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"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular" said Adlai E. Stevenson (quotationspage.com). Unfortunately, badminton has been unpopular for a long time in America the land of freedom. However, the United States of America (USA) Badminton team put in a good effort at the 2008 Summer Olympics. But, they went home empty handed without any medals. Part of the reason why the USA Badminton team lost was because they do not have a huge talent pool to pick from to develop a Olympic team. In addition, badminton is considered more of a backyard sport in America. It’s not a hugely popular sport in the USA such as in China, Malaysia, Denmark, and Indonesia. But, why isn't badminton popular in America?

First, badminton isn't even the most popular racquet sport in the USA. Tennis is the most popular racquet sport in America and its drawing tons of interest in young athletes that could be competing in badminton. No one really dreams about being a badminton star in America. One reason is because there has not been any star badminton players in America like there are tennis stars such as Serena Williams, Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi. Star athletes help bring exposure to the sport and that increases young people’s interest in playing it. There are a few good USA badminton players such as Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan. But, they do not get the media attention needed to become well known in America.

America is not one of the best countries in the world at badminton. Since USA is not dominating and consistently winning events this is keeping the media from providing any attention to American badminton. The 2008 Summer Olympics the USA team in Beijing did not end the competition ranked highly. To illustrate, the highest ranked teams were China, Indonesia, South Korea, and Malaysia. These countries that finished in the top ranking in the Summer Olympics is continually dominating the sport. American sports fan do not like to see their country gets beat by other countries. And until America gets more competitive at Badminton the USA will continually overlook the sport.

Another issue in drawing America interest in badminton is the salary for badminton athletes are substantially lower when compared to professional athletes in other sports. For example, Datuk Lee Chong Wei won the Super Series Finals on January 11th and he took home a 15,000 dollar check. The compensation for that win is a lots lower than the amount that other athletes get paid such as basketball players, football players or tennis players. For instance, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras both made over 30 million dollars in their careers. It’s very rare for a badminton athlete to make that much in their career. That has hurt the amount of American athletes that are drawn to the sport especially when most people equate a professional athletic career as a way to become wealthy.

Thus, badminton hardly draws any interests even though it’s a Olympic sport in America. But, if the USA team keeps improving and eventually starts winning medals in the Olympics. Then that will increase exposure and bring much needed attention to the fun and enjoyable sport of badminton. There are definitely young athletes that would make the needed sacrifices to become part of the USA badminton team so that they could possibility accomplish the great feat of becoming a gold winner for their country in the Olympics.

Works Cited

26 Sept. 2009 http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1383.html

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 "To be a warrior is not a simple matter of wishing to be one. It is rather an endless struggle that will go on to the very last moment of our lives. Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. We make ourselves into one or the other" said Carlos Castaneda (thinkexist.com).  Arturo Gatti choose to be a warrior in his boxing career. He refused to quit even when it looked obvious that he was going to lose. He did not win every fight. However, his opponents had to be to try to defeat a man that was willing to die in the ring. He was truly the definition of a warrior.

Gatti had many memorable fights in his boxing career. Gatti participated in Ring Magazine's fight of the year four times in 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2003. His trilogy with Mick Ward is considered one of the greatest trilogies in boxing history. He won two out of the three trilogies. His third boxing match against Mickey Ward was a tough fight. He did not let broken hands signal to him that it was time to quit his fights. He broke his twice repaired right hand in the fourth round. He overcame being knocked down in the sixth round. He prevailed after those trying experiences in the fight to beat Ward by decision. Gatti fought with a broken hand when he defeated Gianluca Branco by decision on January 24th, 2004. He also fought many times bloody and he fought with his eyes swollen and closed. His boxing match against Wilson Rodriguez he fought with his right eye closing and he came back in that fight to knock out Rodriguez.

He used a never say quit attitude in all his boxing matches. His was a throwback to the old era of boxers. Unlike many of today fighters that do not have the same heart. Many boxers today are quitting fights instead of finishing them. Arturo Gatti had a brawling style. Gatti had an all-out attacking style that led to bloody fights in the ring. In addition, he had good boxing skills too. He was given the nickname of Thunder for the power of his punches. His was a throwback to the old era of boxers.

Gatti was the people's champion in boxing. He had a special connection with his fans that most fighters could only dream of having. He is one of a few boxers that could lose a fight and he still would not lose his fans. For example, after he lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr.  Gatti said that his fans in the following weeks still showed their love for him.  They were still anticipating his next fight and when he would get back in the ring again. His fans also loved him because he was a humble fighter. "Gatti was very humble, He always made sure that people around him felt important" said Stephen Larouche a Montreal trainer (ca.entertainment.yahoo.com). He was far from the best fighter. But, his fans could appreciate the passion he showed for the sport of boxing by giving a true full effort every time he stepped in the ring. He will truly be missed by boxing fans throughout the world.

Works Cited
24 July 2009 http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/warrior/
24 July 2009 http://ca.entertainment.yahoo.com/s/capress/090711/sports/box_gatti_obit

85373479NL001_CARL_FROCH_VS (via BoxingPlanet.net)

"When you are through improving you are through" said Proverbs (thinkexist.com). Carl Froch will not have a great career if he does not improve. Carl Froch defended his WBC Super Middleweight title against Jermain Taylor on April 25th, 2009. He knocked out Jermain Taylor in the 12th round. However, he struggled most of the fight. His last fight showed that he needs to work on his boxing skills.

Carl Froch is still undefeated. His last two fights he has shown several weaknesses. Carl Froch does not have a good defense. He boxes with his hands down at his waist. He does not guard his face correctly. This is why Jermain Taylor knocked him down in the 3rd round. Besides, he does not have a good speed. He looks slow in the ring. He fights flat-footed. The super middleweight division has a lot of boxers that have better hand and foot speed.

Carl Froch has many strengths. He has a very good chin. The only time he was ever knocked down in his amateur or professional career was against Jermain Taylor. He can take punches that the average boxer would get knocked out by. He is a very strong fighter at super middleweight. He never gets overpowered against other super middleweights. He is a strong puncher and he has a good power. He has won 20 out of his 25 fights by knockout. He will always have a puncher's chance to win regardless of whom he fights. You need good intangibles to be a long reigning champion. Carl Froch has many good intangibles. He has a great determination, and a strong will. This was displayed in many of his previous fights. For instance, Jermain Taylor knocked him down and beat him to the punch in the first six or seven rounds of the fight. But, Carl Froch's belief that he could win never was stopped. He stayed on Jermain Taylor until the end of the 12th round when he knocked him out.

Carl Froch has a bright future. Super Middleweight is a division that has many top level fighters. For example, Andre Ward, Mikkel Kessler, Lucian Bute, and Andre Dirrell are all young talented fighters. If Carl Froch improves he could beat any fighter in the super middleweight division. Yet, he currently is not good enough to the best fighters in the super middleweight division. His lack of defense creates problems for him against fighters with good offense and superior athleticism such as Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler. They would beat him to the punch. It's up to Carl Froch on how good he wants to be. The sky is the limit if Carl Froch keeps getting better. He needs to realize that improvement is needed if he wants a legendary career.

Works Cited
1 July 2009 <http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/improving/>

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"I am what I am. Your going to love me or hate me. I don't want nothing in between. This is how I look. This is how I dress. This is how I act. These are my family. These are my friends. This is my life. I am what I am" said Allen Iverson (video.google.com/videoplay?). Allen Iverson is an individualist. He has the confidence to be himself. He is comfortable in his own skin. He refuses to be fake. He does not pretend that he is squeaky clean. He has been a lightning rod for controversy. Therefore, he has been labeled as an NBA bad boy.  He also has had problems with authority figures throughout his career. He had problems with the NBA commissioner David Stern and a few of his past coaches. Thus, Allen Iverson is a rebel without a cause.

Allen Iverson is the anti-Michael Jordan. He is seen as an anti-hero. He does not have the squeaky clean or non-threatening image that Michael Jordan had in his career. He is one of the first NBA superstars to wear cornrows. His hair style was seen as too ethnic by the media and the corporate world. He likes to wear skull caps and doo rags too. The NBA did not like that he wore a skull cap to the rookie of the year award presentation. The NBA refused to make the pictures from the award ceremony public. He has over nine tattoos. There is a deep meaning behind every one of his tattoos. His tattoos have led to issues in his career. For instance, the official NBA magazine Hoops magazine put him on their cover of their magazine. But, they airbrushed his tattoos. He thought this was ridiculous. Allen Iverson said: "if they do not like my tattoos, why don't they just pick another player" (www.alleniversonlive.com/tattoos/). The tattoos are not about being a bad boy. It's another way for him to express himself.

Professional athletes are becoming more politically correct. Athletes are being groomed by their publicists and agents on what to say. Nonetheless, Allen Iverson keeps it real. He is politically incorrect. He speaks his mind. He addresses his critics directly. David Stern in 2005 issued a dress code in the NBA banning clothing associated with hip-hop culture." Iverson criticized Stern's dress code, saying that "It would not change a person's character regardless of what type of clothing they wore and that associating hip hop styles of dress with violent crime, drugs, or a bad image is racist"(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_iverson). He is sick of defending himself. He got to the point of realizing that you're going to accept him or you're not going to accept him. He recently explained why he was not having a great season with the Detriot Pistions. He recently said that "I'd rather retire before I do this again. I can't be effective playing this way. It's harder than I thought it would be. I take my hat off to the guys who can come off the bench and be effective. It's tough for me. I'm struggling with it. I'm not used to it. It's tough for me both mentally and physically. I just have to find a way to get it done" (sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4035415).

 Allen Iverson playing style is relentless. He is a great penetrator and he attacks the perimeter. He is only six feet tall and about 165 pounds dripping wet. He plays fearlessly. He is not afraid to take it to the hoop against men twice his size. He is extremely bold on the court. He in a game during his rookie year against the Chicago Bulls challenged Michael Jordan to an one on one match-up. Iverson faked to his left, then crossed over to his right and blew past Jordan before sinking a jumper. This led to a standing ovation from the crowd. Besides, he is a very tough player. USA Today on February 18th, 2004 named him the No.2 toughest athlete in professional sports (/www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/sixers). Likewise, he is considered pound for pound toughest player in the NBA. He played in games with various injuries. He had over 30 different types of injuries throughout his career. His injuries include to name a but a few tailbone contusion, right shoulder dislocation, right kneed synovitis, and fractured left hand. He is also considered best scoring little men in the history of the NBA.

Iverson has always stirred up controversy because he refuses to be something he is not. He
does not want to be a puppet for the corporate world or the media. He believes in speaking the truth and he likes to stand up for his beliefs. He is a rebel and he is an NBA legend. Today's
generation of NBA fans will be telling stories about him to their kids. Iverson is a unique person. He will be missed when his career is over. No one knows what team he will be playing for next season. Nonetheless, he will be satisfied with his career when it's over because he did it his way.

Works Cited
9 May 2009 <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1536099151531505830>
9 May 2009 <http://www.alleniversonlive.com/tattoos/>
9 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_iverson>
9 May 2009 <http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4035415>
9 May 2009 <http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/sixers/2004-02-18-iverson-toughest_x.htm>

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"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence" said Vince Lombardi (quotationcollection.com). Tim Tebow has been chasing perfection in his career on and off the football field. He has accomplished a lot so far in his football career. He seems to be someone that always makes the right decisions. If his life was a movie the title would be "Did the Right Thing". It's good to have an athlete with good character especially since sports today have so many bad boy athletes that are involved in scandals such as Michael Vick, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. But, is Tim Tebow really perfect?

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Greg Paulus is trying to become a two-sport athlete. Greg Paulus's collegiate basketball career has ended. He has decided to pursue a college football career. He is not the first athlete talented enough to play two sports at a high level. There have been several athletes whom have played two or more sports at the college or professional level. Yet, athletes are becoming more specialized and there are not many athletes that compete in more than one sport in college or the pros. However, there still has been many athletes from 1980s to the present that have played two sports or more? Who are the best multi-sports athletes in this era?

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Out with old and in with the new is how its works in professional sports. Specially in boxing where older fighters get beaten into retirement. The 2008 year in boxing was the end for a generation of  future Hall of Fame American boxers. The most popular and best American fighters are now mostly past their prime and near retirement such as Roy Jones Jr., Evander Holyfield, Bernard Hopkins, and Oscar De La Hoya. So who are the new faces of American boxing?

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"Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team" said Scottie Pippen (thinkexist.com). Many great college basketball players have to adjust to being role players in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A great college basketball career does not always lead to a successful career in the NBA. There are many reasons why an accomplished college athlete could have an unsuccessful professional career. But,why do even great college players become NBA busts?

For instance, there are many differences between the NBA and college basketball. The style of play in the NBA is very different then college basketball's. Likewise, there is more pressure to succeed at the professional level. A professional basketball player is given less time to show their skills as a basketball player then a college athlete. If a professional athlete doesn't perform the coach can cut or waive the player unlike in college sports where they just keep you on the bench. But, why do even great college players become NBA busts?

There are some great college players that are considered tweeners at the professional level. Tweeners are basketball players that have a style of play and set of skills that doesn't match the traditional position for their own specific height and weight. For example, there are college players that are considered to short to be shooting guards in the NBA. But, their skills are better suited for the shooting guard position and not the point guard position. This can shortens an NBA players' career. The basketball player can only then move to another position and develop more skills. If a player is unable to do this, then their NBA career will not last very long.

Troy Bell is considered one of Boston College's greatest basketball players. He is a classic tweener. He is a 6-1 shooting guard. He excelled in college scoring 2,632 points which are the most in Boston College basketball history. He started all four years at BC and averaged 25 points per game his senior year. But, this success did not lead to a successful NBA career. He only played in the NBA for one year with the Memphis Grizzlies and he only saw action in six games that year. He really is a shooting guard and the Memphis Grizzlies grizzlies wanted him to be a point guard. He was unable to adjust his came from shooting guard to point guard so Memphis Grizzlies cut him from the team .

There are great college players that are considered NBA busts because they cannot meet the high
expectations for their NBA career. Many people expect great college players to have a great professional careers. If their career turns out to be only average, then they are considered a failure. To illustrate, Christian Laettner had a phenomenal college career at Duke University. He is considered one of the greatest college basketball players ever. Some college basketball experts even think he is the greatest college player of all-time. His career included two national championships and four final appearances.

Likewise, Christian Laettner dominated the competition in college. He outplayed future NBA Hall of Famers such as Shaquille O Neal and Alonzo Mourning in head to head match-ups. The expectations for Laettner's professional career where extremely high. Many people thought he would have a Hall of Fame NBA career. However, his professional career was only slightly above-average. It was more run of the mill then great. He ended his career with averages of 12.9 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. He also ended his career as journeyman. He played on six teams throughout his career. Equally important, his college career overshadows his professional career and he is known more for what he accomplished in college then in the NBA.

 There are some great college players who's playing style is not suited for the NBA. These types of college players seem to be lacking some type of ability you need to succeed in the NBA. For instance, the average college players is not as athletic as the average NBA players. Therefore, you can have a lot of success in college basketball evens if you are good basketball player with less, then stellar athleticism. However, you need very good athleticism to succeed in the NBA and there are of course a few expectations.

For instance, Adam Morrison was a great college basketball player. He won the Co-player of the year Chevrolet player award with J.J. Redick in 2006. He evens ended his career averaging 28 points per game. His NBA career has been less, then stellar. His career points per game average so far has been 8.9. This year after coming back from injury he has averaged 3.5 points per game in 11.1 minutes per game for his new team the Los Angeles Lakers. He has been struggling in the NBA because of his lack of athleticism. Similarly, he is not able to create his own offense and his own shots. His inability to create his own shot has hurt his field goal percentage which in his professional is .374. Likewise, his lack of foot speed is hurting him on defense. He cannot keep up with his quicker and more athletic opposition on defense.

There are great college players that have unsuccessful NBA careers because they get seriously injured or are injury prone throughout their career. The injury leads them to never being the same player that they were in college. For example, Bobby Hurley was a great player at Duke University. He is considered one of the greatest college basketball players ever. Dime magazine ranked him as the #5 greatest point guard in college basketball history (dimemag.com). He is still currently the all-time assist leader in NCAA history with 1,076 assists.

 His NBA career was not a success though he averaged only 3.8 points per game, 3.3 assists per game and 15.5 minutes per game for the Sacramento Kings in his five year NBA career. He had serious injury in his rookie year. Nineteen games into his NBA career he was in a serious car accident. In this car accident his injuries included collapsed lungs, one ripped from trachea, broken ribs, shattered shoulder blade, a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in right knee. After these injuries he was never the same basketball player again.

Success in college basketball doesn't always lead to a great NBA career. Some of the factors are out of the athletes control. Each level of basketball there is tougher competition. So regardless of how good a player is in college if they do not adjust their game to the NBA or improve their weaknesses. Then, they will just go from being a college star to another NBA journeymen. That will be left behind whiles another basketball player becomes the next NBA superstar.


Works Cited
21 Mar. 2009 <http://en.thinkexist.com/quotations/basketball/>
21 Mar. 2009 <http://dimemag.com/2008/07/bobby-hurley-top-5-greatest-college-pgs-of-all-time/>

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The boxing fans just craned their necks and gawked, or melted into nervous grins as the gargantuan sized man made his way toward the ring. There have been several of these goliath sized boxers throughout the history of the sport such as Nicolay Valuev, Lance Whitaker, Julius Long, Jim Cully and John Rankin. These boxers are truly goliath such as John Rankin was listed at 7-4 inches tall. But, why do smaller more skilled fighters continuously beat these gargantuan sized boxers?

The goliath boxers lack elite athleticism. For instance, Nicolay Valuev in his last boxing match versus Evander Holyfield was extremely slow and looked lethargic. He is tremendously strong; however he lacks the hand and foot speed necessary to beat the best heavyweight boxers. Lance Whitaker at 6-8 250 pounds lacks good hand and foot speed as well and that has leaded him to a few losses. Likewise, Jim Cully a 7-2 fighter out of Ireland lacked good athleticism which is one of the reasons that he had a short career that ended with more losses then wins. He got knocked out in two of his last three fights in 1948.  So despite their great size goliath boxers still lose many fights. 
 
Size in boxing only accounts for so much in each particular fight. Tremendous skills are always more important than size. For example, Lance Whitaker lost by TKO to the six feet inch tall Sutlan Ibragimov. Ibragimov is a lot smaller then Whitaker; however Ibragimov has more boxing skills so he dismantled and schooled his larger opponent that was eight inches taller round by round.
 
Likewise, the giant sized boxers many times do not efficiently use their biggest advantage their size. To Illustrate, Julius Long a seven foot boxer was knocked out in the first round by Samuel Peter who is only six feet tall. This occurred in the boxing match because Long did not use his size advantage. For instance, he did not box from the outside to keep his shorter opponent from hitting him. He lowered his own height advantage by continuously fighting inside and he continually cut the distance between them during the fight. Their inability to use their size to their advantage is also because they have a lack of coordination because of their tremendous size. There lack of true coordination makes them awkward athletes and boxers.
 
The Goliath sized fighters attain many of their wins before the fight begins.  Once the boxers tap boxing gloves after the referee gives instructions with the giant sized fighters like Valuev and Whitaker their opponents become intimated because of their size you can even sometimes see the fear in their eyes. This type of fear throws boxers game plan right out the window during the match. There are though many boxers like Ruslan Chagaev and Jason Estrada who are by no means intimated by their opponent’s stature and gargantuan size. They bring it right to the naturally bigger men to let them know that they aren't intimated.  Jason Estrada was not afraid of Whitaker because of his size. For example, "I came to fight because that brought the best out of me," stated up-and-coming heavyweight Jason Estrada as he talked about his win over his toughest opponent to date, Lance Whitaker, on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights.  Likewise, the delusion that the bigger man will always beat the smaller man is continually being broken such as when Ruslan Chageav gave Valuev his first lost when he defeated him by decision in April of 2007. Valuev outweighed him by over 100 pounds and was about a foot taller.
 
Maybe one day there will be a boxer as tall as Julius Long at seven feet and as heavy as Valuev at 330 pounds with all the intangibles and skills to be a hall of fame fighter. But, that person has not entered the heavyweight division yet. The future goliath boxers are going to have to work on their issues with being a giant such as problems with cardio, coordination and power or speed. But until they do David is going to continue to slay Goliath in the boxing ring.

via www.eastsideboxing.com

The heavyweight Championship fight between Holyfield vs Valuev heavyweight was another bad decision in boxing. This happens way too often in professional boxing. There have been numerous bad decisions throughout the history of the sport. There are several reasons why bad decisions happen in boxing. Those reasons may include the style of the fighter, the angle of the fight that the judge is seeing the boxing match from or corrupt judges.

via www.wbcboxing.com

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Joe Calzaghe said that he will announce whether or not he will retire in 2009. Joe Calzaghe is one of the best pound for pound the best fighters in the world. All the top boxers near his weight class have been calling him out to fight him. For example, the veteran boxer Glen Johnson personally wrote Joe Calzaghe a letter asking for him to fight him. The fighters that he could possibly face include Carl Froch, Bernard Hopkins, Chad Dawson and Jermain Taylor.

First, Bernard Hopkins is the best possible opponent that Calzaghe could fight to start off the New Year. Both boxers are at the latter stages of their careers. Calzaghe won the first boxing match by a razor close split decision. There were plenty of people including one of the judges that thought Bernard Hopkins won the fight. A rematch between them would finally decide which boxer is better. But, sadly it’s probably not going to happen because Calzaghe is still angry with Hopkins. Calzaghe still has immense dislike of Hopkins because of some of the things he said leading up to the first match. Calzaghe said "He's a complete idiot. I don't want to give him a rematch They way he fought in Las Vegas was cowardly because he held all night and pretended to be hit by low blows. He tried to steal the fight."(eastsideboxing.com)

Another interesting boxing match would be Calzaghe vs Chad Dawson.  Dawson is the best light heavyweight in the world not named Joe Calzaghe. Dawson is a young hungry fighter. He as well has good speed and athleticism. Chad Dawson wants to fight Calzaghe and he would even go to Wales for the match. However, Calzaghe doesn't seem very interested in fighting Dawson. Calzaghe dismissed him by saying "Why? Who is Chad Dawson? The guy has won the world title and he can't attract flies, he can't fill up his own neighborhood. Why fight him? He's a good fighter but what does that mean?"(guardian.co.uk)

Likewise, Carl Froch is a young undefeated super middleweight boxer that fights out of Nottingham, England. This fight would be big in Europe. Calzaghe and Froch have already had a war of words between each other.  Specifically, Calzaghe dismissed Froch as an opponent by saying "he did not know who Froch, the new WBC super-middleweight champion, was — but he has done some research in the meantime."Yeah, I Googled him," he said. "I've seen him but the guy doesn't mean anything. The guy don't mean shit. The guy he fought the other day Jean Pascal, he didn't look any good. And the Americans won't pay one penny for him; they're not interested in him. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is."(guardian.co.uk) Now Froch is sick of waiting on Calzaghe and he is looking for other possible opponents.

However, Calzaghe keeps saying that he only will fight boxers that have a big name and that can generate a big money fight. To illustrate, Calzaghe said "If the money is right I will fight. If somebody comes to the table with really big money I'd be stupid to turn it down." (boxingscene.com). Jermain Taylor is better known then Carl Froch and Chad Dawson. Therefore, it would be a boxing match fight that could draw interest in America and overseas. In addition, Calzaghe still seems more interested in taking fights that don't involve huge risk. Taylor is beatable.

 Accordingly, Calzaghe wants a fight that can generate buzz and make good money then Jermain Taylor is the best opponent for him to face. Thus, I think that Calzaghe won't retire and that he will fight at least one more fight. His win over Roy Jones came way too easy for him. Calzaghe knows that he has at least one more good performance left in him. That one last great performance may be versus Jermain Taylor.

via www.boxnews.com.ua

Works Cited

<http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=17825&more=1>

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/dec/10/boxing-calzaghe-retirement>

<http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=17163>

This was the one boxing division always dominated by the United States of America (USA).  There have been numerous America champions in the past such as Jack Johnson, Rocky Marciano, Larry Holmes, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. However, currently there are no American heavyweight champion boxers. All of the current heavyweight’s champions are from countries outside of the USA. What happened to American heavyweight boxing?

via fineartamerica.com

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    The Philadelphia 76ers is having a disappointing season. The team is playing badly with a record of 7 wins and 10 losses. Expectations were high going into the season especially with the acquisition of Elton Brand this past summer. But, the team is not playing well together. Their shooting is one of the main problems and has been all season.

Jan. 9/08 - Raptors vs 76ers (via RaptorsTalk.com)

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The Detroit Lions lost again on Thanksgiving Day. They are now 0-12 for the season.  However, are the Detroit Lions the worst team in NFL history?  There has also been NFL teams in that past that had horrendous seasons. For example, the 1976 Tampa Buccaneers, 1990 New England Patriots, 1991 Indianapolis Colts and 2001 Carolina Panthers all had horrible seasons.

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Donovan Mcnabb’s stay at Philadelphia will be over at the end of the NFL  season. The Eagles need to decide who is going to take over as the Eagles next starting quarterback. Kevin Kolb is now waiting for his chance. However, the Eagles shouldn’t put all their hope in Kolb. They need to draft another quarterback or sign a free agent.

via philadelphia-eagles.net

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<!-- TOKEN_1227575047845_TOKEN -->I’m happy that the Philadelphia 76ers has plenty of young talent.  They have Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young and Andre Iguodala. All of these young players are going to have good careers. But, the 76ers are 7-6 and their playing like a mediocre basketball team. The 76ers need to choose Thaddeus Young over Andre Iguodala so that the team can become better.

via www.nba.com

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