On The Watch “It’s All About 2020 NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS”

NBA Eastern Conference Finals

In a surprising turn of events inside “The Bubble”, the two teams that will be battling in the Eastern Conference Finals tonight are the 3rd Seeded Boston Celtics and the 5th Seeded Miami Heat. Unbelievable!

The Celtics took down our own Canadian team, the Defending Champs the Toronto Raptors, in a tough game 7 while Miami dismantled the No. 1 Seed the Milwaukee Bucks in just 5 games.

The way the Heat have been ballin in the Playoffs is putting a serious scare in any opposing team. Miami is coming into this series on a high. Them Boys are ready and loaded to challenge the Celtics for the right to go to the Finals.

The Celtics need to be on point in this series. The Heat defense seem to be clicking as of late so Boston is going to have to play a lot better to disrupt that hungry team from running through them. Boston is a well-equipped team from top to bottom but can’t afford any type of relapse on offense or defense when they meet up with the Heat.

The Heat squad have proven themselves to being the hunters in “The Bubble” and have done a damn good job at going for the kill when they see blood. Miami is not your typical 5th Seed. Real Talk! Them Boys want all the smoke; it will be up to the Celtics to obstruct this Blazin hot Heat team from reaching the NBA Finals. But for that to happen the Celtics will have to ball hard and stay on task to secure their own spot. it won’t be an easy task to accomplish but this is definitely one series I want to see unfold.

Tune in tonight September 15, 2020 for game one of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All about Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Teofimo Lopez”

Lightweight Title Unification Challenge

The highly anticipated battle in the Lightweight Division between WBA/WBO/WBC “Franchise” Champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10 Kos) and IBF Champion Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12 Kos) has officially been signed and set to take place in “The Bubble”. It will be live on ESPN, Saturday October 17, 2020 from the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

This bout has been an intriguing one from the jump. Loma, one of the best Pound-for-Pound boxers in the game today will be looking to hand Teofimo, the young, strong and unbeaten lion in the game today, his first professional loss.

Teofimo has been talking that sh*t and backing it up from the time he stepped foot inside that squared circle. Lopez has absolutely no shortage of confidence that he will be the one to put a stop to the reign of the great Lomachenko.

That being said, Loma is a unique fighter who is not easy to figure out. The Dude has boxed the lights out of most of is opponents with relative ease. His Boxing IQ is next to none inside that squared circle.

Teofimo firmly believes that his youth, strength and his own Boxing IQ will be enough to dethrone the Lightweight Unified Champion Lomachenko.

Many have talked that talk but failed under the bright lights when the opportunity presented itself inside that squared circle. Loma “The Matrix” is the truth when he’s gloved up and his back is against the ropes but I do believe that Teofimo may be his toughest challenge to date. Real Talk!

However, for Lopez to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the year, he will have to box a flawless bout or take him out early cause your Boy Loma possesses the stamina to go 12 rounds unbothered.

Teofimo has been calling for this moment from day one – now the time has come for the “Takeover” to manifest itself.

Tune in Saturday night October 17, 2020 live on ESPN from the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas and witness who will be crowned Lightweight Undisputed Champion of the World.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Yordenis Ugas vs Abel Ramos”

Vacant WBA “Regular” Welterweight Title

Last night’s main event at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California gave us a chance to see Yordenis Ugas (26-4, 12 Kos) outbox and dominate Abel Ramos (26-4-2, 20 Kos) for a full 12 rounds of none-stop action.

Ugas came out the gate and established his jab early with some well-timed combinations that clearly kept Abel off balance throughout the bout. Abel moved well inside that squared circle and did his best to attack Ugas when feasible, but Yordenis’ high guard and counterpunching made it real hard for Abel to land anything of significance to slow Yordenis down.

As dominant as Ugas was inside that squared circle, I personally felt he could have stepped on the gas a little more and upped his offensive output. To me, Ugas pretty much controlled the bout while still fighting in first gear. Had he pressed the action a little more we could have probably seen a stoppage by Ugas.

That being said, Yordenis clearly won this bout last night hands down. The Judges’ scores were 115-113, 115-113 for Yordenis and 117-111 for Ramos. I’m baffled by Judge Dr. Lou Moret’s card of 117-111 for Abel. No disrespect to Ramos but your Boy got done up by a superior boxer in Ugas in pretty much every round. Real Talk! There was absolutely no other way to tally the score in Ramos’ favor. None!

With this win, Yordenis is now the new WBA “Regular” Welterweight Champion. Congratulations “Champ”. You’ve grinded a long time and worked your way up to this point. Enjoy the fruits of your labour. You deserve it.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Erislandy Lara vs Greg Vendetti”

WBA “Regular” Junior Middleweight Challenge

Last night’s main event at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles between WBA “Regular” Junior Middleweight Champion Erislandy Lara (27-3-3, 15 Kos) and contender Greg Vendetti (22-4-1, 12 Kos) was an impressive showing by the one they call “The American Dream”.

The much older but seasoned veteran Lara, showed us fans and the rest of the 154-Pound Division that he’s not to be slept on just yet. Your Boy Lara still got the goods to mix it up with the other champions in the Division, hands down.

Vendetti, a tough and durable contender did his best to disrupt Lara but simply lacks the Boxing IQ to beat a seasoned well-schooled veteran like Lara. No disrespect to Vendetti. He’s no slouch inside that squared circle and he did go 12 full rounds with “The American Dream” but painfully got out-boxed by a world class fighter.

Vendetti and his team clearly underestimated Lara’s abilities inside that squared circle considering Lara is getting up there in age. At 37 years old Lara may look ripe for the taking but not by your average fighter. Real Talk!

That being said, Lara is still top 3 in the 154-Pound Division and he’s out there looking for all the smoke. Lara is determined to reclaim the No. 1 Spot that he once held at the Junior Middleweight Division. To accomplish that, Lara will be looking to challenge the winner of the upcoming Junior Middleweight Unification bout between WBC Champion Jermell Charlo and IBF/WBA Super Champion Jeison Rosario.

The Junior Middleweight Division is “Blazing” right now and Erislandy Lara is still in the mix of it all.

Until then, stay locked in Lara you just might be next.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Eleider Alvarez vs Joe Smith Jr.”

WBO Light Heavyweight Title Eliminator

Last night’s Top Rank main event between Eleider Alvarez (25-2, 13 Kos) and Joe Smith Jr. (26-3, 21 Kos) at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, was well worth the wait. Real Talk!

This bout was non-stop action straight from the jump. Joe Smith who’s well known for having heavy hands held no punches throughout the night and displayed some great boxing improvement to go along with a flawless “game plan” that highlighted his strengths round by round.

Alvarez who was the more polished boxer of the two, played right into Joe Smith’s “game plan” and fell victim to his traps. The last thing you want to do when facing Jo Smith is to sit there and go toe to toe “phone booth” style with him. That is just what Alvarez did and he paid the price for it.

Personally, I was confused by Alvarez’s approach from the jump. Alvarez being the superior boxer of the two looked to bang it out with the wrong Dude on that night when he should have been boxing in and out, disrupting Smith’s come forward aggressive style.

Alvarez, not being able to do the proper adjustments inside that squared circle, caused him to get caught up in Joe’s physical roughness tactics. It was evident that Smith’s power was just too much for Alvarez to handle.

Joe’s pressure eventually overwhelmed Alvarez in the ninth round when Eleider succumbed to a hard right-left combination that dropped him down through the ropes for the count that prompted the referee to wave off the bout.

It was a very competitive bout and an impressive performance by Smith, who clearly showed vast improvement in his skill. With this strong win Joe advances to fight the winner of another WBO Light Heavyweight Elimination bout between contenders Umar Salamov (25-1, 19 Kos) and Maksim Vlasov (45-3, 26 Kos) for the vacant WBO Light Heavyweight Title.

Until then, congratulations on your amazing win Joe- job well done.

Blaze

On the Watch “It’s All About Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin”

WBC Diamond and Interim Heavyweight Challenge

In a surprising turn of events, the Heavyweight Division standing took another hit in tonight’s Heavyweight main event in the Matchroom Boxing Camp in Brentwood, Essex, UK, between Interim WBC Champion Dillian Whyte (27-2, 18 Kos) and Alexander Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 Kos).

What started out has a sure shot win for the “Body Snatcher” Dillian ended up in a possible knockout of the year for Povetkin. Dillian came out of the gate controlling the rounds and even dropping Povetkin twice in the fourth round for a standing eight count. Dillian got a little too comfortable by the fifth round and got caught with a mean left uppercut from Povetkin that created a crime scene type knockout that left us fans watching with our mouths wide open when the referee stopped the fight after Dillian was unresponsive on the floor. Real Talk! (my girl Ang called it when she said in the previous rounds to watch out for that uppercut from Povetkin).

The way the fight was going Povetkin was looking tired and slow in the previous rounds and Dillian was looking like he was getting ready to stop the older warrior in Povetkin but truth be told Povetkin still had an ace up his sleeves in the form of a well-timed destructive well-placed uppercut that secured the win in the fifth round. Real Talk!

This bout was a perfect example of what can happen on any given night in the Heavyweight Division. Most of them Boys in the Division carry power and can never be counted out regardless of their age. Dillian talked a good game and performed well throughout the contested bout but clearly underestimated the power the older veteran Povetkin still possessed and paid dearly for it.

Povetkin’s resilience and pedigree showed up tonight and silenced all the naysayers who counted him out. What was supposed to be a walk-in park for Dillian turned out to be a nightmare of a night in the form of a devastating loss that will haunt him for quite some time.

That being said, congratulations are in order for the New WBC Diamond and Interim Heavyweight Champion Alexander Povetkin.

Job well done Alexander; you defied all odds and came out an Interim Champion. I’m not sure how much juice you got left in you but tonight you were the conqueror who dethroned the Interim Champ. Enjoy your winnings, you deserve it.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About The NBA PLAYOFFS 2020”

NBA Playoffs 2020 (Sweet 16)

With the NBA-Restart successfully completed, we are now ready for phase two of inside the “Bubble” of The NBA Playoffs.

This year “King of The Court” and No. 1 Seed for the shortened season are The Milwaukee Bucks (56-17). Them Boys came out the gate strong the entire season and established their dominance night in and night out. They have literally picked up where they left off last year but are definitely determined to write the wrong of not getting to the NBA Finals. They want that “Ring” by any means necessary.

That being said, our own Canadian team the Defending Champions the Toronto Raptors No. 2 Seeded (53-19) are still ballin like the Champs that they are. Real Talk! For those who thought that the Raptors would have fallen off due to Kawhi Leonard leaving, have unquestionably misjudged this team. The Raptors have acquired the experience needed to get to the promise land. They are battle-tested and have the right squad to compete with anybody on any given day. They will be defending their crown.

The Eastern Conference teams that have all made it to the “Bubble” will all have a jab at whom will represent the Eastside but I’m most intrigued by the 3rd Seeded Celtics (48-24), 4th Seeded Pacers (45-28), the 5th Seeded Heat (44-29) and the 6th Seeded 76ers (43-30) because they are all making the Eastern Conference run real attention-grabbing outside looking in.

Representing the Western Conference with the No. 1 Seed is the LeBron James- and Anthony Davis- driven Los Angeles Lakers (52-19) and breathing down their necks are the Kawhi Leonard- and Paul George- driven No. 2 Seeded Los Angeles Clippers (49-23). The word on the street is one of these LA teams will be taking it all the way to the finish line. Personally I think it would be foolish to think that the remaining participants in the 3rd Seeded Nuggets (46-27), the 4th Seeded Rockets (44-28), the 5th Seeded Thunder (44-28), the 6th Seeded Jazz (44-28), the 7th Seeded Mavericks (43-32) and even the Cinderella team in the 8th Seeded Blazers (35-39) couldn’t throw a twist to any possible outcome in these Western Playoffs. Records aside, these Western teams competing in the “Bubble” are way too competitive to being overlooked by any one of them.

Don’t sleep on this year’s 2020 “Sweet 16” Playoff run and tune in this Monday night August 17, 2020. Check up!

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About The NBA – The Restart “

Due to the Covid-19 epidemic that’s been affecting the World as of late, the NBA was forced to lean back for a few months to now finally being able to get the green light as per the NBA’s Board of Governors, to officially resume play this Thursday July 30, 2020 and conclude August 14, 2020.

A lot has changed since the last NBA Game in March 2020. To stop the spread of Covid-19, games will be played inside a quarantine-safe site without fans at Orlando, Florida’s Walt Disney World aka “the Bubble”.

A total of 22 teams will be in Orlando Florida. The 16 teams currently in the Playoff position and six teams within six games of the No. 8 seed, in either conference.

Eastern Conference

1-Milwaukee Bucks (53-12)
2-Toronto Raptors (46-18)
3-Boston Celtics (43-21)
4-Miami Heat (41-24)
5-Indiana Pacers (39-26)
6-Philadelphia 76ers (39-26)
7-Brooklyn Nets (30-34)
8-Orlando Magic (30-35)
9-Washington Wizards (24-40)

Western Conference

1-Los Angeles Lakers (49-14)
2-Los Angeles Clippers (44-20)
3-Denver Nuggets (43-22)
4-Utah Jazz (41-23)
5-Oklahoma City Thunder (40-24)
6-Houston Rockets (40-24)
7-Dallas Mavericks (40-27)
8-Memphis Grizzlies (32-33)
9-Portland Trail Blazers (29-37)
10-New Orleans Pelicans (28-36)
11-Sacramento Kings (28-36)
12-San Antonio Spurs (27-36)
13-Phoenix Suns (26-39)

The eight seeding games will continue each day through August 14, 2020 to determine Playoff positioning. The postseason will follow the traditional format with the best-of-seven-game series all the way through the NBA Finals.

The stakes have gone up for the remainder of the 2019/2020 NBA Season. The challenges of having to deal with the high risk of Covid-19 and staying and playing out the rest of the NBA Season in one location is going to be quite the experiment to say the least but one I am very curious to see the outcome of.

Tune in on TNT Thursday night July 30, 2020 and be part of the “Restart” of the second half of the NBA Season 2019/2020.

Blaze

On the Watch “It’s All About Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin”

WBC Interim Heavyweight World Title Challenge

Dillian Whyte (27-1, 18 Kos) will be looking to put his WBC Interim Heavyweight Title on the line against tough and seasoned veteran Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1 24 Kos) at Manchester Arena Saturday May 2, 2020, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

This is a very good Heavyweight bout where the experienced veteran Povetkin will have to dig deep to show the naysayers that he’s still got what it takes to compete with the likes of a Dillian Whyte. A win here for Povetkin would automatically set him up for the WBC Mandatory position to Tyson Fury’s full WBC Heavyweight Championship Title. As a former World Champion, Povetkin is focussed and determined not to let this opportunity pass him by, so I’m anticipating a competitive bout come fight night.

That being said, this bout will be Dillian’s first defence of his WBC Interim Heavyweight Belt. Whyte can’t afford a slip up here. In order to maintain his Mandatory status, he must keep on winning and challenging the likes of Alexander will not be a walk in the park, but a win here would definitely enhance his resume.

This bout is not your typical stay busy fight for either combatant. This is a dangerous 50/50 fight that could go all wrong for Dillian if he’s overlooking Povetkin due to his age. Personally, I wouldn’t sleep on Povetkin, he is very well-schooled inside that squared circle and does carry a mean left hook of his own and when timely connected, can end the night quickly.

So, don’t miss this exciting Heavyweight bout live on Sky Sports Box Office Saturday May 2, 2020 at Manchester Arena.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Regis Prograis vs Maurice Hooker”

Back With A Vengeance

An interesting match-up between two highly-rated former Junior Welterweight Champions Regis Prograis (24-1 20 Kos) and Maurice Hooker (27-1-3 18 Kos) has been set to take place at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Friday April 17,2020.

This bout right here is gonna be fire! Real Talk! Both combatants are attempting to skip the traditional line back to a championship bout by challenging each other rather than taking on an easy mark to boost their ego.

Both have suffered a recent and acceptable loss but have maintained their respectable rankings within the different sectioning bodies due to still being the best at the 140-Pound Division.

Styles make fights and these two combatants have the right skills and attributes to cancel each other out at any time. They both want that heat and know what’s at stake for the winner down the line. Their crowd-pleasing styles are a shot recipe for a good night of boxing full of action whenever you can get two former Champions to share the same squared circle.

To keep things fair and interesting both warriors have agreed to a catchweight of 143 pounds, in order to keep their options open to move up or down a Division if need be to chase the next big challenge ahead.

This is a long-time coming type bout with some high-risk implications added to it so don’t miss the live action on DAZN Friday night April 17, 2020 at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Blaze