Dominican Guard Offers Hopes for the Rams
January 31, 2010
NEW YORK - Rayner Moquete was in his dorm room Tuesday evening on the south lawn at Rose University on Rose Hill. The freshman guard from Santo Domingo joined the Rams roster on December 26th got a call from interim head coach Jared Grasso. He would getting the start Wednesday evening when Fordham hosted Atlantic 10 Conference opponent LaSalle University,
“Try not to do crazy stuff,” is what he told me explained Moquete. The 6’1, 181-pound point guard who cleared NCAA Clearinghouse issues in late December, scored his first collegiate basket on January 13th at Madison Square Garden and finished with seven points in a Fordham loss to A-10 opponent Dayton.
Moquete is one of those promising athletes coming from the Dominican Republic, an Island known more for its production of baseball talent that come to the states. But the last few years there has been a revival of talent coming off the basketball court from Santo Domingo and other parts of the Republic,
And as Grasso says, his new point guard has the potential to be a leader and for the time being will get the start as Fordham continues to struggle. They lost their 12th straight game Wednesday evening 80-73, now 2-17 overall, 0-7 in the conference. Moquete finished with five points, had three assists and was 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
“He’s going to be good in certain spots and comes here in the middle of the season as a starting point guard in a difficult situation,” said Grasso about Moquete. “He’s trying to pick up everything we do offensively and defensively. It was his first start, solid and he will get better.”
Moquete is also getting some help from newcomers, because the young Rams have only one veteran player from last year’s squad that get the start, senior Brenton Butler. Moquete was one of four freshmen that got the start against LaSalle. And he seemed to adjust quickly in his new role, not doing the “crazy: things that Grasso referred to.
“let the game come to you and give me the opportunity to help this team win,” said Moquete after the game, referring to how he approached his first start. It was the same type of approach that got him a spot a spot on the Fordham roster. A graduate of Our Savior New American School in Centereach New York, Moquete averaged 15 points per game in his last year.
A call came from Miami Dade Community College, but he waited to get cleared and go for the good education and potential start up at Rose Hill. “They showed interest,” he said about Miami and other schools,” so did Fordham. “I think this is a perfect fit for me. Fordham is a good school and we can do something big here.”
This was the first game Fordham stayed competitive in the second half. And at one point it looked like the Rams were headed to victory. But LaSalle made 17 of their 25 shots in the second half, including mistakes by the young Rams that led to four important free throws in the final minutes that made a difference.
On the court most of the time, Moquete played 25 minutes, there was the intensity, hustle and leadership. Butler missed one of key free throws that could have tied the game at the four minute mark. Moquete went to the line and quickly gave Butler a tap to the head after he missed the first shot.
“Part of my game is to pick my teammates ,” he said “He will make a difference for us, said the other freshman, forward Chris Gaston who led the Rams with 21 points and 15 rebounds, his 12th double-double game of the season.
Email Rich Mancuso: Ring7876@aol.com
Long-Awaited Win Smells Great To Hofstra
January 28, 2010
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The recent stench emanating from the Hofstra University men’s basketball team was a strong one, both figuratively and literally.
After losing five straight to close out the first half of a conference schedule which included only two Colonial Athletic Association wins, both against last-place Towson (4-16, 1-9 CAA), the Pride (10-12, 3-7) was sorely in need of a fresh, clean start to the second half of it’s CAA season.
Frustrated by his team’s poor play, Hofstra head coach Tom Pecora tried a new motivational tactic while seeking his first win in three weeks, since a 77-61 victory over Towson, on January 6th.
Pecora admitted, “We haven’t had practice gear in about a week because I got mad, and I said, they shouldn’t wear anything that says ‘Hofstra’ on their chest… we were starting to smell a little bit because they were wearing the same shirts.”
The perfect deodorant?
A home game with a much easier opponent on the slate.
Finishing a tough stretch of alternating home games and road contests which included three separate trips to Virginia and a fourth to Philadelphia, Hofstra’s losing streak came against five of the CAA’s top six teams, by an average of 12.4 points.
“We looked at the schedule as soon as it came out and we went, ‘Wow, what a January that’s gonna be.’ We had hoped to come out of it better than we did… the opponents we were playing were all upper tier teams… now we’ll get some home games, and the students are back, and the crowds will be better, and we can go on the road… with a little more confidence… not as many long trips.”
So, it was great timing for the unpredictable, eighth-place North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks (7-14, 3-7 CAA) to pay a visit to the Mack Sports Complex on Wednesday night, and help Hofstra dash some cologne on its poor first half within the conference.
UNCW, which entered the game with four consecutive road losses, while dropping five of six overall, had surprisingly played better teams very tough on the road, winning at one of the CAA’s upper echelon teams (William & Mary) by one point, and losing two-point games at Virginia (second-place in the ACC), and at Richmond (a solid Atlantic-10 squad this year).
However, when their perimeter shots don’t fall, the Seahawks have also shown a tendency to be run out of the gym, as was the case before a crowd of 2,525 fans at Hofstra, which saw the Pride lead wire-to-wire in a thorough 93-54 domination of UNCW.
It was such a rout, the Pride’s first half total of 54 points –- the most in Pecora’s nine seasons as Hofstra’s head coach -– matched the Seahawks’ total for the game.
Pleased with his team’s perimeter defense, Pecora said of the Seahawks, who missed their first seven shots from behind the arc, “They can put four three-point shooters on the floor at one time, and they [only] shot 3 of 17 from three.”
Hofstra meanwhile, started hot, making seven of its first 10 shots from the field, as junior forward Greg Washington (14 points, 7-12 fg) led the way early, scoring six of the Pride’s first seven points.
Washington was one of five Hofstra players to score in double figures, the first time that happened for the Pride since five starters scored all of Hofstra’s points in a 77-66 upset win over then-25th ranked George Mason, on February 23, 2006.
The early start gave the lanky 6-foot-10 forward as well as his team, some much-needed energy at both ends of the floor. “Once I get the first shot,” Washington said, “I want to keep going and going and that helps me defensively, [and], it gets the team going.”
Joining Washington in double figures were junior guard Charles Jenkins (24 points), senior guard Cornelius Vines (15 points), freshman forward Halil Kanacevic (14 points off the bench), and freshman point guard Chaz Williams (11 points).
Pecora is hopeful that his team’s selfless play will carry over for the rest of the season. “If it was a game where one or two guys got 30 or 40 [points],” he said, “I don’t know if our confidence would rise as much as it would now, by us sharing the wealth… I think that’s important for this group.”
A jumper by senior guard Johnny Wolf (the only Seahawk in double figures, with 14 points), pulled UNCW to within 11-7, 5:07 into the game, but Hofstra scored the next 13 points, nine from three-point range (on a pair of three-pointers by Vines and a trey by Jenkins).
Hofstra extended that run to 23-2, capped by the first-ever six-point play and only eight-point trip that Jenkins could remember in all of his years of playing basketball, whether at the college level or prior.
Jenkins, who had his most efficient game of the season (leading all scorers while making 7 of 9 shots from the floor and 9 of 10 free throw attempts), scored his second straight basket on a fast break layup, to put the Pride up 28-9, with 9:21 left in the half.
Junior guard Jeremy Basnight was called four an intentional foul as Jenkins hit the floor hard after making the shot.
UNCW head coach Benny Moss was then called for a technical foul, after which Jenkins sank all four free throws for the whistles on both Basnight and Moss. Jenkins followed the foul shots with a running jumper to complete the personal eight-point possession while scoring his tenth straight point, giving Hofstra a commanding 34-9 lead, with 9:16 remaining in the opening half.
From there, Hofstra coasted. Washington’s putback gave the Pride its biggest first-half lead, 54-22, before a Wolf three-pointer made it 54-25 by halftime. Only six missed free throws (Hofstra was 13-19 in the opening half) kept the Pride from posting a 60-point first half.
Four Hofstra players (Jenkins, 16; and, Washington, Vines, and Kanacevic, with 10 each) reached double figures in the opening 20 minutes.
The lead grew to as much as 42 points on three different occasions in the second half, as Hofstra won by easily its largest margin, while recording its highest point total and shooting its best percentage (57.7 percent) from the floor, this season.
Pecora’s teams have always been about defense first, but he was encouraged by the offensive improvement against the Seahawks. “I was weened on defense and rebounding,” he said. “But, the most important statistic is offensive field goal percentage… offensively, we got better spacing, and we opened the floor a little bit.”
Still, there was plenty to like about the defense and rebounding.
Hofstra limited UNCW to just 33.3 percent (18-for-54) shooting while junior guard Chad Tomko (0-4 fg), who entered the game as UNCW’s leading scorer (14.3 ppg), was held without a point for just the second time in 86 career games, and for the first time this season.
Meanwhile, the Pride outrebounded the Seahawks, 41-30, led by Washington and Kanacevic tying each other with a game-high eight rebounds apiece. The two also combined for all of Hofstra’s 14 blocked shots, 10 of which came from Washington, to tie a school record. “That’s a very impressive statistic,” Pecora said.
Perhaps an even better number is the 170 career blocks for Washington. He now needs just nine more to break the 27-year-old school record of 178, set by David Taylor (1979-83).
Though Jenkins, Kanacevic, and Williams have developed as the core of Hofstra’s team, Pecora knows that Washington will have to expand that core by one more key piece for the remainder of the season.
“Gregory is the key to everything we do,” Pecora said. Before the game, Pecora told Washington, “Let’s play like the old days, like you were playing early in the year and late last year.”
Pecora added of his other more experienced players, “We’ve got to get those veterans playing… and taking ownership of this team. I think they had lost their confidence and I was surprised by that. It just goes to show you, [that] you can play a game on Saturday and be down 30 in the second half [at Drexel, in a 75-62 loss] and four days later, be up 30 in the second half.”
“That felt good,” he said earlier. “We haven’t had one of those, it feels like, in a hundred years. I’m happy about it. We’re back home, hopefully we can build off that. We have another home game on Saturday… we have to be consistent and we have to play at a high level the rest of the way.”
Pecora (146-123 at Hofstra), who with the win, tied Frank Reilly (1947-55), for third place on the all- school list for head coaching victories, continued to work on that even with his best player, during the waning moments of his team’s easiest win.
“During a timeout in the second half, I was getting into [Jenkins]… “I still want you to stay aggressive,” Pecora told one of the conference’s leading scorers, with Hofstra up by more than 30 points. “That’s got to be your mindset every minute you’re on the court… [because] we’re still working on becoming a better team.”
Jenkins seems to have gotten the message. On breaking the losing streak, and admiring his team’s resiliency, he said, “It feels very good. Coach always tells us that tough times don’t last and tough teams do.” But, Jenkins also understands that, “Tomorrow it’s… back to business.”
He also now realizes what it means to earn the right to wear those new, clean Hofstra practice shirts again. “We’re not just playing for each other, we’re playing for Hofstra,” Jenkins said.
Said Pecora, “They get their practice gear back… practice won’t stink tomorrow, in one sense, anyway.”
Audio: Pittsburgh Drops Rangers, 4-2
January 26, 2010
Once again NYSD has teamed up with Trainor Communications with some audio clips from the Pittsburgh Penguins in their 4-2 win at Madison Square Garden last night
Chris Conner
Sydney Crosby
Marc-Andre Fleury
Coach Dan Blysma
Contact Bob Trainor at trainorcomm@gmail.com for more information.
Colts To Take On Saints In XLIV
January 26, 2010
The field is down to two from 32. In two weeks, we will know who is going to be king of the football world – at least for this year. In two games that were hyped for a week, similar circumstances prevailed in the end., and both involved the superstar quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.
In the AFC Championship Game, the upstart New York Jets were able to contain the 2009 NFL MVP, albeit for one quarter. The league’s number one defense actually sacked Manning on consecutive offensive plays over two series and at one point in the second quarter, the Jets led 17-6. Answering a Jay Feeley field goal, Manning sliced through Gang Green’s secondary to cut into the deficit at the half to four points.
While Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez (17 for 30, 257 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception) played extremely well, the offense could not get going and went scoreless in the second half. At the same time, the Colts controlled the pace and Manning had his way. He threw for 377 yards and three scores to three different receivers in Austin Collie, Pierre Garcon and Dallas Clark en route to the 30-17 victory.
The Superdome hosted the NFC Championship Game and what was expected to be a close shootout between two offensive juggernauts in the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings did not disappoint. Brett Favre came out slinging as expected, as did Drew Brees. At half time, the score was even at 14 and although they had four turnovers, the Vikes were very much in the game and actually were in position to win the game in the waning seconds. But a penalty for too many men in the huddle set them back five yards, setting up a third down. Instead of calling a conservative run to set up a long field goal attempt, Minnesota elected to throw.
Favre rolled to his right out of the pocket and threw into double coverage across his body. On cue, the ball was picked off and we were headed into the extra stanza. For all the great things that Favre (28 for 46, 310 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions) has done in 19 NFL seasons, he has a tendency to make a terrible decision at the worst time. It happened in the playoffs before, against the Giants and Eagles.
The Saints won the coin toss and went on a drive that seemed to go on forever due to three booth reviews. Garrett Hartley nailed a 40-yard field goal and there was happiness in the bayou.
Super Bowl XLIV will be an interesting affair, one that will pit an old dog that has been there/done that in Manning and a bunch of wide-eyed Saints. Expect a lot of offense in this one, so take the over.
Lopez and Gamboa shine in Knockout wins
January 26, 2010
Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa took one more step to a future big money showdown between the two kings of the featherweight division.
“JuanMa” Lopez (28-0, 25 KO’s) totally dominated and outmatched the skilled Steven Luevano to take away his WBO featherweight title in fantastic style. Lopez knocked out Luevano with a crushing right-left combo to floor Leuvano in the seventh round. Referee Benji Estevez stopped it at the :44 mark. In the co feature, Gamboa (17-0, 15 KO’s) put on an fantastic performance in stopping Roger Mtagwa with a second round TKO at 2:35.
Lopez captured his second world title and hopes to one day match his idol, Felix ” Tito” Trinidad, accomplishment as the next great Puerto Rican fighter with four world titles. Trinidad was in the house and received the loudest cheer of the night from a crowd of about 5,000 in attendance at the Wamu theatre in Madison Square Garden. It was clear that Lopez’s power was too much for Luevano.
“We saw the video and we knew the right was there for me all night,” said Lopez.”I could feel I was landing it, and I was very surprised he took so many punches. He took a lot of punishment.”
Lopez nearly swept all the scorecards with one judge giving Luevano the 5th round. Lopez out-boxed him and hurt him repeatedly with straight left hands and quick hooks. Luevano was not able to use his counter punching skills as Lopez’s pressure was just too much.
JuanMa had a far easier time on Saturday night than the last time he fought at MSG. Lopez fought a life and death battle with Roger Mtagwa as he had to hold on for dear life in the final round to take the decision. He knew he had something to prove. I asked him what he thought was the difference from this fight than the Mtagwa fight.
“The difference was the four pounds and moving up in weight, said Lopez. ” I listened to my corner a lot more this time around. The last fight I did not listen to my corner as much I should have and stayed away from the gameplan. This time I was more discipline and it showed. I am still a work in progress and still improving.”
The turning point came when Lopez landed a great right that staggered the champion at the start of the seventh round. Leuvano backed up to the corner as he was badly hurt and Lopez went for the kill with the right hand and left hook combo for the knockout. As impressive as Lopez’s win was, Gamboa was the one that stole the show.
Gamboa had a far easier time with Roger Mtagwa than Lopez did. Gamboa retained his WBA featherweight title as he knocked Mtagwa twice in two rounds as referee Steve Smoger had seen enough and put a halt to the fight at 2:35 of the second round.
“I hope with this performance, no one compares me to JuanMa anymore,” Gamboa said. “We’re different fighters. I proved I’m Yuriorkis Gamboa.
From the sound of the opening bell, Gamboa used his blazing speed and power to totally take Mtagwa out of it. Landing some vicious left hooks in the 1st round, Gamboa knocked Mtagwa down toward the end of the first round with a left hand to the head.
Gamboa would not let Mtagwa breathe in Round 2 as he landed 38 of the 58 power shots he threw. Gamboa nailed Mtagwa with a power combination in the middle of the ring and then floored him with a right about halfway toward the round. Mtagwa and showed his heart as he tried to fight but Gamboa was too much as he would knock him down again and it was over.
” I came to demonstrate and become the best in my division, ” said Gamboa. I’d love for whoever the public or maybe the press considers the No. 1 featherweight, to have him in the ring for my next fight. That way I can show who is the best.”
With both guys victorious, the hope next would be a fight between the two but Top Rank promoter Bob Arum wants to hold off a little longer.
“I want to sweep out the whole featherweight division first,” said Arum. I want both these guys to take all the guys in the division like Chris John and Caballero. All of them and I want to milk this up as much as possible. I want this to be the biggest money fight in the featherweight history. I owe it to both guys.”
Arum talks that the next time the two fight could be June with a split site doubleheader. Gamboa would fight in Miami while Lopez would fight in his native Puerto Rico. The mentioned names could potential matchups for each guy.
Earlier in the evening, Irish John Duddy improved his record to 27-1 with a first-round TKO of Juan Astorga. Duddy is one of the more popular New York fighters and continued to hold that clai. He would knock Astorga with a left hook to the body that knock him down to cause ref Wayne Kelly to stop the bout at 1:51.
With the victory, Duddy earns himself a spot on the undercard on the Pacquioa-Clottey undercard.
Temple Stops Fordham in A-10 Conference Contest in the Bronx
January 26, 2010
The Temple Owls (17-3, 5-0) retained the only undefeated record in the Atlantic-10 Conference after defeating the Fordham Rams (2-16, 0-6), 62-45 in a conference contest at the Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx on Saturday afternoon. The defeat, although not unexpected, was a disappointment for the large crowd of Fordham rooters. Many of the fans had earlier in the day attended the annual Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony.
Temple, thus far, has compiled one of its best early season marks. Currently ranked #16/17 in national polls, The Owls defeated top 5 ranked Villanova on December 13. Two of its three losses came at the hands of ranked teams. Georgetown edged Temple, 46-45, and the Owls were blown out by Kansas, then #1 ranked. Its only other defeat was by the St. John’s Red Storm.
Fordham, on the other hand, has started horribly. Its head coach, Derek Whittenburg, was fired after coaching the first five games of the season. The slow start followed a 3-25 record in the 2008-9 season. The current head coach, Jared Grasso, the youngest head coach in Division I men’s basketball, has led the team to only one victory in 12 contests.
The background of the two teams seemed totally irrelevant as they battled evenly during the first half. The score was knotted three times and the lead changed hands five times during the first 10 minutes. A layup by Fordham’s Chris Gaston at 9:25 gave Fordham its final lead of the game. The half ended with the visitors leading, 22-19. The stats for the teams were very similar. Both shot below 30% from the floor. Each only netted two treys and grabbed 18 boards.
Temple’s three more free throws than Fordham were the difference between the two. Veteran coach Fran Dunphy spoke of his team’s poor start, “I have no idea why we start so slow. We had decent looks in the first half, but we didn’t make them.”
Temple adjusted well in the second half, and began the period with a 16-4 scoring run to take a 38-23 lead with 13:45 remaining. Temple continued its domination of the contest, raising its advantage to 23 points. Fordham closed the game outscoring the visitors 14-8, but it was too little, too late. Temple’s shooting from the floor was outstanding. The Owls netted 16 of 24 attempts, 7 of 9 from beyond the arc. Dunphy credited his bench players, who outscored Fordham 26-12, for creating the separation during the second half. Sophomore Scootie Reynolds, averaging less than two points per game, scored all 12 of his points in the second half on four of five from three point range. Grasso talked of his team’s inability to play effectively for 40 minutes,
“We played 22-23 minutes, and ran out of gas.” Grasso, as he often does, spoke of the youth of his freshmen dominated squad, “We showed how young we are. In the second half, they made more shots, and we didn’t respond. Sometimes, you see the difference between upperclassmen and freshmen.” Grasso did speak very positively of the effort his players make, “They’re playing hard. The effort is there. I’m not disappointed.”
Freshman Chris Gaston of the Rams, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, continued his double digit average in both categories with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Pacquiao vs. Clottey To Take Place in Big D
January 22, 2010
Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey concluded their two-day, two-city press conference earlier today in New York at Madison Square Garden. Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs), boxing’s No.1 pound for pound fighter, will make the first defense of his WBO welterweight title when he faces off against the WBO’s number 1 contender, Joshua Clottey(35-3, 20 KOs).
The fight will take place on March 13th on HBO PPV and will take place at Cowboys stadium in Dallas, Texas. This fight marks the biggest world championship fight to be held in a major U.S. sports stadium since the Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton World Heavyweight championship fight in Yankee stadium in 1976.
The March 13th date was originally set for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather but negotiations broke off. The stumbling block of a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao mega fight was the scheduling of blood testing. Mayweather said he believes Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs. Pacquiao said he felt insulted to be accused of taking PEDs. So while boxing fans are the big losers in the failed attempt for the super fight, Joshua Clottey became the only winner in the fiasco. To no surprise, Clottey is more than excited to have the chance to fight the best in the world.
“This is a miracle opportunity for me,”said Clottey. To share a ring with Manny Pacquiao is something I want to do because he is the best fighter pound for pound. He beat everyone in front of him, but I promise you that we are coming to fight and we will please the people.”
In his last fight, Clottey lost a controversial split decision to Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden. Clottey put on a tremendous performance against Cotto but faded in the later rounds. Despite the loss, Clottey showed that he belongs among the elite in the exciting welterweight division and bigger fights will come. There is no bigger one than this one.
“This is a very big fight. He’s one of the best fighters out there, and he’s beaten everyone they’ve given him. But we’re going to fight,” Clottey said. “I know it’s not an easy fight for me and it’s not an easy fight for him.”
Many boxing experts feel that Clottey has a decent chance of scoring the upset and he concurs with that thought when asked about his chances.
” I have everything needed to beat Pacquiao,” Clottey said. ” He throws a lot of punches but I block a lot of punches. We will see what happens. I have never lost to a southpaw in my career. When I fought Judah, he was quicker than me and threw a lot of punches. But my blocking had him confused and I took advantage.”
Clottey and his thoughts on the size advantage he will have over Pacquiao.
” Cotto had no respect for Manny’s power because he felt he was the bigger man, Clottey said.” That will not happen to me. It does not matter how small he is. All it takes is one solid punch to the chin to knock you down and that is what happened with Cotto. It will not happen to me.”
Manny Pacquiao will try to further cement his legacy as he faces a tough challenge in Clottey. During the press conference, Pacquiao made it known that he wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. He doesn’t think the feeling was mutual.
“He didn’t want to fight me,” Pacquiao said. “I think maybe Mayweather is scared to lose.But I am not that disappointed on not fighting Floyd. It’s no big deal because I have to fight Clottey.
Manny needs to put the Mayweather fiasco behind him quickly as the fight is only less than 8 weeks away and has to put in a quicker training camp than usual. Pacquiao’s super trainer, Freddie Roach, does not seem too concerned on the fight being so close.
” We are little behind schedule,” Roach said. ” We are going forward with a six week training camp instead of the standard eight. He is doing plenty of running and playing plenty of basketball to keep him in shape. Manny is a great athlete and he will be more than ready for March 13th.”
Pacquiao was asked during the conference on how he feels about Clottey as an opponent.
“Joshua Clottey’s style is different from styles I have fought,” Pacquiao said. Clottey is bigger and taller than Miguel Cotto. I thought his fight with Cotto was very close. I have to prepare and train hard for this fight because Clottey is a strong fighter and a former champion. I won’t promise that I’ll win, but I promise a good fight.”
HBO’s Boxing After Dark makes it first broadcast of 2010 with a very exciting doubleheader.
January 22, 2010
For the second time in three months, two of boxing’s brightest young stars will headline a card at the Wamu Theatre in Madison Square Garden. Juan Manuel Lopez and Yurikois Gamboa look to take one last step toward a possible collision course between the two if they are victorious. It would be the most exciting fight between two young and top fighters in a long time.
But first things first for Lopez and Gamboa as they both have their hands full with very formidable challengers. Lopez (27-0, 24 KO’s) moves up to Featherweight as he challenges the WBO champion, Steven Luevano(37-1-1, 15 KO). What Juan Ma will be dealing with, in Luevano, is a fighter making the eighth defense of his WBO title who possesses an innate counter-punching ability and by far is the most skilled boxer that Lopez has faced so far.
Luevano is not the most exciting fighter in the world as he doesn’t possess the great speed or power that many of the top boxers have. What he does have is a great boxing IQ and someone that Lopez should not look past.He is very skilled southpaw fighter who many feel will give Lopez a real run for his money.Luevano has been dominant in the Featherweight division for a while now and is in a position where the most competition he can get is by facing an explosive smaller fighter who is willing to move up and try his luck in the Featherweight division.It should be very interesting to see not only how Luevano deals with Lopez’s aggression but also how Lopez deals with Luevano’s smart, tactically sound boxing.
Lopez hopes that to have an easier time in this fight than his last one. If you remember, Juan Ma had to survive a life and death battle against Rogers Mtagwa (26-13-2, 18 KO’s), Gamboa’s opponent for Saturday. Mtagwa almost pulled the great upset as he rocked Lopez bad at the end of the 11th round and if the bell not sounded, a knockout loss was very possible for Lopez. Mtagwa pushed hard in the 12th round and came within seconds of winning the fight but Lopez held on to finish the fight and win a tough unanimous decision.
Despite all that, Lopez gained a great deal of experience in the fight and will come into his fight against Luevano as a smarter fighter. He needs to be that if he is going to win this fight.Hopefully, he has learned to close some of the openings he gave Mtagwa, because Luevano will be able to exploit them much more easily.
While Luevano will be a tough opponent, I expect Lopez to come out the victor.He is too fast, too strong, too dynamic, and too skilled for Luevano> I say it’s goes the distance with Lopez getting the decision.
In the other featured bout, Mtagwa hopes to take advantage of his great performance against Lopez as he gets a shot against the dynamic and undefeated top prospect, Yurikois Gamboa(16-0, 14 KO’s).
The current WBA featherweight champion is on a roll right now. He is coming off a dominant performance when he knocked out Whyber Garcia in the 4th round on the undercard of the Lopez/Mtawga fight. He has won his last six fights by knockout and will try to have an easier time with Mtawga than Lopez did.
While Gamboa might not have the best chin or defense in the world, he has amazing combination of speed and power .I think he will better than Juanma at avoiding Mtagwa’s unorthodox but powerful shots.Gamboa will go into this fight with something to prove as he probably thinks that he should be the one main eventing this card and not Lopez. In his last fight, Gamboa made his feelings known that he is the man.
“I don’t think Juan Manuel Lopez is better than me,” Gamboa said. “He’s not a challenge for me. If we fight, I will show that. I think I should be the one carrying the card with Lopez because I am a better fighter than him.”
Just like the Lopez-Luevano fight, this should be a good bout as well. However, Yuriorkis simply has too much talent to lose. Mtagwa will come to fight, just as he did against Lopez, but Gamboa is going to prevail with a knockout coming between Round 8-10.
Now They Are Down To Four
January 18, 2010
The NFL Divisional round is behind us and although this weekend was not as exciting as the last, just try and tell that to the fans of the teams still alive in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy. Three of the four favorites and home teams prevailed, sans the San Diego Chargers.
On Saturday, the New Orleans Saints rebounded after a lackluster end of the regular season with a convincing 45-14 knockout of the Arizona Cardinals. last season’s NFC representative in the Super Bowl. Reggie Bush scored two touchdowns as the Superdome rocked and rolled. Not much of a surprise there, as the Saints were expected to dispel of a team that may have still been showing the affects of an exhausting overtime win against Green Bay the week before.
That evening, the Baltimore Ravens were ousted by Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, 20-3. They took a two-touchdown lead at half time and coasted the rest of the way. Three turnovers did the Ravens in, setting up Indy to play host next weekend one game away from Super Bowl XLIV. Although they played extremely well in taking out the Patriots in the Wild Card round, Baltimore was clearly outclassed versus a well-rested Colts squad.
On Sunday, Brett Favre turned back the clock and led his new team to the conference championship. The 40-year-old former Packer and Jet threw for four touchdowns (three to Sidney Rice) to lead the Minnesota Vikings to the 34-3 victory over Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones’ boys may have exorcised some December (and early January) demons by winning their division and then dispatching the Eagles, but were never even competitive in the dome.
Saving the best for last, the game of the weekend came in San Diego pitting the Chargers against the upstart New York Jets. Given no chance to move on, the Jets came out and played the 11-win Bolts tooth-and nail. They trailed by a mere seven points heading into the locker room and were clearly the team ‘hanging around’ against a formidable opponent.
Jay Feeley hit a 46-yard field goal to cut into the lead during the third quarter. Then the turning point in the game occurred towards the end of the quarter. The Jets downed a punt deep in the Chargers zone and a few plays later, Philip Rivers was intercepted by Jim Leonhard. A Chargers personal foul moved the ball inside the 10 at the start of the final stanza, which set up Mark Sanchez’s two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dustin Keller and a 10-7 advantage.
Sanchez is not the only Jet rookie to be making a name for himself in the postseason, as running back Shonn Greene had another 100-yard performance and a long run for a score. He scampered 53 yards to give the Jets a 10-point lead with 7:26 left in the game. San Diego scored with 2:14 left when Rivers dove in from a yard out, but Kerry Rhodes recovered Nate Keading’s onside kick. The game wasn’t decided until Thomas Jones moved the chains on fourth and one with 1:09 left in the contest.
Keading, the AFC’s Pro Bowl representative, had a forgettable day with three missed field goals (36, 57 and 40 yards), which opened the door that the Jets kicked in on their way to Indianapolis for their first appearance in the AFC Championship Game since 1998.
Say what you want about the Jets and their outspoken rookie head coach, but Rex Ryan will have another week in the spotlight to psyche up his charges. The strategy has clearly worked and this team is going into Indy believing in themselves.
When the two teams met up in Week 16, Colts head coach Jim Caldwell pulled Manning in the third quarter with a 15-10 lead. The Jets rallied against back-up quarterback Lance Painter and that began their ascent towards where they are today. Once again, the Jets will be heavy underdogs and that is exactly the way they like it.
Fordham Rams Losing Streak Reaches Nine
January 18, 2010
The Fordham Rams men’s basketball team (2-14, 0-4) was in the spotlight during the past week. On Wednesday night, Fordham played its first game at the “Mecca” of basketball since 2002. The Dayton Flyers (13-3, 2-0) defeated the Rams, 74-58. On Saturday afternoon, Fordham played its first home game since December 8. The homecoming, televised by CBS College Sports Regional Network, was spoiled by Fordham’s loss to the Rhode Island Rams (14-2, 2-1), 85-67.
There was a similarity in how both games were played. The two teams battled competitively throughout the first half in each contest. Fordham’s opponents, after a lengthy scoring run, took a double digit lead that could not be overcome. The young Fordham squad was outclassed in experience and cohesiveness in each game. Fordham’s first year head coach Jared Grasso, the youngest NCAA Division I coach in the nation, replaced ousted former coach Derek Whittenburg on December 3. Grasso explained each loss with similar words. On Wed he said, “I’m proud of the effort, but we have to be 40 minutes good, not 25 or 30.” After Saturday’s game in the Bronx, Grasso opined, “They’re freshmen; they don’t know what it takes to play 40 minutes.”
Fordham trailed 16-7 at the 12:36 mark of the opening half of its rare game at MSG. An 18-7Saturday’s result at home was much the same scoring run by the Rams tied the game at 24 with 3:07 left in the half. The halftime score was a surprisingly close 31-26 in favor of Dayton. Fordham earned its only advantage of the contest, 36-35, at 17:37 in the second. Dayton them made its second half surge. A 17-3 Flyers scoring run brought the team a 52-39 lead with 12:32 remaining. Dayton reached a game-gh advantage of 21 (69-48) with 4: 34 to go in the contest.
The visitors took an early lead on Saturday, but the game was tied six times and the lead changed hands four times in the first half. Fordham final advantage of the game was the same score as its only lead on Wednesday, 36-35. It occurred with 1:36 remaining the first half. Rhode Island netted the final five points of the half to go ahead by a 40-36 score. After two more tied scores, the Rams of Rhode Island sco0red 16 unanswered points to go ahead 68-46. After a long 30-4 scoring the run, Rhode island earned its largest lead, 28 points, 76-48, The lead decreased in the final minutes, but the result was already decided.
Jim Baron, a four-time winner of the A-10 Coach of the Year Award, spoke of the reasons for his team’s victory, “I thought it was two different halves. [In the second half], I thought we did a much better job defending and sharing the ball. We played very aggressive and intense.” Grasso talked of his team’s youth and his faith in its future improvement, “Our freshmen play more minutes than any team in the country…We have to get tougher. We have to learn to fight through adversity. We’re getting better. We’re getting better than we were two weeks ago. I know we’re going to be good with these young guys.”