to shock the world and did. He floated. He stung. Mostly he thrilled, even after the punches had taken their toll and his voice barely rose above a whisper.

He was The Greatest.

Muhammad Ali died today at age 74, according to a statement from the family. He was hospitalized in the Phoenix area with respiratory problems earlier this week, and his children gathered around him.

“It’s a sad day for life, man. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die,” Don King, who promoted some of Ali’s biggest fights, told The Associated Press early Saturday. “Like Martin Luther King his spirit will live on, he stood for the world.”

A funeral will be held Wednesday in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The city plans a memorial service Saturday.

“What I suffered physically was worth what I’ve accomplished in life. A man who is not courageous enough to take risks will never accomplish anything in life.”
— Muhammad Ali, 1984
With a wit as sharp as the punches he used to “whup” opponents, Ali dominated sports for two decades before time and Parkinson’s Syndrome, triggered by thousands of blows to the head, ravaged his magnificent body, muted his majestic voice and ended his storied career in 1981.

He won and defended the heavyweight championship in epic fights in exotic locations, spoke loudly on behalf of blacks, and famously refused to be drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War because of his Muslim beliefs.

Despite his debilitating illness, he traveled the world to rapturous receptions even after his once-bellowing voice was quieted and he was left to communicate with a wink or a weak smile.

Revered by millions worldwide and reviled by millions more, Ali cut quite a figure, 6 feet 3 and 210 pounds in his prime. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” his cornermen exhorted, and he did just that in a way no heavyweight had ever fought before.

He fought in three different decades, finished with a record of 56-5 with 37 knockouts and was the first man to win heavyweight titles three times.

He whipped the fearsome Sonny Liston twice, toppled the mighty George Foreman with the rope-a-dope in Zaire, and nearly fought to the death with Joe Frazier in the Philippines. Through it all, he was trailed by a colorful entourage who merely added to his growing legend.

“Rumble, young man, rumble,” cornerman Bundini Brown would yell to him.

And rumble Ali did. He fought anyone who meant anything and made millions of dollars with his lightning-quick jab. His fights were so memorable that they had names — “Rumble in the Jungle” and “Thrilla in Manila.”

But it was as much his antics — and his mouth — outside the ring that transformed the man born Cassius Clay into a household name as Muhammad Ali.

“I am the greatest,” Ali thundered again and again.

Few would disagree.

He later embarked on a second career as a missionary for Islam.

“Boxing was my field mission, the first part of my life,” he said in 1990, adding with typical braggadocio, “I will be the greatest evangelist ever.”

Ali couldn’t fulfill that goal because Parkinson’s robbed him of his speech. It took such a toll on his body that the sight of him in his later years — trembling, his face frozen, the man who invented the Ali Shuffle now barely able to walk — shocked and saddened those who remembered him in his prime.

“People naturally are going to be sad to see the effects of his disease,” Hana, one of his daughters, said, when he turned 65. “But if they could really see him in the calm of his everyday life, they would not be sorry for him. He’s at complete peace, and he’s here learning a greater lesson.”

The quiet of Ali’s later life was in contrast to the roar of a career that had breathtaking highs as well as terrible lows. He exploded on the public scene with a series of nationally televised fights that gave the public an exciting new champion, and he entertained millions as he sparred verbally with the likes of bombastic sportscaster Howard Cosell.

Ali once calculated he had taken 29,000 punches to the head and made $57 million in his pro career, but the effect of the punches lingered long after most of the money was gone. That didn’t stop him from traveling tirelessly to promote Islam, meet with world leaders and champion legislation dubbed the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act. While slowed in recent years, he still managed to make numerous appearances, including a trip to the 2012 London Olympics.

Despised by some for his outspoken beliefs and refusal to serve in the U.S. Army in the 1960s, an aging Ali became a poignant figure whose mere presence at a sporting event would draw long standing ovations.

With his hands trembling so uncontrollably that the world held its breath, he lit the Olympic torch for the 1996 Atlanta Games in a performance as riveting as some of his fights.

A few years after that, he sat mute in a committee room in Washington, his mere presence enough to convince lawmakers to pass the boxing reform bill that bore his name.

Members of his inner circle weren’t surprised. They had long known Ali as a humanitarian who once wouldn’t think twice about getting in his car and driving hours to visit a terminally ill child. They saw him as a man who seemed to like everyone he met — even his archrival Frazier.

“I consider myself one of the luckiest guys in the world just to call him my friend,” former business manager Gene Kilroy said. “If I was to die today and go to heaven it would be a step down. My heaven was being with Ali.”

One of his biggest opponents would later become a big fan, too. On the eve of the 35th anniversary of their “Rumble in the Jungle,” Foreman paid tribute to the man who so famously stopped him in the eighth round of their 1974 heavyweight title fight, the first ever held in Africa.

“I don’t call him the best boxer of all time, but he’s the greatest human being I ever met,” Foreman said. “To this day he’s the most exciting person I ever met in my life.”

Romney goes two with Holyfield

SALT LAKE CITY » Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and five-time heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield squared off in the ring Friday at a charity fight night event in Salt Lake City.

Romney, 68, and Holyfield, 52, sparred, if you could call it that, for just two short rounds before Romney ran away from the boxer and threw in the towel, giving up a round early in the lighthearted fight that came amid several other fights by professional boxers and an auction.

The two barely threw any punches and largely just danced around, occasionally lightly jabbing each other in the midsection in what was much more of a comedic event than an actual bout.

[down goes Holyfield]

The black-tie affair raised money for the Utah-based organization CharityVision, which helps doctors in developing countries perform surgeries to restore vision in people with curable blindness.

Romney's son Josh Romney, who lives in Utah, serves as a volunteer president for CharityVision.

Corporate sponsorships for the event ranged from $25,000 to $250,000. Organizers say they raised at least $1 million.

"He said, 'You know what? You float like a bee and sting like a butterfly,'" Romney said after the fight.

Pacquiao vs. Mayweather

[5/7/15] Pacquiao has shoulder surgery

[5/5/15] Vanel v. Pacquiao

[5/5/15] Freddie Roach considered postponing the bout

[5/4/15] Stephen A. Smith vs. Skip Bayless

[5/4/15] did Mayweather know about Pacquiao's injury?

[5/4/15] Pacquiao to undergo surgery for injured shoulder

Revenue expected to double the previous record

Sadness in the Phillipines

Evander Holyfield and Shane Mosley and others scored it for Pacquiao.

TheGuardian had it 116-112 Mayweather, giving Manny the final round.

Looking at the official scorecards, the judges agreed on 1 (M), 2 (M), 3 (M), 4 (P), 5 (M), 6 (P), 7 (M), 8 (M), 11 (M), 12 (M).  So 8-2-2 Mayweather.  The first two judges gave rounds 9 and 10 to Pacquiao and agreed on every round.  The other judge gave rounds 9 and 10 to Mayweather.

Yahoo had it 115-113 Mayweather.

L.A. Times: 115-113, 114-114, 115-113 / The three judges agreed on round 1 (m), 2 (m), 4 (p), 5 (m), 6 (p), 12 (m).  So that makes it 4 Mayweather, 2 Pacquiao, 6 even.  Not so lopsided at all.

Round by Round (AP scored it 115-113 Mayweather.)

[5/2/15] LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather stands alone.

Unified welterweight world champion.

The pound-for-pound best.

And king of the era.

Mayweather turned in a vintage performance as he outboxed Manny Pacquiao in a brilliant display to win a unanimous decision in one of the biggest fights in boxing history before a sold-out and star-studded crowd of 16,507 on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Judge Dave Moretti scored the fight 118-110, and judges Glenn Feldman and Burt Clements both had it 116-112. ESPN.com also had it 116-112 for Mayweather, who remains undefeated at 48-0.

The massively hyped fight, more than five years in the making, became a global event. While it was not the drama-filled battle many had hoped for, it was an impressive performance from Mayweather, the master boxer, who never allowed the more powerful Pacquiao to deliver any truly big punches as he pulled away in the second half of the fight.

Mayweather, who had many harsh words for Pacquiao over the years before the fight was finally signed in February, was gracious in victory.

"He's a hell of a fighter. I take my hat off to Manny Pacquiao," Mayweather said. "Now I see why he's one of the guys at the pinnacle."

And while the fight took years to make because of the intense squabbling between camps that do not like each other, Mayweather said it was worth the wait.

"He is a true champion at heart, and we both did our best tonight. When the books are written, it will be a great fight," he said.

Perhaps history will not record it as a great fight, but it will go down as the richest. It generated a live gate of approximately $74 million, and the pay-per-view television audience -- at about $100 per buy -- is expected to shatter the pay-per-view buy record (2.48 million) and pay-per-view revenue record ($150 million) set by previous Mayweather fights. In all, organizers expect the fight to generate some $400 million, and it was so big that it brought together rival networks HBO, which has Pacquiao under contract, and Showtime, Mayweather's broadcast home.

Mayweather, already the highest-paid athlete in the world in recent years, is expected to earn an estimated $180 million from the fight and Pacquiao around $120 million.

[5/2/15] It's fight time.

[5/1/15] Experts pick: Mayweather 10, Pacquiao 6, 1 draw (closer than I would have thought), 5 boxers who fought both Mayweather and Pacquiao were asked.  4 picked Mayweather, including Juan Manuel Marquez who KO'd Pacquiao in their last fight.  Pacquiao has lost to five fighters in his career, but avenged his losses to Eric Morales and Timothy Bradley.

Pacquiao is first and only eight division world champion, has won ten world titles, and is the current WBO welterweight champion.  Mayweather is a five divison world champion, has also won ten world titles, and is the WBC, WBA, Ring welterweight champion, and is also the WBC Super, WBA, Ring junior middleweight champion.  He has a record of 47-0 and is rated the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world.  Pacquiao is third.

A fight six years in the making

[4/23/15] According to TMZ's Anthony Dominic, every ticket for the event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas was sold within the first minute after being made available to the public Thursday:

[2/20/15] Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced Friday that he's agreed to fight Manny Pacquiao in a welterweight bout May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. It's a bout the public has been calling for since late 2009 and pits the two finest boxers of their generation in a historic event.

[2/14/15] The deal is reportedly done. The biggest fight in boxing history is expected to take place May 2.
According to The Telegraph, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao have finally come to terms in what will be the richest match-up in boxing history.

Mayweather is currently in New York for NBA All-Star Weekend, and some speculate he will officially announce the match in the coming days. There's also chatter the popular boxer could even announce it during the All-Star festivities. That would be the ultimate Mayweather move. On the other side of the spectrum, Pacquiao has signed and completed all things necessary.

The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas will be the setting of the epic bout. Both fighters have ties to the venue, with Pacquiao having five of his past seven fights there, and Mayweather having his last ten. There are two other possible dates, but May 2 seems to be the favorite.

The revenue breakdown for each fighter is almost evenly split with Mayweather receiving 60 percent to Pacquiao's 40.

[1/28/15] Floyd visits Manny in hotel room

[1/28/15] Manny and Floyd meet ... at basketball game

[1/13/15] The fight the world has wanted to see for the better part of six years -- a long-awaited summit meeting between welterweight champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, the two top boxers in the world -- is not done, but it has cleared a major hurdle.

Pacquiao and Top Rank, his promoter, have agreed to terms for a May 2 bout, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN.com on Tuesday night, although Mayweather has not yet agreed to terms and it remains to be seen if he will.

"Top Rank and Manny have agreed to the terms on our side. I don't know about the other side," Moretti said.

According to a source involved in the negotiations Pacquiao has agreed to a 40 percent cut of the revenue, leaving Mayweather with the remaining 60 percent of a fight most believe will shatter every boxing box office record, including the all-time pay-per-view buy record of 2.4 million (Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya), the pay-per-view revenue record of $150 million (Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez) and the all-time gate record of $20 million (Mayweather-Alvarez).

If the fight is finalized it would take place on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Moretti said. Mayweather has had his last 10 fights there and Pacquiao has had five of his last seven bouts there.

According to the Pacquiao side, everything was agreed to, including the gloves and drug testing. As far as the gloves go, each fighter would be able to select their own brand of 8-ounce gloves. Mayweather typically wears Grant gloves and Pacquiao fights in Cleto Reyes.

The drug testing protocol was the one open item that caused the fight to fall apart when it was first negotiated in late 2009 and early 2010. Mayweather wanted Pacquiao to submit to random Olympic-style drug testing and he declined to do the kind of testing Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs), who turns 38 in February, wanted.

However, Moretti said that Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs), 36, who has subjected himself (and his opponents) to random testing by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association for his recent bouts, has gone so far as to agree to use the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which has randomly tested Mayweather (and his opponents) for years.

"I think that Manny agreed to USADA testing shows you his eagerness to make this fight," Moretti said.

Mayweather and Pacquiao have been on a collision course since late 2009. That is when Mayweather ended a nearly two-year retirement to easily outpoint Juan Manuel Marquez in September 2009 and two months later Pacquiao knocked out Miguel Cotto in the 12th round to win a welterweight title. Everything had been agreed to but the drug testing, including a 50-50 revenue split.

There have been various attempts over the years to try to make the fight, but it has never been as close as it was in 2009 as it is now.

Back then, Mayweather and Pacquiao were both associated with HBO, even though neither was under contract. In early 2013, Mayweather signed his contract with CBS/Showtime and still has two fights remaining with guarantees of at least $32 million per fight while Pacquiao is now under contract to HBO/Time Warner. Still, the networks are not an impediment to a deal.

Both networks have said that they are willing to work together for what would be a joint pay-per-view telecast, similar to what they did for another fight that had been demanded by the public for years -- the 2002 heavyweight championship fight between then-champion Lennox Lewis, who was under contract to HBO, and Mike Tyson, who was with Showtime.

TBE?

Harry Greb, Sam Langford, Ezzard Charles, Joe Gans.  Better than Mayweather?

Mayweather recently made headlines when he told ESPN that he believes he's the greatest fighter ever. Mayweather bills himself as "TBE," which is an acronym for "The Best Ever."

He said he feels he's better than Sugar Ray Robinson, who is widely regarded as the best boxer ever, or Muhammad Ali, who as heavyweight champion in the 1960s dubbed himself, "The Greatest."

The panel was asked to vote for the 15 men they felt were the greatest of all-time, and there were no restrictions on whom the panel chose. That led to the first Yahoo Sports All-Time Top 25 list.

Robinson, not surprisingly, gained 10 of the 11 first-place votes cast and wound up atop the list. He earned 164 of 165 possible points.

Mayweather wound up 19th and Pacquiao tied for 22nd.  Surprised Pacquiao even made the list.

I'm surprised Duran was fifth, then again he was a killer as a lightweight.  Also surprised to see Rocky Marciano not on the list.  No Joe Frazier or Mike Tyson either.

***

Here's Bert Sugar's list.

Mickey Rourke by KO

Mickey Rourke hadn't competed in a professional boxing match since 1994 prior to his bout with Elliot Seymour on Friday in Moscow, but the Academy Award-nominated actor still managed to win via knockout.

The 62-year-old star of The Wrestler went up against a 29-year-old opponent and knocked him down twice before the referee stopped the fight, according to The Associated Press (via Yahoo).

While some might maintain that the fight itself was shameful, Rourke can hold his head high knowing that he took care of business regardless of his opponent's quality, or lack thereof. Seymour had a 1-9 professional record coming into the bout against Rourke.

The Ali Summit

LOUISVILLE, Ky. >> Muhammad Ali was on the ropes for refusing induction into the Army, and Jim Brown wanted to help. But first, the NFL great wanted to hear the boxing champion's reasons for not answering the call to military service during the Vietnam War.

So Brown led a group of prominent black athletes who hit Ali with a flurry of questions during a two-hour meeting in Cleveland in June 1967. Ali didn't duck the questions and stuck to his principles, citing his religious beliefs in refusing to join the military.

The dozen athletes, including Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, emerged from the meeting to publicly support Ali at a time when the champ was one of the country's most polarizing figures.

"People got the answers that they wanted," Brown recalled Saturday as several of the participants prepared to reunite with Ali.

Nearly 50 years after the meeting, now known as the "Ali Summit," Brown and Russell prepared to be at Ali's side again Saturday night in the boxing champ's hometown. Brown was receiving a lifetime humanitarian achievement award bearing Ali's name.

The lineup of Ali Award winners included Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon and Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Common. Other award winners included a half-dozen young adults from around the world honored for their humanitarian roles.

But much of the spotlight was on that meeting decades ago in Cleveland when Ali was at his most vulnerable, and how the group of athletes joined Ali's corner in the fight of the champ's life. Several participants met at the Ali Center a few hours before the awards event Saturday night. Ali, who is battling Parkinson's disease, was scheduled to meet the group at the awards show at a downtown hotel.

"No one had really sat down and listened to him and given him the respect of having him tell his point of view," Brown said Saturday.

Former NFL player John Wooten, another meeting participant, said Ali's questioners "came at him with everything." The man known for his brashness in the ring was humble when explaining his reasons, he said. It was enough to win over another participant, former NFL player Bobby Mitchell.

"I came there ready to try to talk him into going into the service," Mitchell said Saturday. "I actually felt that way. He whipped my behind pretty quick, because he can talk. But when it was all over, I felt good about walking out of there saying, 'We back him.'"

Ali was stripped of his world heavyweight boxing title in 1967 while in his prime and was convicted of draft evasion. Ali found himself embroiled in a long legal fight that ended in 1971, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor.

Ali regained the heavyweight title in 1974, defeating George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle." A year later, he outlasted Joe Frazier in the epic "Thrilla in Manila" bout. Ali's last title came in 1978 when he defeated Leon Spinks.

Long before Ali became an icon, the meeting's participants were taking a risk by throwing their support behind him.

"It was the United States government that we were dealing with," Brown said Saturday. "Careers were at stake. And everybody that showed up at that meeting put all of that on the line. That was heavyweight stuff."

Russell, who pulled up a decades-old photo of himself and Ali on his smartphone, said the legal battle came down to citizenship rights. Russell had known Ali for years and never doubted his sincerity for refusing military service. Russell said the legal fight transformed Ali.

"He became a hero to a lot of young folks in this country, black and white," the basketball great said. "Because what he was talking about was citizenship. And my citizenship, or Jim's ... is not a gift from other citizens. It's a right of birth."

Brown, an outspoken civil-rights advocate who remains active in efforts to stem violence, improve education and uplift neighborhoods, said he didn't want to compare the role of athletes today and in his era.

"I'm here to motivate as many people as I can in this country to take a look at the violence ... and the inferior education that a lot of our kids are getting," he said.

Former NFL star Ray Lewis, who joined the players from a previous generation Saturday, said Ali's principles still resonate with young people today.

"He did stand for something, and that something changed generations of young men, realizing that we all have a true freedom, a true opportunity to do what you're going to do, say what you're going to say," he said. "And if you believe strongly in something, truthfully in your heart, follow it."

Pacquiao vs. Bradley II

Writer's predictions

Looking at the Yahoo live chat from Kevin Iole and Martin Rogers.

Iole has it 117-111 for Pacquiao.

The L.A. Times (Lance Pugmire) has it 117-111 for Pacquiao.

USA Today (Bob Velin) has it 117-111 for Pacquiao.

What about the judges?  Unlike last time, they agree with the writers (and the rest of civilization).

Judge Glenn Trowbridge has it 118-110, Pacquiao.

Judge Craig Metcalfe has it 116-112, Pacquiao.

Judge Michael Pernick has it 116-112, Pacquiao.

Still waiting for some video on ESPN SportsCenter.

Google.

Here's the ESPN story (soon to be updated and expanded, I presume)

Bing.

Here's the Bleacher Report/LA Times story

Yahoo story (AP)

OK, finally at 7:28 PM, some video of the fight on SportsCenter.

Sports Illustrated story

Reuters

another Bleacher Report

Ken Norton

Ken Norton, who had three memorable fights with Muhammad Ali, breaking Ali’s jaw in winning their first bout, then losing twice, and who went on to become the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, died Wednesday in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nev. He was 70.

His death was confirmed by his son Ken Jr., an assistant coach with the Seattle Seahawks of the N.F.L. and a pro linebacker for 13 seasons, The Associated Press said. Norton had been in poor health for several years after sustaining a series of strokes, The A.P. reported.

Norton defeated Ali on a 12-round split decision in 1973 to capture the North American Boxing Federation heavyweight title. Norton was an exceptionally muscular 6 feet 2 inches and 220 pounds, but he was a decided underdog in the first Ali fight.

“Ali thought it would be an easy fight,” Norton’s former manager, Gene Kilroy, was quoted by The A.P. as saying. “But Norton was unorthodox. Instead of jabbing from above like most fighters, he would put his hand down and jab up at Ali.”

Kilroy said that after the fight, Norton visited Ali at the hospital where he was getting his broken jaw wired, and Ali told him he never wanted to fight him again.

But the second bout in their trilogy came six months later, when Ali rallied to win a narrow split decision. In their final bout, Ali retained his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles when he defeated Norton on a decision that was unanimous but booed by many in the crowd of more than 30,000 at Yankee Stadium in September 1976.

Kenneth Howard Norton was born Aug. 9, 1943, in Jacksonville, Ill., and starred in high school football, basketball and track. He attended Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) on a football scholarship but was hampered by a shoulder injury in his first two seasons and enlisted in the Marine Corps. Norton started boxing while he was in the Marines, compiling an amateur record of 24-2 and winning the All-Marine Heavyweight Championship three times.

He turned pro in 1967 and won 16 straight bouts before being knocked out by Jose Luis Garcia. Soon afterward, he read Napoleon Hill’s motivational book “Think and Grow Rich.”

“I must have read that book 100 times while in training, and I became a stronger person for it,” the Web site BoxRec.com quoted him as saying. He said he believed in the book’s philosophy that a person could do the unexpected if he put his mind to it.

“So I train for my fights mentally as well as physically,” he said. “One thing I do is only watch films of the fights in which I’ve done well or in which my opponent has done poorly.”        

Norton fought the undefeated George Foreman for the W.B.C. and W.B.A. heavyweight championships in 1974 and was knocked out in the second round. He stopped Jerry Quarry in five rounds in 1975 to regain the N.A.B.F. crown. In his next fight, Norton avenged his 1970 loss to Garcia with a fifth-round knockout.   

In 1977, Norton knocked out the previously unbeaten Duane Bobick in the first round and defeated Jimmy Young in a 15-round split decision in a W.B.C. title elimination series. He became the mandatory challenger for the winner of the coming fight between Ali and Leon Spinks. Spinks defeated Ali for the championship but shunned Norton for his first defense in favor of a rematch with Ali. The W.B.C. stripped Spinks of the title and awarded it to Norton.

Norton made his first defense of the W.B.C. title in 1978 against Larry Holmes and lost by a 15-round split decision in one of boxing’s most exciting fights.

After retiring for a time, Norton returned in 1980 and defeated the previously unbeaten Tex Cobb on a decision. The next year, Gerry Cooney, ranked No. 1 by the W.B.A. and the W.B.C., knocked Norton out in the first round in what became his final fight.

Norton won 42 fights (33 by knockout), lost seven times and fought one draw.

Mayweather defeats Alvarez

LAS VEGAS >> Canelo Alvarez proved nothing more than easy money for Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Mayweather turned one of the richest fights ever into just another $41.5 million payday Saturday, dominating Alvarez from the opening bell and winning a majority decision in a masterful performance that left no doubt who is the best fighter of his era.

Fighting off his shortest layoff in years, Mayweather was sharp, efficient and sometimes brutal in dismantling an unbeaten fighter who was bigger and was supposed to punch harder. He frustrated Alvarez early, pounded him with big right hands in the middle rounds, and made him look just like he said he would -- like any other opponent.

Mayweather was favored 117-111 and 116-112 on two ringside scorecards while a third inexplicably had the fight 114-114. The Associated Press scored it 119-109 for Mayweather.

Mayweather remained unbeaten in 45 fights and added another piece of the junior middleweight title to his collection in a fight that was fought at a 152-pound limit. Alvarez weighed in at that weight, but was an unofficial 165 pounds when he got into the ring while Mayweather, who weighed in at 1501/2 pounds, was an even 150.

The extra weight did Alvarez no good and the punching power that brought him 30 knockouts in 43 fights wasn't a help either. The Mexican star was seldom able to land a solid punch, with most of his punches either missing or glancing off Mayweather.

"No doubt he's a great fighter, a very intelligent fighter," said Alvarez, who fell to 42-1-1. "There was no solution for him."

Mayweather said he actually had to put on weight during the day to even get close to what he weighed the day before.

"When I woke up this morning, I was 146 pounds, so I had to call my chef and get something in my system," he said.

Mayweather's speed was the difference all night as he was able to land straight rights and left jabs, then get out of the way before Alvarez was able to respond. But while Mayweather used great defense, he wasn't afraid to attack often and at different angles, finding Alvarez with punches he couldn't anticipate.

Tommy Morrison

Former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison died in an Omaha, Neb., hospital late Sunday night. He was 44.

Morrison's longtime promoter, Tony Holden, said Morrison died at 11:50 p.m. with his wife, Trisha, beside him.

Morrison tested positive for HIV in 1996 before a fight with Arthur Weathers, effectively ending his boxing career. In the years that followed, he denied having HIV and also challenged the existence of the virus.

Trisha Morrison, who married Morrison in 2011, picked up that fight, and in a recent interview with ESPN.com insisted that Morrison had Guillain-Barre Syndrome, not HIV.

In 1993, Morrison beat George Foreman to win the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title. He lost to Lennox Lewis in 1995.

He also gained fame for his role in the 1990 movie "Rocky V," in which he portrayed "Tommy Gunn," a rookie boxer who is trained by Rocky Balboa, portrayed by star Sylvester Stallone. Morrison, as Gunn, goes on to win the heavyweight title in the movie and then later fights and loses to his mentor.

Morrison was born in Arkansas and grew up in Oklahoma.

goodbye to Hector Camacho

NEW YORK » Hundreds mourned Hector Camacho today in the landmark East Harlem church the fighter attended as a boy, and hundreds more cheered and shouted "Macho" when his coffin was carried out and loaded into a hearse afterward.

"Hector lived the American dream, to come from simple beginnings and to be known by thousands of people," the Rev. Frank Skelly said. "He could lift us up, and he could break our hearts. He could inspire us and at times disappoint us."

Camacho, a native of Puerto Rico who moved to East Harlem as a child, was shot in the face Nov. 20 while sitting in a parked car with a friend outside a bar in Bayamon, his hometown in the U.S. territory. The friend, Adrian Mojica Moreno, died at the scene. The boxer died after doctors removed him from life support.

Emanuel Steward

Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, a genius in the ring and a goodwill ambassador for boxing outside of it, died Thursday at 68 in a Chicago hospital following a lengthy illness.

A 1996 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, Steward was best known as the trainer who developed Thomas Hearns into one of the most fearsome fighters of his generation.

Considered the greatest trainer of his era, he worked with dozens of world champions and was instrumental in the success of not only Hearns, but elite fighters like heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, ex-heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya and many others.

In addition to being a great trainer, he developed a reputation as an outstanding analyst on HBO. Steward's excitement about a good fight was palpable – boxing pundits will recall his famous exclamation at the end of the ninth round of the May 18, 2002, fight between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward, "This should be the Round of the Century!"

Though he trained fighters of all sizes and styles, ultimately he became something of a heavyweight expert. He took over as Lewis' lead trainer in 1995, not long after Lewis was knocked out by Oliver McCall. Steward had coincidentally trained McCall to the win over Lewis on Sept. 24, 1994.

Under Steward's tutelage, Lewis went 16-1-1, with wins over Mike Tyson, Vitali Klitschko and Evander Holyfield, among others. In 2004, he took over as Wladimir Klitschko's trainer and Klitschko was promptly beaten by Lamon Brewster in a massive upset.

But, just as he had done with Lewis, he slowly turned Klitschko around and helped him become the top heavyweight in the world. Klitschko won 16 fights in a row under Steward.

Steward also got heavyweight title wins with McCall and Evander Holyfield, which put his record as the trainer of heavyweights at 34-2-1.

In a sport marked by infighting and bitter personal conflicts, Steward had no known enemies and was almost universally revered in the industry. He frequently reached into his own pocket to help the fighters he trained, and was always a friendly, accessible expert for journalists looking for help on a story.

Bert Sugar

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. (AP)—Bert Sugar, an iconic boxing writer and sports historian who was known for his trademark fedora and ever-present cigar, died Sunday of cardiac arrest. He was 75.

Jennifer Frawley, Sugar’s daughter, said his wife, Suzanne, was by his side when he died at Northern Westchester Hospital. Sugar also had been battling lung cancer.

“Just his intelligence and his wit and his sense of humor,” Frawley said when asked what she will remember about her father. “He was always worried about people. He was always helping people.”

Sugar was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005. According to the hall’s website, Sugar wrote more than 80 books, including “The 100 Greatest Boxers Of All Time.” He also appeared in a handful of films, including “The Great White Hype” starring Samuel Jackson.

“Around ringside, it’s not going to be the same with Bert not there,” said Jack Hirsch, the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Mayweather gets 90 days

LAS VEGAS >> Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a perfect 42-0 in the ring and has dodged significant jail time several times in domestic violence cases in Las Vegas and Michigan.

But his courtroom streak came to an end Wednesday when a Las Vegas judge sentenced him to 90 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to a reduced battery domestic violence charge and no contest to two harassment charges.

The case stemmed from a hair-pulling, punching and arm-twisting argument with his ex-girlfriend Josie Harris while two of their children watched in September 2010.

"Punishment is appropriate," Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa said after a prosecutor complained that Mayweather has been in trouble before and hasn't faced serious consequences.

"No matter who you are, you have consequences to your actions when they escalate to this level of violence," she said.

Good behavior could knock several weeks off Mayweather's sentence. but he will likely serve most of the sentence set to begin Jan. 6, said Officer Bill Cassell, a Las Vegas police spokesman.

Mayweather and his manager, Leonard Ellerbe, declined comment outside the courtroom.

The jail time raises doubts about a possible showdown between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, a champion fighter from the Philippines against whom Mayweather's welterweight success is usually measured.

A long-awaited fight between the two men regarded as among the best of their generation has been delayed by stalling techniques and verbal sparring.

Joe Frazier

Joe Frazier, the heavyweight boxing champion who in 1971 became the first fighter to defeat Muhammad Ali, then lost two epic rematches including a ferocious battle known as the "Thrilla in Manila," died Monday night. He was 67.

Smokin' Joe, as he was known, died in Philadelphia, said his manager, Leslie Wolff. He had liver cancer.

It was a golden age of heavyweight boxing in the 1970s, when fight fans filled massive arenas and boosted the sport's television ratings to watch the likes of Ali and Frazier and George Foreman, Jerry Quarry and Ken Norton.

In his 37 professional fights, Frazier won 32 times — 27 by knockout — and lost only four, with one draw. But he never really accepted his 1-2 record against Ali.

"I whupped him three times," Frazier said many times over the years.

They met for the first time on March 8, 1971, in New York's Madison Square Garden, with each fighter guaranteed $2.5 million. Ali, then 31-0, had been stripped of his heavyweight titles when, as Cassius Clay, he refused to be inducted into the military after being drafted for the Vietnam War. Frazier, at 26-0, had captured the title of undisputed heavyweight champion in 1970 with a technical knockout of Jimmy Ellis.

It was a brutal battle, rated by many as the "fight of the century" and considered the best boxing match of all time at any weight. When Frazier knocked Ali down in the 15th and final round and won on points, both received rave reviews for their performances. Both also went immediately to the hospital.

Before they could be paired again in the ring, Frazier defended his title four times, most notably on Jan. 22, 1973, against Foreman in Kingston, Jamaica.

Even the burly, fearsome-looking Foreman, who was 4 inches taller, admitted that the thought of getting into the ring with the brawling fireplug Frazier frightened him.

"Every time he swung at me," Foreman said, "it scared five years out of my life."

Nevertheless, in the second round, Foreman caught Frazier with a right uppercut that sent the fighter from Philadelphia to the canvas.

Sitting ringside for the boxing telecast was announcer Howard Cosell, by now internationally known for his boisterous and opinionated broadcast style. When Frazier, the champion, hit the deck, Cosell stole the moment and the show with his dramatic bellowing of the call:

"DOWN GOES FRAZIER! DOWN GOES FRAZIER! DOWN GOES FRAZIER!"

It was as if he was calling an airplane crash rather than a boxing match. It not only stuck with Frazier, who got to his feet too late to avoid being counted out, but it is a mocking call to this day among boxing fans for all such spectacular knockdowns.

After Foreman took Frazier's title away, Frazier fought Ali twice more, losing in a more subdued battle in the Garden in 1974, when Ali kept Frazier away more effectively with holding and clinching, and a year later, after Ali had gotten his title back by beating Foreman in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).

It was for this third match, on Oct. 1, 1975, in Quezon City, the Philippines, that Ali predicted he would have an easy time with Frazier. In the pre-fight promotions for what was dubbed the "Thrilla in Manila," Ali called Frazier an "Uncle Tom" and a "gorilla" and repeatedly ridiculed him. The fight was anything but easy, and Ali later likened it to being "the closest thing to dying." By the 14th round, both having hit and been hit too many times to count, Frazier's eyes were nearly swollen shut and he couldn't see Ali's punches, even though he had stood in and flailed away for several rounds right through his near-blindness.

Finally, after the 14th round, his veteran trainer, Eddie Futch, over loud protests from Frazier, threw in the towel to end the fight.

"Sit down, son," Futch told Frazier. "It's all over. Nobody will ever forget what you did here today."

Frazier and Ali had fought 41 rounds and served up a boxing trilogy for the ages.

Muhammad Ali turns 65

At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, organizers had tried to keep very quiet the identity of the distinguished American who would light the Olympic cauldron. The torch was carried into the stadium, and when it reappeared for the big moment the spotlight showed it in the hand of Muhammad Ali.

And all anyone could think was:

Of course.

For years, Ali had been the best-known American in the world, one of the great athletes in history, an Olympic gold medalist.

And, almost forgotten by 1996, for a time in the 1960s he was one of the most controversial figures in the United States.

Ali turned 65 this week, an impossible concept for anyone who remembers, or sees on tape, the sleek, sinuous, muscular body that danced uncatchably around the ring before landing a piledriver on the unfortunate boxer facing him. His self-described pattern of "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" seemed like an understatement on both ends.

He was also a permanent one-man parade, of poetry and put-ons and principle, from Louisville to Madison Square Garden to Manila.

These days, Ali is a physically sad figure, a sufferer from pugilistic Parkinson's syndrome, an old boxer who clearly took too many punches, one of the fastest-talking figures of sports now having trouble making his words understandable. It's hard to see the pantherlike boxer in the 65-year-old.

But it's even harder to recognize the widely hated, electrically controversial figure of the 1960s, the world's best-known war resister coming from the world's most violent sport, in the American icon that Ali has become.

If he's changed in 40 years, so has the country and the world around him.

It's one more lesson from Ali's life, a bulletin to politicians who claim that while things may not look good today, their militant insistence will be validated by history. History, even a few decades of it, makes judgments different from what establishments expect. It's not always on the side of the folks who send out the bombers and the search-and-destroy missions.

Ali, after all, wasn't even always called Ali. He won his Olympic gold medal, and his first heavyweight championship fight, as Cassius Clay. When he announced, in the company of Malcolm X — another public enemy looking better in the history books — that he was dropping Clay as his "slave name" and becoming a Muslim, he was more editorially denounced than rock and roll. Most sports reporters attacked him — Howard Cosell became a celebrity simply for treating Ali decently — and the next five years were absorbed in an effort to find a heavyweight to beat him and uphold right-thinking values.

And when Ali refused the Vietnam-era draft, going to the ceremony and not answering when his name was called, he was stripped of his title and sentenced to five years in prison. It took until 1970 for the Supreme Court to throw out his conviction, and longer for him to regain the championship, and during all that time Ali was an inviting punching bag for millions of Americans.

In the Vietnam era, it turned out that Ali's most useful boxing skill wasn't fighting, but the ability to take a punch.

Now, 40 years later, Ali is a national hero, not to say an international icon. Resisting a war doesn't seem an incomprehensibly disloyal act, and becoming a Muslim doesn't seem an act of cultural betrayal. As of this month, an African American Muslim sits in the U.S. House of Representatives, where the walls once echoed with denunciations of Muhammad Ali.

History, it seems, has dealt considerably more generously with Ali than with the people who wanted to send him to war.

Which is why it often can be a mistake for a president to set his jaw about the casualty lists and stand next to a White House portrait of Lincoln and assure himself that one day history will vindicate him.

History makes its own judgments, and sometimes the objects of popular and government abuse end up lighting fires -- sometimes on international television coverage -- that burn brighter than the politicians of the past ever expected.

-- David Sarasohn is an associate editor at the Oregonian of Portland, Ore