SPORTS SHORTS 13: RYAN GARCIA TARGETS GERVONTA DAVIS AFTER STOPPING LUKE CAMPBELL
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 03 Jan 2021
Ryan García, age 22, from Victorville, California defeated former Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell for the WBC interim lightweight title on January 2, 2021. Garcia defeated Campbell by 7th round TKO at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas and became the WBC interim lightweight champion. Garcia hit Campbell with a body punch to his liver in the 7th round and could not continue as the bout was stopped at 1:58 of the said round. He previously held the WBC Silver lightweight title since 2019. His record improved to 21- 0 with 18 KOs, a high 86% KO rate.
Garcia takes out Campbell with a body shot.
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Luke Campbell, age 33, from Hull, East Yorkshire, England has twice challenged for lightweight world titles. He lost to Jorge Linares by split decision in 2017 for the WBA and The Ring titles. He also failed to win the WBA, WBO, The Ring and vacant WBC titles losing to Vasyl Lomachenko by unanimous decision in 2019. He was the WBC Silver and Commonwealth lightweight champion from 2016 to 2017. As an amateur fighter, Campbell won gold medal at the 2008 European Championships, silver medal at the 2011 World Championships, and gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, all in the bantamweight division. With the loss, he dropped to 20 wins, 16 by KOs and 4 losses.
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García joined the list of young, promising champions in the lightweight division. Teofimo Lopez, 23, won the IBF, WBA, WBO title belts when he beat Lomachenko in October 2019. Devin Haney, 22, holds the WBC title. But the fighter Garcia said he wants the most is Gervonta "Tank" Davis, 26, who holds one of the WBA's secondary belts as regular champion and just won an impressive knockout victory over Leo Santa Cruz in October. "I really want to be a man of my word," Garcia said. "I really want to fight Tank. I know people are worried about it [happening], but I'm ready for it."
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Garcia landed 94-of-293 punches (32%) according to CompuBox, including 77-of-176 power shots (44%). He was knocked down in the second round, the first time in his career, but recovered to score a TKO victory in front of roughly 6,000 fans at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
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At the 2012 London Olympics, Campbell won the gold medal in the bantamweight division (56 kg) after beating Ireland's John Joe Nevin, score 14-11. Campbell had earlier beaten Italian, Vittorio Parrinello, score 11-9. In the quarter-finals edged Detelin Dalakliev of Bulgaria in the closest bout of the tournament, score 16-15. He beat his next opponent, Satoshi Shimizu from Japan, score 20-11. Campbell beat Nevin in the finals, flooring the Irish foe in the third round, and he became the first bantamweight boxer to win the Olympic gold for Great Britain since Henry Thomas in 1908.
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Undefeated former two-time WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez, age 24, from Phoenix, Arizona told AHAT Live that Manny Pacquiao is a freak of nature when asked about the senator's ability to maintain his unusual speed and power at the heavier weights. “I can’t really give you the answer to be honest with you. Manny Pacquiao is just a freak of nature,” Benavidez told AHAT Live. “He is a beast. He is one of the greatest fighters to ever lace up a pair of gloves. You know that is just gifted, there is something about him that a lot of 90 percent of the people will never have. That guy is just a legend.”
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Benavidez is convinced that Pacquiao’s clean living diet and strict discipline to engage in a daily workout contributes a lot into his longevity in boxing and helped develop his fighting power even in the advanced years. "The thing about him and I feel like why he…well one of the reason why is because I think he would eat like five thousand calories a day or something like that. So that guy was eating, eating, eating, you know he was eating the right proteins, the right shakes, the right vitamins. Doing the right workouts, " he was quoted by World Boxing News.
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Paul Westphal died in Scottsdale, Arizona on January 2, 2021, at age 70. ESPN reported that he was diagnosed with brain cancer in August 2020. He played in the NBA from 1972 to 1984 and won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in the 1974 NBA Finals. Westphal played in the NBA Finals again in 1976 with the Phoenix Suns. He also played with the Seattle SuperSonics and the New York Knicks. He was a five-time All-Star and earned three All-NBA First Team and one Second Team selections. He coached college basketball and was also the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Sacramento Kings in the NBA. He coached the Suns to the NBA Finals in 1993. In 2019, Westphal was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had this statement: "Paul Westphal was a Hall of Famer and one of the great all-around players of his era. His toughness, skill and intellect made him a key contributor on the Boston Celtics' 1974 championship team and a perennial All-Star with the Phoenix Suns. ... He will be remember for his generosity, leadership and love for the game, which defined his many years in the NBA."
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How much each NBA team is worth based on Forbes' 2020 rankings:
#1 New York Knicks $4.600B
#2 Los Angeles Lakers $4.400B
#3 Golden State Warriors $4.300B
#4 Chicago Bulls $3.200B
#5 Boston Celtics $3.100B
#6 Los Angeles Clippers $2.600B
#7 Brooklyn Nets $2.500B
#8 Houston Rockets $2.475B
#9 Dallas Mavericks $2.400B
#10 Toronto Raptors $2.100B
#11 Philadelphia 76ers $2.000B
#12 Miami Heat $1.950B
#13 Portland Trail Blazers $1.850B
#14 San Antonio Spurs $1.800B
#15 Sacramento Kings$1.775B
#16 Washington Wizards $1.750B
#17 Phoenix Suns $1.625B
#18 Denver Nuggets $1.600B
#19 Milwaukee Bucks $1.580B
#20 Oklahoma City Thunder $1.575B
#21 Utah Jazz $1.550B
#22 Indiana Pacers $1.525B
#23 Atlanta Hawks $1.520B
#24 Cleveland Cavaliers $1.510B
#25 Charlotte Hornets $1.500B
#26 Detroit Pistons $1.450B
#27 Orlando Magic $1.430B
#28 Minnesota Timberwolves $1.375B
#29 New Orleans Pelicans $1.350B
#30 Memphis Grizzlies. $1.300B
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