Tag: Marrero

Notre Dame down two running backs, one defensive player vs. Seminoles

Some players will not be available for the opener.

Not long before Sunday’s season opener at Florida State, Notre Dame announced that three players will not be available. Their depth at running back will take a hit, and one defensive player also will be out:

Of these three players, only Flemister was listed on this week’s depth chart. Flemister, a senior, is coming off the best season of his career in which he ran for 299 yards and five touchdowns on 58 carries over nine games. He gained two yards on his only carry when the Irish played the Seminoles in 2020.

Diggs, a native of Marrero, Louisiana, is beginning his freshman year. He was a three-star recruit while running for 2,287 yards and 18 touchdowns in high school.

Botelho, who is listed as a linebacker on the above report but as a defensive lineman on the official roster, returns to the Irish for his sophomore season after playing four games as a freshman. He recorded two tackles, one of which came in the game against Florida State.

Terri Harper wins world title; Kid Galahad earns stoppage

Terri Harper is the new junior lightweight titleholder, beating Eva Wahlstrom by unanimous decision at the Sheffield Arena.

Move aside, Katie Taylor. There is a new name on the U.K. women’s boxing scene.

Yorkshire’s Terri Harper (10-0, 5 KOs) outpointed Finnish veteran Eva Wahlstrom (23-2-2, 3 KOs) over 10 rounds to become a new women’s junior lightweight titleholder on the Kell Brook-Mark DeLuca card Saturday at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England. 

The judges scored it 98-91, 99-90, and 99-90, all for the 23-year-old Harper.

After a closely contested first half, Harper shifted the momentum in her favor when she dropped Wahlstrom midway through Round 7. Though it was a flash knockdown more than anything, it seemed to allow Harper to open up her offense. Toward the end of Round 8, Harper hurt Wahlstrom with a flurry.

Also, Kid Galahad inched closer to a chance to avenge his loss to titleholder Josh Warrington last summer. The featherweight contender dominated Claudio Marrero, stopping the Dominican after eight rounds in a scheduled 12-rounder.

It was for the most part a typical Galahad fight: tedious and a bit ugly. In Round 4, Galahad was warned by referee Howard Foster for repeatedly using his forearms to push away the southpaw Marrero. Galahad fought at his desired pace, picking away at the one-dimensional Marrero with single punches as he maneuvered around the ring, switching stances. 

Galahad (27-1, 16 KOs) eventually turned it up in Round 7, connecting cleanly on hard combinations that had Marrero reeling. Concerned, Referee Foster checked in on Marrero (24-4, 17 KOs) during the break. Galahad continued the onslaught in the next round. After the end of Round 8, Marrero’s corner decided to throw in the towel.

With the win, Galahad once again becomes the mandatory challenger for the Leeds-based Warrington.

Kell Brook returns, stops Mark DeLuca in 7th round

Kell Brook shook off the cobwebs to defeat Mark DeLuca in the seventh round of a junior middleweight bout at Sheffield Arena.

Kell Brook still has some gas left in the tank. 

The former welterweight titleholder returned from a 14-month layoff to stop American journeyman Mark DeLuca inside seven rounds of a scheduled 12-round junior middleweight bout Saturday at the Sheffield Arena in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England.

The gulf in class between the two fighters was evident from the opening round. In Round 7, Brook put on the finishing touches by connecting on a counter left hand that dropped his opponent for the second time in the fight. The referee counted out the bloodied DeLuca.

“I felt very fit,” Brook said when asked post-fight to assess his performance. “Obviously a year and a half, I felt a little bit rusty, but once I got a bit into it … (DeLuca) was tough, he’s never been stopped.” 

Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) has struggled in recent years. He sustained orbital bone fractures in his knockout losses to Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. and was stabbed in the leg while on vacation in Tenerife. He has also difficulty making the welterweight limit.

With the win over DeLuca, Brook promised a new beginning as he aims to become a two-division titleholder. 

“I’m a new kid, I’m a new person,” he said. “I’m constantly in the gym. I’m living like a professional. … 2020 is the year that I become a champion again.”

A possible opponent is Liverpool’s Liam Smith, who was sitting ringside. Both fighters are promoted by Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn. Asked if that fight interested him, Brook responded, “Of course it does. I don’t shy away from any fighter. I’ve sparred him. We’ll sit down with Eddie (Hearn) this week.”

The southpaw DeLuca (24-2, 13 KOs) was competitive in the first couple of rounds as Brook felt him out and shook off rust but it was all downhill for the Massachusetts product beginning in Round 3, when Brook knocked DeLuca to the canvas for the first time in the fight with a combination. DeLuca was able to shake it off and gamely went right after Brook, who answered with an uppercut that buckled him. By that point, DeLuca’s face was a bloody mess.

DeLuca started off strong in Round 4, landing a right hand that momentarily caused Brook to hold, but Brook would answer back, staggering DeLuca with straight rights to close out the round as the pro-Brook crowd went into a frenzy.

This was Brook’s first bout since his win over Michael Zerafa in December 2018.