Funkerstation » ensive goaltending when he dunked Laprovi

Carl Frampton hijacked the grand plans of the brilliant Leo Santa Cruz on Saturday night with a stunning win in New York.Frampton of Northern Ireland was the underdog, the challenger, moving up in weight and away from home, but he fought with incredible intelligence to take Santa Cruzs WBA featherweight title.Santa Cruz was unbeaten in 33 fights. The Frampton fight was his 12th in four years for a world title and he had a long list of future opponents. Santa Cruz was destined for, and had been selected for, dominance and continued lucrative TV fights; nobody told Frampton before the first bell.Ringside at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, the champions and potential future challengers watched the brilliant Frampton use his brain to take rounds and then take the belt. Santa Cruz talked about a rematch, possibly in Los Angeles, and that could happen. However, he looked broken by the loss and will need to answer a few harsh questions about his lack of tactics.Lee Selby, the IBF featherweight champion from Barry Island in Wales, was an excited ringside guest. It was a great performance and I would love a fight with Carl, he said. That fight is certainly feasible, as the pair shares the same adviser in Al Haymon.Every single world featherweight champion, the leading contenders and all of the best super bantamweights will now want a fight with Frampton. Both Frampton and Santa Cruz are refugees from the super bantamweight division, men who simply needed the extra 4 pounds in weight to allow them to continue fighting.On Saturday night Frampton, 29, took a huge step toward stardom, and the look on the faces of those in the Santa Cruz business was priceless. Frampton is now an attraction in America, but he has a lot of lucrative options in Britain and Ireland.A partial unification with Selby would do stunning business outdoors in Belfast, as would a rematch with the British Scott Quigg, another ringside spectator to the Frampton show. In February at a sold-out venue in Manchester, and in a big pay-per-view fight on Sky, Frampton broke Quiggs jaw and took his unbeaten record as well as his WBA super bantamweight title.Frampton also trousered ￡1.5 million, phenomenal money for small men in any country and at any time. A rematch in Belfast would work -- Quigg wants it and it proves that British world champions are not dependent on the American market.The new WBO champion at featherweight, Oscar Valdez, who is unbeaten in 20 fights with 18 knockouts, would pose a fight that could top any bill in Las Vegas. A fight with the technically gifted WBC incumbent Gary Russell Jr. is another realistic option.We will look at all the champions, the leading contenders and other fighters -- Carl is suddenly very popular, insisted Barry McGuigan, who is Framptons promoter and mentor. McGuigan won the same WBA featherweight belt 30 years and 13 champions ago. He was in tears at the end.There is another option -- one that is admittedly very unlikely but is possibly going to keep on surfacing -- and that is the brilliant Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux. Frampton was ordered to defend his super bantamweight titles against Rigondeaux but took the sensible option: vacating, gaining weight and beating Santa Cruz, who was as daunting a task as Rigondeaux. The Cuban congratulated Frampton and promised to keep chasing him. He is a true warrior and I know he will fight me, Rigondeaux said.Right now Frampton needs to let his face stop aching, rest his sore hands and enjoy a Belfast homecoming that perhaps no other active boxer, certainly none of Britains other 13 world champions, could dream of experiencing. Santa Cruz, meanwhile, will return to California to try and make sense of what happened. At the same time the fight fixers will go to work in their parlours and try and get their boxers a piece of the Frampton action. Clearance Authentic Air Jordan Canada . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Cheap Air Jordan Canada Online .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. http://www.airjordanwholesalecanada.com/ . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Discount Air Jordan Canada Shoes . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. Cheap Jordans Canada . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. SAN ANTONIO -- New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said the San Antonio Spurs will quickly expose any teams weakness.The Pelicans learned not only do they have a lot to work on, they also need some rest.Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and the Spurs beat the Pelicans 98-79 on Saturday night in their home opener.We didnt have the same energy that were usually playing with, Pelicans forward Anthony Davis said. We wasnt making shots. There was some miscommunication. Against a team like this, you cant have plays where we have a mental breakdown, thats what they want and they always capitalize. We had seven turnovers in the first half and they scored on every turnover.The Spurs won their first home opener in 20 years without Tim Duncan, who retired in the offseason. San Antonio played without any of its Big Three as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both sat out to rest in the first night of back-to-back games.San Antonio didnt appear to miss them, as 11 players were part of a balanced-scoring effort that helped the team remain unbeaten after three games.Patty Mills scored 18 points starting in place of Parker. Mills was 4 for 7 on 3-pointers, including one at the close of the first half to give San Antonio a 55-45 lead.I thought the play at the end of the first half was a big play, Gentry said. Instead of a seven-point game, its a 10-point game. Patty makes a 3-pointer. We never really got him picked up. You cant make those kind of mistakes.LaMarcus Aldridge added 12 points along with solid defense against the leagues leading scorer.Davis was held to 18 points after scoring 50 and 45 points in the seasons first two games. He was limited to 3:13 in the final quarter as San Antonio led by as many as 27 points in the fourth.I got some shots I wanted, Davis said. I got some jumpers that I wanted, just missed them. Im not worried about offense, really. Shots are going to come. I just want to get everybody else going and try to find a way to find a win.Davis took only nine shots in the first half.Aldridge picked up three fouls in the first half as Davis primary defender, but still managed to hold the 6-foot-10 forward to 6-for-15 shooting in the game.(Aldridge) did a good job, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. Anthonys obviously a great player. We just wanted to work on individual `D. So, we didnt give him any help, we just let him guard him. In the future that may not be what we do.ETwaun Mooore also had 18 points for New Orleans (0-3).dddddddddddd.Leonard added four rebounds and three assists and was 2 for 4 on 3-pointers.The 6-7 forward worked on drawing more fouls in the offseason and it continued to pay off, earning Leonard early MVP chants from the sellout crowd. He was 6 for 6 on free throws, raising his season total to 28 for 28.The only time I hear it is when I come to the games, Leonard said of the chants. I would never try to win an award. Im out there just playing for my team. If I get noticed for my individual performance, then thats what happens. But other than that, Im trying to win a game.TIP-INSPelicans: Davis played 32 minutes, raising his season total to 113. Before the game, Gentry said he was not concerned about the early workload, noting Davis is 23 years old and capable of handling big minutes. . New Orleans bench finished with 33 points, one less than San Antonios. None of the Pelicans reserves finished in double figures but five had at least four points led by nine from Dante Cunningham. New Orleans bench is averaging 31.7 points per game.Spurs: San Antonio has seven new players on its 15-man roster this season, including rookies Dejounte Murray, Bryn Forbes, Nico Laprovittola and Davis Bertans. ... Popovich chastised Jonathan Simmons for offensive goaltending when he dunked Laprovittolas layup as it was still on the cylinder. The veteran coach pointed to his head to signal the second-year player should be wiser. Simmons responded in the final quarter with a thunderous dunk over 7-2 center Alexis Ajinca. Simmons finished with 11 points. . Bertans missed his first shot of the season after making his first three attempts, including two 3-pointers.SIT DOWNPopovich opted to rest Parker and Ginobili even though it is the Spurs third game of the season. Popovich is not a fan of the congested early schedule.Everybody goes through this, Popovich said. This is our third game in five nights. Tomorrow is going to be four games in six nights. Its ridiculous. (New Orleans) played at 8:30 last night and they have to play a back-to-back tonight. Seems like you could figure that out.The Pelicans were coming off a 122-114 loss at home to Golden State Warriors.UP NEXTPelicans: Host Milwaukee on Tuesday.Spurs: At Miami on Sunday. ' ' '