Red-Racers Forum » miership and its a period of my career th

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Cruiserweight world titleholder Oleksandr Usyk hoped to catch the attention of the American audience in his United States debut, and although he retained his belt, he did not exactly impress.Fighting on the Bernard Hopkins-Joe Smith Jr. undercard on Saturday night at The Forum, Usyk dropped fellow southpaw Thabiso The Rock Mchunu three times en route to a ninth-round knockout victory that featured very little action despite the knockdowns.Nonetheless, Usyk retained his 200-pound world title for the first time since going to Poland in September and winning a unanimous decision against hometown fighter Krzysztof Glowacki to take his world title and set a division record.By winning the belt in only his 10th professional fight, Usyk, the 2012 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist for Ukraine, broke the division record for fewest fights needed to win a world title, surpassing the mark held by Evander Holyfield, who won a cruiserweight world title in his 12th fight by outpointing Hall of Famer Dwight Muhammad Qawi in an epic 15-rounder in 1986.I get to take my belt back home, and I got to do it with my fellow Ukrainians in the crowd, Usyk said. We were hoping to get the knockout earlier, but we got it and were looking forward to bringing more fights to this cruiserweight division.The fight got off to a painfully slow start with neither fighter throwing many punches. They stared, feinted and occasionally threw one shot at a time, prompting the crowd to boo before the second round had ended. The fight meandered that way for the next few rounds until the 29-year-old Usyk (11-0, 10 KOs) got a bit busier in the fifth round and began to land combinations.In the sixth round he picked it up even more and seemed to have 28-year-old Mchunu (17-3, 11 KOs), of South Africa, in trouble with a series of power shots before knocking him down with a left uppercut.When the round was over, Mchunu looked exhausted as he sat on his stool and spit a stream of blood into the bucket.At that point of the fight, Usyk was firmly in control and attacking the shorter Mchunu with stiff jabs. Then he scored two knockdowns in the ninth round, both on left hands. After the second one, referee Lou Moret waved off the fight at 1 minute, 53 seconds.The styles didnt mesh, but any time you can get a knockout, youll take it, said K2 Promotions Tom Loeffler, Usyks promoter.According to CompuBox punch statistics, Usyk landed 163 of 517 blows (32 percent), and Mchunu, who had almost no power on his shots, landed 76 of 278 (27 percent).He got the better of me, and he used it against me, Mchunu said. All I can say now is that we have to go back to square one.Usyks next fight could land on the HBO PPV undercard of the March 18 middleweight world title fight between Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs. The fight, which will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York, was announced earlier Saturday.Diaz cruises past GarciaRising featherweight contender Joseph JoJo Diaz Jr., a 2012 U.S. Olympian, rolled to a shutout decision -- 100-90 on all three scorecards -- to retain his regional belt against Horacio Violento Garcia in a high-contact fight.Diaz (23-0, 13 KOs), 23, of South El Monte, California, was quicker and appeared to be the heavier hitter as he attacked Garcia to the body and with uppercuts throughout the fight. Garcia (30-2-1, 22 KOs), 26, of Mexico, took a lot of clean punches, as Garcia landed many more shots than him. According to CompuBox, he landed 266 of 629 blows (42 percent), while Garcia landed 116 of 690 (17 percent).I knew I was facing a tough, experienced opponent, so my plan was to go in there and get him using my jabs, angles and everything I worked on in my training camp, Diaz said. I came in and got what I wanted and Im very happy with the outcome.Garcias only previous loss came by 10-round decision to former three-division world titleholder Hozumi Hasegawa in Japan in 2015.It was a power versus speed fight, Garcia said. For every power punch I would throw, he would throw two. I agree with the judges decision, and well hit the gym to make the adjustments.Diaz went 4-0 on the year and put himself in position for a possible title shot in 2017.Middleweight Yamaguchi Falcao (12-0, 6 KOs), a 28-year-old southpaw who won a 2012 Olympic bronze medal for Brazil, stopped Mexicos German Perez (10-3-3, 3 KOs) in just 27 seconds when he dropped him and Perez could not continue because of a twisted ankle.Irish middleweight prospect Jason Quigley (12-0, 10 KOs) crushed chin-challenged Jorge Melendez (28-7-1, 26 KOs), of Puerto Rico. Quigley dropped Melendez three times in the first round and got the stoppage when the Melendez corner threw in the towel, as Quigley was teeing off on him along the ropes. Referee Gerald White stopped the fight at 2 minutes, 24 seconds.Me and [trainer] Manny Robles were ready to go all 10 rounds if necessary, Quigley said. He wanted the knockout more than I did. [Melendez] was coming forward and risking heavy punches to his own detriment.Lightweight Ryan Garcia (7-0, 6 KOs), an 18-year-old from Victorville, California, who recently signed with Golden Boy, stopped Mexicos Antonio Martinez (6-8, 5 KOs) at 2 minutes of the second round.I was a little nervous since this was my first timer as a Golden Boy Fighter, said Garcia, who was 215-15 as an amateur and a 15-time national champion. I set him up perfectly for me to utilize my straight jab and found a way to maneuver his awkward style. Im going to look back at the tape and just keep on improving.Junior lightweight Carlos Morales (15-1-3, 6 KOs), of Los Angeles, eked out an unpopular split decision against Charles Huerta (18-5, 10 KOs), of Paramount, California. Two judges scored it for Morales, 96-93 and 95-94, and one had it for Huerta, 96-93, who knocked Morales down with a left hook in the eighth round.He was on his game, and it was a tough fight, Morales said. I was caught completely off guard by his left hook, and I think that slowed me down, and the cut on my nose was a result of four hard rounds of boxing.Lightweight Christian Chimpa Gonzalez (16-0, 14 KOs), from Buena Park, California, dropped Jonathan Perez (36-16, 28 KOs), of Miami, Florida, in the second round and knocked him out at 24 seconds of the third round.My plan was to go in to the ring and practice what I had worked on in the gym, which was working on my jab, Gonzalez said. We knew we were facing an experienced opponent, and not much would surprise him, but my team and I trained hard on our plan, and Im very happy to have taken the knockout.Los Angeles lightweight Ivan Delgado (10-0-1, 3 KOs) knocked out Mexicos Roberto Rivera (6-4, 5 KOs) at 1 minute, 18 seconds of the sixth round.I feel great about my win, Delgado said. I knew I had to keep at my opponent in order to secure the knockout. I went heavy on the offensive, and I hadnt studied my opponent much before, but I knew it wasnt going to be an easy fight. Next stop is a state title in 2017.Featherweight Joet Gonzalez (15-0, 6 KOs), of Glendora, California, knocked out Mexicos Jairo Hernandez (15-11, 8 KOs) at 2 minutes, 40 seconds of the fourth round of a one-sided fight.Im glad we got the stoppage in the fourth round. Gonzalez said. I was expecting him to come forward more, and I think he was a bit cautious of my power blows. Overall, Im satisfied with my performance tonight.Yadier Molina Jersey . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Enos Slaughter Jersey . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. http://www.cheapstlouiscardinalsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-chris-carpenter-jersey . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. Adam Wainwright Jersey . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. Albert Pujols Jersey . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home.Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw will leave Gloucester Rugby at the end of the season to take up a three-year deal with Clermont Auvergne.The announcement comes as a boost for Clermont but leaves Gloucester with a sizeable void to fill ahead of next season.Having joined Gloucester from Edinburgh in 2014, he settled into life immediately at Kingsholm and was handed the clubs captaincy for this term.?Ive thoroughly enjoyed my time at Gloucester. Its a fantastic club which enjoys tremendous support. The squad contains a great group of boys, I love playing at Kingsholm and its been a genuine honour to captain the side, Laidlaw, who has 53 caps for Scotland, said.?Since I first moved south, I feel that my game has developed tremendously for playing in the Gloucester team in the Aviva Premiership and its a period of my career that Ill always look back on fondly.He added of his move to Clermont:?[I am] very happy to joinn such a club that has an incredible history, has sports facilities that are among the best in the world and have many world-class players.ddddddddddddloucester director of rugby David Humphreys paid tribute to Laidlaw, saying: Since all the changes at Gloucester ahead of the 2014-15 season, his consistent performances at both club and international level, particularly his goal-kicking, have caught the attention of some of the biggest clubs in Europe.While we are sorry to see him go, the offer Greig received from France was too good to turn down and, at the end of the season, we will wish him all the best for the rest of his career.For now, however, Greig will want to play a key role in helping us to turn our Aviva Premiership season around and help Gloucester finish the year on a high. ' ' '