Tokyo Olympics 2021

NOBODY’S GOING TO FIGHT DAVID BENAVIDEZ BECAUSE… || FIGHTHYPE.COM

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24-year-old David Benavidez has big dreams and grand aspirations that mesh well with his prodigious skills and abilities. The problem is that, right now, weaknesses outside the ring– both perceived and real– are keeping him from being able to reach his goals.

The younger of the two boxing Benavidez brothers wants a legacy-defining fight and a next-level challenge to become the star he knows he can become. Primarily, he wants a blockbuster clash against super middleweight cash cow Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. He sees big things in pairing himself against Alvarez.

“I want them to mention me and Canelo, like they mention Manny and Floyd,” Benavidez told Sports Illustrated not too long ago. Recently, he’s even been mentioning the possibility of a legend-making trilogy with the Mexican star.

In theory, on paper, and in the scouting reports of many legit boxing experts, 24-year-old Benavidez is possibly the best super middleweight in the world, even in a 168 lb. class that includes pound-for-pound star Canelo at the very top. 

As I wrote previously:

“Just one look at his genius-level offensive IQ should make any knowledgeable boxing person a true believer. Tall and lanky, he throws punches in bunches, varying placement and velocity, to create an offensive surge that, as I wrote elsewhere, is ‘equal parts hard to defend and difficult to resist.’

He moves well, defends well, and carries with him the poise and maturity of an elite-level, well-seasoned pro. Hell, he carries himself with MORE in-ring maturity and poise than many elite-level, well-seasoned pros.”

The problem is that Benavidez, a true boxing natural who made his pro debut at 16 years of age in Mexico, has not carried himself with poise and maturity OUTSIDE the ring. Not in the area of focus and discipline, anyway. 

Not too long after becoming the youngest world champion in the sport, Benavidez lost his WBO title in 2018, after his first defense, when he tested positive for cocaine. 

Two years later, after serving his suspension and then regaining the WBC title against veteran Anthony Dirrell, Benavidez failed to make weight in a cake title defense against Roamer Alexis Angulo and, again, was stripped of the title.

That gives Benavidez the dubious distinction of having twice lost a world title without suffering an actual defeat in the ring.

That also makes it infinitely easier for the other super middleweight players to avoid the kid like the plague.

Nobody of real note is ever going to fight him as long as he keeps giving off the vibe that he’s in the process of self-destructing. The top dogs in the division and beyond are just going to wait on his collapse. And that wait, right now, is made infinitely easier by the fact that Benavidez doesn’t have a world title belt around his waist. 

IBF super middleweight titlist, Caleb Plant, who would be the ideal interim opponent to build towards a big Canelo clash, certainly seems to be playing the hand Benavidez dealt.

“Of course he feels like he can just jump the line again and get a world title fight,” Plant said of Benavidez, following his own recent title defense. “In his eyes he feels like he’s going to beat me and then get the Canelo fight, but boxing doesn’t work that way. He’s had his opportunities!”

Canelo Alvarez, meanwhile, rarely utters even the slightest peep about the former WBC champ whose vacated belt he scooped up in December’s victory over Callum Smith. And, really, can you blame him? 

Why would Alvarez stick his freckled face into a hornet’s nest when Benavidez brings nothing to the table, not even a BS paper title? Why would he court that kind of risk if it’s very possible that the risk may remove itself?

Benavidez has a world of talent and a unique degree of natural aptitude for the fight game, but talent and aptitude mean little if they keep getting buried underneath personality quirks, lapses in judgment, and general lack of focus. 

The good news is that the kid is only 24 and has a plenty of time to get things back on track.

The bad news, however, is that the kid is only 24 and there’s also plenty of time to mess things up.

Marty Schottenheimer dead at 77; NFL world mourns all-time great head coach

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Legendary NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer has died at age 77 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Schottenheimer put together a dazzling career record of 200-126-1, spending 20 years as a head coach with the Browns, Chiefs, Washington and Chargers. He last coached an NFL game in 2006, being ousted as Chargers head coach after a playoff loss to the Patriots.

Schottenheimer is one of just seven NFL coaches who have won at least 200 games in their NFL head coaching career, but he is the only former coach in that group not enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The others: Don Shula, George Halas, Tom Landry and Curly Lambeau. Andy Reid and Bill Belichick also have over 200 wins apiece, but are active coaches.

Unfortunately for Schottenheimer, playoff success often eluded his teams, thanks in part to difficult roads his squads had to travel in postseason play. Of those six other coaches with 200 wins, Schottenheimer is the only one without a championship ring, with a 5-13 career postseason record. His teams reached the AFC championship game three times: twice with the Browns, losing to John Elway and the Broncos and once with the Chiefs, losing to Thurman Thomas, Jim Kelly and the Bills in 1994.

As a player, Schottenheimer played for five seasons in the NFL with the Bills and then Boston Patriots, pre-merger, as a linebacker. Known for his rah-rah speeches and fiery demeanor, Schottenheimer was also the father of “Marty Ball,” a conservative-yet-effective approach to offense in the league that often earned him scorn and criticism for its run-first approach.

Schottenheimer’s son Brian also has spent time as an NFL coach, most recently as the offensive coordinator for the Seahawks. He is currently the passing game coordinator for the Jaguars.

Schottenheimer’s legacy as a legendary head coach in the NFL has endured, and has earned him praise, respect, admiration and remembrance from all corners of the NFL world.

Demetrius Andrade Warns Jermell Charlo: “Come And Test Me For Real” | BoxingInsider.com

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Posted on 02/09/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Hate is a strong word to use. But for unified Jr middleweight titlist Jermell Charlo, that’s exactly how he feels about Demetrius Andrade.

“F*k Andrade,” said Charlo during an Instagram Live. “I hate Andrade, he’s a btch.”

From the moment both men have crossed each other’s path, there has been a genuine dislike for one another. At one point, the pair appeared to be on their way to knocking each other’s heads off as a bout agreement was agreed to in 2014.

However, their showdown fell through due to financial reasons. Since then, they’ve gone their separate ways. For Charlo, the Houstonian is in possession of three of the four titles at 154 pounds and has established himself as the man to beat in the division. As for Andrade, he’s currently in the midst of his own title reign one weight class higher.

Although Andrade is presently focused on luring some of the bigger names into the ring with him, he would have no problem with taking on Charlo. Provided of course, he moved up in weight.

“We can fight right now,” said Andrade. “Come up to 160. I’m not making 154 no more, I done put some weight on.”

Regardless of the not so kind things Charlo had to say about Andrade, the Rhode Island native has noticed something about his long time rival. In short, the aggressive tone he places on display online is far and away different when Andrade is actually within arms distance.

“When we see each other, that energy don’t come across the line. Come get it, jump the line. Come and test me for real.”

The words spewed by Andrade could easily be misconstrued. With the amount of vitriol Charlo has towards him, a street fight could break out at any moment when they happen to be in the same vicinity.

While Andrade wouldn’t back down from one, he certainly doesn’t want to entice one either. Prior to any blows being landed from either man, Andrade rather a signed contract slide across his desk followed by a substantial deposit into his bank account before things get physical.

“I’ll fight you and get paid but I’m not about to street fight you.”

IOC condemns remarks about women by Tokyo chief as volunteers quit

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has condemned derogatory remarks about women by the head of the Tokyo 2020 Games organising committee, Yoshiro Mori, as “absolutely inappropriate”.

The unusually strong intervention came after Mori complained last week that meetings tended to drag on because “competitive” women in attendance “talked too much”.

The 83-year-old former prime minister later apologised and retracted his comments while also attempting to justify them, inviting further criticism. On Tuesday hundreds of people who signed up to volunteer at this summer’s rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games resigned in protest at Mori’s remarks.

The IOC said in a statement that Mori’s comments were “absolutely inappropriate and in contradiction to the IOC’s commitments and the reforms of its Olympic agenda 2020”. It added: “Besides Mr Mori’s apology, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee also considers his comment to be inappropriate and has reaffirmed its commitment to gender equality.”

More than 400 of the 80,000 people who signed up to volunteer at the Tokyo Games have resigned, according to local media, while an online petition calling for action to be taken against Mori had attracted more than 140,000 signatures by Monday. Olympic organisers said they had received more than 5,500 complaints.

“We are taking this very seriously,” the Olympic minister, Seiko Hashimoto, said on Tuesday morning when asked about the resignation of the volunteers.

Daichi Oyama, 28, who withdrew as a volunteer over coronavirus concerns, said Mori’s comments were proving “very embarrassing for Japan”. He said: “If every time he says something things get worse, he should quit.”

A poll at the weekend by Kyodo news agency found that almost 60% of people thought Mori was “unfit” to lead the organising committee, with just 6.8% saying he was qualified for the role.

The controversy has added to the myriad problems facing the IOC and Japanese organisers as speculation mounts over the future of this summer’s Games, which have already been delayed by a year because of the pandemic.

In a poll conducted shortly after the controversy erupted, 82% of those polled said the Games should be cancelled or postponed again, with just 14.5% saying they should go ahead as planned on 23 July.

The tennis player Naomi Osaka said Mori’s comments were “ignorant” but did not call on him to step down. “I don’t know in what situation he said those things, but I think it’s really uninformed and a bit ignorant,” she said.

Yuko Inazawa, a member of the Japan Rugby Football Union when Mori was chair, said she believed Mori’s “talkative women” remarks, in which he had referred his time there, had been directed at her. “I think conferences dragged on as I was asking questions from my standpoint as an amateur,” Inazawa, who became the first female board member of the JRFU in 2013, told Kyodo. “But that is absolutely not the same thing as saying women make conferences drag on.”

Mori may weather the storm, given the support he has among influential figures in the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and the IOC. He was a veteran LDP lawmaker when he became prime minister in 2000, but his approval ratings plummeted to 7% after a series of blunders and scandals involving cabinet ministers, and he was out of office just over a year later.

One senior LDP official said sacking Mori would mean losing the wealth of experience he had acquired since becoming head of the organising committee in 2014. “He is a walking dictionary of the Olympics and he knows everything about the last eight years,” the official said.

Mori’s relationship with the IOC president, Thomas Bach, is said to be one of “equals,” while Japan’s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, has stopped short of questioning his suitability for the job. There are concerns that his resignation could hamper preparations for the Games at a crucial time, with less than six months to go before the opening ceremony on 23 July.

An organising committee source, referring to Mori’s testy encounter with reporters last week, said: “We had told him beforehand: ‘You can’t say anything about resigning’. Nothing good will come from replacing him.”

Kaori Yamaguchi, a judo champion and member of the JOC board, said many people believed Mori was untouchable. “I think it’s much easier for the IOC, it’s faster to work with a dictator,” said Yamaguchi, who was present at the JOC meeting where Mori made the remarks. “If Mori says OK, it means OK.”

Well done to everybody who attended our Open Talent Development Poomsae Session – British Taekwondo

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On Sunday 7th February British Taekwondo high performance coaches made the best of current restrictions by using Zoom to teach an Open Talent Development Poomsae Session.  

 

The session had an amazing turn out and attracted over 130 British Taekwondo members and was supported by 50 registered British Taekwondo clubs. A big thank you to Best Leg Taekwondo who supported the event by sending the most students of all clubs.

 

The session saw youngest participants at just 7 years old and the eldest at over 70 years old. Participants were from blue belt to 7th Dan. Coaches covered poomsae taegeuk il jang to sipjin.

 

This is a great opportunity for all British Taekwondo members of any level to improve all areas of their poomsae, working with the GB National Coaching Team.

 

The next Open Talent Development Poomsae Session will take place on Sunday 9th May – make sure to save the date! We look forward to seeing you there!