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Easter Island Heads

SoThunder — Sat, 19 May 2012 13:30:58 +0000

New photographs reveal what lies beneath the surface of Easter Island, one of the most remote places in the world -- the carved bodies of the island's 887 famous guardians.

Most people think of the 63-square-mile Pacific island’s silent stone sentinels as simple heads. But the heads all have bodies -- and a backstory that's only now being pieced together, explained Jo Anne Van Tilburg, director of the Easter Island Statue Project.

“Those statues which are the most photographed are standing in the quarry. They’re buried up to mid-torso level. So it’s understandable that the general public didn’t have a clue that those statues had bodies,” she told FoxNews.com.

Current belief is that the statues were carved between A.D.1100 up until the 1800s, when an influx of Westerners transformed the culture. Van Tilburg, a fellow with The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, has only been coming to Easter Island (called Rapa Nui) to do research for twenty years, since 1992. But she first came more than thirty years ago -- and stayed for one clear reason.

'It’s understandable that the general public didn’t have a clue that those statues had bodies.'

- Jo Anne Van Tilburg, director of the Easter Island Statue Project

“I fell in love with the statues,” she said simply.

“I came to Easter Island in 1981. I was impressed with the number of statues and that they seemed accessible to me, they were on the surface. I wanted to know what was below the surface.”

First Van Tilburg documented the island’s statues and those that have been removed to museums; there are 887 inventoried, though she says the number is closer to 1,000. Then she began the next phase of work to reveal what lay beneath the ground -- covered up not intentionally by men, but through centuries of exposure to the environment.

That process has taken 12 years so far, and may take a lifetime of work.

“It’s the first time that one has been excavated in such a way that the documentation was complete and scientific,” she told FoxNews.com. Other groups have dug in the past, and looters have found their way to the remote island as well.

“People have been treasure hunting there for a long time.”

Van Tilburg is conducting a far more thorough examination, however, working in collaboration with a staff of three in California and ten Rapa Nui natives who are doing all of the excavation work. She is currently gearing up for the sixth scheduled dig on the island, which should run from October through November 2012.

Work so far has revealed evidence of ceremonies and very large quantities of paint; the archaeologists believe the workers painted the statues as well as their own bodies.

She found evidence of human burials nearby as well.

And recent digs have revealed just how the massive heads were carved -- some of which tower more than 30 feet in height, from base to top, and weigh more than 80 tons.

“We found over 500 stone tools. The statues were carved with different types, big heavy picks and finer basalt and obsidian tools to finish details,” she explained. Other tools were used to rub surfaces and burnish the statues. Van Tilburg found evidence of post holes as well, big enough for a tree trunk, and rope guides carved in some statues to elevate them into standing position.

But the intent of the giant sculptures, their reason for being, is still not totally clear.

“Think of China where they buried an army of standing warriors. That group was intended to be together as part of a burial feature. Here, on Easter Island, each statue is individually constructed by groups.”

A signed stone recently discovered beneath one of the heads held a petroglyph of a Polynesian style canoe, and a clue: It was meant to signify identity, Van Tilburg said.

“It was meant to identify that statue either to a family group of people or a subgroup, either carvers or the family unit the carvers came from, or beyond that, to the chief,” she told FoxNews.com. The giant sculptures were most likely relatives and not guardians, in other words.

Later sculptures were far more realistic and individualistic, she noted, which also reveals something about the changing culture, as native peoples moved from highly controlled fiefdoms to a society allowing for more individual expression.

“It’s always important to get beneath the surface of things,” she said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/05/16/easter-island-archaeology-project-digs-up-islands-secrets/#ixzz1vK1qW4AQ

Huge Sunspot

SoThunder — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:02:14 +0000

An enormous sunspot unleashed a powerful solar flare late Wednesday (May 16), triggering a radiation storm intense enough to interfere with some satellites orbiting Earth, space weather experts said.

The flare erupted from monster sunspot complex AR 1476, which stretches about 60,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) from end to end, at 9:47 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0147 GMT Thursday). The flare spawned a class S2 solar radiation storm around our planet, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), a branch of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration.

An SWPC description classifies S2 solar radiation storms as moderate, with the potential to cause infrequent "single-event upsets" in Earth-orbiting satellites. People aboard aircraft flying at high latitudes may also be exposed to elevated radiation levels during such events.

The flare also caused limited radio blackouts on the sunlit side of Earth, SWPC researchers said, adding that the radiation storm appears to be subsiding.

Scientists described Wednesday night's eruption as a class M5 solar flare. Space weather researchers classifly strong solar flares into three categories, with C being the weakest, M intermediate and X the most powerful.

X-class flares can cause long-lasting radiation storms in Earth's upper atmosphere and trigger radio blackouts. M-class flares can cause brief radio blackouts in the polar regions and occasional minor radiation storms, while C flares have few noticeable consequences. Strong solar flares can also supercharge Earth's auroras to create dazzling northern lights displays.

Sunspot group AR 1476 was detected by space telescopes on May 5, and it fired off numerous C and M flares over the following days. It had been relatively quiet for a while, researchers said, until Wednesday night's eruption.

Powerful solar flares are often associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs), huge eruptions of solar plasma that are blasted into space at speeds of 3 million mph (5 million kph) or more. CMEs that hit Earth can wreak havoc, spawning geomagnetic storms that can disrupt GPS signals, radio communications and power grids.

At the moment, however, Earth doesn't seem to be in danger of a CME impact from last night's eruption.

"If a CME was launched, it is likely to be off-line with Earth given the far western site of the event," SWPC researchers wrote in an update Thursday.

Manny Hates Gays

SoThunder — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:25:33 +0000

Manny Pacquiao won’t be shopping with the stars ever again, as the homophobic boxing superstar has been banned from Hollywood’s ultimate entertainment destination.

LA Weekly’s Simone Wilson reports Pacquiao has been outlawed by the commercial center for his over-the-top anti-gay statements this week. While quoting Bible verses, the boxing star didn’t just say he was against the homosexual lifestyle, Pacquiao stunningly divulged gay men should be “put to death” for their sexual crimes.

Management at the Grove quickly issued a statement explaining why the boxer has been officially forbidden from entering the star-studded shopping mecca: “Based on news reports of statements made by Mr. Pacquiao we have made it be known that he is not welcome at The Grove and will not be interviewed here now or in the future. The Grove is a gathering place for all Angelenos and not a place for intolerance.”

Since then, it has come out that the original article attributed a quote to Pacquiao that he never said: Granville Ampong, the “conservative examiner” over at Examiner.com (a news website that lets just about anyone submit articles) now says Pacquiao never referenced the offensive passage taken from Leviticus 20:13, which states that “if a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

Still, the prejudiced pugilist attempted to defend his position with media in the Philippines: “I only gave out my opinion that same sex marriage is against the law of God,” he told ABS-CBN’s Dyan Castillejo. ”I’m not against gay people … I have a relative who is also gay. We can’t help it if they were born that way. What I’m critical of are actions that violate the word of God.”

Did Manny Pacquiao deserve to be banned from the Hollywood Mall? Tell us what you think!

Do you want to be Dumb?

SoThunder — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:17:42 +0000

Eating too much sugar can eat away at your brainpower, according to US scientists who published a study Tuesday showing how a steady diet of high-fructose corn syrup sapped lab rats’ memories.

Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) fed two groups of rats a solution containing high-fructose corn syrup — a common ingredient in processed foods – as drinking water for six weeks. One group of rats was supplemented with brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), while the other group was not.

“The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. ”Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats’ ability to think clearly and recall the route they’d learned six weeks earlier.”

A closer look at the rat brains revealed that those who were not fed DHA supplements had also developed signs of resistance to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar and regulates brain function. In other words, eating too much fructose could interfere with insulin’s ability to regulate how cells use and store sugar, which is necessary for processing thoughts and emotions. High-fructose corn syrup is commonly found in soda, condiments, applesauce, baby food and other processed snacks.

While the study did not say what the equivalent might be for a human to consume as much high-fructose corn syrup as the rats did, researchers said it provides some evidence that metabolic syndrome can affect the mind as well as the body. The study appeared in the Journal of Physiology.

Is your daily sugar consumption healthy? Share your eating habits with us!

Smart Meter health hazard

SoThunder — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:53:00 +0000

What is a Smart Meter?
From Ecological Options Network:

"Smart" Meters Exposed (cruzconcern):

Testimony from Winifred (stopsmartmeters.org)

Recent attention in the EMF community has been focused on wireless-emitting Smart Meters. Smart meters are advanced utility meters, which typically use wireless radiation to transmit data on electricity, gas, or water usage back to the utility. Electricity smart meters can be distinguished from analog meters by the display, which uses digits instead of dials.

Contrary to what is commonly claimed, many smart meters transmit wireless radiation continually and at high levels reported to exceed typical home wireless appliances. In some locations, the transmissions may be more than once per second, at levels said to be as much as 10 to 100 times that of a cell phone. One report from PG&E found approximately 10,000 signals a day on average and a peak power of 2.5 Watts. This power level exceeds the radiation of most home wireless devices, as you can see from the Distance page. It also exceeds recommended safety standards such as that of the Bioinitiative Working Group and the Seletun Scientific Statement. Much of these signals are said to be for the maintainance of the wireless mesh system itself, as opposed to the actual transmission of utility usage data.

While utilities no longer have to send meter readers to check readings on analog meters, this benefit comes at the price of continual wireless radiation. On top of the smart meters, appliances would also be outfitted with transmitting antennae, as part of the smart grid plan.
Health Effects of Smart Meters

Many people who live in areas with smart meter rollouts have become seriously ill as a result of their exposure. Symptoms may include "headache, sleep disruption, restlessness, tremors, cognitive impairment, and tinnitus, as well as increased cancer risk and heart problems such as arrythmias, altered heart rhythms, and palpitations." See a list of common health symptoms associated with smart meters. For some buildings, a large number of smart meters may be concentrated in one location, and may result in greater exposure to residents living near this location. Some individuals are especially unfortunate to receive a higher exposure if they live near a relay meter or if they have a smart meter on the opposite side of the wall from their bedroom. However, even those with smart meter radiation from neighboring homes have reported health effects.
Other Talking Points on Smart Meters

Besides posing a health risk, smart meters also pose concerns for privacy, security, fire, and increased billing rates. The following are some problems with smart meters that have been raised:

Lack of environmental impact study: No environmental impact study was conducted, but plants, bees, and humans all seem to be negatively affected.
Lack of UL certification: The smart meters are not UL certified as required by state electrical code.
Security risk: They pose a risk to security since they can be hacked. Watch a video about the security threat. Apparently, it may take only 2 days to hack a smart meter, and water utility hacking may have already occurred.
Privacy risk: They may be used for data mining or surveillance. For example, it is possible to tell from the electrical usage signature what type of appliance is being used, and therefore provide indicators as to when a person is at home or not, and how many people are in the home. People have been arrested based on information obtained from smart meters.
Fire risk: They may be installed by improperly trained personnel, resulting in fire hazards when improperly installed. It was reported that a smart meter was related to the San Bruno explosion. In some cases, gas leakages were even discovered for smart meters.
Rate Hikes: Electricity bills have reportedly increased significantly, rather than decreasing. Accuracy may also be affected by the temperature.
Health risk: They pose a risk as a Class 2B carcinogen and many are experiencing health effects attributed to smart meters such as headaches, heart palpitations, tinnitus, and sleeping disorders. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine and Santa Cruz Public Health Department have warned about the public health dangers of smart meters.
Interference: They may interfere with pacemakers as well as other wireless devices in the home. Appliance damage has also been reported.
Lack of energy savings: Some claim they do not actually result in energy savings, but may actually consume more power. Real energy savings requires changes in human behavior.
Lifespan: The reported lifespan of the smart meter is much lower than the 50 year lifespan of an analog meter. Throwing away good analog meters violates environmental principle of "reuse".
Cost: The smart meter also costs more than the analog meter, which can be purchased for approximately $50. The cost of the smart grid ultimately comes from the taxpayer and ratepayer.
Compatibility issues with alternative energy: Smart meters have been reported to be incompatible with solar systems.

For more talking points, see Orlean Koehle's 30 Talking Points Against Smart Meters.
Variations in Exposure Levels

Keep in mind that one's exposure level and duration of exposure may vary depending upon many factors including the following:

Relay meters: Whether one is at a relay location, which relays data from other meters and not just one's own.
Colocated meters: How many meters are colocated together.
Distance from the meters, which may be a problem for small houses or nearby neighbors, and bedrooms on the other side of the wall that has the smart meters.
Building construction: Concrete and brick may offer some protection as compared to little if any protection from wood and drywall.
Activation of the smart meter: The wireless transmissions may not be activated immediately upon installation. However, some people may still react to the dirty electricity generated by the smart meter prior to this activation.
Where one is situated in the Home Area Network (HAN), Neighborhood Area Network (NAN), or Wide Area Network (WAN). Some places could potentially involve significant exposures to the wireless communications for all three.
Which vendor's model one has, and whether the smart meter uses wireless radiation or broadband over power lines. It is said that Italy has employed wired smart meters.

Depending on one's personal situation, the pulse might vary from once every 5 minutes to once every second or more.
Local Government Response

51 California cities and counties, 15 Michigan cities, and 32 British Columbia cities have moratoriums or resolutions against the smart meters due to public concerns which include health, fire safety, security, privacy, and increased costs to customers. Other protests are also occurring in Maine, Illinois, Vermont, Maryland, Michigan, Canada, and Australia, to name just a few places. Smart meters are being deployed rapidly and stealthily around the world. Orlean Koehle explains that the smart grid is part of the United Nations Agenda 21 and likens the smart grid to an old plan for technocracy.

The opt-out option has been considered, but this does not protect someone from powerful smart meter transmitters on neighboring homes.
Having smart meters with radio off has also been proposed, but experts warn that the switching mode power supply of smart meters still presents a health risk, and that analog meters are safer. Some people may be affected by the voltage spikes smart meters generate on the electric wiring even prior to RF activation.

Smart meters have been installed in many places, against homeowners' wishes, and those who refuse them have had to lock their meters to prevent stealth installations. More can be read from the links below.
Safety Measures Taken for Smart Meters

The following are some measures that people have suggested out of concern for the various risks of smart meters:

Delay List: Some people have called the delay list to postpone the installation of the smart meter, or put up signs or legal notices refusing smart meters, although stealth installers have sometimes ignored this.
Analog Meter Locks: Other people have put up fences and locks on their analog meters. See also Smart Lock. However, some locks have still been broken through.
Letter to Utility: The Center for Safer Wireless provides a letter that can be used to notify the utilities that you do not want a smart meter: Letter to utility. According to the Center for Safer Wireless, the US Energy Policy Act of 2005 indicates that utilities should ask customer's permission before smart meter installation, and no federal law mandates smart meters.
Neighborhood Representative: Some people have found smart meters installed when they were away from house. It has been suggested to find a retired person in your community to represent your street/neighborhood with a signed affidavit.
Replacement of Smart Meters to Analog Meters: Others who received smart meters, have had an electrician replace it back to an analog meter, e.g. see the Safe Electric Meter Replacement Kit. Stop Smart Meters! claims that the utility does not have the right to turn it off if you are a paying customer. However, as of December 2011, it appears that the utility has resorted to disconnecting the power. Under pressure, they restored some of these homes' power, but not everyone's.
Alternative Energy: Some people may use alternative energy such as solar energy to prevent reliance upon the utility-- however, this should be done with care to minimize dirty electricity, e.g., from the inverter. This only covers electricity, however, and not wireless water or gas meters.

It is important to understand one's legal rights. What the utility policy mandates or says is law, may not be what the government really requires.

Cotto is ready

SoThunder — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 22:07:04 +0000

24/7 First Look: Cotto Camp

UFC 143: Nick Diaz

SoThunder — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:01:52 +0000

Yesterday, two MMA writers got into a heated discussion at the UFC open media workouts in Las Vegas. Aaron "Tru" Teweles and Wade Eck, the proprietor of MMA Heat, couldn't decide who was tougher or who would beat whom. Tru has a sanctioned fight under his belt, while Eck trains "full contact four days a week bro."

Much was made of this confrontation (televised to the world via UStream) on Twitter and around the MMA internet. But it should come as a surprise to no one. It's the Diaz effect. When the Diaz brothers are around, say, a 25-mile radius of your location, it's about to pop off. Universal law bro.

The Diaz brothers (Nick main-events this weekend's UFC 143 card; brother Nate will headline the next UFC on Fox show) aren't built like other fighters. The Stockton, California, natives radiate anger. And wherever they go, violence and controversy seem to follow.

Remember the brawl in Nashville on live national television? Fighter Jason "Mayhem" Miller made the mistake of sneaking into the cage to challenge then Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields. Miller was expecting a nice bit of publicity, maybe even a rematch with Shields for the shiny gold belt.

What he wasn't expecting was the Diaz brothers. What he wasn't expecting was something akin to a gang initiation. It was an important lesson, one Miller learned the hard way. The Diazs are not like other fighters. Problems others solve with words and mean mugging; they solve with fists and boots.

The UFC has spent millions of dollars and devoted countless hours to convincing the world—advertisers, state governments, casual sports fans—that this is more than a violent spectacle. It's a sporting contest, complete with rules and respect. But the Diaz brothers show that to be a long con every time they step into a cage. To them, it's a fight, not a sport. I'll let Nick Diaz explain:
Strikeforce_brawl_crop_340x234 Jason Miller right before it all goes wrong.

You see me. What you see is what you get. You get real martial arts, you get real fighting, you get a real warrior mentality. Some people aren't mature enough to handle it. This isn't soccer...To me this is a fight...I don't worry about looking good. I do what I've got to do to survive, to keep my teeth in my head, and my head on my shoulders. I apologize to whoever can't put that together and understand that.

The best thing you can say about Nick Diaz's act is that it isn't an act at all. It's not a calculated play for media attention like Chael Sonnen's antics. Nick Diaz is a pitbull. He's a darting-eyed, snarling manifestation of rage. Pure energy. He's the anti-establishment face of an already anti-establishment sport. There is no "off" switch. This is who Nick Diaz is. And it is awesome.

To an assembled media at the open workouts yesterday, Diaz added:

People try to say, 'Nick Diaz, he’s crazy or not crazy or fake crazy.' " I’m like, 'Hey, bro, what you see is what you get.' I’m not out here trying putting on an act like I'm crazy. In my opinion, everyone else is crazy. They’re the ones who put on an act for you, doing what they're told in front of the camera...They turn these guys into robots. I’m just not going to be that guy. Don't tell me I'm crazy. I'm out here acting natural. I'm the only one here being realistic out here about this sort of thing.

Diaz doesn't just shoot hard looks at opponents and talk a lot of trash. He delivers on those promises and that talk—that's what makes him so special. Some fighters talk a good game, about all the harm they mean to do to an opponent, then when the fight starts, turn it immediately into a cautious wrestling match. That's not Diaz.

Diaz is the man who started a brawl in Nashville. He's the guy who once fought opponent Joe Riggs—not just in the cage, but while both were being treated at the hospital after the fight. He's an amazing human being, a 170-pound wrecking ball coming to crush your favorite fighter. And he's the most entertaining man in the entire sport.

Rios Vs Gamboa Live

SoThunder — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:09:17 +0000

With opponents not easy to find and the date already pushed back once because of that, Top Rank's Todd duBoef is throwing in the towel on a double-header meant to build to a Brandon Rios vs Yuriorkis Gamboa showdown, and Ryan Burton reports that Rios vs Gamboa right now is the new plan for April 14.

"The plan was for them both to appear in separate fights on the same card. Now I am talking to both HBO about having them fight each other next," DuBoef told BoxingScene.com.

I can't imagine a world where HBO says, "No, no thanks," so if duBoef is serious here, then this is some really exciting news. This is a fight that should make any fight fan salivate. Rios' inside pressure fighting and relentless stalking vs Gamboa's speed, technique, and lightning combinations.

Star-divide

Rios (29-0-1, 22 KO) is coming off of a December win over John Murray, a bloody and brutal affair. The Mexican-American lightweight missed weight for that one, but a nutritionist has been brought in to help him make weight easier and prevent him from being forced to move up in weight just yet.

At 5'8" with a big frame, Rios is a huge lightweight, which could help make up for any talent disadvantages against Gamboa, who has never really fought over featherweight in his career, dabbling a few times at 130. Every fight Rios had in 2011 -- wins over Miguel Acosta, Urbano Antillon, and Murray -- was an exciting fight. He just doesn't know how to be in a bad fight.

Gamboa (21-0, 16 KO) is the true standout of the last decade's influx of Cuban talent, having had almost his entire career, every fight televised in the United States. Unlike most his countrymen, Gamboa can put on good fights and be really thrilling to watch, though he isn't always. He's a brash, confident guy who has no fear of moving up to 135 straight away and taking on arguably the best true lightweight in the world (if you no longer count Juan Manuel Marquez at 135, it's Rios or Miguel Vazquez).

Gamboa's two wins in 2011 were both trademark types: He slashed through Jorge Solis in March and made a good fighter look pathetic, and in October he easily beat Daniel Ponce De Leon, without taking any risks or making it much fun to watch.

If Rios vs Gamboa gets made for April 14, I don't care what Mayweather or Pacquiao sign for their next fights: This will be the best fight on the schedule, and the one I will be looking forward to seeing the most. Here's hoping this beauty of a matchup comes through.

Lamont Peterson's Next Kill

SoThunder — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:05:30 +0000

Lamont Peterson and manager/trainer Barry Hunter are weighing their options on whether to rematch Amir Khan next, or face Juan Manuel Marquez in Top Rank's mini-tournament, which could set up a lucrative bout later this year with Manny Pacquiao.

Richard Schaefer told RingTV.com on Saturday that they've offered Peterson a big deal for a rematch with Khan:

"We're working on some very good stuff. We did what we could to make it happen. We offered him $1.5 million and we offered him a 50-50 split of world wide revenues. If he doesn't want to do it, then he doesn't want to do it. You can't force them."

It would be, by far, a career-best payday for Peterson, who earned $650,000 and no 50-50 split of worldwide revenue (which would include Khan's lucrative UK TV contract with Sky Sports and other international TV).

Star-divide

But Peterson and Hunter have been reluctant to gravitate toward the rematch, in part because they refuse to be bullied by Golden Boy Promotions. Peterson is a modern boxing version of a lone wolf, a man without a promoter, though that may change if he goes the other route.

A fight with Marquez, says Bob Arum, has been agreed to on one side:

"I told Barry that we would talk again on Monday," said Arum. "But Marquez already has agreed to the fight."

Either way, it's looking like Peterson will make one of the two fights soon enough. Either could happen in April or May, and either fight would be very attractive to HBO. There is also an off-chance that Top Rank, should their side land Peterson to face Marquez, would actually give us a truly significant undercard fight on the Manny Pacquiao PPV coming on June 9. Wouldn't that be something?

Chavez jr VS Rubio

SoThunder — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:59:58 +0000

Marco Antonio Rubio is asking the WBC to assign an international referee for his February 4 WBC middleweight title fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, according to Fightnews.com.

The assigned referee is Mexico's Guadalupe Garcia. There's no history with Garcia favoring Chavez in fights or anything like that, as he's only worked one Chavez fight in the past (a 2008 Chavez knockout of Tobia Giuseppe Loriga). This is a minor power play from Rubio's team, reflecting Rubio's feelings that the deck is no doubt stacked against him. He's said as much already, publicly stating he feels he has to knock Chavez out to get a win, and will not be able to win on the scorecards.

Rubio (53-5-1, 46 KO) is currently not as big a betting underdog as you might expect, with Chavez favored at -370 and Rubio a +310 underdog. He's just looking to make this as fair as he believes he can make it, I suspect, and doesn't want to risk having a Mexican referee potentially favor a favored Mexican son. If the WBC follows their own rules, they shouldn't have any problem with this, or with finding an international referee.

Fight Preview

Top 20 Most Amazing Knockouts of 2011

SoThunder — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:44:53 +0000

Boxing has generated some earth-shattering knockouts this year, both in importance and in visual spectacle.

The spine-tingling sensation of witnessing the painful end of one boxer's hope for victory under the thunderous determination for victory released from another boxer's fist.

These are the 20 most amazing knockouts of 2011:
------------------------------------------------

In a scheduled 10-rounder, Andy Lee displayed the courage and tenacity fans love to see in a boxer. He was losing on the scorecards and was consistently going for the knockout.

Lee kept pressing forward and changed the fight in his favor at the end of Round 9. Lee dropped McEwan, but McEwan got up to finish the round. He just had to survive Round 10 to claim the victory.

But Lee wouldn't let McEwan get away so easily. He smelled blood and finished the fight with a huge left-hand up top.

Amir Khan caused as stir with a bodyshot right on the beltline of Zab Judah. The knockout was deemed legal and not a low-blow because Judah's trunks were pulled up too high anyway.

Amazing uppercut to the abs brings down Judah in the fifth round and hopefully encourages him to call it a career.

Guillermo Rigondeaux is one of the brightest rising stars of the sport of boxing, and he proved it by stopping the previously undefeated junior featherweight standout Willie "Big Bang" Casey.

Rigondeaux dropped him twice in the first round before knocking the dust out of him with a plethora of bodyshots.

Sure Lamont Peterson had this fight won by the scorecards going into Round 12, but he didn't want to beat Cayo on the scorecards. He wanted something bigger, a statement to say he's coming for more.

He's not in it just for the win; he wants a sensational victory, and he got it. The bodyshot barrage he unleashed on Cayo kept hurting. The old saying is that "if you hurt the body, the head will go."

Peterson hurt Cayo to the body and finished him off with a huge right. Cayo complained about it being behind the head, but he was mostly just trying to bide time. It didn't work, and he was counted out.

Gary Russell is a featherweight competitor with too much skill to be ignored for long, but he's not known as a powerful puncher. Well, that changed with this first-round knockout of Ruiz.

Adrien Broner is an undefeated talent with amazing natural ability that was on full display when he defended well and then turned up the heat on Vicente Rodriguez.

Broner flurried against the ropes in what was a surprisingly careful flurry with well-placed shots that eventually led to the two shots that put Rodriguez down, a right to the body and left hook up top.

The look of defeat in Rodriguez's eyes is almost heartbreaking, but Broner's speed, precision and skill was just too much to handle.

Yuriorkis Gamboa is a young undefeated featherweight star in big expectations on his back to continue to impress. Against Solis, he did just that.

Solis is a veteran that faced Pacquiao years ago, so he knows talent. That experience still didn't help Solis not hit the canvas five times, including twice in Round 4.

Adrien Broner was coming off a highly criticized performance against Daniel Ponce De Leon. It was a rather uneventful unanimous decision victory for Broner. Litzau was coming off an exciting upset.

Broner made sure to impress with this performance. After landing at will throughout the opening round, Broner knocked Litzau against the ropes.

Broner ricocheted Litzau's head between the ropes and his fists in a long flurry before the referee stopped the fight near the end of Round 1. In this performance, his fight against Ponce De Leon is forgotten.

Sergio Martinez delivered the knockout of the year last year. He didn't do that this year, but he did deliver a sensational technical knockout of an undefeated Dzinziruk

In Round 8, after knocking Dzinziruk down four times throughout the fight, the referee had seen enough on the fifth knockdown to waive off the fight.

Robert Helenius is a rising star in the heavyweight division.

Samuel Peter is the only fighter to have lost to both Klitschko brothers, the pinnacle of the division. He's given them three fights, making him a wealth of boxing experience and perhaps test of skill.

Helenius passed the test with flying colors, as he outlasted the tiring Peter and dropped him twice in Round 9. On the second meeting with the canvas, Peter went to sleep and didn't wake for the 10-count.

Floyd Mayweather delivered the most talked about boxing event in 2011. It showed up everywhere, even in places you wouldn't think boxing would be.

Some may say Mayweather's alleged "cheapshot" was bad for boxing because it showed boxers in a bad light, but I say it's great for boxing. More people were discussing boxing than they have in a long time.

Even people who don't know anything about boxing HAD to discuss it. It was shocking, controversial and dramatic. It may not be knockout-of-the-year material, but it is certainly event of the year.

Brandon Rios went to war against Urbano Antillon for the first two rounds. In Round 3, he brought it home.

Rios opened the round with a knockdown, then he fought tooth and nail from a determined-to-survive Antillon for the second mouth-dropping face-first knockdown.

Antillon got up, and the referee let him continue, only to witness Antillon do the wobble dance at the mere sight of Rios, a Mexican lion, running towards him with jaws open and ready to devour.

The ref showed mercifully halted the action before Rios' jaws could close in on his hurt prey.

In this fight, you don't have the wild knockout that leaves the other person laying lifeless, but you do have a dramatic hard-sought victory in the final round by Arce.

His performance was incredible. Vazquez was beating him bad with his boxing skills at first, but Arce persisted.

He knew if he kept going to the body and kept coming forward, Vazquez would fall before he did. While Vazquez didn't "fall" in the final round, his corner threw in the towel as he was battered against the ropes.

Blink and you'll miss it!

Canada's favorite adopted son Bute sent undefeated Jean Paul Mendy crashing to the canvas at the end of Round 4 in dramatic fashion with a left so fast, you'll likely hit rewind many times to catch it.

Sergio Martinez is on the list for a second time in an even more impressive knockout. Darren Barker was not only an undefeated Englishman, but a true middleweight.

Martinez's previous opponent had to move up from junior middleweight to middleweight to fight Martinez. Barker, a full-size middleweight, had good defense that seemed to puzzle Martinez at first.

Martinez didn't quit plugging away to find an answer to Barker's defense. He flurried and stepped back, then flurried some more, throwing showers of hard punches through Barker's guard.

Finally, in Round 11, a hard right to the head landed home around Barker's defense. Barker sat down and didn't get up.

Prescott was winning the fight for the first five or six rounds until Alvarado finally got on the inside and turned the boxing match into a close-up brawl.

Alvarado's powerful uppercuts became too much for Prescott and put him down in Round 10.

Prescott got up to try to survive the last minute and a half of the fight, but the referee stopped it as he saw Prescott absorbing too many uppercuts as he leaned over onto Alvarado.

That was a great come-from-behind knockout that definitely made Alvarado some fans.

Brandon Rios enters this list for a second time with a sensational finish against Acosta. Acosta put up a great performance that saw him winning the fight by the midway point, but Rios came back.

Rios started putting together combinations and hard punches that would put Acosta down in Round six and then two more times. In Round 10, after a brutal series of rights, Team Acosta threw in the towel.

Nonito Donaire delivered an early-bird candidate for knockout of the year when he sent Montiel to the canvas in February with a booming left counter.

The referee messed up the beauty of this knockout by letting Montiel continue on wobbly legs at the count of 10.

Montiel would succumb to blows practically two seconds after the referee allowed Montiel to continue.

James Kirkland came in the underdog following his first-round upset to Nobuhiro Ishida, a little-known Japanese fighter.

Alfredo Angulo was supposed to mop the floor with Kirkland in his home country of Mexico, but the "Little Texan that Could" dropped Angulo in the first round after suffering a first-round knockdown himself.

They warred for five more rounds with Kirkland hammering away at Angulo to end the fight in stunning fashion as Angulo lay helpless on the ropes, awaiting the referee to save him in Round 6.

After all the false prophets of boxing saying Kirkland was through following his upset loss, his redemption against Angulo said otherwise.

James Kirkland was an undefeated prospect set to put the world on fire until a Japanese fighter by the name of Nobuhiro Ishida changed everything in one round.

Ishida has less than 10 knockouts and over 30 fights. Nobody expected Ishida's punch to be able to put Kirkland down three times, but it did.

On the third knockdown, the referee waived off the fight, having seen enough.

The inspiring story of an overlooked Japanese fighter achieving such a great moment in the aftermath of Japan's Tsunami is the stuff that makes great moments.

A great knockout isn't just about spit flying and blood spouting and bodies going limp. A great knockout is about a story that is told with purposeful punches and battered bodies.

Ishida told a story in 2011, writing an award-winning poem with the pen of his fists scribbling words into Kirkland's flesh to be used as the tablet on which this story is written.

Knockout of the year? Hell yeah!

Manny Pacquiao Vs Miguel Cotto 2?

SoThunder — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:27:12 +0000

It would appear that Manny Pacquiao is close to making an official announcement about his next fight, and it is not going to make boxing fans happy.

According to Abac Cordero of the Philippine Star, Pacquiao has already decided who he is going to challenge. His promoter, Bob Arum, knows, but isn't saying anything. Pacquiao's wife, Jinkee, may have let the cat out of the bag, though.

She was quoted as saying that her husband would be going up against Miguel Cotto. The date has not been made official, but Arum told Cordero that he is expecting late May or June 9.

To be clear, this is just a rumor, but if it does end up being Cotto, then boxing fans should just throw their hands up in the air and ask what is going on.

Nothing against Cotto, but we have already seen that fight before and we know how it turns out: Pacquiao destroys him.

Let's be honest, unless Pacquiao is fighting Floyd Mayweather, none of this really matters. Anything that either of them does is going to make one bit of difference.

Whatever petty issues Pacquiao and Mayweather have, you would think that the two sides would be able to come together to strike some kind of an agreement.

Mayweather is out there doing his best to convince everyone that the fight he wants next is with Pacquiao. He has been posting messages on Twitter and doing interviews saying the same thing: The only thing on his mind is Pacquiao.

So based on all that, and we don't know how serious Mayweather really is because he talks a lot, Pacquiao needs to sit Bob Arum down in a room and tell him that the only fight he wants is with Mayweather.

If Mayweather is as adamant about facing Pacquiao as he says he is, he will do the same thing with his promoter.

But if what Mrs. Pacquiao says is true and we get another Pacquiao-Cotto fight, we might as well just give up on the hope that anything will ever happen with Mayweather. The time is now; neither man is getting any younger, and there is always a way to make the finances work out.

Bob Arum is Sneaky!

SoThunder — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:13:17 +0000

When it comes to the oft-dreamed-of superfight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, the shaky consensus among fight fans is that Mayweather is afraid of Pac-Man. He's pretty good at talking the talk, but he's ducking Pac-Man.

Relative to the 'Mayweather is a scaredy cat' theory, the notion that Bob Arum is ducking Mayweather doesn't get that much press.

Arum, of course, represents Pac-Man and sets up all his fights. To put it lightly, he's always been on the fence about a potential duel between his biggest star and Mayweather, the biggest loose cannon boxing has to offer.

But on Wednesday night, a day after Mayweather called out Pacquiao on Twitter to fight on May 5, Arum laid his terms on the table.

The terms got to us via Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated:

A 50-50 split? That's reasonable.

Somebody guaranteeing Mayweather's half? That's reasonable.

A late May fight date?

That's not so reasonable.

Late May would work just fine for Pac-Man, as he last fought in mid-November against Juan Manuel Marquez. However, it wouldn't work so well for Mayweather. He wants to fight on May 5 for a reason.

125621885_crop_340x234 Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Last week, Mayweather had his 90-day prison sentence delayed until June 1. His reps moved for a delay because Mayweather had a contractual obligation to fight in Las Vegas on May 5, an event that would give the city a considerable economic boost.

Mayweather was lucky to get that delay. I'm no legal expert, but I'm going to assume that a late May fight date would necessitate another delay. Another delay is probably not in the cards for Mayweather.

So basically, Arum has offered Mayweather a fight date that simply doesn't work. His terms therefore represent nothing but a big tease.

This is par for the course when it comes to Arum's role in the on-again-off-again negotiations between Pac-Man's camp and Mayweather's camp. He has always taken a standoffish approach to the idea of setting up a fight with Mayweather, and in fact is totally indifferent most of the time.

For example, a Mayweather aide told ESPN.com back in November that Arum wasn't even interested in talking turkey about a potential superfight.

132352455_crop_340x234 Ethan Miller/Getty Images

When Mayweather's prison sentence was delayed, Arum told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael over the phone that Pac-Man was going to fight in June, and that was that.

So why did Arum stop in his tracks, turn around, and offer terms?

Because Pac-Man told him to. He said in an interview with PhilBoxing.com that he was going to "insist" to Arum that he make it happen.

Instead of making it happen, Arum has presented Mayweather with a set of unreasonable terms and has put the pressure on him to make it happen.

If he doesn't, hey, Arum tried.

Once Mayweather rejects these terms (and he will), he and Pac-Man will go their separate ways, and then Mayweather will go to prison in June.

When he gets out, the process will start all over again. Barring a change of heart, Arum will continue to stand in this fight's way.

It's what he does best.

Floyd wants Manny Now!

SoThunder — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:35:48 +0000

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has made it perfectly clear that he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao on May 5. And he didn’t mince words.

The outspoken, undefeated champion has claimed that it was Pacquiao holding up the fight for the past four years, but there has been talk from both sides that the other is to blame.

Whoever is to blame is not the issue. The problem is that with every passing day these fighters slip farther past their primes and fans stop caring. People will watch no matter what, but the aura of this match isn’t what it used to be.

Yesterday, Pacquiao said he wanted to fight Money and would push hard for the fight with his promoter, Bob Arum.

Mayweather took to twitter to make sure the public saw that he was not backing down from Pac-Man or his words of desire for this fight.
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It’s obvious that both men are putting on a show for the media. Neither of these guys wants to look like the guy holding up the process, but I think both are a bit tentative about this match.
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For Mayweather, not only does he have his legacy and undefeated streak to think about, the idea of fighting the biggest fight of the man’s life before heading to prison is a mental undertaking that Money may not be able to handle. While Mayweather is always sure he will win, Manny has the power to make him feel like he is losing.

Pacquiao could walk away from boxing right now and live a happy, successful life in the Philippines if he wanted, but he claims that he wants this fight for the fans. If the talk that its Bob Arum that’s holding up the process, it’s time for Pac-Man to go rogue and fight on his own.

The only thing that is certain is that both of these men aren’t getting any younger. The allure is fading and if they don’t figure this out fast, it will be a shell of what it could have been.

And people wonder why boxing is dying.

Lesnar, Overeem don’t think they’ll go long

SoThunder — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:57:04 +0000

When UFC president Dana White called Brock Lesnar in September, and the latter agreed to fight on Dec. 30 against Alistair Overeem, White noted that it would be a five-round fight.

Lesnar said, “That’s fine, because it’s not going five rounds.”

Aside from both being two of the most physically impressive heavyweights the sport has ever seen, Overeem (6-foot-5, 255 pounds) and Lesnar (6-foot-2 ½, 270 pounds) have almost nothing in common other than the belief that their battle for the next UFC title shot at Junior Dos Santos will end decisively, and probably quickly.

“I’m prepared for five rounds,” said Overeem (35-11, 1 no contest), “I’ve been doing the five rounds forever now it seems. But looking at myself, the type of fighter that I am, looking at Brock, the type of fighter he is, looking at both our characters, we’re aggressive.

“We’re not the type of guys who back up,” said Overeem, the only man in history to hold a world championship in a major MMA organization (Strikeforce) and in the premier kickboxing organization (K-1) at the same time. “We’re fighters. We want to finish fights. And yes, I’m going to be doing that on Dec. 30. I expect him to be doing that, so I don’t see really going past the first or the second round. The second round maximum.”

“I feel the same,” said Lesnar (5-2). “This is a heavyweight fight that we’re both going in to finish. I don’t foresee it going five rounds.”

While statements like that from heavyweights may come across as hyperbole, few expect anything different.

The fight, billed in some places as the best heavyweight striker (Overeem, at least, has the credentials as the winner of the K-1 World Grand Prix last year, the highest level kickboxing competition in the world) against the best heavyweight wrestler (arguable, but Lesnar, Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier are likely the three best heavyweight wrestlers in the sport), is actually pretty simple to handicap, and it comes down to a few questions.

Can Lesnar take Overeem down, keep him there and damage him, mentally break him and finish him from that position? Can Overeem either stop Lesnar’s takedowns, or at least get up from them quickly enough to get enough time standing to get the knockout? Can Overeem catch him on the takedown with a knee or a guillotine?

Any prolonged standing greatly favors Overeem. And after being an eye witness to the Dos Santos title win over Cain Velasquez in just 64 seconds back on Nov. 12, Lesnar is probably going to be unlikely to fool around for too long standing against a fighter who has finished seven of his last ten opponents out in less than two minutes.

Before Overeem’s somewhat disappointing performance in winning a decision over Fabricio Werdum on June 18, the “Dutch Demolition Man” hadn’t been to the second round in a fight since 2007. That was back in the days when he was a small light heavyweight. With the exception of the Werdum fight, the new Overeem has been a killing machine the likes of which has never been seen at the top ranks of the 265-pound weight class.

But that streak led directly to the wide dichotomy of viewpoints on Overeem. His supporters label him the best heavyweight in the game, pointing to his quick finishes, and his skill set. His takedown defense as a heavyweight has looked strong. While thought of as primarily a kickboxer, four of his last eight quick wins have come via submission, and with his long but powerful arms, he’s the master of the guillotine.

His detractors say his record of quick finishes is padded, fattened up on cans on the Japanese circuit. His record in kickboxing shouldn’t count because it is a different sport. His takedown defense may look good, but as a heavyweight, the closest thing he’s faced to a wrestler was a past-his-prime Kazuyuki Fujita, who is world’s away from Lesnar caliber.

Detractors also point to Werdum as being the only top-15 heavyweight Overeem has faced in his streak, and he didn’t look impressive there. To be fair, Overeem came into that fight with a broken toe and Werdum’s style of continually dropping to his back to try and bait Overeem into a ground war made it impossible to look good. And they point to his 11 career losses as a sign that when he’s challenged he either gasses or folds.

For all of Overeem’s experience, Lesnar has fought and beaten a far tougher variety of heavyweight opponents.

Still, Overeem comes into UFC 141 as a 9-to-6 favorite, the first time in Lesnar’s career he’s the underdog. Yet many of the top heavyweights, like Frank Mir and Daniel Cormier, strongly favor Lesnar.

But for all the questions about Overeem, there are just as many about Lesnar.

Lesnar is coming off a long fight with diverticulitis, a disease that has consumed his life for two years and even threatened it at one point. It’s his first fight back since surgery on May 27. While Lesnar says he feels younger, and better than he has in years, the question at 34 is did the disease and time rob him of the speed and physically dominating wrestling that was his most amazing attribute as a fighter? Plus, his composure after being hit is in question after his last two fights, in which he was nearly finished by Shane Carwin, and then was finished by Cain Velasquez.

“All I can say is that I’ve had a great camp and this is the best I’ve felt in a long time,” said Lesnar. “If I had to put a percentage on it, I don’t even know.”

Marty Morgan, who has worked with Lesnar since his college wrestling days, said Lesnar’s strength levels going into this fight are far above what they were while preparing for any of his fights in at least three years.

In Overeem’s weight gain from 224 pounds when he beat Paul Buentello for the Strikeforce title in 2007 to 262 pounds when he won the K-1 World Grand Prix one year ago, he’s faced the kind of steroid allegations that Lesnar has heard since college.

This led to a major ordeal in recent weeks. Overeem had a hearing before the Nevada Athletic Commission after a delay in taking a random drug test ordered on Nov. 17. He missed the 48-hour deadline to take the test because he flew from Las Vegas to Holland to be with his sick mother and missed getting the message.

Finally, on Dec. 14, Overeem took a test in the U.K., and came up clean. The commission ordered him to be tested once more before the fight, when he arrives in Las Vegas after Christmas.

Lesnar, unlike most in MMA who are consumed by the latest gossip, keeps himself isolated for the most part. He doesn’t have Internet at his home. He only has television to watch hunting shows and when it comes to the plethora of MMA on television, he rarely watches, usually just to see fights that one of his friends are in. He only became vaguely aware of any Overeem’s testing controversy on Dec. 14, and has barely given it a thought.

“I just heard about it yesterday,” Lesmar said last week. “I’ve been dealing with the same accusations my whole life, being part of the spotlight and with the Internet and everything nowadays, and being social media, everybody knows everything. It’s part of the lifestyle. It comes with the territory. So I’ve been used to it for many years now. So I don’t even follow as much about what is going on with Alistair.”