Sports City Line

February 21st (Saturday), 2009 At The Chevrolet Center, Youngstown, OH

(PPV) Kelly Pavlik (34-1) vs. Marco Antonio Rubio (43-4-1)

(For The Ring Magazine World Middleweight Championship)
(WBC and WBO Middleweight belts)

World middleweight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik (34-1, 30 knockouts) is defending his title against Mexico’s Marco Antonio Rubio at Youngstown’s 7,000-seat Chevrolet Centre.

Pavlik will enter the ring four months removed from his lopsided non-title loss at 170 pounds to Bernard Hopkins, a masterful performance in boxing and defense by the 43-year-old Hopkins that diminished Pavlik’s star in the eyes of many fight fans.

Pavlik, however, said being from Youngstown has ingrained in him to “keep hope and work through it. You always struggle through things living in northeast Ohio, you gotta put it behind you. That’s the most important thing I’ve learned from [the Hopkins loss].”

The Pavlik-Rubio fight will be televised on pay-per-view as a doubleheader featuring former weltertweight champ Miguel Cotto’s fight against Michael Jennings — Cotto’s first bout since his July title loss to the now-disgraced Antonio Margarito.

At Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
Miguel Cotto (32-1) vs. Michael Jennings (34-1)
(The Ring Magazine #2 Welterweight vs. Unranked)
(WBO Welterweight belt)

Michael Jennings has warned American boxing fans to be prepared for a surprise when he takes on Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

Their fight for the vacant WBO welterweight title has been written off as a mere launchpad for Puerto Rico’s former two-time champion Cotto (32-1, 26 KOs) to regain a belt after losing the WBA version in an epic 11th-round stoppage by Antonio Margarito last summer.

Little-known Englishman Jennings (34-1, 16 KOs) has never fought outside the United Kingdom, or at this level, before while Cotto, three years his junior at 28, will be entering his 14th straight world title bout.

See our Boxing page for more…

WBA welterweight world champion Antonio Margarito faces ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley on Saturday night at the Staples Center, L.A.

 Margarito’s knockout win over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto last July has taken the Mexican to a new level of recognition amongst the boxing fans.

“Without a doubt,” agreed Margarito, “you know everywhere I go now it seems like I’m coming up to people, everybody wants my autograph, everybody wants to take a picture with me. I think it is more people coming up to me and I think you can see that reflection on my popularity with the way the tickets are selling. I think without a doubt I’ve taken another step in my career.”

See here for full story…

UFC93, The first UFC event to be held in Ireland, will be on Saturday, January 17th 2009 at a sold-out O2 in Dublin.   The Main event features UFC middleweight champion Rich “Ace” Franklin versus former PRIDE middleweight champion Dan “Hendo” Henderson.  Another major fight will be Mark Coleman vs Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. All in all it should be an event worth watching. For American UFC Fans, the event will be broadcast live on PPV at 3PM ET, or it will be replayed at 10PM ET. Here are all the details with the full fight card:

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Some boxing fans might pick this upcoming Saturday’s so called “dream match” as a mismatch. At first, that’s what I thought too. But as the day for this big fight comes closer, and after seeing Oscar de la Hoya’s recent photos, I’m starting to think that Manny Pacquiao has a chance in winning this fight.

Looking at their most recent fights, Oscar faced a slick boxer in Stevie Forbes. Now, Freddie Roach is saying that Manny can beat Oscar because Stevie is not as strong as Manny, but Manny is not as slick as Stevie. Yes, Stevie was able to bust-up Oscar because he has good boxing skills, whereas Manny is more of an all-out offensive slugger. Big difference.

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When UFC three-time heavyweight champion Randy ”The Natural” Couture returns to the Octagon at UFC 91 on Saturday, November 15th in Sin City, he will be facing a bigger, stronger, faster, and younger opponent in Brock Lesnar.

But Couture would have been fitting as the man to have coined the phrase “the bigger they are the harder they fall.” I’m sure Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga would agree based on the ass whooping both endured from the much undersized Couture. (more…)

“This is an obvious pick” you say… All signs point to an easy Silva victory. His vast arsenal of knees, kicks, elbows and punches will make this fight, to quote Ricardo Arona (which I may never do again), “fun on the feet”. The Spider also has a significant advantage in ground skill as well, as he is good at avoiding damage from the bottom and looking for submissions from there.

So why do I think Cote is winning this fight? He has alot going for him. Consider these points:

• Styles make fights. Cote has solid footwork and ridiculous power in his fists. Also, he has never been rocked, fazed, or stunned. Hell, he’s never even had his dinner interrupted by a telemarketer. Thats how unflappable he is.
• He lost to Travis “Footsteps” Lutter. If that simple fact doesn’t motivate Cote for the rest of his career, then OJ didn’t do it and our economy is flourishing.
• He has a cool name. Patrick Cote. Go ahead, say it out loud. Aren’t you glad I’m here?
• Dude is CONFIDENT. Cote wont want anything to do with Ando on the ground, so he’ll be forced to bang with him. If he uses his footwork to throw punches from odd angles, I think he’ll do fine on his feet. It will also be interesting to see how he does in the clinch, as his highlight reel KO of Kendall Grove happened from there. Then again, Anderson’s knees might have an appointment with Patrick’s face, too. It’ll be fascinating to say the least.
• There’s just something in the air about this fight. I feel the exact same way I did before Mark Coleman fought Shogun Rua. I think the UFC is getting a little carried away with the Anderson hype. He’s a wonderful fighter, but he certainly isn’t invincible.

The verdict: this will be an absolute beauty of a fight. Cote will dance around for awhile before landing a few big blows and narrowly eeking out a five round decision win to take Anderson’s belt.

Reigning Horse of the Year Curlin tops a list of 180 horses who have been pre-entered for next week’s 25th annual Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships at Santa Anita Park. The two-day event is scheduled for Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25. Curlin, owned by Stonestreet Stables, can join Tiznow as the only thoroughbreds to capture consecutive runnings of the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Curlin is joined by 15 others who have been pre-entered for the Classic.

“Everything is go,” majority owner Jess Jackson said Tuesday on a conference call. “When a top athlete is ready, they want to play. Curlin tells us he’s fit. It’s not about the money, it’s about him and his legacy, which I think stamps him as one of the greatest horses of the century. He has the genes, durability and stamina that few horses match, particularly in talent, heart and determination. The showcasing of Curlin really is a passion for the sport and I’m trying to revive and reform the sport of Thoroughbred racing. He’s a hero to thousands of fans, but especially to me.”

The four-year-old colt comes into the 1 1/4 mile race with better than $10.2 million in career earnings. As a three-year-old in 2007 Curlin won the Arkansas Derby, Preakness Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup, along with the Classic and was voted Horse of the Year and champion male three-year-old.

This year Curlin won the Dubai World Cup, Stephen Foster and Woodward Handicaps and a second Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Unfortunately, Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown was recently retired and will not participate in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

A total of seven former Breeders’ Cup champions have been pre-entered into the $25.5 million World Thoroughbred Championships. Along with Curlin, winners from last year are Sprint champ Midnight Lute, Kip Deville in the Mile, Juvenile Fillies winner Indian Blessing, who will run in the Ladies Classic and Ginger Punch, who will defend in the renamed Ladies Classic.

The first day of the Breeders’ Cup will be devoted to the five races restricted to females. ABC and ESPN will provide nine hours of coverage over the two days.

Final entries for the 14 races will be drawn on Tuesday, October 21.

See our Breeders’ Cup page for more.

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships has become recognized as the ultimate test of a Thoroughbred’s talent and ability. Not only offering a platform to enhance and promote Thoroughbred racing, the Breeders’ Cup races provide a powerful year-end championship and a grand spectacle that presents the sport to a worldwide audience. Through the enthusiastic participation of prominent horsemen from around the world who bring their top horses to compete, the Breeders’ Cup has established a reputation for showcasing Thoroughbred racing at the highest level of international competition.

See our Breeders’ Cup page for more.

Matt Hughes (42-6) is coming off a submission loss to GSP [1] in December. He may be the greatest Welterweight of all-time but the sport’s evolution is producing better fighters every day. At 34-years-old, he may only have a few more years to get back his title. Standing in his way is Thiago Alves (14-3), who is on a 5 fight winning streak that includes stoppages of Chris Lytle [15] and Karo Parisyan [8] in his last two bouts. The 24-year-old kickboxer trains at, arguably the best camp in the world, American Top Team (ATT) in Florida. Since his loss to Spencer Fisher in 2005, he has gone 8-1 with 7 stoppage victories. A win here will put him in line for the GSP/Fitch winner. I can’t bet against Hughes in this one. I see him taking Thiago down and grounding and pounding his way to a TKO.

185 lbs. - Michael Bisping [31] vs. Jason Day [41] (more…)

Big Brown delivered a standout performance in last Saturday’s Preakness Stakes and has the racing industry buzzing as it awaits the final leg of racing’s Triple Crown, the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 7.

Although many thoroughbreds in recent history have attempted the sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and the Belmont, the last Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978. The industry dearly needs a hero and Big Brown certainly looks capable and deserving of the attention leading up to the 140th running of the Belmont.

The striking bay colt has already arrived in New York and is settled in Bobby Frankel’s barn. He remains undefeated for trainer Richard Dutrow and has won all of his five previous races by a combined 39 lengths. The field is just beginning to take shape for the 1 1/2 -mile Belmont Stakes with Denis of Cork, Tale of Ekati and Casino Drive confirmed to participate at this point.

Denis of Cork ran third in the Kentucky Derby and passed on the Preakness, as did Tale of Ekati, who won the Wood Memorial. Casino Drive, who was bred in Japan, skipped both the Derby and Preakness, but has been all the rage since winning the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park last Saturday.

The colt is bred for Belmont’s distance. His dam, Better Than Honour, produced the last two winners of the Belmont Stakes, 2007 champion, Rags to Riches and Jazil.

Trained by Kazuo Fujisawa, Casino Drive is expected to work at Belmont Park this Monday. Kent Desormeaux rode Casino Drive to victory in the Peter Pan, but is also the regular rider of Big Brown. Japanese jockey Yutaka Take piloted him in his previous start, but no rider has been named for the Belmont.

Big Brown is the big story. Racing fans who wish to immerse themselves in the achievements of the undefeated colt can check out our Belmont Stakes page, a page with comprehensive information on the Triple Crown candidate and his quest to become the 12th thoroughbred to win the coveted title.