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Sports
Clearwater's Keith Thurman Edges Shawn Porter By Unanimous Decision, Retains Title
Beauty Unlimited
ACHONTI
This week’s Beauty Unlimited feature is more than appropriate, especially considering the time of year. Achonti promises to keep heads turning her way, while at the same time continuing to work hard and achieve her goal. Congratulations to Achonti as this week’s Beauty Unlimited feature.
They've been pals since they were teenagers, but Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter did not let their friendship stand in the way of a hellacious battle Saturday night.
In an old-fashioned fight of the year candidate, Thur- man got the job done and eked out a unanimous deci- sion to retain his welter- weight world title before a crowd of 12,718 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
All three judges scored the fight 115-113 for Thurman, who successfully defended his 147-pound belt for the third time. ESPN.com also had it 115-113 for Thurman.
"I want to thank Shawn Porter for a tremendous
Keith Thurman, right, de- feated Shawn Porter by unani- mous decision, with all three judges scoring it 115-113 in Thur- man's favor.
fight. He's a great warrior," said Thurman, 27, of Clear- water, Florida. "Shawn brought it today. He was on me. But I knew that defense would be the key to victory. He smothers his punches a lot and it's very difficult for the judges to give him clear
scoring.
"I was able to rock him
with clear, effective blows, and I believe that was the key to victory today. He's in tremendous shape and is a tremendous athlete, and I would love to see him in the ring again if he wanted it."
Porter was disappointed but said he gave it everything he had.
"At the end of the day, I'm blessed," said Porter, 28, a native of Akron, Ohio, who fights out of Las Vegas. "We worked hard. Keith is a great champion. My dad [trainer Ken Porter] says to keep your head up. I think I won the fight, but I'm satis- fied, because the competitor came out tonight.
Beware Of The Early Verdict In The Ibaka-Oladipo Trade
The verdict was swift and cruel: The Oklahoma City Thunder had fleeced the Or- lando Magic in swapping Serge Ibaka for Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and the No. 11 pick in Thurs- day's NBA draft.
It's hard to imagine the Thunder getting a fatter re- turn for Ibaka as he enters the final year of his contract. The closest recent analogue is probably the Charlotte Hornets' acquisition a year ago of Nicolas Batum from the Portland Trail Blazers -- another instance of a con-
SERGE IBAKA
tender with a huge pending free agent (LaMarcus Aldridge) dealing away an almost-All-Star on the verge of a massive pay raise. The Blazers knew Aldridge was fine with Batum leaving,
just as the Thunder know Durant is fine with Ibaka heading elsewhere in his prime, per several league sources.
In exchange for Batum, Charlotte coughed up Ger- ald Henderson and Noah Vonleh -- the latter a mid- lottery pick who barely played before arriving in Portland. The Magic gave up much, much more.
Ibaka bristled about his lack of touches in Oklahoma City and for the past year has been sending signals he might leave in free agency.
Seahawks’ Backup
QB Arrested For
Pulling Gun On Wife
The NFL and domestic vi- olence still have a long way to go.
On Friday morning, backup Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Tarvaris Jack- son, 33, was arrested in Kissimmee, Fla., for pointing a loaded gun at his wife and threatening to kill her, ac- cording to local NBC station, WESH.
According to police re- ports, Jackson’s wife tried to defend herself with a kitchen knife and an iron as a drunk Jackson pointed a 9mm handgun at her, repeat- edly saying, “I’ll kill you.”
Jackson’s wife allegedly taunted her husband saying, “You better be accurate be- cause you ain’t accurate on the field,” as another adult in
TARVARIS JACKSON
the home restrained him. WESH reports that children were home during the attack.
Jackson was Seattle’s backup quarterback the past three seasons, getting little play behind Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson. He is charged with aggra- vated assault with a deadly weapon, and was released on $2,500 bail Friday night.
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