Hide the women, children & old folks.....what a weekend of football & fights. A cornucopia of sports for the professional couch potato to imbibe. Here is where the exorbitant cable bill ( The most hated Jim Dolan & Cablevision) that I have to pay every month gives back some value, I could not wait! What a schedule!
Friday: Friday Night Fights @ 9 ShowBox The Next Generation @ 11
Saturday: Chiefs vs Colts Cowboys vs Seahawks, Showtime Boxing Toney - Peter
Sunday Jets - Patriots Giants - Eagles ESPN Classics Heavyweight Boxing Marathon
Where do we start? We start on Friday, yes Friday, why Friday? Because FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS ON ESPN2 is bac
k!!.....yeah baby!! That's right Friday at the homestead, me n the furry ones couching with some popcorn. It was a pretty good card featuring the fighting Peterson brothers. It is a wonderful story about them rising from being homeless to being contenders in the ring.....BUT I am getting tired of hearing Joe Tessitore go on an on about it. It is times such that I am sure that the GREAT Teddy Atlas wished he had Bob Papa back! Mr Atlas has way too much class and character to say or indicate as such. Anyways, to the fights. Anthony Peterson took care of business in spectacular fashion by knocking out a tough Juan Garza in the 4th round. The kid looks like the real deal. He works hard & hits hard. Let's see how he does when he starts stepping up a little more in that compelling 135lb weight class. Older brother Lamont dispatched Juaquin Gallardo by decision in an 8 rounder showing some skills while he was at it.Next up was the finals of the SHOBOX super middleweight tournament featuring lefty Frenchman, Jean Paul Mendy & American, Anthony Hanshaw. This was a pretty vicious fight with lots of back n forth between the two undefeated fighters. Hanshaw sustained a wicked, nasty, diagonal cut on a head butt in the 12th round. It was a close fight and I thought Hanshaw eked out a win, but in this one can't really argue about the draw. This is a rematch I would like to see , but that cut make take a long time to heal. There was a lightweight fight between Jose "El Cubano Mexicano" Izquierdo & Nick Casal that ended in a clear decision for "El Cubano Mexican". This kid is like a speedy Gonzalez in the ring. Very fast hands and a great nickname. I'd like to see him fight again too.
Now on to the football.....sigh...there are many others much more competent and much more knowledgeable than I on this subject matter, especially the Warden. I especially like watching playoff football just because the intensity levels are Barry Bonds like pumped up!
First up the, Colts - Chiefs.... I really had no rooting interest but like everyone else wanted to see what Larry Johnson would do to the Colts defense. I was also wanting to see what Peyton Manning would do. The halftime score of 9 - 0 , kinda left me thinking it would be a tightly contested second half. Having watched Herman Edwards coach the Jets these past few years, I should not have been surprised by the outcome 23 -8 and both Manning & Johnson were really non factors....enough said
Cowboys - Seahawks I am not sure what to say about this but for sure but it was an exciting , unbelievable game to watch. Much has been written on this game. My humble comments .... I believe that the Cowboys will never win with Terrell Owens. It is obvious to me he is a curse to any team that he plays on! A tough loss for Cowboy fans and for Tony Romo especially. Will Bill Parcells be back? YE$$$$$$$
As for Tony Romo, he kind reminded me of a young Phil Simms. It remains to be seen how he responds to the adverse event. Will it make him a better quarterback or will he be an also ran?
Back to Showtime for the battle between heavyweights James "Lights Out"Toney and Samuel
"The Nigerian Nightmare" Peter. Also known as the battle between "The Tub Of Goo" & "The Nigerian Voodoo"!!!!! This fight was way different from their first fight. Peter came into the fight about 8 lbs lighter and in darn good shape. Toney looked to be in better shape but he weighed in heavier than his last fight. At the bell Peter came out and proceeded to smack Toney around with improved boxing skills and strength. There was no doubt about the outcome in this fight. Peter clearly dominated most of the rounds, knocked Toney down in the second round and won a unanimous decision. If and BIG if Peter stays in shape and continues to improve his technical skills, he will become a force in the heavyweight division.
In the earlier match Lefty Travis Simms pounded Jose Antonio Rivera to a 9th round TKO to win the WBA 154 lb belt. Simms was impressive in the victory and tagged Rivera into a bloody mess as they say. The worst part of this match was the screamers in Simms' corner. I do not know if have heard more horrendous cacklers like the two in the ring with him in a long time. They made Jim Gray seem decent!
Must I go to the Jets - Pats & Giants - Eagles games?....sigh oh well....lets keep it as brief as we can
I, as a old time Giant fan actually found myself rooting for the Jets. They play smart,tough, hustling & enthusiastic football. The game itself was a bit closer than the final score 37-16, sound odd but true. The Patriots, just have a better team and they have the best weapon in football, two words that will beat you: Tom Brady. There is no doubt he is the mostest clucthiest (yes, I know these are not real words) player in pro football. He has the big IT thing. That intangible that very few have, that clutch do the right thing say no wrong stand up guy thin. I think he is similar to a Derek Jeter in this way.
The New York Football Giants played a decent game against the torrid Eagles. They kept the game close only because of their one and only dependable player, future hall of famer, number 21; Tiki Barber. In my book Tiki could talk because he could do the walk or should I say the run for mucho yardage! I am hoping that after a year of working with morons such as Michael Ervin or Dion Sanders, Tiki will come back and play another couple of years. Eli Manning played OK and I think he will become a pretty good quarterback one day. It may not be with Big Blue though. Their assistant coaches are lacking to say the least. The defense played poorly when it came to clutch time. The Eagles outplayed the Giants and Andy Reid showed us why he is such a good coach . Brian Westbrook should be underrated no more after this game! I cant put my finger on it , but this Giant team was difficult to rout for all year. They were a hard team to like. All the pundits said they had the best talent and lots of playmakers. I thought they were over hyped and loudmouthed. Do your talking on the field by playing some hard nosed, smash mouth football on the field....bitch! Jeremy Shockey perhaps the best example. Can anyone name a game winning or big gain reception he made? I hope Coach Coughlin cleans house and gets some blue collar, good character players for next year along with some better assistant coaches.
ESPN Classics had a heavyweight marathon going all day on Sunday. Thank you oh great tech god for the VCR so we could record some damn good fights! I will watch at a later date ALI - LYLE featuring a youthful Frank Gifford and ever annoying Howard Cossell. This was the fight were Lyle's trainer Mr Rivera said the stoppage was not kosher!!. Good stuff you cant make up! Also on the tape is Bowe Holyfield 2 , Briggs- Lewis, Bowe - Holyfield 1, Lewis - Mercer & Lewis Rahman. Gives me something to do about 2 am!!
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