| Auction starts on ‘Twins Around Town’ statues The Minnesota Twins and Minneapolis Downtown Council has started auctioning five “Twins Around Town” statues, which have appeared throughout downtown Minneapolis over the summer. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Warren's new generation rises to the top The promoter is in confident mood as his stable of British boxers move in sight of world title fightsNathan Cleverly is going places. So is his Welsh mate Enzo Maccarinelli, and it is at the core of the vagaries that define this cruel sport that their destinations look to be at polar ends of the boxing landscape.Maccarinelli was shockingly knocked out in Birmingham yesterday night for the fifth time in a career of high drama, yet in the immediate aftermath he did not seem inclined to walk away from the sport he is addicted to, to cherish his accomplishments as a former European and world cruiserweight champion. Old belts pay no bills."I was winning it," he said. He was. "I just got caught." And that he did – much worse even than on the night David Haye signalled the start of his decline in two rounds two years ago.His promoter, Frank Warren, has offered the hugely likeable Maccarinelli a decent alternative, to co-promote with him in Wales. But Maccarinelli has just turned 30. He needs the money. It is his job. Those are the only arguments a fighter towards the end of his working life wants to hear, although he could hear little but buzzing in his head as Alexander Frenkel stood over him 30 seconds from the end of round seven, after the appallingly inattentive Finnish referee, Erkki Meronen, had allowed the unbeaten German power-hitter a second shot at the plainly defenceless Welshman.For Cleverly, the ever-smiling 23-year-old university maths graduate from Cefn Fforest, the road ahead is blessed in sunshine and riches. By Christmas, he should be the WBO light-heavyweight champion, to go with British, European and Commonwealth belts that already grace his mantelpiece after just 20 professional fights. He is as hungry for more as Maccarinelli is desperate to stay in the game.In nine-and-a-bit rounds against the tough Armenian-born Karo Murat, in what was billed as a final eliminator for Jürgen Brähmer's WBO title, Cleverly confirmed he is a maturing fighter of dazzling speed and natural ringcraft, prepared to flirt with danger to please the fans. He took more than he had to but he finished it well.If he cannot get Brähmer, who has a court case pending over an assault conviction, Cleverly is prepared to look even higher. "I'd happily fight Chad Dawson, Jean Pascal [who beat Dawson last month to retain his WBC title] or Bernard Hopkins [Pascal's next opponent] over the next 18 months," he said.Brähmer might yet be forced to vacate his title, and Warren hopes it will pass automatically to Cleverly, who is the No1 contender. If Brähmer survives his legal problems, Warren will start negotiations with him to defend his title on a bill in London on 11 December that will include several of his front-line fighters in major contests. Most prominent among them is the super-middleweight James DeGale, who took out the tough Scouser Carl Dilks in a round and is within a couple of contract arguments of a showdown with his fellow Londoner George Groves, the Commonwealth champion."That should be James's next fight," Warren said. "They will be receiving a written offer from me [today]. If they want the fight, they've got it."It would be a fight to savour between two of the most talented young prospects in the business – and a shock to anyone familiar with boxing politics if it comes off, as Groves is promoted by Haye, one of Warren's promotional rivals.Warren insists his own heavyweight star, Derek Chisora, who stopped Sam Sexton in seven rounds to retain his British title and take the Norwich man's Commonwealth belt, is ready for anyone in Europe. "An ideal match would be Audley Harrison [who challenges Haye for his WBA title on 13 November in Manchester]," Warren said. "We would take Tyson Fury in a heartbeat. He would do a job on Nikolai Valuev. In fact, I will be having talks with Wilfried Sauerland [the Russian's promoter] this week.""Delboy" Chisora, who has placed himself in the big picture with words and deeds, said: "It is not a matter of who I want to fight. I'll fight anyone. Right now it's about who wants to fight me."Of the other Warren fighters who paraded their wares on a promotion billed as "The Magnificent Seven", Kell Brook had the least satisfying victory, a cuts stoppage of his friend Michael Jennings in four rounds, but that also puts the unbeaten Sheffield welterweight in line for a world title fight in December. "We expect Manny Pacquiao to vacate the WBO title," Warren said, "so Kell as No1 contender is next in line."Matthew Macklin, in his second spell with Warren after a nomadic few years, is another in the mix for a world title shot. He reclaimed the European middleweight championship he relinquished in March with an impressive stoppage of the unbeaten Georgian Shalva Jomardashvili at the start of the sixth round.For Warren, life is suddenly a bit rosier. He took a gamble – and probably a bath at the gate – by putting so many of his well-paid fighters on one bill, but he reckons it was worth it."I've had a very difficult year," he said. "Setanta went bust, I had no contract with Sky. In fact, I've had fewer shows than ever. But now this is the most exciting I've ever had in boxing. The December show is my 30th anniversary. This is the cherry on the cake for me."BoxingJames DeGaleKevin Mitchellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Ochocinco cereal box uses sex-line number By DAN SEWELL 2010-09-30T15:16:17ZCINCINNATI (AP) -- Charity-minded callers are getting intercepted by a phone-sex line because of a typo on Chad Ochocinco's Cereal boxes.... hosted.ap.org |
Murray stays perfect against Montañés • Briton through to quarter-finals at China Open• Murray has yet to concede a set to SpaniardBritain's Andy Murray maintained his stranglehold over the Spaniard Albert Montañés today with a 7-5, 6-3 victory in the second round of the China Open in Beijing.The British No1, who needed only 74 minutes to overcome the French qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-3 in his first-round match on Tuesday, has now faced Montañés four times and is still yet to concede a set to the Spaniard.Today's straight-sets triumph secured the Scot a quarter-final berth against either Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic or Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine.The first four games went with serve – Murray winning both of his to love – but the Scot then received a shock in game five when Montañés capitalised on his fourth break point with a stunning cross-court backhand winner.Murray squandered a gilt-edged break-back opportunity at 3-4 and found himself serving to stay in the set in the following game, but held nervelessly to force his 29-year-old opponent to serve it out.With the prospect of taking his first set against Murray looming large, the errors crept in for Montañés and a forehand winner on the second seed's third break point proved decisive and got the match back on serve.From there, Murray did not look back. He breezed through his next service game and then broke his rival for a second time to secure the set 7-5.Montañés refused to lie down, and raced back into contention by winning the first two games of the second set.That was as good as it got for the world No24, though, as the 23-year-old from Dunblane reeled off five straight games to put himself firmly in control. Montañés held to love to force Murray to serve out, which he did with little difficulty.Andy MurrayTennisguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Injuries cost Williams sisters big in lost bonus money Serena Williams' announcement Tuesday ending her 2010 campaign brought to a close notably truncated seasons for the American star and her older ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |