Damn Secret is still alive and kicking. Is it really possible for OG to not play seriously against Liquid in order to further diminish Team Secret's chances of joining the upcoming last majors? OG only needs 1 DPC point and it will be secured to TI already.

In the Chinese region, LGD played seriously against RNG but they beat an already qualified RNG. So I believe they need to lose against Aster then? I'm thinking of betting big for Aster because I still feel LGD is giving the other teams a chance to collect points in this last major in order to qualify for TI. But there's still the slim possibility that LGD will play seriously and wins the series. And they will chill only during the tiebreakers. 

Day 12 matches.

Game1: 3:00 PM PH Time
Blackwater Bossing -1.5
ROS Elasto Painters +1.5

Game2: 6:00 PM PH Time
Barangay Ginebra Kings -2.5
Meralco Bolts +2.5

Sana makakuha ng dalawang panalo dito. Tough games pa din lalo na sa ROS na naghahabol makakuha ng spot para sa playoffs. Pero I'll go with Blackwater, hoping they will bounce back strong after that close defeat from SMB. I also expect Ginebra to win their game against Meralco dahil babagsak sila 3rd place pag matalo ulit. Pinapahiya pa naman sila ng TNT nung Domingo.

Few more hours before they fight. In our poll, we got Nietes 68.2% compared to Ioka's 27.3% and 4.5% had it a draw. So it seems that many of you guys answered it based on your hearts?

I would love Nietes to win here but honestly, I voted for Ioka. Because Nietes based on his previous fights is not the same fighter that went undefeated in many title fights in 4 divisions. I didn't bet this time because, of course, I want Nietes to prove me wrong. 

Yes, women's boxing existed already many many years ago. And they also have their own superstars that are also more popular than most champions in men's boxing. The current biggest networks are DAZN, PBC (thru Showtime, Fox), and ESPN. DAZN got Katie Taylor and ESPN got Mikaela Mayer as main event fighters. Although it is not as popular as men's boxing who's biggest superstars will compete as the world's highest-paid athletes just like Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao. I think Canelo could take the highest-paid athlete this year if he didn't lose to Bivol. 

I like this fight because it's like 50/50 IMO. Although I don't consider them as serious world title contenders at this stage. The current world champions will easily destroy them.

Even before the Kambosos fight, Teofimo and his dad were already planning to move up in weight to fight undisputed champion Josh Taylor. Teofimo wanted to become the first undisputed champion in 2 divisions. Although in reality, Teofimo never became undisputed in lightweight since former WBC champion Lomachenko was elevated into a WBC franchise champion while former WBC interim champion Devin Haney became the WBC champion. The new WBC franchise belts were not well-received and were never credited by the hardcore boxing community. After losing his belts to Kambosos, his dad mentioned that they will continue to their to move up. There was no rematch clause too because it was a mandatory fight that went into a purse bid.

The arrogant father and son duo also dismissed a Loma rematch before the Kambosos fight. They're not man enough. They forgot that Lomachenko donated personal money of around $800,000 to them as additional payment because they demanded more money, something promoter Bob Arum cannot satisfy due to the pandemic. And Teofimo barely beat an injured version of Lomachenko who undergo surgery right after the fight.

I hope this unknown Pedro Campa upsets Teofimo Lopez.

There's only 1 legit champion in the division. Haney already collected all 4 belts in the division plus the Ring belt. Tank is a fake WBA regular champion just like the WBC franchise belt, otherwise, Haney is not undisputed. 

Nepotism is rampant in their nation. Imagine the president and its prime minister are brothers? And they also appointed a lot of their family members to many government positions.

The bombings in the capital and then came the COVID pandemic, it totally killed Sri Lanka's big tourism industry. Many of their overseas workers went home weakening foreign remittances and further rising unemployment. Their unbalanced imports and exports aren't ideal too. I think nepotism played a major role in its government's bad economic decisions.               

Terrence Crawford's manager will be one making the negotiations with Errol Spence's team. In this scenario, Bud without a promoter is more beneficial in making this fight becoming a reality since it avoids conflict in the networks. His former promoter Bob Arum is locked with ESPN while Al Haymon's PBC, Spence's handler is with Showtime and Fox. So there will be no more negotiations as to who will promote the fight or who will be the lead promoter or which network will televise the fight.

I believe PPV sharing is probably the main reason why they haven't come up with a deal yet. Spence's previous PPV buys are a little better than Crawford's. Spence also has more belts to offer in the division but Crawford is the only ATG of the two.   

If this fight is going to happen in October then a deal needs to materialize within this month or early August since they need at least 2 months to prepare.

In less than two weeks we can see a crossroad fight between former world champions Adrien Broner and Omar Figueroa. This should be fun to watch as both were entertaining fighters before. AB with his funny antics and trash talks while Figgy's hot sister might attend the press conference, weigh-in, and the fight. This may not be for world title contention but I felt this fight as more alluring than the fake fights of Jake Paul and Mayweather Sr.'s exhibition fights.     

Well. Every featherweight wanted to fight WBA champion Leo Santa Cruz. Magsayo too but he cannot escape from his mandatory. Right after the fight, Vargas also called for a unification showdown with Santa Cruz.

Mark Magsayo will need to fall in line now since there was no rematch clause. Vargas wanted LSC. But it also looks like the WBC is ready with another mandatory in Brandon Figueroa. There's also Russell Jr. who claimed to have lost his title to Magsayo due to an injured arm and inactivity which seem legit too. 

I think Magsayo needs to re-assess himself. I cannot see many improvements from him in the past few years. The only improvement I saw with his fight against Vargas was knowing how to clinch. And that's actually very basic when you're at the world level. I'm pretty sure Roach taught him a lot. Head movements, jabbing, foot work, combinations, and setting up power punches. It's just that Magsayo cannot execute them inside the ring. Magsayo could've finished off Vargas in the late rounds should he have learned to set up those power punches properly. And not just throw them like Deontay Wilder. 

Yes. I also think that prime Nietes will beat a prime Ioka. Both are the same 4 division champions and are future Hall of Famers. They nearly have the same styles too. They're both smart, technical, patient, and armed with excellent jabs. I just believe that prime Nietes is just slightly better.

Back to reality. Ioka has a clear edge in this coming rematch. I don't think Nietes has the power to knockout Ioka and his age makes the mission becoming nearly impossible.


 

Thanks for the links. Wow! In the past, I used to make simple drawings and paintings. Not for commercial purposes though. Looking at the previous participants, if I can still bring the best out of myself, I may have a chance in the top 10. Maybe I should challenge myself to create one or maybe two since I am not busy these days.

The Golden State Warriors seem silent for the past few days. Heavy secret meetings and deals going on? So far the Warriors lost important players like Payton II and Porter Jr. but were quick to take on a championship experienced player, Donte DiVincenzo. The Warriors also managed to re-sign Looney. Last season the Warriors spent more than $300 million and nearly half of it came from luxury tax. This coming season, the Warriors will bleed more monetarily after some increase in yearly contracts. Does it mean they will not pursue Andrew Wiggins anymore?

GSW owner Joe Lacob was at The TK Show talking about his team. So the Warriors are still making a huge amount of money enough to sustain their super expensive roster? So the Warriors will probably extend Wiggins' contract then? Then maybe trade him if they aren't performing well before the trade deadline.

If this becomes a trend where super expensive luxury taxes are still accepted and paid by these richer cities and teams then probably another NBA rule will be made in the near future. There will be a huge disparity, especially for teams in smaller cities.   
 

Prime Nietes was a very fine technical fighter. When facing an aggressive and pressure fighter, he will be the matador. I think Nietes has decent power capable of knockouts but he prefers to stay safe and away from risk. I kind of disagree that Nietes is not accurate otherwise he would have lost a lot of his previous fights because he is not a volume puncher. You can't be a 4 division champion, a lineal, and a top 10 Ring pound for pound without great accuracy. 

Let's not get misled by Ioka's 30 fights compared to Nietes' 44. Ioka once held the Japanese record with the fewest fights to become a world champion. Ioka became a world champion in only his 7th professional fight (correct me if I'm wrong but I think this was later broken by Inoue and then by Tanaka). I believe Ioka has more world title fight experience than Nietes.

I felt sorry for your friend. But what happened to him somehow was his own doing. Responsible gamblers knew their limitations even before betting. They have their own allocated budget for it. Or they set their time spent in gambling.   

Or are we going to include in our school curriculum how to bet responsibly? With the internet everywhere, gambling online is becoming too accessible except in some countries that are very strict with their betting regulations; land-based and online.

I agree. He is guaranteed in the Hall of Fame soon. 4 division champion, 1 time lineal Ring magazine champion (probably two, not sure) and a former top 10 in the Ring's pound for pound list. That's should be more than enough.


Just a few hours ago, the last Filipino world boxing champion Mark Magsayo was out-boxed by another undefeated and now 2 division champion Rey Vargas. Magsayo tried to rally in the late rounds, scoring a knockdown and hurt Vargas several times but failed to finish the Mexican. This would be the first time that the Philippines do not have a world boxing champion in around 2 decades I guess? Hopefully this would give Nietes a wake-up call to step up and bring back his old self in his fight with Ioka in Japan.

I also cannot find an odds of this fight although I believe Ioka should be the favorite here. Probably 2.5 to 3.0 for Nietes.

Mahilig ako sa dehado at mga upsets pero based sa kanilang mga previous performances ay favorite pa din talaga itong Beermen at Gin Kings. TNT this season although malakas pero struggling sa mga panalong iyon except na lang siguro sa Farmville Dyip. Just like Blackwater, maganda record nila pero tough wins din, although gusto ko sila para naman maiba ang PBA. Parehas separate owners ang mga larong to kaya seguradong bigay todo sila ngayon. But my money is with the favorites.


Game1: 4:30 PM PH Time
SMB Beermen -6.5
Blackwater Bossing +6.5

Game2: 6:30 PM PH Time
Barangay Ginebra Kings -2.5
TNT Tropang Giga +2.5

So it seems that Brooklyn Nets wanted to settle KD's trade demand first before focusing on Irving. That would leave a lot of wasted idle time for the Lakers since there is no team that is interested or qualified to deal with Russell Westbrook. Maybe Brooklyn is spending all its efforts to retain KD, asking him the type of players needed in exchange of Irving. This make sense though. If Brooklyn will end up keeping KD, they surely do not need the more expensive and useless Westbrook in their team then. 

The Lakers main priority is to get rid of Westbrook. Although I also read before the possibility of Westbrook + AD for Kyrie + Simmons.

KD already demanded a trade. I expect this already, unless Kyrie and Simmons unloaded from the Nets line up. But pretty sure KD is also not be happy playing with Westbrick.

Earlier, Nets offered KD to Minnesota but in exchange for Towns and Edwards. It was rejected by Minnesota. I think Minnesota is happy with their two towers. Their focus now is to just unload D'Angelo Russell's $30 million contract.

Well, time is gold for the Lakers if they are serious in planning to get key players for the next season. They might lose their targeted players to other teams.

I do believe that it is just hard to trade Westbrick's $47 million salary. And the Lakers do not have a lot to give, probably a lot of future draft picks. But with KD wanting to get traded too, the Nets might consider future draft picks for their rebuilding.

If I were the casino manager, I will fire that employee right away. I do not need to here his reasoning any further. Casinos do not need emotional workers. And employees in the first place should know their place and be professional at all times.

If given the chance, I may also talk to that regular gambler privately. I will probably try to know his present financial situation and then I will explain to him what it's like to become a responsible gambler.