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coach, but I was embarrassed tonight
MONTREAL -- It was supposed to be another quick win for light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson, but Andrzej Fonfara had other plans. Hamidou Diallo Jersey . Stevenson was forced to go 12 full rounds and pick himself off the canvas to win for the first time in his career by the iron-jawed Fonfara as he pounded out a highly entertaining unanimous decision before 6,432 at Bell Centre on Saturday night. The Laval, Que. fighter (24-1) defended his World Boxing Council title for the third time, but it wasnt easy for the power puncher who had ended his 14 previous fights before the limit. "Fonfaras a good fighter and he was ready," said the 36-year-old Stevenson, who knocked his Polish opponent down in the first round with a left to the head and put him down again with a body shot in the fifth, only to see him get back up and keep battling. "A lot of people thought I couldnt go 12 rounds, but I finished 12 and I dominated." Some were calling it a fight of the year candidate, as the heavy underdog Fonfara stayed on his feet and kept trading blows until the final bell. Two ringside judges had it 115-110 and the other 116-109, all for Stevenson. The Canadian Press had it 115-110, giving Fonfara the fourth, eighth, ninth and 12th rounds. The southpaw Stevenson said he injured his left hand in the second round and didnt have full power the rest of the way, even if he kept using his main weapon. A shiver went through the arena in the ninth when Fonfara used two jabs and a right to knock Stevenson down, and the local favourite clinched and finessed his way through the rest of the round. He switched tactics to fight in closer to his opponent and won the next two rounds. "I wasnt worried," he said. "I was moving, clinching, being smart, but I wasnt worrying about it." Fonfara came in a highly ranked but mostly unknown light heavyweight and looked to have made a name for himself by standing up to the 2013 fighter of the year and one of the most dangerous punchers in the sport. "I proved tonight he is not Superman," said 26-year-old Fonfara, referring to Stevensons nickname. "He went down. "Stevenson was better tonight, but Ill be back. My mistake was that I should have thrown more punches and combinations. I want to train more and be a world champion in the future." Asked what he was most proud of, Fonfara said "Im proud I survived." The Fonfara bout was arranged amid controversy for Stevenson, who most expected would have a showdown with hard-hitting Russian Sergey Kovalev. The two fought together on a card in Quebec City in January, with an eye on a bout this year on the HBO specialty channel. But then Stevenson hired U.S. manager Al Haymon, who arranged the Fonfara bout on HBOs rival Showtime, with plans for a fight later this year with ring legend Bernard Hopkins. Kovalevs management has taken legal action to try to get Stevenson to honour what it said was an a done deal. Stevenson said he wants the 49-year-old Hopkins, a wily fighter who is a master of slipping punches and scoring just enough points to win. In the co-feature, middleweight David Lemieux took a step toward title contention with an impressive third-round knockout of Roberto Guerrero. Lemieux (32-2) knocked down Guerrero (26-3) in the first and second rounds. After Guerrero took a voluntary knee in the third to have his bleeding right eye cleared, Lemieux attacked and knocked him out with a right uppercut. It was the 25-year-old Montreal fighters seventh win in a row since a pair of losses in 2011 derailed his title bout hopes. And it was the fifth time in five fights the crowd-pleasing knockout artist won inside three rounds. "Im on a new chapter now," said Lemieux, saying he has renewed dedication to training towards winning a world title. The 27-year-old Guerrero, a Dominican Republic native living in Salisbury, Md., was in his second fight since losing a bid for the World Boxing Organization belt last year to Peter Quillan. A light-middleweight bout between top-10 contenders saw Jermell Charlo (24-0) of Houston dominate Charlie Belamy Ohta (24-2-1) of Japan in a 12-rounder. The five-foot-11 Charlo, who had a five-inch height advantage, was knocked down by a left-right combination early in the third and was deducted a point in the ninth for a second low blow, but still earned scores of 115-111, 118-109 and 118-109 from the judges. Eleider Alvarez (15-0), one of promoter Yvon Michels top prospects, must have thought it strange to be put in the first fight on the card, but he pulled out a workmanlike unanimous 10-round decision over Alexander Johnson (15-2). Alvarez was a knockout artist early in his career, but since he has been given a better class of opponents, he has gone the distance in three straight fights. A knockdown in the third against the left-handed Johnson gave him 97-92 scores on three judges cards for the win. Welterweight Junior Ulysse (2-0) of Montreal was impressive in his second pro bout, putting Argentinas Carlos Alberto Olivera (6-7) down twice before their scheduled four-rounder was stopped at 1:38 of the first. Philadelphia prospect Julian (J Rock) Williams (16-0-1) battered Michael Medina of Los Angeles through seven rounds before flooring him with a right in the eighth of their super-middleweight bout. Chris Paul Jersey . The Leafs were back on the ice Wednesday following an 10-day break. It apparently wasnt long enough, as Team Canadas 2-1 win over Latvia didnt conclude before the Leafs began practice. "I was thinking we might get a little delay, but it was nice to get out there," said Tyler Bozak of watching Wednesdays game. Marvin Webster Jersey . Price also posted the longest shutout sequence since 1960 at 164:19 minutes. He stopped a combined 55 shots in Canadas final two games and 70 of 71 shots in Canadas three elimination games, allowing only a breakaway goal to Lauris Darzins of Latvia. For his efforts, Price was named best goalkeeper by the tournament directorate. Prices outstanding play is marred only by the extremely strong defensive play of Canadas top six defencemen; Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. BOULDER, Colo. -- For a team that built its reputation on stifling defence, fourth-ranked Arizona sure showed some offensive prowess Saturday night. The Wildcats routed the Buffaloes 88-61 for their first win in Boulder since 1973. They did it by holding Colorado without a bucket until 9:50 remained in the first half, then by shooting 84.6 per cent in the second half. "They whipped us tonight every which way you can whip a team," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. Freshman Aaron Gordon shook off a poor performance at Utah last week by scoring 21 of his season-best 23 points in the second half and Nick Johnson added 20 points for the Wildcats, who made 22 of 26 shots after halftime. "Weve had a few shootarounds here, we felt comfortable in their gym, it all just clicked for us," Johnson said. It was a rare breather for the Wildcats (25-2, 12-2 Pac-12), who scrapped their way through a series of close games since beating Colorado by 12 in Tucson, Ariz., on Jan. 23, before close losses at Cal and archrival Arizona State dropped them from the top spot in the AP Top 25. After that first game in Tempe, Buffaloes forward Xavier Johnson dissed the Cats, saying, "theyre not that good." He also said that even without injured star Spencer Dinwiddie, the Buffaloes were the more talented team and he suggested the rematch in Boulder would be a blowout. He was right, but it was the Wildcats who made this one a laugher, not the Buffaloes, who were throttled by Arizonas suffocating defence and their hot shooting hands. "I dont think you have any of our players saying anything negative about Colorado, saying, Were going to win by 20," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "We dont do that. For us, we have to play the right way. We have to compete hard. And certainly we respect Colorado." Coming off an emotionally draining win over the Sun Devils on Wednesday night that burnished their NCAA tournament credentials, the Buffaloes (20-8, 9-6) came out ice cold, missing their first 14 shots. They trailed 22-5 before Jaron Hopkins sank a 3-pointer from the left side 10:10 into the game. That sparked a 16-4 run by Colorado -- with seven points coming from the free throw line -- to make it 26-21 and force an Arizona timeout. The Wildcats settleed down thanks to a baseline drive by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and a pull-up jumper by T. Sarunas Marciulionis Jersey. J. McConnell. The only field goal by a Buffaloes starter before halftime came on Askia Bookers jumper with 2 seconds left in the first half. After a horrendous start, however, the Buffaloes clawed their way back before Gordon sank three straight layups and Johnsons jumpers helped the Wildcats pull away. In celebration of senior night, Boyle gave 7-foot centre Ben Mills his first start of his career. He took the place of Josh Scott, who had started every game since Feb. 27, 2013, when he was dealing with a concussion. Scotts absence was quickly felt as Colorado was outrebounded 6-1 and fell behind 8-1 before Scott replaced Mills 2:49 into the game. But the Buffaloes didnt turn things around right away, as the Wildcats built those advantages to 10-3 on the boards and 14-3 on the scoreboard by the 14:39 timeout. Thanks to a 12-3 advantage at the stripe, however, the Buffs trailed just 31-25 at the half after shooting 6-for-27 from the floor. Scott, who led the Buffs with 18 points, sank a jumper to open the second half that made it a four-point game, but the Buffs couldnt get any closer and the Wildcats began to pull away when Kaleb Tarczewskis 3-pointer made it 40-33. "I think we got a little jump shot-happy, but I think thats a credit to them," Scott said. "I think we turned the ball over a couple of times at some key points in the game and its mainly because they pack the paint." About the only thing the crowd had to cheer about by the end was Mills 3-pointer in the final minute, the first of his college career. The 27-point loss was the biggest at home in the Boyle era, and he said it was particularly disconcerting with ESPNs College GameDay crew in town. "Our fans were so ready for this game, for this win, and we gave them nothing," Boyle said. "Thats a sick feeling to go home with and to live with. I havent been embarrassed many times as a coach, but I was embarrassed tonight at the way our team played." His players were, too. "Were all embarrassed, man, really embarrassed," Booker said. "This is something that, whether were on the road or at home, this should never happen again." ' ' '
- Created: Jan 13 '20
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