Alvarez beats Jacobs to unify middleweight world titles

LAS VEGAS – Mexican Saul "Canelo" Alvarez earned a unanimous decision over Daniel Jacobs in a fight that pitted two of the world's top middleweights against each other with three world titles on the line on Saturday (Sunday Manila time).

Alvarez kept his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles and seized Jacobs' International Boxing Federation belt in a bout that marked the Mexican's return to the 160-pound division.

Alvarez won on all three judges’ scorecards, with two having it 115-113 and the other 116-112.

Since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013, Alvarez has gone 10-0 with one draw with five knockouts.

source: philstar.com

Dope-free Jones sees new hope vs Smith

LAS VEGAS – Jon Jones used to cry for days when he heard about his positive doping tests.

Although his system still isn’t clean, Jones’ eyes are finally dry heading into UFC 235.

The UFC’s light heavyweight champion memorably wept in a news conference after getting pulled from UFC 200 in 2016, realizing his career was headed into a spiral. Jones cried again in a friend’s arms a few months ago when tests showed more traces of the steroid metabolite that could be in his system for years.


But when two more tests last month revealed tiny amounts of the metabolite, Jones finally didn’t cry. Although the results are casting a shadow over his every achievement, he has come to grips with his predicament – and more importantly to Jones, he is allowed to fight on.

Jones said he will take on Anthony Smith on Saturday night in the main event at T-Mobile Arena with clear eyes and a clean conscience.

“I’m at a place now where I’ve been hurt so many times,” Jones said. “So many things have happened – I’ve caused a lot of my own pain, and there’s been a lot of pain inflicted – that I just feel like I’m so comfortable with this scenario. I’m not going to allow anybody to hurt me anymore. ...I take responsibility for this whole thing, (but) I’m not going to let it bend me or break me.”

Jones has always denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing substances, and mixed martial arts’ various regulatory bodies believe his recent results are microscopic echoes of past violations, not a reason to ban arguably the most gifted fighter of his generation.

Jones has grown increasingly defiant in recent months, standing up to condemnation for what he claims to be an honest mistake with a supplement – a stance that makes his opponents laugh.

Now 31, Jones (23-1) is moving on to chase big paydays and career-defining excellence.

source: philstar.com

Alvarez wins narrow decision for middleweight title

LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin fought 24 rounds in the space of a year, with little to pick between them.

When the scorecards were totaled Saturday night (Sunday in Manila), though, there was a new middleweight champion of the world — but not by much.

Alvarez won the 160-pound titles held by Golovkin by the narrowest of margins, taking a majority decision to hand the longtime champion his first loss as a pro.

Two judges gave Alvarez the final round, allowing him to pull out the win.

A year after the two fought to a draw, the second fight was almost as close. There were no knockdowns, but the action was spirited throughout as the two battled to the final bell before a frenzied crowd at the T-Mobile Arena.

Two judges favored Alvarez 115-113, while a third had it 114-114. The AP scored it 114-114.

"He's a great fighter but I'm a great fighter and I showed it tonight," Alvarez said.

The two fighters switched roles from their first fight, with Triple G trying to counter Alvarez and the Mexican fighter coming forward much of the fight. Both landed well to the head and Golovkin (38-1-1) controlled some rounds with his jab though neither were ever in any trouble of going down.

The fight was a rematch of a draw last September that left neither fighter satisfied. This time it was Golovkin who was upset, and he stormed out of the ring without talking.

"I can't complain, that's what we have the judges for," said Abel Sanchez, Golovkin's trainer.

Ringside punch stats showed a close fight, though they favored Golovkin by a small margin. Golovkin was credited with landing 234 of 879 punches while Alvarez (50-1-2) landed 203 of 622.

Almost immediately there was talk of a third fight between two middleweights who now know each other well.

"If the people want us to do it again let's do it again," Alvarez said. "For now I'm going to enjoy it with my family."

Alvarez seemed to take control of the fight in the middle rounds, but Triple G came on strong in the final few rounds to make it as close as it could be. Golovkin landed several big punches to start the 12th round but still lost it on the two scorecards that ended up favoring Alvarez.

Both fighters were cut with Alvarez having one over his left eye and Golovkin cut over the right eye.

It was the first loss in 40 fights for Golovkin, the fearsome puncher from Kazakhstan who held portions of the middleweight title for seven years. And it came at the hands of the red-headed Alvarez, a Mexican star whose positive test for clenbuterol forced the rematch to be postponed from May.

They put on another show before a roaring crowd of 21,965, who crowded into the arena on the Las Vegas Strip with high anticipation in the biggest fight of the year.

Most of the crowd on Mexican Independence Day weekend favored Alvarez, who seemed to control much of the pace of the fight even while taking some sharp shots to the head. Though Golovkin has a reputation as a knockout artist, he never seemed to hurt Alvarez, who credited his fight plan with the win.

"I showed my victory with facts," Alvarez said. "He was the one who was backing up. It was a clear victory."

Alvarez was guaranteed $5 million to $4 million for Golovkin, though both fighters were expected to make many millions more from the biggest pay-per-view in boxing so far this year.

source: philstar.com

Mayweather stops fading McGregor with 10th round TKO

A ruthless Floyd Mayweather scored a 10th round technical knockout over mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor on Saturday, cementing his legacy as one of boxing’s all-time greats.

McGregor, making his professional boxing debut, had boasted he would knock out the 40-year-old American early but his lack of ring savvy betrayed him as Mayweather improved to 50-0 to surpass heavyweight great Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record for most wins without a loss or draw.

Whether the megafight will be the richest of all-time, as promoters predicted, is still to be determined but Mayweather left no doubt of his place in the pantheon of boxing greats in what he said was his last fight.

As promised, McGregor came out full of fury and menace but Mayweather, long regarded as the finest defensive fighter to step into the ring, left few openings and used the first three rounds to feel out his opponent.

By the fourth round Mayweather went on the attack and started landing blow after blow against a suddenly desperate McGregor who was bravely hanging on while clutching and grabbing the American.

In the 10th, Mayweather moved in for kill pinning a visibly fatigued McGregor against the ropes and landing a flurry of punches when the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

source: interaksyon.com

Softer Miley Cyrus performs at Billboard Awards

LAS VEGAS — Miley Cyrus introduced a new version of her persona, the low-key, in love Miley, when she performed her new song "Malibu," at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday.

The new Miley is a far cry from the previous Disney child star who shocked consistently audiences for years with her twerking and singing nude atop a giant wrecking ball.

Her sister Noah Cyrus noted in the intro that her sister, who is engaged to Liam Hemsworth, was "the happiest she had ever been." The singer didn't dance, but performed the acoustic driven slow-burning song in front of giant images of the beach and ocean and ended the song with teary eyes.

The Chainsmokers, a leading nominee, picked up the first televised award of the night with Halsey for top collaboration for their song "Closer." Drake led the winners with 12 awards. He has 22 nominations.

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5:09 p.m.

Nicki Minaj opened the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with an explosive nine-minute set of her top songs — including "No Frauds" a response to a diss track from Remy Ma.

At various points, she was joined by Lil Wayne, DJ David Guetta and Jason Derulo.

Vanessa Hudgens, hosting the show on ABC with Ludacris, imitated Minaj's rap onstage and earned applause from the crowd. Hudgens also sang some of Celine Dion's "I'm Your Lady" (Dion will perform later in the show).

Drake and Beyonce were among the early winners. Drake had earned 10 awards in early winners announced Sunday morning and picked up an 11th for top male artist in the first minutes of the show. Beyonce earned five in the early winners.

Drake and the Chainsmokers are top contenders with 22 nominations each.

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6:35 a.m.

Drake will walk into the 2017 Billboard Music Awards already a winner: He earned 10 early awards.

The rapper and the electronic dance duo the Chainsmokers were top contenders with 22 nominations each.

The early winners announced Sunday morning by dick clark productions included Beyonce, who won five and twenty one pilots, who won four. The Chainsmokers picked up three honors in the early announcement.

The Billboard Awards will be held Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where more awards will be announced.

Cher, Miley Cyrus, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Drake and the Chainsmokers will perform at the show airing live on ABC. Imagine Dragons will speak about Chris Cornell's influence on the band ahead of their performance.

Ludacris and Vanessa Hudgens will host the show.

source: philstar.com

Retire or fight back? UFC stars offer advice to Ronda Rousey

LAS VEGAS — Ronda Rousey is taking time off to ponder her future after her 48-second loss in her comeback fight at UFC 207.

Amanda Nunes thinks Rousey must retire.

Jon Jones believes Rousey should fight again.

The UFC's biggest names offered strong opinions about Rousey's future Saturday, a day after Nunes punched Rousey into submission in less than a minute. Rousey (12-2), once the most dominant fighter in the sport, has now lost two straight boutss 13 months apart, looking unprepared and overmatched against both Holly Holm and Nunes.

After Nunes easily defended the bantamweight belt once held by Rousey, the champion encouraged Rousey to move on.

"That's it for her," Nunes said Friday night. "For sure, she's going to retire. She can't take it anymore. If she wants the rematch, I'm going to do the same thing, because she can't take my punches."


Other major figures in mixed martial arts disagree.

Jones was arguably the most feared fighter in the sport before failing a drug test last summer. The suspended former light heavyweight champion took to Twitter on Saturday to encourage Rousey.

"My advice to Ronda would be to pick yourself up and try again," Jones wrote. "I think it's important for Ronda to show her fans how great she truly is by displaying her courage and giving it another try."

Rousey declined to promote her comeback bout, and she refused to discuss her loss with fans or reporters after making a guaranteed $3 million along with undisclosed millions in bonuses and pay-per-view revenue from the UFC's year-end show. She issued a statement to ESPN on Saturday.

"Returning to not just fighting, but winning, was my entire focus this past year," Rousey wrote. "However, sometimes — even when you prepare and give everything you have and want something so badly — it doesn't work how you planned. I take pride in seeing how far the women's division has come in the UFC and commend all the other women who have been part of making this possible, including Amanda.

"I need to take some time to reflect and think about the future. Thank you for believing in me and understanding."

Nunes acknowledged feeling sorry for Rousey after landing 27 punches on the former champion in just 48 seconds. Nunes believes the cumulative stress of Rousey's first loss, her acting career and numerous outside-the-cage responsibilities combined to "pressure her too much."

Nunes spoke directly to a bloodied Rousey in the cage after the loss.

"I told her, 'You did a lot for this sport,'" Nunes said. "'Thank you so much. Now, take some time to rest and maybe do something else.' Why should she keep doing this? She's a millionaire already. Why would she want to keep doing this? She'll hurt herself."

But Jones sees a ferocious competitor in Rousey behind the acting jobs and modeling gigs.

"What she does next will truly determine her legacy," Jones wrote. "I really hope she chooses to be ... unbroken. Her story doesn't have to be over here. I also still believe she beats 90 (percent) of the division. Lots of ass kicking still to be done, lots of money to be made."

Jones also joined Nunes and innumerable MMA figures in questioning the effectiveness of Rousey's coaching.

Edmond Tarverdyan, Rousey's coach, was widely criticized for his uneven, unusual coaching methods even before Rousey's career faltered. Even Rousey's mother, AnnMaria De Mars, has ripped Tarverdyan, but Rousey has remained fiercely loyal to her longtime guru.

Jones is based at the Albuquerque gym of respected trainer Greg Jackson, the mastermind behind several UFC champions. Rousey's striking has long been a weak spot for the Olympic judo medalist, and she was utterly unable to cope with Nunes' punching ability, showing little growth in the past year from the weaknesses exposed by Holm.

"Maybe she just needs to complement her coach with an MMA family," Jones wrote. "Maybe she should join one of the bigger MMA teams. ... Being around other bad asses and constantly sharing your spotlight could be good for you (in) so many ways. They can improve on your humility."

Rousey turns 30 years old in February, with several years of her ostensible athletic prime before her. While she has circled several major acting jobs after playing three supporting roles in recent years, she doesn't appear to have any major film commitments.

But Rousey took several months off after her first defeat, and she seems likely to be deliberate again. De Mars, who cradled Rousey as the fighter left the T-Mobile Arena cage, took to her blog Saturday to offer support.

"She cares DEEPLY about winning to an extent that I don't believe the average person can wrap his/her head around," De Mars wrote. "I am very proud of my daughter."

source: philstar.com