Posts Tagged ‘champion’
The Top 10 Fighters in the WEC
February 12th, 2010Title Count: Which NASCAR Star Will Complete the Drive for Five?
February 11th, 2010In 2001 when Jeff Gordon won his last championship, fans and the media began the mantra “Drive for Five”.
For years, Gordon’s fans spent the beginning of the season chanting the famous battle cry; hoping, praying, and wishing for their favorite driver to win the elusive fifth title.
That was until Jimmie Johnson came along and has gone on to win four championships in a row. Now Johnson fans are claiming their driver will complete the drive for five first.
Since then, Gordon has finished ahead of Johnson just once, in 2002.
“It’s a bittersweet thing because as an (owner), I’m proud of what the team has accomplished,” he says of the No. 48 team’s sustained success. “As a driver, we won the championship in ’01 when they ran their first race. (In) ’02, I finished ahead of Johnson in points.”
Gordon, who is listed as the co-owner on the No. 48, knows what the critics say and think but he also knows what his team is capable of.
Johnson, meanwhile, has won a historic four championships in a row and is showing no signs of slowing down.
All good things will come to an end. 2010 will and could be Johnson’s toughest challenge. Not only is he is going for five in a row, but the competition is the best this sport has ever seen.
In the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, the drive for five will officially begin on Sunday afternoon. Both Gordon and Johnson are hoping that another driver does not spoil their title runs.
In the Camping World Truck Series, there is another drive for five to be paying attention to.
Ron Hornaday is heading into Daytona as the defending series champion. He returns to the track on Friday night as the series champion.
After a dominating performance in 2009 that saw him win five races in a row and lead the series for most of the 2009 campaign, Hornaday is ready to defend his crown and continue to make history in the CWTS. Like Gordon and Johnson, Hornaday’s competition is just as tough.
All three of them are Hall of Fame drivers. All three of them are hoping one of them can complete the drive for five.
For Gordon, it’s the elusive title in what is a Hall of Fame career. For Johnson, it’s continuing his dominating run and rewriting the history books.
For Hornaday, it is continuing to set the bar in the CWTS higher and higher.
The best of NASCAR all battling for one title; the first to complete the “drive for five."
Black Wednesday Hits The UFC: Mark Coleman One of Four Fighters Let Go
February 11th, 2010Fighting for the UFC is a dream for most mixed martial artists. They work hard to get noticed by the company, and receiving the call to compete for them is a reward for all they put in to their careers.
Most times keeping your job with the organization is a lot harder than getting the opportunity.
Fighters know that losing is never tolerated and that there is always someone else waiting to take their spot.
Four men found out just how easily their dreams can be crushed yesterday as the UFC released UFC participants Mark Coleman, Frank Trigg, Phillipe Nover, and Tim Hague.
None of the cuts caught anyone off guard especially in the case of Coleman. The 44-year old former UFC heavyweight champion was 1-2 since his return, and was thoroughly dominated by the 45-year old Randy Couture.
Coleman's release marked the second time in company history that a fighter who was involved in the main event was released immediately after the card had taken place.
The first man to get the axe after being a part of a main event UFC card was former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia after he was defeated at UFC 81 by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Trigg's release wasn't a surprise either, at 37 years old and having lost both his bouts since he returned to the UFC, Trigg knew full well that this day was coming.
Both men could look for fights elsewhere, but their options are limited inside the cage.
Trigg has an extensive history as an announcer, having called fights for both Pride and Affliction.
Also released was The Ultimate Fighter season seven finalist Phillipe Nover. The man Dana White said reminded him of a young Georges St. Pierre was winless in all three of his UFC bouts.
Last but not last to be cut was heavyweight Tim Hague. Unfortunately for Hague he will best be remembered as the man who was knocked out in a mere seven seconds at UFC 102 by Todd Duffee.
It was the fastest recorded knockout in UFC history. Winless in two fights, some believed Hague won his bout with Chris Tuchscherer, but the judges saw it differently.
Nover should have no problem finding a spot in regional promotion, and at age 26, there might be a time we see Nover back inside the octagon.
Hague may head back to the King of the Cage Canada promotion where he is undefeated in eight bouts with the organization.
If this truly is the end for Coleman, we are saying goodbye to one of the best heavyweights in mixed martial arts history.
Not only was he the first ever UFC heavyweight champion, he won both the UFC 11 & 12 tournaments as well as the 2000 Pride Openweight Grand Prix.
Sadly, “Sugar” Ray Leonard Was like Most Other Boxers
February 11th, 2010Nearly two decades ago this week, iconic boxer “Sugar” Ray Leonard was embarrassed against former junior middleweight champion “Terrible” Terry Norris by a lopsided unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Leonard (36-3-1, 25 KOs), named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1980s by Ring Magazine, was one of the most skilled accomplished and popular pugilists in the history of the sport.
“Sugar Ray” initially gained fame and adoration by winning a gold medal as a light welter-weight at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.
Following his brilliant triumph in Canada’s second largest city, Leonard planned on entering college.
Unfortunately, Leonard was instead swayed to become a professional fighter because he needed to financially support his seriously ill father.
Leonard was a quick, powerful, and exciting prizefighter.
Outside of the ring, he possessed a beaming smile and he exuded charisma.
Many believed that Leonard would ultimately replace Muhammad Ali as boxing’s main attraction.
Leonard didn’t disappoint. He captured world titles at multiple weight classes as a pro.
But most impressively, Leonard emerged defeated fellow great boxers such as Wilfred Benitez (53-8-1, 31 KOs), Thomas Hearns (61-5-1, 48 KOs), Roberto Duran (103-16, 70 KOs) and Marvin Hagler (62-3-2, 52 KOs).
But after years of shire excellence, Leonard began to slow and fade with age.
In February 1991, Leonard tried to defy "father-time" and defeat the athletic Norris (47-9, 31 KOs) for his title.
Predictably, Leonard failed in his quest and he was badly battered by Norris for an entire 12 rounds.
Ed LaVache, the owner of the Boston Boxing Club, expressed his opinion after Leonard's defeat:
“For a lot of these guys, boxing is all they know and it’s the only way for them to make money. So, they keep fighting until the fight is lost in them.”
Leonard announced his retirement to the crowd shortly after he was brutalized by Norris.
Sadly, Leonard couldn’t resist the opportunity to return to prizefighting and he unwisely fought once more versus Hector Camacho (79-5-2, 38 KOs) in March 1997.
A spent Leonard was overwhelmed by the feathery punches of Camacho in five pathetic rounds.
If Leonard had listened to his body, he would have retired with only one loss on his otherwise glittering resume.
Instead, because of his inability to quit at the top of his game, Leonard ended his illustrious career with consecutive losses to inferior opponents.
Many boxers “keep fighting until the fight is lost in them.”
Regrettably, “Sugar” Ray Leonard was like most other boxers in that one regard.
Manny Pacquiao is deservedly honored as the fighter of the decade
Evander Holyfield will be boxing's next tragic story
20 years after Mike Tyson lost to James "Buster" Douglas...Where does the time go?
Mayweather and Pacquiao will never fight and boxing fans will lose...Again
Will Pacquiao vs. Valero Ever Happen?
February 10th, 2010After keeping his knockout streak alive with a remarkable stoppage of Antonio de Marco, Venezuelan Edwin Valero, who has been seeking a ring date with Manny Pacquiao, has reportedly expressed his intention to fight one of the best fighters in the junior welterweight division in the person of no less than Timothy Bradley.
Bypassing the likes of Juan Diaz, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Michael Katsidis who are the better fighters in the lightweight division, Valero is out to prove his critics wrong by taking on the American champion Bradley to boost his stock for a possible showdown with Pacman.
Belonging to the same stable, he and Manny Pacquiao can easily be paired by their promoter Bob Arum if indeed there will be much interests in the projected fight between the two knockout artists.
Although many boxing afficionados are saying that fighting Bradley next is sort of a suicidal move on the part of the Venezuelan fighter, Valero will have an opportunity to make a bold statement that he is for real if ever he decks the WBO Jr. Welterweight champion and claims his third title.
And if the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight of the century will never materialize even after Mayweather survives Mosley, then people will be looking to an Edwin Valero-Manny Pacquiao bout as an alternative.
But will this fight ever take place?
Well, I believe this will happen. But for this bout to come into fruition, Valero must hurdle Timothy Bradley and a couple more named boxers in the persons of Juan Manuel Marquez and even Floyd Mayweather Jr. himself.
If Valero beats Bradley, he may call out on Marquez, who will surely accept the challenge of giving the Venezuelan his first loss. The Mexican will be quite a challenge for Valero, and the fight between the two could be an exciting one.
Should Edwin Valero successfully do what Pacquiao and Mayweather failed to do—score a knockout victory—Floyd Mayweather Jr. might be interested to stake his immaculate slate against another fighter with a perfect record.
And if ever a fight between Valero and Mayweather will materialize, people will no doubt demand for an ultimate showdown between Pacquiao, who might be already retired when this happens, and the winner of this match.
An Edwin Valero victory will then entice Manny Pacquiao to come out of retirement and fight the fighter whom Pacquiao once called "tormentors of cab drivers".
