Dein erstes Forum » different team, much different season

LAS VEGAS -- The best boxing match of the year is expected to take place tonight in Las Vegas, but theres a good chance you didnt know about it.Theres also a decent chance you dont know much about the two fighters who make up just the 11th meeting between two of the top five fighters in Ring Magazines pound-for-pound rankings, which started in 1989.In fact, when Andre Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) and Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) step into the ring at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with the unified light heavyweight championship on the line, it will mark just the third bout over the past 25 years between a pair of top-five pound-for-pound fighters who both enter the match with undefeated records.Its the kind of main event fight with two fighters in their prime that should seep into the consciousness of mainstream sports fans more focused on college football and the NFL this time of year, but that has not been the case.Saturday marks the first pay-per-view fight for both Ward and Kovalev. It will also be Wards first fight in Las Vegas and Kovalevs third match in the fight capital of the word. As good as both fighters are, the true mark of a fighter breaking into the mainstream is becoming a pay-per-view fighter and headlining marquee cards in Las Vegas. In that sense, Saturday will be Ward and Kovalevs introduction for many casual fans who fork over money for pay-per-view fights only once or twice a year and still feel burned by the Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao debacle over a year ago.But it takes time to build up the loyalty and following Mayweather and Pacquiao garnered from fight fans who dreamed of seeing both of them finally square off. It takes years of results, not weeks of promotion, to get fans to reach into their wallets and pay for a fight when theres an ample amount of other live sports on free television.Theres a storyline out there about what a shame it is that this fight isnt as big as Mayweather-Pacquiao, said Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events. As I tend to do when I try and solve problems, I did some research to try and gain some perspective. Floyd Mayweather fought on HBO nine times just like Sergey, and of course the four-year period where he headlined his first HBO pay-per-view versus Arturo Gatti in June of 2005, Gatti was the big draw of that fight. Manny Pacquiao fought on HBO for two years before headlining his first HBO [pay-per-view] in January of 2005 with Eric Morales.Those events sold in hundreds of thousands of buys; it wasnt until Floyd and Manny got the opportunity to defeat the already well-established superstar Oscar De La Hoya that they reached that million-buy benchmark. They fought on parallel paths for 10 years on pay-per-view to get to the place where they arrived last year and that of course is where every fighter wants to be and that is where Kovalev and Ward want to go. And so they have to start somewhere.Ward and Kovalev have to start somewhere as pay-per-view fighters, but the same is true with attracting a mainstream audience of pay-per-view buyers, and theres a good chance most casual fight fans will take a wait-and-see approach to both fighters before shelling out $69.99 to purchase the HD telecast of Saturdays card. If it turns out to be a candidate for fight of the year, as many pundits predict, the rematch will garner more buys, and if that ones another classic with the loser of the previous match coming out on top, the rubber match in the trilogy would see both fighters not only receive a record payday but carve out their legacies.Not too many guys make it on pay-per-view; thats the goal, said Lennox Lewis, the last undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Its a situation where people have to pay and watch you. After this fight, you dont want to do any other fights unless its pay-per-view. This is a great mark for these guys and this is the first step for them and where they want to stay. Its always important to win but they have to leave a lasting impression and make them want to come back for more.Duvas expectations for Saturday are somewhat tempered, knowing this will be the pay-per-view debut of both Ward and Kovalev and that many casual fans will likely hear about the result and watch the replay on HBO the following week before deciding if they want to invest in them moving forward.Were not going to get anybody thats never gotten a pay-per-view before, thats not happening on Saturday, Duva said. But were trying to get noticed and get that mainstream attention and you have to start somewhere. If we hit 200-250,000 [pay-per-view buys] Ill be dancing.Michael Yormark, Roc Nations president and chief of branding and strategy, understood the challenges of promoting this fight to a new audience that may be hesitant to pay to watch two fighters its not that familiar with.Andre hasnt fought out of Oakland in a while and Sergey doesnt have a big fan base that follows him and neither of them has fought on pay-per-view so there are challenges, but you have to sell the magnitude of this fight and how its perhaps the best fight on paper weve seen in 19 years, Yormark said. Im confident this fight will do better than other first-time pay-per-view fighters. When Triple G [Gennady Golovkin] was on pay-per-view last year, it did 150,000. We think this could be the biggest fight this year on pay-per-view.Chances are Saturdays fight wont be seen by many casual fans, but that doesnt mean it wont be a major turning point in the careers of two of the top five pound-for-pound fighters in boxing. Big-time pay-per-view matches between big-time pay-per-view fighters have to start somewhere, and that somewhere is Saturday night in Las Vegas for Kovalev and Ward. Colorado Rockies Pro Shop . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Fake Rockies Jerseys . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. https://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.us/ . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. 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DETROIT -- Mikael Backlund and the Calgary Flames got their six-game road trip started in the best way possible.Backlund scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:46 left in the third period to give Calgary a 3-2 victory over the slumping Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night.This is huge, because were looking at these six games almost like a playoff series, said Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who had three assists. We know we have to pick up some wins on this trip, and this is a good start.Garnet Hathaway got his first career goal and Matt Stajan also scored for Calgary. Chad Johnson stopped 21 shots.I thought this was a very even game, but we did a nice job of capitalizing on our chances, Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. We didnt lose any momentum coming out of the Chicago game, where we played very well in a loss.Tomas Tatar and Anthony Mantha scored for Detroit, which lost its fourth straight game. Jimmy Howard made 23 saves.I think we gave them their chances. I think from the start, a few turnovers in our own end, all of a sudden they end up spending a minute, minute and a half in our end instead of making a simple play and move the play out to the neutral zone, Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said.Backlund broke a 2-all tie when he slammed Michael Froliks pass from the left circle past Howard and into the open side of the net for his second goal.We better pick ourselves up and we better come to work tomorrow to get better, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. And we better put the work in that it takes to earn confidence come Wednesday (at Buffalo). Thats the bottom line. We better pick ourselves up in a hurry and focus on coming to win a hockey game on Wednesday.Mantha tied it 2-all 7:59 into the third with his first of the season. He put a snap shot under the crossbar on the short side after bringing the puck out from behind the net.Stajan gave the Flames a 2-1 lead at 2:31 of the third with his first goal of the season. He tipped in Hamilltons slap shot from the right point.ddddddddddddathaway tied it 1-all at 3:40 of the second. Hathaway, who was beside the net and battling with a Red Wings player, got the shaft of his stick on a high shot by Hamilton from the top of the right circle and deflected it into the empty side of the net.Thats an amazing feeling. I saw Fer (Micheal Ferland) get the puck to Dougie, so I went to the net, Hathaway said. It was an odd play, because Howard was still flailing around, so I wasnt sure if he had the puck or if it had gone in. Ill probably tell people that I sniped it -- that sounds a lot better. Weve still got five more road games, so it is big to get this one and get some momentum.Tatar gave Detroit a 1-0 lead 8:06 into the game. He blindly slid a puck toward the net from the high slot that beat Johnson. It was Tatars third goal and only his second in 14 games.Howard was forced to make a couple of saves in close after Red Wings giveaways deep in their zone.Detroit defenseman Alexey Marchenko left with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Ferland with a little less than 5:30 left in the second period. Blashill said Marchenko will likely be out a little while and the team would have more information Monday.Game notes Detroit LW Thomas Vanek returned after missing 11 games with a hip injury. The Red Wings were 3-7-1 without Vanek and averaged under two goals per game. He had four goals and eight points in seven games. ... Calgary forward Johnny Gaudreau missed his second game after sustaining a broken finger on a slash by Minnesota C Eric Staal. Gaudreau will miss six to eight weeks. ... Red Wings C Darren Helm missed his second game after dislocating his shoulder. He also will be out six to eight weeks.UP NEXTFlames: Visit the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.Red Wings: Visit the Sabres on Wednesday night. ' ' '