With still 2 years left and $42 million remaining on his contract Stephon Marbury is a detachable stature on the Knicks organization. He is untradeable with his selfish basketball and a hefty contract left on his name and the Knicks refused to waive or buyout his remaining $21.9 million contract this season so Marbury is left in Limbo with his former coach Mike D’Antoni refused to play Stephon after early disputes when he was still a member of D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns.
Stephon can score at will with his flashy moves and shooting but his misdemeanor on and off the court have cost him his downhill career. How much does a Stephon Marbury really cost?
Stephon was selected by Milwaukee Bucks and was traded for Ray Allen in 1996 and after teaming up with Kevin Garnet, Stephon had a dispute with his coach on his role on offense that he immediately asked for a trade which was granted by a three way deal with Terrel Brandon sent to Minnesota and Sam Cassell was sent to Milwaukee. Stephon played in New Jersey with only a drive away from his hometown. Stephon never made it to the playoffs and was traded for Jason Kidd on which Kidd and the Nets soared high as the beast on the East during their time. Stephon played under Mike D’Antoni’s system which he give up and asked to be traded. He is not a fan of a run and gun system since he likes to ball hog and create more offense on his system of play that was the turning point of his career as he was again traded together with Penny and Trybanski for Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, Antonio McDyess, Maciel Lampe and Milos Vujanic and additional future first round draft choice which would be use by Phoenix in the 2010 draft.
So how much does Stephon Cost? He cost a total of 10 players on his name with 3 perennial All-star players. At age 31 he still has 2 or more years left to play. Talent can get you anywhere but your attitude can prolong your career. Stephon had to learn that lesson the hard way.

Expectations can be too hard to please. When you are on the top of the ring many expected you to win… When you are winning many expected you to win in a spectacular fashion. The bottom line is no matter how you worked your ass off still you cant pleased everybody you control your own destiny and at the end of the day it will be just you and your own personal demons.
Rey Boomboom Bautista tasted another setback on his career and this time there is no definite time when we will see him back in the limelight again. Losing to Ponce DeLeon was a wakeup call for Boomboom and after pacing himself up for three victories he tasted defeat again through the hands of Heriberto Ruiz.
Groomed to be the next Manny Pacquiao, Bautista had to eat, sleep and breathe expectations around him. He was so conscious in scoring a kayo that he abandoned his jab and went for the kill but in return he was countered nicely by Ruiz and was knockdown on the third round.
Rey has the heart and determination but he lacks the defense and often allows his opponent to hit him while he moves forward. There are a lot of doubts if Boomboom can handle a caliber fighter in his division with the likes of Israel Vasquez, Rafael Marquez and Juan Manuel Lopez. We all remember how Boomboom rise up from rags to riches. His childhood stories when he was walking for about 2 kilometers with a barbecue stick clinging on his forehead. Rey Bautista has bounced back from that experienced but he has also to learn that part of the experienced has also a golden lesson to be learned.
What Boomboom needs is to changed his attitude and environment. He needs to learn defense and jabbing intelligently. Expectations are just added baggage to his already heavy shoulders its time he stops pleasing everybody and its time he grows up.
Defeats might be bitchy but it helps you grow up to be the person you’re ought to be.
Boomboom will still move forward despite being hit and down twice in his career because its how you deal with life and that’s how Boomboom is… moving forward.

Learn to know more about Pacquiao and De La Hoya’s training status. The drama continues as HBO once again presented the second part of their 24/7 series for Pacquiao and DelaHoya… download now…
click the image to download

Rey Boomboom Bautista had run out of excuses anymore…. On his fight with Ponce De Leon he was saying he had a fever without discrediting Ponce’s the better fighter on that matchup. But this Saturday Boomboom suffered another setback on his career. After cutting himself from an accidental headbutt and suffered a knock down on the third round Boomboom Bautista lost in a unanimous decision against Heriberto Ruiz.

Boomboom goes by the saying you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. Though there was head movement and some footwork but after being hit by some power shots the old Boomboom resurfaced. He neglected his fight plan and stalk Ruiz hoping to get one big shot but instead find himself digging on his own hole as Ruiz countered with power shots of his own. The jab wasn’t finding its groove and once cut Boomboom panicked and resulted on a knockdown in round three.
For me that was Boomboom’s last chance of redemption but failed miserably in an undercard of a big fight in Malignaggi and Hatton. Losing to Ponce De Leon was acceptable knowing Ponce’s credibility but Heriberto Ruiz is a tough act with a bigger risk to match up he is a journeyman so to speak and he came out with a better fight plan and dominated the over hype Ala boy in Boomboom and losing to Ruiz is much more damaging not only to his career and also to his many fans around the world.
Boomboom was exposed to being a one sided boxer who abandons his game plan whenever he was hit.
It’s time Boomboom rethinks about his career. I remember the once famed Dindo Castanares who was an ALA boy standout but after failing twice in Japan Dindo’s career went downhill. I know Boomboom will soon regain his once dominating status in the world of boxing. But in this cruel world his critics will always be unforgiving. Rey is still young but unless he tries to change and become a much better fighter his name will always be labeled as a bum. Sad but true… Boomboom still has a long way to go for redemption. No excuses he needs a major overhaul.

Would a battery run when it has the same polarity? Do opposites attract?

Freddie Roach the renowned coach of Manny Pacquiao has already created a buzz against his former boxer Oscar De La Hoya. Roach is vocal on Oscar’s not pulling the trigger anymore… Oscar is not the same Golden boy we knew and love… and Manny Pacquiao the reigning lightweight champion will knock him out on their Dec.6 encounter.
Freddie Roach is talking trashed and somewhere along the line made quite an impression among boxing fans.
Oscar De La Hoya has been on the downside lately at age 35 his reflexes and his power has slowly diminished. There were proven rumors unleashed by Freddie Roach that the real reason for Victor Ortiz going home early as Oscar’s sparring mate was that Oscar got a beating from Victor who was also Manny’s sparring partner way back then. Oscar sported a black eye during their HBO 24/7 premiere episode and you can’t help but wonder if the rumor was true.
Freddie Roach divulged also from the net that during their training camp on Oscar’s fight with Mayweather he tapped the services of the 108 lbs fighter Ivan Calderon to test Oscar’s speed and in return he received a ton of slapping from Ivan with Oscar no close in hurting the 5.0 ft. flat Puerto Rican.
We could never knew the outcome of the Pacquiao- De La Hoya fight for now but it’s sure is getting hot with Roach and Oscar exchanging verbal jabs.
Manny and Oscar are pure gentle men and trash talking is not their forte that’s why they let Freddie Roach do the talking…
So why is Roach trash talking? Would you watch a movie with two leading actors and no arch enemy the whole time… now that would be so damn boring…

Ricky “the Hitman” Hatton went on an unbeaten streak until a perfectly timed counter left-hook went straight to his chin and the thousands of fans who flocked to see their compatriot fight were in for a shock as Hatton struggled to get up and Floyd Mayweather Jr. got the victory.
Ricky this time will be fighting for his second fight after his devastating loss to Mayweather. The fight against Juan Lazcano failed to meet expectations but Hatton escape a unanimous decision against a fighter who was believed to be a walk in the park for Hatton.
The Nov.22 fight with Paul Malignaggi for the Ring Magazine and IBO light welterweight title will simply erase doubts on Hatton’s greatness will he bounced back after a lack luster performance on his supposed tune up fight against Malignaggi?
Ironically Ricky Hatton hired the services of the very same father of the fighter who knocked him out… Floyd Sr., Mayweather has trained several hall of fame fighters including the Golden boy Oscar De La Hoya. He could give Ricky a good quality training but standing on his way would be “The Magic man” Paul Malignaggi.
Malignaggi is a tactical puncher who could clearly score an upset against a forwarding Hitman. He has proven himself worthy after standing against Miguel Cotto toe to toe in a grueling 12 round contest although he lost but he earned the respect of many boxing fans.
Paul Malignaggi doesn’t have the power but he has exceptional handspeed sporting a Thomas Hearns stance ironically nicknamed “Hitman”.
Both fighters are aiming for bigger fights in the future. Ricky Hatton wants to fight the winner of the Pacquiao-De la Hoya Dec.6 match up and Paul Malignaggi wants the prestige and bragging rights as the best light welterweight in the world.
Paul Malignaggi can set up his jab and counter-punches his way out of trouble but he has proven to have a hard time against hard hitting and tough opponents like Miguel Cotto.
Now Ricky Hatton has to impose his way to Paul Malignaggi but we all know it’s not an easy feat to do.
This Saturday “The magic man” has to dig deep into his bag of tricks or “The Hitman” will haunt him… Who wants it more wins it all.

Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De la hoya are gearing up for their Dec.6 bout with almost two weeks to go both fighters are now closing to almost in perfect form.
Oscar looks very fit and very strong while Manny has the same passion and intensity and looks very ripped and sturdy. HBO 24/7 added the hype and anticipation going into the dream match.
Here’s part 1 of HBO 24/7 Oscar De la hoya- Manny Pacquiao Dec.6 fight.
Click the picture to download…

UFC has a roster of aging veterans and though there was a time when the sport was on the wire the cagey veterans always comes to the rescue starting off with 38 year old Chuck Liddell , 35 year old Matt Hughes, 44 year old Ken Shamrock and the legendary “The Natural” Randy Couture who at age 45 still dominates the game.
With Chuck Liddell over powered by Rashad Evans, Matt Hughes never went back to his winning ways after George St. Pierre gave him an armbar and Ken Shamrock had streaks of badluck Randy Couture was the only solid veteran fighting and UFC 91 showcase Randy against a much younger and hungry competitor in Brock Lesnar.
Brock is a former WWE wrestler who turned pro football player and went to Japan as a pro wrestler again only to be strip of his title after some visa problems. Brock is a typical journeyman who is trying to find his cliché in contact sports.
MMA made him discover his true worth as an athlete. There are talks comparing him to the over hype Kimbo Slice but Brock just shrug it off and continues to fight quality fighters.
Randy Couture after threats of retiring defended his belt although he has been successful of his grecko Roman style of fighting but when Lesnar landed a right straight Randy went down and with hammerfists coming into his direction the referee has no other choice but to stop the fight in the second round with just seconds left before the round closes.
UFC has a new heavyweight champ in Brock Lesnar. Now the veterans are slowly making an exodus of the sport and Lesnar finally found the respect he clearly deserves.
UFC has been a fixture in contact sports because it continues to provide quality fights with fans around the globe. With Lesnar successful could we see a flock of WWE stars coming? I can’t imagine those raging steroid stars doing a submission move to Mike Bisping or Keith Jardine but we could never tell… Maybe in UFC 100? Featuring Undertaker taking on Tim Sylvia… now that should be a treat to UFC and WWE fans as well… I wonder if Undertaker still carries his magical urn towards that fight…

Pau Gasol was criticized for being soft and the Lakers as a team got shoved and push without any resistance as the Boston Celtics cruise their way in 6 games clinching their 17th NBA championship.
This time the Lakers are in a different aura as the Boston ghost continues to haunt them and went on a rampage winning 7-0 with the New Orleans Hornets as their newest victim. They are the league’s no.1 in offense and no.2 on defense.
Chris Paul tried to make a dramatic comeback after trailing late in the fourth quarter but Kobe hit an unbelievable three putting a dagger right in front of former Celtic player James Posey. Kobe was struggling all game long but he let his offense carried by his teammates and when the moment comes Kobe unleashes the heartbreaking three.
The Lakers are much better now on their defense and with a deep bench they are now more focus in extracting revenge against opposition who labeled them as soft.
The Houston Rockets boosted their lineup adding Ron Artest and seems to find the right buttons in answering the Lakers puzzle but the Lakers prove them wrong as they came back and destroyed the Rockets hope of an upset.
There are a lot of factors with the Lakers early season run and part of it is Andrew Bynum teaming up with fellow seven footer Pau Gasol the dynamic duo could seal the inside scorers and makes the opposition hesitant as the twin towers stretches their arm in a teradactyl length. Bynum leads the league in block shots and any team with a Lamar Odom coming off the bench could really spell trouble.
The Lakers are now sending a strong message in the NBA and they want everybody to know that they are dead serious for a championship run.
Sometimes it takes a bad experienced to make a team better. They are pushed and pushed comes to shove… now they are not intimidated the Lakers are for real and they are now pushing back.

Boxing has been a sport of different relationships many started boxing because of an enticing friend or the most common is family tradition.
We have witness a lot of father and son tandem where in sons are trained by their respective fathers. Eric Morales and Joe Calzaghe earned their names in boxing through the watchful eyes of their fathers. Our Dad’s would be our greatest critic because there is no apprehension there’s nothing to hold them in telling you what’s the truth and if your performance is great or not plain and simple they know what’s best and most of all at the end of the day they are still family.
Nonito Donaire Jr. was virtually an unknown fighter together with his brother Glenn they were trained and patiently coached by their Dad Nonito Donaire Sr. Nonito had his first break when he knock the cocky Darchinyan and grab the IBF and IBO titles.
Nonito after a long layoff fought Moruti Mthalane and scored a 6th round TKO against a stubborn African. Although a win was a win but I saw a different Nonito fighting on that day although ring rust after a long layoff could be the factor but he was not the same jubilant Nonito I saw during their match with Darchinyan.
Nonito Sr. criticized his son for an average 5 out of 10 performance. If not for the bleeding eyelid of Mthalane, Jr. could be in a real trouble as the fight change momentum and Mthalane’s shots are already finding its range. There were times in the fight when the crowd booed Nonito after seconds of not engaging against the game Mthalane.
Like I said our Dad is our greatest critic and Nonito Sr. found many loopholes against Jr. that day.
The once sweet chemistry between father and son turned to bitter and sour as Dad blamed his son’s wife for the sloppy performance. I think Nonito Jr. should know by now that his Dad only wants the best for him. During training boxers have to sacrifice a lot and part of it is to abstain from sex. Manny Pacquiao, Eric Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera had to leave their wives to train. I’m not condemning Nonito for being with his wife but training is a different thing.
This family affair could be easily patched up and I think the best way for them is to sit down and talk things out. I know like all Dad’s we always have the heart for our son. No matter how hurt or no matter what happens after all at the end of the day we are still family.