Weekend At Jarry’s

November 20, 2007

When it comes to the world of combat sports weekend is king. In other words, promoters usually book their big matches/fights on the weekend. Makes sense.

Boxing/MMA usually happen on Saturday nights while wrestling holds their monthly extravaganzas on Sunday nights.

However, just once, JUST ONCE, I would love to see them flip-flop so we can watch Wrestlemania, for example, on a Saturday night. How cool would that be? (What? You couldn’t care less? Bullocks.)

So, what is the point of this post, you ask? Well, every Monday we’ll recap the weekend that was in the world of combat sports. Think of it as the cliff notes version of everything that went down in our world. Now YOU will rule the watercooler.

I know we are not a news site and have no aspirations to become one but I think this weekly post just makes sense.

Ok, enough chatter, let’s get right to it:

Boxing:

* Undefeated WBO Super Featherweight champ, Joan Guzman (28-0, 17 KOs), defeated hard-hitting Humberto Soto (43-6-2) via unanimous decision at The Borgata on Saturday night. The loss marked Soto’s first in five years or 22 fights. Whichever way you want to look at it…that’s a long time. Could Manny Pacquiao or Juan Manuel Marquez be next for Guzman? One should hope so.

* NABO Bantamweight champion, Abner Mares (15-0, 9 KOs) looked dominant in a victory over Damian Marchiano (14-3-1, 5 KOs). Mares, a 2004 Mexican Olympian, should be in line for a world title shot sooner rather than later.

* In Germany, Alexander Dimitrenko (27-0, 17 KOs) won via TKO in the 12th round over Timo Hoffman (36-6-1, 20 KOs) to retain his WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight title in a fight (according to those who saw it) which was the best of the weekend.

* Mayweather-Hatton 24/7 debuted last night on HBO and, boy, was it amazing. I strongly feel that this one will be better than the last. Hatton and Mayweather are such polar opposites it just makes for great television.

MMA:

* UFC 78 made their first appearance at the Prudential Center in New Jersey and, well, it wasn’t a strong first impression. Rashad Evans won a split decision over Michael Bisping, Thiago Silva schooled Houston Alexander and Karo Parisyan did just enough to get past Ryo Chonan. Elsewhere, Joe Lauzon and Frankie Edgar continued to look great.

* Dana White announced that Dan Henderson will finally move down to 185 lbs to challenge Anderson Silva for his Middleweight title at UFC 82 in March. Can’t wait for that one.

* Strikeforce held a four-man Middleweight tournament won by Jorge Santiago. What this means for Mr. Santiago I’m not quite sure.

* Sean Salmon appears to be doing just fine after suffering an apparent seizure after getting knocked out by Santiago with a flying knee less than a minute into their bout.

*Following Cung Le’s victory over Sammy Morgan Mr. Friday Night, Frank Shamrock, pretty much challenged him to a fight although who knows if that will ever see the light of day.

Wrestling:

* While not what it used to be, WWE Survivor Series was still a great event. The big news was that Randy Orton retained his title against HBK and Batista, thanks to a returning Edge, defeated the Undertaker to keep his Heavyweight title. The lone “traditional Survivor Series match” had HHH and Jeff Hardy remain as the sole survivors.

* Chris Jericho returned from his two year wrestling hiatus on Monday Night Raw. Welcome back Y2J.

* “Rowdy” Roddy Piper disappeared from an Indy Show in Marion, IN. Piper was supposed to host an edition of “Piper’s Pit.” How great were those back in the day? Let’s take a trip down memory by looking at one of the greatest moments in “Piper’s Pit” history: The day jobber Frankie Williams went toe-to-toe with Hot Rod.

And now you are officially caught up. Please tell us what you thought of the weekend in the comments section below.

Miss anything big? Want us to cover your event? Drop us a line at tips@jarrypark.com.