Marquez TKOs Vazquez in the 3rd; Big Win for Head Hunters

It turned out that Israel Vazquez's already damaged face just wasn't ready for another war. By the end of round 1, the proud warrior was already bleeding and swelling around the eyes. By round 3, a grotesque gash had emerged and Marquez continued to target the bloodied former champion until the referee stopped it. While Marquez did fight well, this fight was more about the limitations of the human face. Vazquez, with all of his wars and surgeries, just didn't have the skin to be able to take the pounding that Marquez was ready to give (and take). I still believe that Marquez would've won if Vazquez's skin had held up, but the end came earlier b/c of the bleeding, perhaps it was for the best. Jay's Head Hunters earn Option A: 2, Option B: 3 and Option C: 18 with the win. Joel M's Hurricane Candlebox takes a tough loss, after picking Vazquez up from waivers earlier in the day. 3 months to go in the league.

Scheduled for War

Great rivalries are rare in boxing these days, but without question the 3 previous fights between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez have earned them the highest respect from fans and historians alike. Marquez won their first fight, with Vazquez stopped while on his stool, the victim of a broken nose. Vazquez rallied to win the 2nd fight by TKO, after being dropped earlier by Marquez, and fight number 3 was a back-and-forth war won by Vazquez on the scorecards. Oh, and the 3rd fight also featured a 12th round knockdown by Vazquez that made the difference in the fight.

These are 2 fighters that have essentially drained their athletic gifts and boxing skills almost dry by fighting each other. 25 Rounds have already passed, and tonight we hear the bell for round 26. The question on everyone's mind seems to be: Who has more left? Who is still the fighter that they once were? Who can survive this brutal match-up?

I've flip-flopped in my thinking on this one. My initial impression was that Vazquez, who naturally fights at a slightly higher weight, might out-strong Marquez again and win by late TKO. But after looking at the weigh-in pictures, it's Marquez who still looks in good condition and relatively undamaged. Vazquez has extreme puffiness (scar tissue?) around both of his eyes, and just has that Arturo Gatti-style appearance of a human punching bag. I just can't imagine how his face is ready for 12 rounds.

My prediction: KO 11 Marquez. If there's anyone who might be more motivated, it's Marquez, who has lost the last 2 fights between them. Marquez is also the slightly better boxer, and his superior quickness and left jab might do enough damage to Vazquez to cause problems. I hope that fight 4 is of the same style of the previous 3, but at the end of the day, I'm expecting a win for Jay's Head Hunters and Rafael Marquez.

Jacobs and Soto win; Amir Khan is a free agent

Amir Khan scored an 11th round TKO of Paulie Malignaggi to move to 23-1 with 17 KOs. Khan is a fantasy league free agent and has established himself as a new star in the junior welterweight division.

Daniel Jacobs scored a dominating 2nd round KO over his overmatched opponent, whose name is barely worth mentioning. Jacobs earns Option A: 2, Option B: 1.5 and Option C: 20. This is the flaw with Option C in my opinion, because he knocked this scrub down 4 times and gets a bunch of points. Hurricane Candlebox moves to 8-2 and into 3rd place overall.

Humberto Soto earned a unanimous decision over Ricardo Dominguez to move Joel B's Ready to Rumble squad to 14-1 and into first place. Soto earns Option A: 1, Option B: 1, Option C: 15

STANDINGS

1st.....Ready to Rumble (14-1)

2nd...Sweet Scientist (7-0)

3rd...Hurricane Candlebox (8-2)

4th...Sweet Chin Music (5-2-1)

5th....Death is Forming (7-3)

6th....Head Hunters (7-3)

What the....

Ok, so halfway through the 4th round, Paul Williams and Kermit Cintron got tangled up. Williams fell like a normal person, while Cintron behaved as if an invisible man had shoved him from behind and jumped out of the ring. Then Cintron acted like he was dead. Apparently Cintron claims that he was able to continue, but he sure didn't act like it. It's a shame because both guys finally started trading punches in round 4. A very corny and disheartening result for boxing. BWhit gets a very unenthusiastic win, Option A: 1, Option B: 1 and Option C: 14, while improving to 7-3.

Mayweather moves to 41-0; FULL UPDATE

After 12 rounds, Floyd "Money" Mayweather improved to 41-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Shane Mosley (46-6). The result was somewhat predictable, but Mosley's dominance in round 2 was not, and for a few moments he had fans believing that he could knock Mayweather out. Shane rocked him with 2 blistering right hands about halfway through the round and Mayweather was forced to hold to keep from going down. Much to my surprise, Mayweather was very skilled and composed at keeping himself off the canvas and at slowly allowing himself to get back into the fight. By round 3, Mayweather had seized control of the contest and was landing sharp right hands with impressive frequency. As the fight unfolded, it was Mayweather's accurate punching that made the difference, while Mosley's toughness allowed him to finish the fight on his feet. Andrew's Sweet Chin Music moves to 5-2-1 with the win, while Jay's Head Hunters drop to 7-3 with the Mosley loss.

FULL STANDINGS, SCORES and UPCOMING OPPONENTS

BOXING LEAGUE TEAMS	Aug 22, 2009	Aug 22, 2010
Sweet Chin Music
Manager: Andrew Marenghi	2 waivers
Current Record: 5-2-1, 3 Ko
	AVGs	0.63	0.75	12.0
Fighters:	UPCOMING	Option A	Option B	Option C
Wladimir Klitschko(1-0)		2	3	18
Floyd Mayweather (2-0)		2	4	33
Miguel Cotto: CLAIMED	Y.Foreman
Kelly Pavlik(0-1): CLAIMED		-1	-1	4
Hozumi Hasegawa(1-1)		0	-0.5	21
	TOTALS:	5	6	96
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Hurricane CandleBox
Manager: Joel Mesiti	1 waiver
Current Record: 7-2-0, 3 Kos
	AVGS	0.67	0.72	13.2
Fighters:	UPCOMING	Option A	Option B	Option C
Manny Pacquiao(2-0)		3	5	35
Daniel Jacobs(2-0)	j.astorga	3	2	33
Bernard Hopkins(1-0)CLAIMED		1	1	15
Juan Manuel Marquez(0-1)	juan diaz	-1	-2	2
Andre Ward(2-0)	a.green	3	3.5	33
		6	6.5	119
------------------------------------------------------- Sweet Scientist
Manager: Mark Enns	0 waivers
Current Record: 7-0-0, 3 Ko
	AVGs	1.43	1.64	16.0
Fighters:	UPCOMING	Option A	Option B	Option C
Ivan Calderon(1-0)	j.iribe	1	1	14
Nonito Donaire(1-0)		2	1.5	17
Chris John(1-0)		1	2	15
Vic Darchinyan(2-0)	r.garcia	3	3.5	33
Celestino Caballero(2-0)		3	3.5	33
	TOTALS:	10	11.5	112
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Head Hunters
Manager: Jason Brunner	3 waivers
Current Record: 7-3-0, 2 KO
	AVGs	0.60	0.50	11.80
Fighters:	UPCOMING	Option A	Option B	Option C
Mikkel Kessler(1-0): CLAIMED		1	2	16
Shane Mosley(0-1): CLAIMED		-1	-1	3
Rafael Marquez	I.Vazquez
Tomasz Adamek(3-0)		4	4	48
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr(2-0)	Duddy	3	2	31
	TOTALS:	6	5	118
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Death is Forming
Manager: Brian Whitmore	2 waivers
Current Record: 6-3-0, 2 Ko
	AVGs	0.44	0.89	11.67
Fighters:	UPCOMING	Option A	Option B	Option C
Arthur Abraham(1-1)	Froch	1	2	21
Paul Williams(1-0)	Cintron	1	1	15
Chad Dawson(1-0)	Pascal	1	2	16
Timothy Bradley(1-0)	Maidana	1	2	16
Andre Berto(1-0): CLAIMED		2	3	17
	TOTALS:	4	8	105
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Ready to Rumble	3 waivers
Manager: Joel Brunner
Current Record: 13-1-0, 8 Ko
	AVGs	1.36	1.46	16.21
Fighters:	UPCOMING	Option A	Option B	Option C
Juan Manuel Lopez(2-0)	B.Concepcion	3	3.5	34
Vitali Klitschko(2-0)	sosnowski	3	4	32
Yuriorkis Gamboa(3-0)		5	5	52
Lucian Bute (1-0): CLAIMED		2	3	18
Humberto Soto(3-0)	r.dominguez	4	3.5	50
	TOTALS:	19	20.5	227