Tag: john ruiz

NCAA digs into Miami’s NIL deals: How it could impact the SEC, CFB overall

NCAA may be cracking down on Miami and NIL deals after recent booster investigation. The findings will have an impact on college football across the nation.

Name, image and likeness (NIL) deals have completely revolutionized collegiate athletics, but the NCAA is finally starting to crack down and check in on some of these deals. The intent of NIL is to allow players to earn money off of the brand they have created for themselves, however, it has quickly turned into what appears to be free agency and bidding wars for high school recruits.

This week, Miami Hurricanes’ well-known donor, John Ruiz, has been the subject of NCAA attention for his NIL deals. Ruiz has a net worth well into the billions and is capable of changing the landscape of college sports. According to Sports Illustrated, the NCAA has had staff members “spend at least two days in Miami prying into NIL deals” while interviewing Ruiz and others. Ruiz described the conversation with the NCAA as not so much an investigation, but rather an interview.

So what does this potential NIL crackdown mean for Miami, The University of Alabama and college sports in general?

Roy Jones Jr. vs. Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield? Jones seems to be ready

Roy Jones Jr., 51, seems to be ready to join Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield as 50-plus-year-old fighters rejoining the active ranks.

Add another 50-plus legend to those who want to take part in old-timers boxing.

Roy Jones Jr., a former four-division titleholder, hinted during an Instagram interview with one of his fighters that he likes the idea of fighting Mike Tyson (53) or Evander Holyfield (57), both of whom have said they plan to return to take part in exhibitions for charity.

The difference between Jones and the two hall of famers, besides age, is that Jones has been active recently. He last fought two years ago, when he outpointed Scott Sigmon. Tyson hasn’t fought since 2005, Holyfield since 2011.

And it sounds as if Jones still has an edge.

“Let me tell you one thing, just so you all know,” Jones said. “I don’t really mess with people too much, I don’t like to bother nobody. I’m getting older, I love trying to pass what I know down to these guys so they can take what I did, what I knew, and try to add and build on to it.

“Chris Eubank, Shady [Gamhour], whole class of them, trying just to pass to them what I know and let them add what I know to what they do. But … I’ve had a few people bothering me lately. I ain’t gonna say a lot of names, but some pretty strong, big guys trying to bully me around.

“I don’t like being bullied. I will fight you. I know I’m 51 but I will fight somebody over 50. And I ain’t scared to fight nobody, nowhere, at no time. Headgear, no headgear, I don’t care. So just be aware, and be careful what you say.”

Jones didn’t provide details about the encounter to which he was referring but he’s obviously ready to lace ’em up.

Jones fought once as a heavyweight, moving up from 175 pounds to 193 to beat John Ruiz and win a heavyweight title in 2003. He went back down to light heavyweight and ultimately to cruiserweight after that but was never the same dominating fighter he had been.

Degrees of Separation: Linking Lomachenko to Klitschko? We did it

Boxing Junkie managed to link Ukrainian legends Vasiliy Lomachenko and Wladimir Klitschko in spite of their weight disparity.

Six degrees of separation is a theory that everyone in the world is separated by no more than six social connections.

In other words, you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Queen Elizabeth. Or so the concept goes.

We’re borrowing the six degrees concept – well, sort of loosely – to connect fighters from the past to their more contemporary counterparts in our new occasional feature, “Degrees of Separation.”

Example: Let’s connect Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Super easy; we did it in two steps. Senior fought Grover Wiley, who fought Junior.

In this installment of the Boxing Junkie feature, we decided to challenge ourselves. We set out to link arguably the two greatest Ukrainian fighters of all time — current lightweight titleholder Vasiliy Lomachenko and retired heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko — without knowing whether it was possible.

Remember, Lomachenko started his career at 126 pounds and currently fights at 135. Klitschko fought at more than 240 pounds. We wondered whether it would be possible to find the opponents necessary to bridge that enormous gap.

Also, we didn’t have much to work with in Lomachenko’s case; he has had only 15 opponents.

How did it go? Very well, thank you. It turned out to be fairly easy to link the two countrymen. It took more steps than we would’ve liked — 10 — but we’ll take that given what seemed to be a difficult task at best.

Check it out:

Vasiliy Lomachenko fought …

Jorge Linares, who fought …

Antonio DeMarco, who fought …

Adrien Broner, who fought …

Manny Pacquiao, who fought …

Oscar De La Hoya, who fought …

Bernard Hopkins, who fought …

Roy Jones Jr., who fought …

John Ruiz, who fought …

David Haye, who fought …

Wladimir Klitschko

Could you do it in fewer steps? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook. Or you can contact me on Twitter. And please follow us!

Read more:

Degrees of separation: Connecting John L. Sullivan to Deontay Wilder

Degrees of Separation: Linking Filipino greats Flash Elorde, Manny Pacquiao

Degrees of Separation: Linking Japanese greats Fighting Harada and Naoya Inoue

Degrees of Separation: Linking Tyson Fury to first U.K.-born heavyweight champ

Degrees of Separation: Connecting Canelo Alvarez with Mexican legends

Jimmy Thunder, former heavyweight contender, dies at 54

Jimmy Thunder, a Samoa-born heavyweight from New Zealand who became a title contender in the 1990s, has died. He was 54.

Jimmy Thunder, a Samoa-born heavyweight from New Zealand who became a title contender in the 1990s, has died, according to multiple reports. He was 54.

Thunder, whose birth name was Ti’a James Senio Peau, reportedly died in his sleep at a hospital in Auckland after undergoing surgery to treat a brain tumor.

Thunder (35-14, 28 KOs) recorded victories over former titleholders Tony Tubbs, Trevor Berbick and Tim Witherspoon and won a few minor belts but he never fought for a major title.

His most notable accomplishment as a professional might have been his first-punch, 13-second knockout of Crawford Grimsley in 1997. He landed the knockout shot in the first few seconds of the fight.

“I was hungry,” Peau said at the time of the quick KO, according to The Associated Press. “I missed out on my lunch, and I missed out on dinner, and I was getting ready for the fight, and I walked past the buffet, and I said, ‘Damn man, I wanna go eat.’”

Thunder was a successful amateur, winning the super heavyweight gold medal in the 1986 Commonwealth Games, but was passed over when New Zealand selected its 1988 Olympic team.

He turned pro the following year and won consistently, at least until the latter part of his career. He went 4-8 – including losses to John Ruiz, Chris Byrd and Monte Barrett – in his last 12 fights before retiring in 2002.

Former heavyweight titleholder and current contender Joseph Parker, also a Samoan-Kiwi, thanked his predecessor on social media.

“Thank you for your service to our countries, both Samoa and New Zealand,” Parker said. “You, along with many other greats, some passed and some who are still with us today, paved the way for us up and coming fighters to be seen and heard on an international scale.”