Tag: New Jersey

Claressa Shields makes history with near shutout of Ivana Habazin

Claressa Shields defeated Ivana Habazin by a near-shutout 10-round decision to win major titles in a third weight division Friday night.

Claressa Shields has accomplished a great deal in 10 professional fights.

The two-time Olympic champion defeated Ivana Habazin by a near-shutout 10-round decision to win major titles in a third weight division – junior middleweight – Friday night at Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Shields became the fastest to become a three-division champion. Vasiliy Lomachenko did it in 12 fights.

She had previously won titles at super middleweight and then middleweight before moving down to junior middleweight. She still holds the 160-pound title.

“This feels great. I did it in 10 fights,” Shields said. “Now I’m No. 1, the fastest boxer in history to become a three-division world champion.”

Three-division champion Claressa Shields seemingly makes history every time she fights. AP Photo / Matt Rourke

The matchup had generated a lot of attention for the wrong reasons.

Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) was scheduled to make her 154-pound debut against her Croatian rival in August but the fight was postponed after Shields was injured. Then the bout, rescheduled for Oct. 5, was canceled after Habazin’s 68-year-old trainer James Ali Bashir was attacked at the weigh-in the day before the fight. Shields’ brother Artis J. Mack was later arrested on assault charges.

Once the fighters stepped into the ring, however, it wasn’t much of a contest. Shields outboxed, outworked and generally had her way with Habazin (20-4, 7 KOs) from the opening bell.

In the sixth round, a left hook to the body put Habazin down. She was able to get up and continue but, as in the rest of the fight, she landed punches too infrequently to make the fight competitive. She landed only 49 total shots, less than five per round, according to CompuBox.

The judges scored it 100-90, 99-89 and 100-89.

“I just want to become a better fighter,” Shields said. “That’s all. I want to grow women’s boxing. I want to share a card with Deontay Wilder and Errol Spence. Andre Ward said, ‘Sis, take her to the body.’ I was throwing all body shots in the first minute and then boom, she went down.”

Shields has said she plans to give Mixed Martial Arts a try. She might as well. It seems no one in boxing can give her a fight.

In a preliminary bout, rising young welterweight star Jaron Ennis (25-0, 22 KOs) stopped an overmatched Bakhtiyar Eyubov (14-2-1, 12 KOs) 34 seconds into the fourth round of a scheduled 10-round fight.

Ennis battered Eyubov in the opening round, putting the Houston-based Kazakhstani down twice, and never let up. The Philadelphian was pounding his helpless prey when the referee finally decided that he had taken enough punishment and stopped the fight.

Some thought this would be Ennis’ biggest test. If that was a test, the other 147-pounders should be on notice.

Claressa Shields plans to turn a page against Ivana Habazin

Claressa Shields said people will forget about Ivana Habazin after she knocks out the Croatian on Friday in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Claressa Shields is fighting to move on. Fighting to forget, too.

Shields gets that chance Friday against Ivana Habazin in a junior middleweight bout that was rescheduled after a brawl as ugly as any in 2019 at a weigh-in on Oct. 4, the day before they were supposed to fight in Flint, Michigan, Shields’ hometown.

Four months later, they have moved on to a new day and a new zip code, Atlantic City, New Jersey. They fight on Showtime.

“Everyone who was in Flint and knows about the incident that happened knows it’s not something I have a history of doing,’’ Shields (9-0, 2 KOs) said Tuesday at news conference in New York. “I don’t do stuff outside the ring.’’

But the memory of that brawl lingers. Hard feelings remain. Habazin’s manager and trainer, 68-year-old James Ali Bashir, was seriously injured by a reported sucker punch. He underwent surgery for facial fractures. Shields’ brother, Artis Mack, was charged with assault.

“I’ve been thinking about this since October and I have more of an incentive now given what happened,” Habazin (20-3, 7 KOs) said. “I feel like I’m fighting for James Ali Bashir, as well as for my own pride and respect. I’m also fighting for my country. I want to make Croatia proud that I am their daughter, and I feel that I now have their full support.’’

There’s also incentive for Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who has never been shy about what she thinks of herself or her opposition. She called herself the GWOAT – the greatest woman of all time – on Tuesday. She also expressed her contempt for Habazin.

“One of the things she said that was really disrespectful was that I didn’t make weight for October 4,’’ Shields said.  “Don’t believe the lies. I made 154 pounds and I’m going to be a three-division world champion come Friday. Ivana doesn’t stand a chance.

“I’m sorry, I’m just going to keep it real. She’s not as skilled as Christina Hammer. She worked her way up, but once a quitter, always a quitter.

“Once the fight is over, she’s going to be a blast from the past. They won’t be talking about the incident in Flint. They may remember it, but her? They won’t even remember her name after I beat her down on Friday.”

Notre Dame Football: Three-Star CB Clarence Lewis Signs with Irish

Lewis was offered a scholarship by Notre Dame on in May and gave his verbal commitment in June after making his first official visit to campus.

A somewhat under the radar prospect in Clarence Lewis signed his National Letter of Intent with Notre Dame, adding to their impressive haul in the 2020 recruiting class.

A Middletown, New Jersey (Mater Dei High School) product, Lewis ranks as the 17th best prospect in the state of New Jersey this year.

Lewis was offered a scholarship by Notre Dame on in May and gave his verbal commitment in June after making his first official visit to campus.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqEGE-YtJkk&w=560&h=315]

He committed quickly after receiving an offer but also had offers from Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Kentucky and Virginia.

Which team won turkey? Results from Thanksgiving Day high school football

As rivalry games unfolded on Thanksgiving Day across the country, we rounded up the results and highlights. See what happened in the State Line game, Maryland’s Holy War, New London-NFA, Winchester-Woburn and Xavier Prep-Fordham Prep.

As Thanksgiving Day football unfolds across the country, we’ll round up the results from the biggest games right here, starting with the one that determines pride across two Northeastern states.

STATE LINE GAME: Easton (Penn.) 16, Phillipsburg (N.J.) 13

Make it three straight for Easton, which scraped out another narrow victory in the annual Turkey Day grudge match to end all Turkey Day grudge matches. This one may end up being best known for the brawl that erupted in the final minute, with the game decided after a final Easton defensive stand. With Easton taking kneel downs Phillipsburg defensive players rushed the line and a melee ensued, with the referees running off the final minute once order was restored.

After taking a 9-6 lead into halftime, Easton scored on a one-yard touchdown run from running back Nahjee Adams with 10 minutes remaining to stretch the lead to 16-6. Phillipsburg answered, cutting the lead back to a field goal on a touchdown pass from Ben Ries to Robert Martin, but that was as close as the Stateliners could get.

The win pushes Easton’s final 2019 mark to 8-5 while Phillipsburg’s loss leaves the Stateliners at 8-3.

MARYLAND’S HOLY WAR: Calvert Hall 33, Loyola Blakefield 10

The 100th edition of Maryland’s Holy War ended just as the previous five did … with Calvert Hall celebrating a decisive victory in the game played at Towson University.

Cole Herbert led Calvert Hall with three rushing touchdowns and a fumble recovery on defense as the Cardinals built up a 27-3 lead and never looked back. The victory marked the sixth straight for Calvert Hall in the historic series and narrowed Loyola’s overall advantage to 49-43-8.

https://www.facebook.com/wmar2news/videos/727168297793882/

YE OLDE BALL GAME (CONN.): Norwich Free Academy 49, New London 12

NFA dominated the 158th meeting between the two schools from neighboring Connecticut seaport towns, cruising to a 37-point victory against the Whalers that clinched a Connecticut Class LL state playoff berth in the process.

Wide receiver Damien Bleau led NFA with three touchdown catches in a game that was moved to NFA’s turf field on Wednesday. NFA’s victory pushes the Wildcats to 7-3 entering the playoffs while New London dropped to 5-7.

OLD FIRM FRIENDS (MASS.): Winchester 14, Woburn 7

Winchester proved too tough for their archrivals in a game that was tight and then devolved into a mess as the rain picked up in the fourth quarter.

Perhaps driven by the weather, much of the game was contested on the ground, with players from stars from both teams breaking through landmark moments during the contest: Winchester quarterback Tommy Degnan crossed the 1,000-yard rushing threshold on a 58-yard carry, pushing him above 1,000 yards passing and rushing on the season; Sachems running back Symon Sathler countered by crossing the 1,000-yard rushing mark himself in the third quarter.

The win improved Winchester to 9-2 on the season, the program’s first nine-win season since 2009 per the Daily Times Chronicle. Woburn wrapped up the campaign at 5-6.

TURKEY WHERE DREAMS ARE MADE (N.Y.): Xavier Prep 40, Fordham Prep 14

After a tight first half, the 97th Turkey Bowl in New York City was one-way traffic in the third quarter, with the Knights racing out to a 34-7 lead and then playing out the string.

Running back Andrew Scariano led Xavier with three touchdown runs, including two shortly after the Knights recovered Rams fumbles as Xavier made the most of Fordham’s mistakes.

The game played at Aviator Field in Brooklyn wrapped up a 4-5 campaign for Xavier and 3-7 season for Fordham.

Twenty-seven years later, the four-time …

Twenty-seven years later, the four-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony, alongside Mayor Ras Baraka, at an $80 million, 22-story building at 50 Rector Park in the Newark Downtown District. The development, known around town as “Shaq Tower,” is the first high-rise apartment building to join the city’s skyline in more than 50 years. The project came about as a public-private partnership between Shaq, the city, the state of New Jersey, New Brunswick-based Boraie Development and the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group. The new tower was also boosted by a $24 million New Jersey Department of Economic Development Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit. The building’s one million square feet of space includes ground-floor retail space and 169 residential units—with monthly rents ranging from $1,800 to $2,895—as well as a gym, co-working lounge, private dining room, sky deck and Amazon lockers.

Jury clears New Jersey high school baseball coach sued for telling player to slide

After seven years, former high school baseball coach John Sauk has finally been freed from the legal entanglements connected to his advice for a former player to slide into third base.

A seven-year legal entanglement over a junior varsity player’s slide into third base may be at an end. On Monday afternoon, 31-year-old John Suk was finally found not liable for the injuries suffered by former Bound Brook High School baseball player Jake Mesar.

The lawsuit in question was connected to an incident where Suk told Mesar to continue running and then slide into third base. He did, but suffered a devastating ankle break in the process of his slide. Mesar and his family later filed a lawsuit seeking damages from Suk and the school district, seeking more than $1 million citing Suk’s alleged negligence.

To be fair, Mesar’s ankle injury proved to be horrific. Here’s more on how that turned out from New Jersey Advance Media:

Even after three surgeries, the ankle was not improving — one doctor even presented amputation as a possible outcome. A specialist from the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, Robert Rozbruch, found post-traumatic arthritis and signs of necrosis — evidence the bone was dying.

Mesar needed two more surgeries, including one to inject stem cells into the ankle tissue, and he was fit with an external fixator, a stabilizing frame to keep the bones properly positioned. The injury improved, but Rozbruch told the once-active teenager to avoid high-impact activities. Even jogging.

One can understand why Mesar and his family could be upset, but the lawsuit’s conclusion now firmly holds that concern is misplaced.

“(If he had lost) The coaching profession would be under heavy scrutiny for everything that happens’, Suk told New Jersey Advance Media.

“Coaches are going to have to have insurance like doctors have for malpractice. School districts are not going to want to take the risk of having sports.”

Clearly, the judges felt that potential damage was too great to find in favor of Mesar, virtually no matter what happened to the teen.