Tokyo Olympics 2021

Posted on 02/08/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Shawn Porter has a lot to be proud of. From beating guys such as Devon Alexander, Adrien Broner and Danny Garcia, to wrapping welterweight gold around his waist on two separate occasions, if Porter were to walk away from the sport of boxing right now, he would be satisfied with his career.

Almost.

For as much as the Ohio native has accomplished, he still believes there’s more left to do. Of course, the now 33-year-old would enjoy nabbing another world title, but more than anything, he simply appreciates sharing the ring with great fighters. While he’s fought just about everyone in the division, if he were to hang up the gloves without facing a certain pound for pound star, his career would feel somewhat incomplete.

“It’s Terence Crawford,” said Porter on the Ak and Barak Show. “It’s something about him and that fight. I think that fight is great. There’s a big argument between who’s better? Terence Crawford or Errol Spence Jr., so that’s why for me it’s like okay, you’ve been in the ring with Errol Spence Jr., now, go get Terence Crawford.”

The argument that Porter alludes too, feels like a never-ending one as both Crawford and Spence Jr. have made absolutely no traction in actually making their showdown come to reality. But while most of the world continues to fulminate over who is the best welterweight in the world between the pair, Porter begins to sport an incredulous look on his face.

After making Spence Jr.’s life a living hell for 12 rounds during their showdown in 2019, Porter knows that he’s just as good as the unified titlist.

“I already fought Errol Spence Jr. and I think that everybody still feels like he’s the best welterweight in the world. I think in my attempt to beat him, that if you still think that he is the best welterweight in the world, Shawn Porter is not even a half step behind him. Shawn Porter is running pace and pace.”

Regardless of whether he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Spence Jr. and Crawford, Porter is knocking on the door of proving that he’s just as good. At the moment, the Ohio product holds the number one position in the WBC and WBO sanctioning bodies. Spence Jr., of course, not only holds the IBF title, but also the WBC. Although a rematch is a route he could go down, Porter would rather chase after Crawford instead.

Despite the pair holding a very close friendship with one another, Porter has stated on numerous occasions that he would have no issue shoving that to the side in order to make the fight happen. In his attempt to get Crawford in the ring, Porter has been met with some resistance. Mostly in the form of dollar signs as promoter Bob Arum has announced that he would not offer Porter more than one million dollars for the fight.

Those numbers though, while eye-catching to most around the world, especially amid a pandemic, were mere pennies to Porter as he has called the offer “disrespectful.”

In spite of the fact that they are apparently worlds apart in terms of money, team Porter is still quietly working behind the scenes to get Arum to add a few more zero’s at the end of Porter’s paycheck.

“I have not given up on that fight. I’ve had conversations with my dad like hey, go get that fight. That’s the fight for me. My dad’s working.”

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IN his first interview since being sacked by Deontay Wilder, trainer Mark Breland didn’t pull any punches when reflecting on his former charge and the state of the heavyweight division.

Last year, Wilder jettisoned Breland from his team in the wake of his punishing loss to Tyson Fury, before then going on to accuse Breland of spiking his water during the fight and “betraying” him for ultimately throwing in the towel.

Breaking his silence in an interview with The Fight is Right, the former Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion said: “With Deontay and I, that’s a part of boxing I guess. His career is done now, so I’m done and he’s done. I’m done with him.

“One thing you all like to say is that, ‘He’s got a lot of power and that’s all.’ I wish him well and that’s it. Only got his power and we’ll see how far that takes him, that’s all I’m gonna say.”

When asked if he bought into the glove-tampering allegations Wilder made against Fury, Breland added: “I doubt it very much, I don’t know, I never seen nothing. But still at the same time – he’s not gonna beat Tyson Fury regardless.

“Jay Deas [Wilder’s head trainer] was standing right there when the man was getting his hands wrapped. If they put something in there, either Jay’s blind or..? Jay’s right there when he’s getting his hands wrapped and he didn’t say nothing. But to be honest, that’s how much [Deas] knows about boxing. Hell, [Fury] probably could’ve put a cast up in there and he wouldn’t have known!”

Elsewhere in the discussion Breland further criticised Wilder’s ability – in particular his jab – and predicted that Fury would have an easy night with Anthony Joshua should they fight.

Obviously, his comments could just be chalked up to sour grapes. That is, undoubtedly, how Wilder and his current team will see it. However, Breland is notoriously mild-mannered and enough time has passed to assume this isn’t a case of him lashing out.

If his remarks are taken seriously, they’re a damning inside view of Wilder and his team. They also aren’t criticisms that we haven’t heard elsewhere; that Deas is more of a yes-man than a trainer, and that Wilder lacks technical prowess. As to the point of Wilder’s career being “done” – well, that remains to be seen, but he certainly has significant hurdles to overcome if he wants to return to the top.

Carl Froch is no stranger to having former opponents appear on his podcast, Froch on Fighting, but this past week he was joined by an unexpected foe; George Groves. The pair shared a bitter rivalry over two fights but, in retirement, the bad blood seems to have abated on both sides.

It’s a fun episode, with plenty of friendly digs and interesting insight into their fights, proving once again that the format of ex-fighters chatting to people they shared the ring with is a fruitful one. So Carl, when can we expect the Andre Ward episode?

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In the aftermath of his first professional defeat – a stoppage loss to Joe Joyce, in which he suffered a nasty eye injury – Daniel Dubois’ future was in question. Now, it appears to be taking shape.

The young heavyweight released a few videos on social media stating his intent to get back on track. This was followed by a report from MailSport, claiming that Dubois will now be trained by Mark Tibbs, with Martin Bowers – who has trained him until this point – moving into a managerial position. The report also claims Dubois has been told by doctors that he can return to action in April.

Should the news of a change in trainer be true, it would seem somewhat alarming on its surface. Dubois is still very young, and to change trainer after one loss could be construed as a rash decision, particularly when you consider the close relationship he had with Bowers. However, it seems that if Dubois does make a shift, Bowers will remain in the team. That’s a positive sign; Bowers has an excellent boxing brain and, crucially, knows Dubois very well. Tibbs, of course, is an esteemed trainer himself and can help add new facets to Dubois’ game.

After last week’s rambling in this column about how ESPN was doing a disservice to the sport by glorifying boxing YouTubers Jake and Logan Paul, this week Sky Sports and Yahoo Sports also got in on the fun. Both outlets ran columns on how the two brothers are somehow helping the sport by dragging it through the mud. Baffling.

It now also seems that the Josh Taylor-Jose Ramirez super-lightweight unification fight will indeed move from its proposed May 8 date, despite promoter Bob Arum insisting it wouldn’t. Mike Coppinger of The Athletic revealed that the bout is now likely to take place on May 22 so as to not clash with Canelo Alvarez’s mooted meeting with Billy Joe Saunders. A sensible move.

Ramla Ali, the first female Somali to ever box professionally, continues to make significant waves in mainstream media. This week she was interviewed by Vogue discussing not just her boxing but also her campaigns for issues such as healthy representations of body image for young girls.

As a professional model herself, Ali speaks from an informed position and is actively trying to do good with her profile. Her future in fighting is exciting; should she continue to be successful after her pro debut last year, she could have a large impact on the profile of women’s boxing.

San Diego finally opened its season Sunday and the Toreros swept Saint Mary’s in West Coast Conference action.

Colorado is 6-0 in conference play for the first time in 22 years, Arizona beat Stanford again, this time in four, and also in the Pac-12, Oregon won in five at USC.

Lauren Deaton had 32 kills and 20 digs for Samford and teammate Emily Naubert had 32 digs in a five-set victory. 

And Bobbi Petersen of Northern Iowa became the Missouri Valley Conference’s all-time winningest coach when she got No. 510 over Evansville on Sunday.

Neither the Pac-12, Big Ten, nor SEC have matches Monday, but the West Coast Conference does when San Diego is home again for Saint Mary’s. There are more than 50 matches on the schedule and among the other leagues in action are the Big Sky, Conference USA, Horizon, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, SoCo, Summit, and WAC.

Go to the VolleyballMag.com TV and Streaming listings to get links to any match that is being broadcast.

PAC-12 — Utah is 6-0 after hitting .317 and winning in three at Arizona State (1-5), which has lost five in a row. Dani Drews continued to light it up, this time leading Utah in its 25-20, 25-17, 25-19 victory with 20 kills while hitting .366. She added eight digs and three blocks, one solo. Zoe Weatherington had nine kills and Kenzie Koerber had seven kills, an assist, three aces, two blocks, and nine digs. ASU’s Iman Isanovic had 15 kills, an assist, an ace, a block, and seven digs … 

Colorado is 4-0 for the first time in conference play since 1998 when it was 7-0 to start the Big 12 season after beating visiting Cal (0-6) 25-17, 25-11, 25-14. Elissa Alcantara led with 15 kills while hitting .463. Jenna Ewert had four kills in six errorless attempts, 28 assists, two aces, four blocks, and 12 digs. Sydney Lilomaiava led Cal, which hit .106, with seven kills … 

Oregon (4-2) won at USC (1-3) in five sets for the second straight day, this time 23-25, 25-17, 22-25, 28-26, 15-8. The Ducks, who hit .218, got 14 kills from Gloria Mutiri, who hit .344 and had three blocks, and a dig. Brooke Nuneviller had 11 kills, three assists, a block, and 15 digs. Karson Bacon had eight kills in 12 errorless swings and five blocks. Setters Kylie Robinson and Elise Ferreira combined for 37 assists, seven aces, and 13 digs. Emelia Weske led USC with 18 kills while hitting .378 and she had three blocks and two digs. Brooke Botkin had 16 kills, an assist, an ace, two blocks, and 13 digs. Raquel Lazaro had a kill, 46 assists, two blocks, and 11 digs, and Sam Hastings had 20 digs and three assists … 

Stanford (0-2) was again playing shorthanded and won a set Sunday at Arizona (2-4) before falling again 27-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-13. Sofia Maldonado had 15 kills and nine digs for Arizona, and Zyonna Fellows had 10 kills with no errors in 13 attacks to go with three blocks and a dig.  Emery Herman had three kills in 10 errorless attempts, 34 assists, two blocks, and 15 digs. Kendall Kipp had 18 kills for Stanford, which hit .163. She added an assist, an ace, two blocks, and eight digs. Caitie Baird had nine kills, an assist, three aces, 12 digs, and two blocks, one solo. Selina Xu had three kills in seven errorless tries, 39 assists, four blocks, and 11 digs, and Elena Oglivie had 21 digs and four assists.

WEST COAST — San Diego, down to eight players because of COVID protocol, dealt visiting Saint Mary’s (1-4) a 25-14, 25-22, 25-16 defeat behind 16 kills from Roxie Wiblin, who hit .324, and 11 from Grace Frohling. Wiblin had an assist, two aces, two blocks, and seven digs. 

Wiblin credited longtime USD coach Jen Petrie for being prepared. 

“She devised a crazy system where we were half and half on two courts, so if one person tested positive, we would still have enough to play,” Wiblin said. “And her evil plan worked out, we had enough to play, and here we are.

“Volleyball is the thing that we love most in the world, so it’s more relief than anything to get back to doing what we love.”

USD hit .297, while Saint Mary’s hit .087. Thana Fayad added nine kills, an assist, two aces, a block, and 13 digs for USD.

“It’s the first match of the year,” Wiblin said. “We’re not exactly firing on all cylinders, we’re down a couple of starters and coaches, so it’s just a matter of rolling with the punches and playing hard no matter what, through every single circumstance that we had to overcome, and that’s what we did.”

Chandler Cowell led Saint Mary’s with nine kills … 

Loyola Marymount (2-2), another team playing shorthanded and dealing with injuries, swept visiting Portland (1-3, 0-3) as Audrey Klemp and Rose Booth had eight kills each. Booth had an assist, three aces and nine digs. Portland hit .092.

BIG SKY — Idle Weber State stands along atop the conference at 4-0 as every other one of the 10 teams has at least one league loss.

One of those teams with one loss, Idaho (4-2, 3-1) won in five at at Idaho State (2-4) as Kennedy Warren had 21 kills, 12 digs, four blocks — one solo — in the 18-25, 27-25, 22-25, 25-23, 16-14 victory. Allison Munday had 13 kills, seven digs, and six blocks, Kennedee Tracy led ISU with 21 kills, two assists, an ace, a block, and 18 digs … 

The other team with one loss, Northern Colorado (4-1) swept visiting Sacramento State (3-2). Taylor Muff led UNC with 11 kills, an ace, and 10 digs. Sacramento State hit .060 … 

Southern Utah (1-3, 1-2) swept visiting Montana (1-4) as Stacey Hone had 16 kills, hit .448, and had two aces and trhee blocks. Sophia Meyers had 12 kills for Montana … Montana State (2-2) swept visiting Northern Arizona (4-2). Kira Thomsen had 13 kills, hit .310 and had an ace, a block, and 10 digs. Emma Pence had nine kills with no errors in 18 attacks and four blocks. Taylor Jacobsen had nine kills for NAU … And Eastern Washington (2-4) beat visiting Portland State (1-4, 0-3) for the first time since 2015. Sage Brustad had 16 kills, two aces, and eight digs in the 18-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 12-15 victory. Ashlyn Blotzer had 13 kills, an ace, a dig, nd four blocks, one solo. Jasmine Powell had 17 kills, two blocks, and 12 digs for Portland State and Ellie Shook had 27 digs, four assists, and an ace.

SUMMIT — Omaha (3-2, 2-1) beat visiting Kansas City (2-1) in five, winning 16-14 in the fifth after trailing 12-8 and 14-12. McKenna Ruch led with 14 kills, an ace, for blocks, and 12 digs. Sadie Limback and Claire Leonard had 13 kills each. Claire Mountjoy had 27 digs, six assists, and an ace. Melanie Brecka had 11 kills for UMKC and Odyssey Warren had 10 … 

North Dakota State (3-2, 1-2) hit .306 and swept visiting South Dakota State (2-2, 2-1). Syra Tanchin led with 16 kills and hit .353 to go with an assist, a block, and eight digs. Three of her teammates had nine kills each. Akeela Jefferson had 212 kills and hit .367 for SDSU … Oral Roberts (1-4, 1-2) got its first win with a sweep at Western Illinois (0-4, 0-3). Jaxie Wakley had 12 kills with no errors in 19 attacks, two aces, three blocks, and four digs as ORU hit .314 … And South Dakota (2-3, 1-0) hit .327 as it swept at North Dakota (2-3, 2-1). Sami Slaughter led a balanced attack with nine kills as she had one error in 29 attacks. Aimee Adams had eight kills and no errors in 17 swings.

CONFERENCE USA — Western Kentucky (6-0) hit .452 — with 42 kills and only four errors in 84 attacks — as it swept visiting Florida Atlantic (0-3) in the league opener for both teams. Paige Briggs had 13 kills with no errors in 25 attacks to go with an assist, an ace, and 10 digs. Lauren Matthews had 11 kills with no errors in 18 swings, and Katie Isenbarger had nine kills in 14 errorless attacks and three blocks, one solo. FAU hit .022 … 

Ciara DeBell had 16 kills, hit .341, and had two blocks and 15 digs, and Macy McEhaney had 15 kills, hit .500, and and seven blocks — four solo — as Marshall (2-0) beat visiting Charlotte (2-2) in four in the conference opener for both. Sydney Rowan had 20 kills and 13 digs for Charlotte and Emani Foster had 19 kills, two blocks, and eight digs … UAB (2-2) won in five at North Texas (1-3) in the C-USA opener for both. Fernanda Maida had 14 kills for UAB and Caroline Stogner had 11 and Abby Carlile 10 with no errors in 14 attacks. Rhett Robinson had 18 kills for UNT with an assist, four aces, a block, and four digs. Barbara Teakell had 13 kills, an assist, an ace, and 10 digs … Nicole Lennon had 13 kills, hit .435, and had an assist, two blocks, and a dig as Rice (2-3) swept visiting Louisiana Tech (0-8) in their conference opener. Anota Adekunle had 11 kills with no errors in 13 attacks. Louisiana Tech hit .097.

SOCON — Lauren Deaton had 32 kills as Samford (2-1), playing at home, lost the first two sets to Western Carolina (1-4, 1-2) and rallied for a 21-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-14, 15-9 victory. Deaton’s kills were a career-high as she added two assists, two aces, two solo blocks, and 30 digs. Sarah Hayes Farley had 14 kills, two aces, a solo block, and 13 digs. Corinne Meglic had five kills, 60 assists, two aces, and 22 digs. And Emily Naubert had 32 digs. Merry Gebel led WCU with 13 kills, 19 digs, and five blocks, three solo. Makenzie White had 12 kills, hit .323, and had six blocks … 

Wofford opened its spring season with a sweep of visiting Chattanooga (4-1, 2-1). Bella Zeman and Riley Coonan had 11 kills each and Kennedy Smith and Millie Loehr had nine each. Loehr had no errors in 20 swings. Gylian Finch had 13 kills for Chattanooga, which hit .086 … Furman (1-2) swept at The Citadel (3-5, 1-2) behind 15 kills by Mikaela Schultz, who hit .333. Sharlissa de Jesus had 14 kills for the Bulldogs, hitting .440, with two aces, two blocks, and seven digs … And Mercer (2-5, 1-1) won in five at UNCG (0-2) behind 13 kills by Jaida Howell and 12 by Annie Karle and Brittany Major. Rayanne de Oliveira had six kills, nine blocks and six aces. Maria Esch had 12 kills, an ace, a block, and 17 digs for UNCG.

BIG SOUTH — The Fighting Camels are 2-0 after Campbell swept USC Upstate for the second straight day. Melody Paige led a balanced attack with 11 kills while hitting .526 after one error in 19 attacks, and added three blocks and Lailah Green had 10 kills, three blocks, and 12 digs … Radford beat Gardner-Webb for the second straight day, this time in a sweep as Taylor O’Neal led with nine kills, two aces, two blocks, and six digs … And Charleston Southern beat visiting Winthrop in four a day after sweeping the Eagles. Peyton Thompson and Paige Reagor had 15 kills each and Dayana Chara 13. Thompson had two aces, nine digs, and three blocks, two solo. Reagor hit .375 and had three digs and four blocks, two solo. And Chara had four blocks, three solo. Nikkia Benitez had 11 kills for Winthrop.

MISSOURI VALLEY — It took a little longer than expected after losing the first five matches of the season, but UNI (1-5, 1-2) won at Evansville (2-3, 1-2) in four to give coach Bobbi Petersen her 510th career victory, which nudged her past former Missouri State coach Melissa Stokes. Emily Holterhaus led UNI with 15 kills, an assist, 12 digs, and two blocks, one solo. Kaylissa Arndorfer had 11 kills, two aces, five blocks, and three assists. Alondra Vazquez had 17 kills, an assist, an ace, three blocks, and nine digs for Evansville, and Melanie Feliciano had 15 kills, an assist, 12 digs, and two blocks, one solo … 

Kaylee Martin had 22 kills, an ace, four blocks, and 21 digs as Illinois State (4-3, 2-1) won in five at Indiana State (1-3, 1-2). Sarah Kushner, who had two assists, an ace, three blocks, and 12 digs, and Kaitlyn Prondzinski had 12 kills each. Gretchen Kuckkan had 12 kills for Indiana State and Madeline Williams and Mallory Keller 11 each. Williams had six blocks and Keller four … Loyola (3-1, 2-1) swept at Southern Illinois (1-4, 0-3). Elle Van Grinzven had 10 kills with one error in 18 attacks for LUC and had four blocks and a dig. Anna Feldkamp had nine kills in 16 errorless swings. The Salukis hit .071 … Amelia Flynn had 20 kills, two aces and 14 digs as Missouri State (7-3, 3-0) beat visiting Valparaiso (2-2, 1-2) in four. Brooklyn Cink added 13 kills, 16 digs, and five blocks, two solo, and Azyah Green had 10 kills and five blocks, one solo. Jaclyn Bulmahn had 19 kills and hit .400 for Valop and Jillie Grant had 14 kills and 14 digs … And Bradley (1-2) beat previously unbeaten Drake (5-1) in four as Hannah Thompson had 17 kills, two solo blocks, and 25 digs. Kora Kauling added 10 kills, 32 assists, a block and six digs. Emily Plock and Haley Bush had 18 kills each for Drake.

OHIO VALLEY — The OVC got underway Sunday with six matches, three sweeps and three that went four sets.

Austin Peay swept visiting Tennesssee Tech as Chloe Stitt had 14 kills and Brooke Moore 13 and 16 digs. Ali Verzani, who had 14 digs, and Skylar Boom, who hit .526, had 11 kills each for Tennessee Tech … SIUE hit .388 and swept at Belmont. Savannah Christian led with 13 kills as she had no errors in 21 attacks to go with six blocks, one solo … Murray State swept Tennessee State as Jayla Holcombe had 14 kills … Jacksonville State beat Southeast Missouri in four as Lena Kindermann had 13 kills and Courtney Glotzbach had 11, hit .381, and had two solo blocks and five digs. Laney Malloy had 14 kills, an ace, a block, and nine digs for Southeast Missouri … 

Morehead State won at Eastern Illinois in four as Olivia Lohmeier had 13 kills and Lauren Rokey 10. Laurel Bailey led EIU with 15, three assists, five blocks, and five digs … And Logan Wallick had 17 kills with no errors in 44 attacks to hit .386 and had three blocks as UT Martin beat Eastern Kentucky in four. Molly Michalak had 14 kills for EKU and Lindsey Wilkins and Sarah Mitchell had 13 each. 

AROUND THE NATION — Lipscomb (5-2, 2-0) won its ASUN match in four at Liberty (0-3, 0-2). Megan Kuper led with 15 kills while hitting .444 and had two aces, five digs, and four blocks. Meg Mersman had 11 kills, hit .348, and had a dig and four blocks. Rajinia Fitzmaurice had 12 kills for Liberty and Trinity Watts had 11 and six blocks, one solo … 

George Mason (2-6, 2-0) won its Atlantic 10 match in five over visiting George Washington (0-4, 0-2) as Katelyn Clark had 16 kills, two aces, a block, and 13 digs, and Yanira Lopez-Barahona hd 13 kills, a solo block and 15 digs. Peyton Ehmke had 12 kills and six blocks, two solo. Ashley Waggle had 20 kills and hit .319 for GW to go with three aces, nine digs, and six blocks, one solo … 

There were two SWAC matches. Jackson State opened its season with a five-set win at Southern (1-2) as Jylen Whitten had 13 kills, three aces, and 17 digs … And Alcorn State swept the season opener at Mississippi Valley. Ashley Samuel led the Devilettes with 10 kills, four aces, a block, and nine digs.

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