Saturday Game Results - Round 36

This is a brief round-up of games with final results. SPANISH FOOTBALL action with 5 games of Round 36 celebrated this Saturday.

Levante beats Granada in 3-0 and keeps the flame alive of finishing in Champions League table positions.

RCD ESPANYOL face their defeats against REAL SPORTING DE GIJON in 0-3.

3 - 0 final result game this time between REAL SOCIEDAD & RACING DE SANTANDER

Madrid Club GETAFE lost 1 - 3 to REAL MALLORCA. The only goal from the home side came in the last moments of the games, concretely in the 92nd min, via ALEXIS. The visitors goals came from CASADESUS in the 3 rd min, ALFARO in the 68th min & HEMED in the 78th min.

VILLAREAL drew 1 - 1 with OSASUNA & put themselves dangerously close to the relegation zone, while Osasuna still has a slim chance of getting a Euro place although difficult.

Watch game live at 12bet.com.

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Canterbury Bulldogs vs Manly Sea Eagles Match Preview

Canterbury Bulldogs vs Manly Sea Eagles Match Preview Live at 05:35PM GMT+8

ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Last meeting: Round 24 2011 - Sea Eagles 27 bt Bulldogs 16 at Brookvale Oval
Head-to-head: Bulldogs 60 Sea Eagles 48 drawn 5
Referees: Shayne Hayne and Brett Suttor



Possible Lineups:

BULLDOGS: Ben Barba, Steve Turner, Josh Morris, Jonothan Wright, Bryson Goodwin, Josh Reynolds, Kris Keating, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis (c), Sam Kasiano, Frank Pritchard, Dene Halatau, David Stagg. Interchange (from): James Graham, Greg Eastwood, Corey Payne, Joel Romelo, Martin Taupau

SEA EAGLES: Brett Stewart, Jorge Taufua, Jamie Lyon (c), Steve Matai, David Williams, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Jason King (c), Matt Ballin, Brent Kite, Anthony Watmough, Jamie Buhrer, Glenn Stewart. Interchange (from): Joe Galuvao, Dean Whare, Nick Skinner, Vic Mauro, Daniel Harrison, Liam Foran.

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From first league, Real trailed by a goal then Cristiano Ronaldo strikes -- the first, a penalty and next is a neat low

finish which put them in control.With a spot kick done by Arjen Robben, he leveled the tie for Bayern. No further

goals meant a shoot-out, which Bastian Schweinsteiger settled to send his team to the final goal.While Mario

Gomez and David Alaba scored for Bayern, the goalkeeper Manuel Neuer played a major part saving real's first two

penalties, from Kaka and Ronaldo.This was the second time in major Champions League shoot-outs ronaldo had

missed from the spot. If you remember he also failed for Manchester United in the 2008 final against Chelsea.So let's

follow the game of Real Madrid and see if they will beats Sevilla FC.

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Crolla seeks Matthews rematch

Former champion hoping for a chance to regain belt

 

Anthony Crolla is hoping for a British title rematch with Derry Matthews after losing the Lonsdale belt on Saturday night. The 25-year-old was stopped with three seconds remaining in the sixth round despite looking capable of continuing. Crolla had been floored in the third round and suffered a gash about his eye in the fourth but expressed his disappointment at the referee stepping in. Gallagher believes Crolla's body shots were doing some damage and that his fighter was 'devastated' to have lost the fight.


"The referee had let it go at earlier points and we had controlled the cut to his eye," he continued.


"He was causing a lot of damage with his body shots and we feel he could have gone on to stop Derry. Anthony is devastated.


"He needs to take some time now before hopefully he gets a rematch and the chance to win his belt back."

 

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Mares enhances reputation

Mexican becomes two-weight world champion

A dominant display from the unbeaten Abner Mares saw him capture the vacant WBC super-bantamweight title against Eric Morel. Mares was a class above the experienced Morel from the off, with the Mexican fighter unloading some brutal body shots at the Don Haskins Convention Center. Morel, though, showed incredible character and a rock solid chin as he hung around for the full 12 rounds to take it to the scorecards.


However it was no surprise as Mares, the former IBF featherweight champion, was awarded the decision by scores of 120-107 from judge Duane Ford and 119-109 from Don Griffin and Raul Valencia. Mares moves to 24-0-1 to claim the title Toshiaki Nishioka vacated - with the only blot on his record coming from his draw against Yonnhy Perez in 2010. Morel drops to 46-3, with the Puerto Rican suffering his first defeat since WBA super-flyweight loss to Martin Castillo in 2005. On the undercard in El Paso, Anselmo Moreno successfully defended his WBA bantamweight belt with a ninth-round stoppage of David de la Mora. Panama's Moreno had de la Mora on the canvas in the second and sixth rounds before the Mexican retired on his stool at the end of the eighth.

 

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DeGale destroys Sanavia; Nielsen stops Vega

By James Slater: Tonight in Denmark, 26-year-old European super-middleweight champ James DeGale scored a relatively straightforward 4th-round stoppage over Italy’s former WBC and Euro 168-pound ruler Christian Sanavia.

“Chunky,” as DeGale is known, scored three hurtful knockdowns in the 4th, the final knockdown prompting the ref to wave the fight off. The official time was 2-minutes and 58 seconds of the 4th. DeGale is now 12-1(9). 37-year-old Sanavia, past his best, falls to 45-6-1(13).


The opening three rounds were interesting, with some decent action. Sanavia, a southpaw like DeGale, pressed the action as best he could, forcing the 2008 Olympic gold medallist on the back foot and onto the ropes at times, and the Italian had some success with his left hand. DeGale was boxing smoothly, however, and he appeared totally relaxed and in control.


Then, after having been clipped with a shot in the 3rd, the younger man by almost a decade stepped it up in the next session. A left uppercut decked Sanavia, who went down awkwardly. Soon put down for a second time, the former champ was near the end and he knew it. The final, fight-ending knockdown combo from DeGale comprised of a left to the jaw followed by two hard shots to the body.


DeGale looked very good tonight, scoring his first stoppage in over a year. Now two wins removed from his disappointing loss to archrival George Groves, DeGale made a first successful defence of his European belt. Interestingly, DeGale was offered the chance to face WBO champ Robert Stieglitz at short notice (after Groves pulled out with a damaged nose); but DeGale turned down the May 5th offer, saying he had worked too hard to face a southpaw.


On the showing he gave tonight, DeGale may well have been capable of pulling off the upset had he taken the tempting offer. DeGale’s time as a world title challenger cannot be all that far off, however. 

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Mark Bocek vs John Alessio match preview

UFC 145 (in Atlanta, GA): 12BET odds Mark Bocek vs John Alessio 4/22 10AM GMT+8

John Alessio has thrice fought in the UFC, even once battling Pat Miletich for the Welterweight (155-pound at the time) title back in 2000. He earned his trip back to the big show by winning 10 of 11 fights and by dropping down to the current Lightweight division (155-pound) late last year. Mark Bocek is a top talent in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at 155 pounds. He's submitted a large contingent of fighters and he's got experience against the best of the best in the division, although he's still searching for that signature victory. He's got some serious grappling credentials and he'll be hoping to showcase them against Alessio.

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McCloskey chasing Marquez

Hearn hoping to make July fight with Mexican great

Paul McCloskey could be in line to fight Juan Manuel Marquez in Texas on July 14.
McCloskey, who takes on veteran American DeMarcus Corley in Belfast next month, was named as a possible opponent by the four-weight champion's handlers.
And promoter Eddie Hearn says the Corley fight now takes on extra significance with a big fight in the pipeline for 'Dudey'.
"Paul's name has been mentioned by JMM's team in the last week and I reached out to Top Rank yesterday to let them know that we'd love the fight," said Hearn.
"I think we are in with a decent chance but a convincing win against Corley in front of a packed King's Hall crowd would strengthen our case for a July clash with Marquez."
Marquez was unfortunate not be given the decision in his third fight with Manny Pacquiao last year and he is looking to fight a southpaw in the summer ahead of a possible fourth encounter with Pac-Man.
However, there are a number of other fighters in the running for the Texas date, with undefeated Filipino Mercito Gesta, Mike Alvarado and Brandos Rios all possible opponents for Marquez.

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DW: Mark Hunt Vs. Junior Dos Santos Ain't Gonna Happen

Dana White shut the door on a fan campaign to see Mark Hunt step in to face Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 if Alistair Overeem is unable to get a license from the NSAC.

White, who didn't feel like speaking about Overeem because of his anger towards him, talked about why Hunt won't get the title shot following UFC on Fuel 2:


“[Fans] can keep rallying. It ain’t going to happen,” White flatly stated during Saturday’s “UFC on FUEL TV 2″ post-fight press conference.


"Listen, Mark Hunt is going to have to fight one of the top guys. You don't just jump right into the title shot."


"I have ... praised Mark Hunt for what he's been able to accomplish in the situation that he was in. I think this fight with Struve is a good fight for him. If he beats Struve, he'll break in and start fighting some of the top-five heavyweights in the world.


"But first of all, I've got to say, anything can happen in a fight, but in all reality, it's not fair to Mark Hunt either to put the guy right in there with a Junior Dos Santos for a title shot. The guy (ideally) works his way up, he beats Struve, fights somebody in the top-five."


"I guarantee you this: If he beats Struve, his next fight will be (against) somebody that's top-five that can get him closer to that title shot."

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Rios targets Marquez

Marquez back in action with routine victory

 

Unbeaten American Brandon Rios has targeted a bout with Juan Manuel Marquez after both fighters won on Saturday night. However it was far from straightforward for Rios who edged to a split-decision victory over Cuban Richard Abril.

He was unable to claim the WBA lightweight title having failed to make the weight on Friday and produced a scrappy display although he was ahead 115-113, 116-112 on two cards. The third judge saw Abril a 117-111 winner. Rios improved to 30-0 with one drawn but this was the second time he cost himself a WBA crown by failing to make the weight. He stopped John Murray in 11 rounds last December but again had failed to tip the scales at or below 135 pounds.

Rios is hoping for a shot at Marquez this summer with a step up to 140 pounds on the agenda. However his rival still holds out hope of a fourth fight with Manny Pacquiao after proving too strong for Sergey Fedchenko in Mexico City. Fighting for the first time since losing a majority decision to Pacquiao in November, he was never troubled. Two judges saw the fight 118-110 for Marquez, with the third even more emphatic at 119-109.

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Rios - Abril can't beat me

 Undefeated Rios insists outsider Abril will not win on Saturday

Brandon Rios feels there is no way he can lose to Richard Abril when they battle it out for the WBA lightweight title. Rios, the former champion, had been slated to take on Yuriorkis Gamboa, but will now takes on Cuban-born fighter Abril on Saturday. Fireworks have marked the build-up to the bout, including a shoving match at a Los Angeles press conference last week and Rios believes his opponent will be going down "real hard".

"No unheard-of fighter like Abril will ever beat me," Rios, who is undefeated in 30 bouts, declared. "He's going to go down and he's going to go down real hard. In the boxing world, Abril is in the darkness and I will keep him there."  Rios insists he is taking his training more seriously now and has even hired a nutritionist - a move he believes has paid off. "He is helping a lot," Rios said. "He is cooking great and I'm eating great. "This is the smartest move I have made in my career. And it's paying off very well right now." Abril gained the interim title after defeating former champion Miguel Acosta in October and brings a record of 17-2-1 with eight knockouts to the contest. "I feel very good and I am very prepared for this fight," Abril commented. "You have been talking a lot of smack. Well, I'm here and not afraid of you."

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Alex targets Silva lining

Home star favourite to continue title tilt

Swedish star Alexander Gustafsson is the firm favourite with the bookmakers as he takes on Thiago Silva on his homecoming at UFC on Fuel 2.

The 25-year-old will enter the Octagon in Stockholm as 2/5 favourite with Sky Bet and is eyeing a victory to complete a five-match winning streak. His opponent is coming off a 14-month absence from the UFC after failing a drugs test at the star of last year, with his decision victory over Brandon Vera overturned by the NSAC. Prior to that, the Brazilian had competed with elite level fighters including former Light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida, with the former fortunate to escape a final-round flurry from Silva and record a decision victory. But despite facing illustrious in the past, the online betting company clearly believes he will suffer from ring rust and have priced him at 15/8 outsider. Gustafsson has only gone to a decision once in his career and looks good value at 7/4 to end this battle within the distance with a TKO/KO. Although Silva is no pushover, and has only suffered one TKO defeat in his career, the 'Mauler' is on a tear and is can use the Brazilian as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

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Another record breaker!

WrestleMania XXVIII sets new standards, WWE confirms

This year's event broke three big records. With a sell-out crowd of 78,363, the annual pop culture extravaganza became Sun Life Stadium's largest attended event and highest grossing entertainment event in history. Grossing $8.9 million, it was also the highest grossing live event in WWE history. The event was broadcast around the world on pay-per-view in more than 105 countries and 20 languages. The previous Sun Life Stadium attendance record was 77,912 for the BCS National Championship in 2005. Its highest grossing entertainment event was U2 on June 29, 2011, grossing more than $7.5 million. WrestleMania XXVIII surpassed the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania in Houston, which grossed $7.2 million. This marks the third consecutive year WrestleMania broke the gross entertainment event record of the host venue.

"WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami-Dade County was an incredible event for WWE," said John P. Saboor, Senior Vice President of Special Events, WWE.

"WWE would like to thank our loyal fans, as well as the public and private sector partners for their tireless efforts to help make WrestleMania Week such a success.

"We now look forward to building on these achievements as we head to MetLife Stadium for WrestleMania XXIX next year."

WrestleMania XXIX will take place on Sunday, April 7, 2013 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.

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Complete Card For UFC On Fuel 2: Gustafsson Vs. Silva

UFC On Fuel 2 takes place this weekend and features a light heavyweight main event of Alexander Gustafsson taking on Thiago Silva.


The event airs live on Fuel TV and takes place from Stockholm, Sweden.
B Complete card below:

MAIN CARD 

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Thiago Silva

Alessio Sakara vs. Brian Stann

Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Paulo Thiago

Diego Nunes vs. Dennis Siver

DaMarques Johnson vs. John Maguire

Damacio Page vs. Brad Pickett

PRELIMINARY CARD 

Papy Abedi vs. James Head

Cyrille Diabate vs. Jorgen Kruth

Francis Carmont vs. Magnus Cedenblad

Yoislandy Izquierdo vs. Reza Madadi

Simeon Thoresen vs. Besam Yousef

Jason Young vs. Eric Wisely

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Alistair Overeem's Hearing With NSAC Set For April 24th

The fate of UFC 146's main event will be decided on April 24th as that is the date Alistair Overeem will be expected to appear before the NSAC.

Executive Director Keith Kizer informed the MMA Show this weekend that the Commission will make their decision on whether on or to license Overeem on the 24th which leaves just over one month before May 26th's UFC 146.

Dana White has not made an official decision as to who will replace Overeem if he is not granted a license and has decided not to make a concrete decision until after the hearing takes place. In the meantime he has gone on Twitter to assure fans that Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez will still fight each other, which also means neither of those fighters will fill the most likely vacant main event slot.

Overeem failed a pre-fight drug test last week that was conducted by the NSAC due to elevated T/E levels. The ratio that is deemed OK by the NSAC is 6:1 but Overeem failed with a 16:1 ratio, ten times the allowed limit.

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Frank Mir Vs. Cain Velasquez Still On For UFC 146

Frank Mir Vs. Cain Velasquez will still happen at UFC 146 according to UFC President Dana White who posted the update on Twitter. With Alistair Overeem all but officially out of the main event against Junior Dos Santos on May 26th, the rumor mill was spinning with possibilities as to who might replace him. Frank Mir's name was one of the front runners on the list but it now appears as though that won't happen. Instead, Mir will stay in his spot taking on former Champion Cain Velasquez.

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Dana White "Beyond Pissed" At Alistair Overeem For Failed Test

It should come as no surprise that UFC President Dana White is not happy with Alistair Overeem after failing a pre-fight drug test prior to his heavyweight title shot against Junior Dos Santos next month at UFC 146.


White was on a media conference call when the news broke about Overeem's failed test:


"I am beyond pissed about this. I'm so (expletive) mad right now I can't even begin ... How (expletive) stupid do you have to be? Seriously dumb. Anybody who's using (performance-enhancing drugs) right now is an absolute (expletive) moron. It's beyond - what's the word I'm looking for - it's beyond belief. It's beyond comprehension. You're an absolute moron, a brain-dead absolute (expletive) dummy. It goes beyond a guy have any common sense whatsoever."


“The worst part is," White continued "that he sat in front of us and lied to us. How f------ stupid do you have to be? Seriously dumb. Anybody who’s using [performance-enhancing drugs] right now is an absolute f------ moron.”


As for Overeem's future with the company:


“It doesn’t look good, does it?” White said. “It doesn’t look good.”

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Cleverly eyes Hopkins

Welsh fighter would love to take on legendary veteran



Nathan Cleverly has his sights set on a "special" unification showdown with legendary veteran Bernard Hopkins this summer.

The unbeaten Welshman will defend his WBO light-heavyweight title against Kosovan challenger Robin Krasniqi at London's historic Royal Albert Hall on April 28, barely two months after soundly thrashing American Tommy Karpency in Cardiff.The Krasniqi fight will be Cleverly's fourth defence of the belt he inherited last year and the Cefn Forest fighter, whose record reads 24-0 with 11 knockouts, believes he is ready to make the step up from 'alphabet' title holder to unified champion.He added: "It's definitely a case of getting the successful defence done on April 28 and then we can look for a big showdown in the summer in a big unification fight, in Wales, hopefully, against one of the American guys."That is the ambition, the goal."A fight between Cleverly and veteran superstar Hopkins has gradually moved closer to becoming a reality, with the fighters' promoters recently strengthening their working relationship.It is a match-up Cleverly is desperate to secure, with his fight against Krasniqi (37-2, 13KOs) on the same night as WBC champion Hopkins' rematch with Chad Dawson.

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Greg Jackson Explains Decision To Corner Jon Jones At UFC 145

Jon Jones had hoped to have his coach Greg Jackson alongside him for his UFC 145 Light Heavyweight Title defense against Rashad Evans but the fact Evans was a former student of Jackson's made things awkward for the sought after coach from New Mexico.







After time, Jackson decided to corner Jones in a few weeks when the title in on the line and explained his decision to MMAFighting.com this week:



"I felt I had kind of a duty to the team," Jackson said on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. "What I mean by that is Jon Jones is on the team, Rashad has left the team and has made it pretty clear he’s not coming back. My personal feeling, if I wanted to be a little selfish, I would say, 'I don’t want to deal with any of it. I don’t want to be there at all.' But it has to mean something to be on a team. It has to mean something, and I felt I had a duty to do that, because Jon’s on the team, so it’s my responsibility to corner him. Even though it’s a really hard decision, I decided to go with it.""It’s not fun," he said of the situation. "I wouldn’t call it weird, it’s just not fun. I love Jon to death, but I love Rashad, too. And so it’s not a position I enjoy at all. It’s not something I like, but it something I think I have to do."

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Freddie Roach Says GSP Vs. Anderson Silva Will Likely Never Happen

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre's boxing coach Freddie Roach was interviewed this week and was asked about the possibility of seeing St. Pierre match up with Middleweight Champ Anderson Silva. Roach explained why he feels the fight is unlikely though, for those hoping to see it:

"Anderson Silva hits harder (than Georges St. Pierre) because he's a lot bigger. But Georges is also a good puncher also. But the thing is, size wise, I think Anderson's a little more fluent at this point. He's a lot bigger than Georges, of course. That's why I don't think that fight, they've been talking about that fight happening, I don't think it will happen. I've talked to Georges about it and (Silva is) just way too big."

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Rose takes it to the Max Blackpool fighter sets the record straight at the Winter Gardens

Brian Rose made a successful first defence of his British light-middleweight title and avenged the only defeat on his record with a points win over Max Maxwell in his home town of Blackpool.

Rose dominated behind his pinpoint jab throughout the 12 rounds to earn a unanimous verdict from the judges by margins of 119-110 twice and 119-111.

Maxwell knocked out Rose in their previous meeting back in May 2010 and he tried to script a repeat, coming forward in an effort to unload uppercuts. Aside from shutting Rose on the ropes a few times, Maxwell's approach brought limited success but he kept going right to the end, testament to his fitness.

"(Trainer) Bobby (Rimmer) wanted me to move a little bit more, I think his heart was in his mouth at times," Rose, who claimed the title with a split decision over Prince Arron in his previous fight, told Sky Sports. "He kept telling me to move, but I think I was being a little bit macho. "It was hard not to after what he did to me last time. I wanted to prove to him that I can stand there. I shouldn't have but I came through and will learn from it."

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