Μέσι: Ηγέτης 700 αγώνων

Γιορτή για τα 700 παιχνίδια με τη φανέλα της Μπαρτσελόνα, γκολ, ασίστ, ρεκόρ «θυμάτων» στην κορυφαία ευρωπαϊκή διασυλλογική διοργάνωση. Ένα όνομα, μια ιστορία δίχως τέλος. Ο μύθος του Λιονέλ Μέσι, συνεχίζεται...

Μόλις λίγες μέρες πριν από την εκδήλωση για την απονομή της Χρυσής Μπάλας για το 2019 (2 Δεκεμβρίου) και με τις φήμες περί θριάμβου του Λιονέλ Μέσι να έχουν πάρει διαστάσεις, ο Αργεντινός ηγέτης της Μπαρτσελόνα έδωσε ακόμα μια παράσταση το βράδυ της Τετάρτης στην αναμέτρηση με τη Μπορούσια Ντόρτμουντ στο «Καμπ Νόου».

Ήταν σημαδιακή βραδιά για τον μεγαλύτερο αστέρα που έχει δει η Μπαρτσελόνα τα τελευταία 15 χρόνια, αφού, συμπλήρωσε 700 συμμετοχές με τη φανέλα του καταλανικού συλλόγου και δεν θα μπορούσε ν' αφήσει την περίσταση να φύγει δίχως να τη συνοδεύσει με κάτι καλό εντός γηπέδου.

Και τα έκανε όλα. Πρώτα «σέρβιρε» με ένα άγγιγμα τόσο – όσο προς τον Λουίς Σουάρες για το 1-0, έπειτα το πήρε πάνω του από ασίστ του κολλητού του από την Ουρουγουάη και στο δεύτερο ημίχρονο έκανε την κάθετη μπαλιά προς τον Αντουάν Γκριεζμάν, ο οποίος πέτυχε το πρώτο του γκολ στο Champions League ως μέλος της Μπαρτσελόνα.

Η ομάδα του Ερνέστο Βαλβέρδε κατάφερε με τη νίκη απέναντι στους Βεστφαλούς στη Βαρκελώνη να εξασφαλίσει την πρωτιά του γκρουπ στο οποίο συμμετέχει και στο οποίο βρίσκονται επίσης οι Ίντερ και Σλάβια Πράγας, με τους «μπλαουγκράνα» να έχουν πετύχει πλέον κάτι εντυπωσιακό. Για 13η διαδοχική αγωνιστική περίοδο στην κορυφαία ευρωπαϊκή διασυλλογική διοργάνωση, το κλαμπ περνάει στους «16» από την πρώτη θέση του ομίλου στον οποίο έχει κληρωθεί ν' αγωνιστεί στο ξεκίνημα του τουρνουά! Το σερί ξεκίνησε από τη σεζόν 2007-2008 και συνεχίζεται μέχρι και φέτος...

Ο Μέσι, στην 700η του εμφάνιση με τη φανέλα του συλλόγου της Καταλονίας, βρίσκοντας δίχτυα κόντρα στη Ντόρτμουντ, έκανε πλέον 34 τις ομάδες απέναντι στις οποίες έχει σκοράρει όταν... κουνιέται το σεντόνι στο γήπεδο και ο αριθμός των «θυμάτων» του αποτελεί ρεκόρ για ποδοσφαιριστή στον κορυφαίο θεσμό! Από αυτή τη λίστα δεν θα μπορούσαν να λείπουν ο Παναθηναϊκός και ο Ολυμπιακός, ενώ και ο ΑΠΟΕΛ είχε την... τιμή να τον δει να στέλνει τη μπάλα στα δικά του δίχτυα σε αναμέτρηση του Champions League.

Οι μοναδικές ομάδες τις οποίες έχει αντιμετωπίσει ο Αργεντινός και έχει αποτύχει να σκοράρει είναι οι Ρούμπιν Καζάν, Ατλέτικο Μαδρίτης, Μπενφίκα, Ουντινέζε και Ίντερ, με τους «νερατζούρι» να έχουν δεχθεί δυο γκολ από τον Λουίς Σουάρες στο πρώτο μεταξύ τους ματς τη φετινή σεζόν και να έχουν πλέον το δεύτερο «ραντεβού» στο Μιλάνο, στην τελευταία αγωνιστική της φάσης των ομίλων. Η Άρσεναλ είναι εκείνη που έχει δεχθεί τα περισσότερα γκολ από τον Μέσι (9) και έπειτα έρχονται οι Μίλαν και Σέλτικ (8)

Ο απόλυτος «βασιλιάς» της Βαρκελώνης, ο άνθρωπος που πραγματικά μεταμορφώνεται όταν φοράει τα μπλαουγκράνα σε αντίθεση με όσα κάνει τις στιγμές που καλείται να προσφέρει τις υπηρεσίες του στην εθνική ομάδα της Αργεντινής, έχει μετρήσει πλέον 613 τέρματα στην ποδοσφαιρική του καριέρα και 237 ασίστ με τις δύο που μοίρασε σε Σουάρες και Γκριεζμάν την Τετάρτη. Έχει σκοράρει 40 χατ-τρικ, πέντε φορές στην μέχρι στιγμής παρουσία του στα γήπεδα έχει πετύχει 4+ γκολ, έχει κατακτήσει 34 τίτλους, έχει αναδειχθεί 6 φορές κορυφαίος σκόρερ στην Ευρώπη και φυσικά έχει και 5 Χρυσές Μπάλες... αναμένοντας την 6η.

Μέσα στο ημερολογιακό έτος 2019 με τη φανέλα της Μπαρτσελόνα χει 40 τέρματα, 15 ασίστ, ξεκίνησε βασικός στα 36 από τα 43 ματς που έχει αγωνιστεί, έχει ολοκληρώσει 198 ντρίμπλες, έχει δημιουργήσει 120 ευκαιρίες για γκολ, του ανήκουν 39 καθαρές φάσεις μπροστά από την αντίπαλη εστία και έχει πραγματοποιήσει 1.821 ακριβείς μεταβιβάσεις της μπάλας.

Και να σκεφτεί κανείς πως η τρέχουσα αγωνιστική περίοδος τον άφησε γι' αρκετό καιρό εκτός δράσης αφού έπρεπε ν' αντιμετωπίσει μυϊκά προβλήματα τραυματισμών...

Τα χρόνια περνούν, τόσο εκείνος όσο και ο Κριστιάνο μεγαλώνουν και προσπαθούν όσο γίνεται να διατηρηθούν στο υψηλότερο επίπεδο από άποψη φυσικής κατάστασης και η αλήθεια είναι ότι τα καταφέρνουν μια χαρά. Ο Μέσι στα 32 του, συνεχίζει να παίρνει τη Μπαρτσελόνα από το χέρι και να προσπαθεί ακόμα και στις πολύ δύσκολες περιόδους, να της χαρίζει νίκες ηρεμίας, προκρίσεων, επιτυχιών και να διανύει τη διαδρομή ως ηγέτης προς την επίτευξη των στόχων που θέτει κάθε χρόνο η ομάδα.

Έπειτα από την περσινή... κατραπακιά με το 4-0 από τη Λίβερπουλ στο «Άνφιλντ», εκεί όπου τα... ανεξήγητα φαινόμενα στο γήπεδο της Λίβερπουλ παρέσυραν τη Μπαρτσελόνα και οι Καταλανοί δεν ήξεραν τι τους συνέβαινε, ο Μέσι δεν ήθελε να πει πολλά στον κόσμο του συλλόγου στην καθιερωμένη ομιλία του στην έναρξη της νέας ποδοσφαιρικής χρονιάς. «Πρέπει να εκτιμήσουμε το γεγονός πως πήραμε το 8ο πρωτάθλημα τα τελευταία 11 χρόνια. Σε μερικά χρόνια θα μπορούμε ν' αντιληφθούμε το μέγεθος της επιτυχίας, αν και τα πράγματα δεν τελείωσαν καθόλου καλά την περασμένη σεζόν. Είμαστε γεμάτοι ενέργεια και δύναμη για να δώσουμε μάχες και φέτος και θέλουμε να είστε έτοιμοι κι εσείς» είπε απευθυνόμενος στον κόσμο... Και αυτή η δύναμη και η ενέργεια, κρατάει σταθερά το «τιμόνι».

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Sex, Drugs & Silicon Valley

Once a month, the former winners of the schools that excluded the sex chapri inventions take their revenge, giving fasaraki a party with isotonic drinks, many drugs and orgies, according to a Bloomberg reporter revealing magazine

Until now they have xanamesei the Giapis of Wall Street or film stars who were prone to all sorts of orgies: the old generation addicted to adrenaline, drugs and casual sex has been replaced by new technologists tycoons, starring in organizing such party type. Only these have changed character: they are accompanied by non-alcoholic beverages, they are isotonic and offer plenty of drugs that include or rather dominate Molly pills - the new trend.

It is the shifting of the old ecstasies, which also have as a necessary complement the strong beats, children's music or at least the high decibels that can bring the new members to euphoria. So, there are all the times when "Eyes Wide Shut" fantasies refer to directed states of rage between candlesticks and old libraries. Now the rages are taking place on boats or in unknown suburbs of San Francisco with key starters new owners of startup technology companies - the new Silicon Valley mongers. Women are understood to be here, as in the case of Wall Street, almost absent or, in any event, playing exclusively the role of entertaining guests.

All these reveal the book by journalist of Bloomberg Emily Chang, which after thorough investigation into the dark world of technology - and part of - and chauvinistic behavior of men who have primacy in the field wrote the book «Brotopia: Breaking the Silicon Valley Boys' Club, which is due to be released in February.

Excerpts but only secured the «Vanity Fair» and have already caused great concern for the multitude of information surfacing about the orgies and the aggressive behavior of the various managers and key personnel who star in Silicon Valley: «At least one month, usually on Friday or Saturday nights, Silicon Valley technocrats gather for a full party for drugs and sex. The most common event is hosted in a luxurious home on the lips of Hillsborough.

In special cases, guests are forced to travel north, to a tower in the Napa Valley or to a private villa on Malibu beach or a boat in Ibiza. The parts are changing but most of the players and protagonists are left alone. " To add with some surprise the writer that the stories told her "about 25 people from those who participated in these parties are remarkable for different reasons each. Many participants did not seem annoyed, nor did they seem ashamed.

On the contrary, they are proud to speak of how they have overturned traditions and personal examples, just as they do with the world of technology. " In short, Silicon Valley's young protagonists consider it natural if they think "out of context" with regard to their inventions, to do the same in the other areas of their lives. Of course, in this case, the choices are, according to the writer, again victims of women, as their possible participation makes them insolvent for the company, and their respective denials put them on the black list. As for men, the explanation of the argument is simple and probably has to do with the fact that the college's foreign nerds, who have been deprived of an intense sexual life by devoting more time to their next invention, now take their blood back with occasional conjunctions and orgies. In short, the well-known nerds become short-time entrepreneurs.

As the Vanity Fair points out, it is not accidental to circulate the book in times when everyone is talking about sexual harassment and abundant examples come to light every day. When everyone is focusing on Hollywood, few get bored to talk about San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The journalist and writer Emily Chang is doing the first thing in a nutshell: "It is likely that directors and top investors will hold a million dollars a year and earn another million after a long career.

But employees in companies such as Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat can make the same money in only a few years. Famous people such as Kutcher, Leth and Di Caprio have already invested in such companies. Basketball player Lembron has already re-launched himself as a technology entrepreneur. With so many famous people wanting to get into the game of technology, it's no surprise that some in Silicon Valley consider their world to be very charming - and they also have great expectations for their sex life. "

In short, new millionaires are no longer coming from the problematic stock market or the world of bankers but from technology.

The author uses testimonies by others to emphasize how absurd this world looks to non-Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and brings some examples from the economic field. She does not, however, conceal details of the way such gatherings are organized, according to testimonies of people who have witnessed or participated: "The guests arrive just before dinner and are scrutinized by special guards who can not accept someone off the list. Sometimes there is special catering.

But because in most cases they do not want irrelevant guests, dinner is cooked on-site by those present - perhaps because the dishwashing, after sweet, helps the world come closer. Alcohol is scarce and there is just to cool the atmosphere a little bit, but drugs do not slow to make their appearance. It goes without saying that MDMA, ecstasy or else Molly, is known for its effective effect on transforming strangers into friends. It's no accident that Molly's pills often list the company's initials. That's why some people, when referring to these parties, make it coded with "e-parties".

"MDMA is the terribly powerful and long-acting drug that causes such euphoria and energy that can keep you active for three or four hours. As dopamine increases, the closer the links become in the room, and the behaviors that are needed are gradually overlooked.

Hats and splashes begin. However, they are not orgies in themselves but for individual sexual encounters where the guests are divided into trio or larger groups. Some people disappear in the rooms, although they often open it in front of everyone. The night leaves and dawn comes in, and the groups serve breakfast - after which they restart the erotic works. Fai, drugs, sex, and sex again. "

"These sex parties happen so often they are not even scandalous - and they are not a common secret. At least they are telling me. It's just a lifestyle issue. As most say: "We no longer live in the age of Makarhism but in Silicon Valley of the 21st Century". No one is required to participate and participation is not kept hidden even if it is a married or in a relationship. They just try to be discreet - at least in their everyday lives. Many are invited to the party as husband-couples, lovers, since the new regularity in this world is open relations. "

Ready for jungle ceremonies!

A new world is born in Silicon Valley where nothing is taken for granted - not even a companion. Of course, electronic invitations usually have codes like "we call you at a party on the edge of the Earth". And guests must be "ready and prone to adventure and enjoy jungle ceremonies."

In this call, which was sent to an invited guest named Jane Doe (a pseudonym that is used in English either for someone unknown or for someone who does not want to reveal his identity), the hosts were the same a pair of her bosses - who naturally participated in the "African-inspired orgies."

The specially designed room of the house had safari decoration and was full of fake skins in the place of the carpets, while it had fur pillows ready to welcome the guests. It goes without saying that the majority of the guests in such a party must be women - and this for the author is indicative of the male-dominated world but also of the underestimated role of the woman in Silicon Valley.

The same is true of another woman who has happened to be present: "Women rush to these parties most of the time to secure a better place. To be clear, there are many party slogans depending on the type of sexual experimentation. Some are sexually exclusive, but they do not have any alcohol (to achieve high performance), while others make sure there is a better proportion of men and women.

Most, however, have a lot of drugs and many women and end up with the famous "cuddle puddles" (the group hugs after parties), which is the essential stage for orgies. Men are usually invited by the host and can bring as many women as they want - but they are not allowed as women's escorts. Women invited are required to be alone. Invitations are sent either verbally or through Facebook or Snapchat because they can be deleted after a while.

It goes without saying that everything is encoded so you can not move it to another source. Besides, they do not need to be explained.

Typical is the case of Ava who "worked as an influential executive at Google when her boss succeeded in such a party. He saw him sitting on a specially-made bench and giving a jerk in the back of a young man who made him a mouthful of love at the same time that she was accepting the penetration of someone else.

Ava and her boss exchanged eyeglasses, but never mentioned that fatal encounter. A few months later, in another incident, far from Google's offices, a married colleague attempted an obscene gesture. And when he told him "but what are you doing, you're not okay! Do not touch me! "He replied," I know what you are doing, everyone in the office is commenting on you. " It is no coincidence that a little later she was forced to give up and leave Google completely. " And this is indicative of the fact that, while no man is stigmatized by his participation in such orgies, it is not the same as women who are always punished in the worst way.

An example is Esther Crawford, a businessman who was particularly familiar with sex parties, as the author says: "Crawford had a monogamous relationship for four years with Chris Messina, a former Google employee and Uber, a well-known and as an inventor of the hashtag. Recently, both have launched a Molly company -which is not randomly identified with the name of the drug- developing a kind of "electronic and discreet pet with artificial intelligence that can stand in different ways next to the user."

They even chose to become monogamy for some time, because complicating things with others complicated things a little. At the same time, they developed their company to such an extent that in December 2017 they had already raised $ 1.5 million for their company. Crawford, as a successful entrepreneur, could accurately list the difficulties a woman encounters - which a man can not even think of.

When she raised money for her second company, a social networking application called Glmps went to dinner with an investor in a modern restaurant on San Francisco's main street. At the end of the night the investor cut her a $ 20,000 check and then immediately tried to kiss her. "It was clear I resisted him," Crawford says categorically. "I went back and asked him to call me a Uber." She claims that the investor is most likely to have heard of her being sexually open, and that it was difficult for her to simply appear as an investor rather than as a conqueror. It was something like his obligation. " A simple proof that a woman who is experimenting with a party of this kind or who can have a comfortable life in her sex life is obliged to accept the persistent sexual harassment of her male colleagues.

However, there is also the opposite side, according to the book, of the young owners of technology companies who also suffer the sexual pressures of young girls who are willing to take part in order to secure either money, a rich escort, or an upswing in some of companies. Chang, who is well acquainted with many stories from the world of technology, refers, among other things, to the case of Helen Pao, a senior executive in a technology company who had won the sexual harassment case against Clint Perkin's boss, but has since been in black stocks and he had received all sort of threat because he just dared to talk.

Of course he has never found a job in Silicon Valley. Another typical example that you see in the book is that of the well-known Sequoia company, where a shareholder has publicly stated that they are not willing to lower their standards by recruiting women, as well as interviews with Facebook and YouTube's director, through which it appears that women in managerial posts are a rare phenomenon.

More generally, the sexual examples cited by the famous journalist are intended to show that, like Hollywood, once considered the land of dreams and proven to be the land of discrimination, Silicon Valley is not a "fantastic world of unicorns, online reality bows, and three-dimensional lollipops, where millions of dollars grow on trees. It's a Brotopia, where men have all the cards in their hands and they are defending. " Even sexual liberation here is not mentioned for good - not as an example of freedom, but as a negative example of female oppression and marginalization.

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BMW 100R Mystic Motorcycle

This BMW R100 R Café Racer has received the custom treatment, giving it a sleek copper finish. This one-of-one was created by Vincent Degano, who developed an interest in BMW motorbikes because his father rode them as part of his job in the French police. Degano usually only works on Scrambler models but this time wanted to work on a Café Racer, choosing the R100 R as his vehicle of choice.

Degano first etched clean and painted the engine and wheels black. He then sandblasted the rest of the bike before using a custom copper powder coat and faux copper paint to cover the bodywork. In addition to this he added a new axel and 2010 speed triple forks.

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Molly’s Game is the movie of the week

Molly’s Game

2017 / Biography-Drama / 135 '

Directed by: Aaron Sorkin

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Chris O'Dowd, Michael Cera, Joe Keery, Rachel Skarsten, Graham Greene and  Brian d'Arcy James

We had talked about Molly's game since last spring. Not because we were the mad or the blessed ones we predicted. But because it's impossible to have Aaron Sorkin's signature and not to talk about something very good. This has already been certified by the 2 nominations in the Golden Globes. One for his script and one for Jessica Sasein. For Jessica everyone says that Molly's Game is the interpretation of her life so far and is a powerful pole of competition for Sirla Ronan and Francis McDormand who seemed to be playing duets this year.

In Molly's Game, directed by Sorkin, Saseen plays Molly Bloom, a famous skier who has stayed in the modern history of America. Not in a good way. Molly left her skiing and became Princess of Poker. So she calls her own biography itself. Molly was the woman who runs the biggest poker games in Hollywood and of course not in a legal way. For a decade he has broken, having already taken the man he put in the game. The money passed through her eyes and hands can not be imagined. Her games featured Hollywood celebrities, athletes, millionaire businessmen and ... the Russian mafia.

In the film, we see the point where the FBI has discovered Molly and we focus on what she reveals to her lawyer, Charlie Jaffey.

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UFC 214: Cormier vs. Jones 2 – Preview and Predictions

After more than two years and an avalanche of bad blood and trash talking, fight fans will finally get a change to see the most anticipated rematch in recent UFC history.

Former light heavyweight champion and pound-for-pound king Jon Jones returns to the octagon after serving a one-year suspension for failing a drug test just days before he was scheduled to main event the landmark UFC 200 event against Daniel Cormier. Now he’s back and (supposedly) clean, ready to reclaim the title that he never actually lost.

In Jones’ absence, Cormier has risen to the top of the 205-pound division. However, Jones is still the one and only man who has beaten Cormier. Jones is literally the “one” in Cormier’s 19-1 record, a decision victory back January 2015.

UFC 214 also features two other juicy title fights, making it one of the best events of the year (on paper, at least). Along with the legit PPV stars in the main event, the card also has Tyron Woodley vs. Demian Maia for the welterweight championship and Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino vs. Tonya Evinger for the vacant women’s featherweight strap.

There’s lots to talk about, so we’re skipping the prelims entirely this time. Let’s jump right into our predictions for the main card, which airs live on PPV at 10:00 P.M. (Eastern) on Saturday night!

(For those unfamiliar with moneyline betting, fighters listed with a minus number are the betting favorites. All odds courtesy of Bodog.ca)

Robbie Lawler (-160) vs. Donald Cerrone (+130)

The three huge champion fights may be getting all the headlines, but this welterweight battle between Robbie Lawler and Donald Cerrone could easily end up the best fight of the night. Lawler is a former champion who just lost the welterweight title in his last fight, although it was over a year ago. He was on a five-fight win streak before that.

Cerrone is always a joy to watch and has won many performance bonuses for incredible knocks outs, submissions, and exciting fights. But he’s never won a UFC title, losing to Rafeal dos Anjos in his only attempt in December 2015. But he’s won 12 of his last 14 fights, dating back to 2013. He’s one of the toughest dudes in the UFC, and he’s never lost back-to-back fights in his entire career.

Prediction: Cerrone via Submission.

Jimi Manuwa (-185) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (+135)

Like the Lawler vs. Cerrone fight, this light heavyweight contest also features two guys ranked in the Top 10 of their division — Manuwa is No. 3 and Oezdemir is No. 5. That should make for a close contest, and the betting odds definitely reflect that, with Manuwa just a slight favorite.

Manuwa, now 37-years-old, was in the conversation for a title shot before Jon Jones was reinstated and booked against Cormier in the main event. The winner of this fight may get the next crack at the belt, so he’ll definitely be looking to pick up his third straight win.

However, Oezdemir is on a four fight win streak of his own and is a full ten years younger than Manuwa. Both fighters have incredible knockout power, as 25 of their combined 31 wins have come via KO or TKO. We doubt this fight will go the distance.

Prediction: Oezdemir via Knockout

Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (-1200) vs. Tonya Evinger (+700)

This fight was originally planned as Cyborg versus former champion Germaine de Randamie. However, de Randamie was reluctant to take the fight due to Cyborg’s previous drug test failures. As a result, the UFC stripped her of the title and make Cyborg vs. Evinger. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty big mismatch.

Cyborg is one of the meanest and nastiest fighters in the UFC, regardless of gender. She doesn’t have a professional loss since she was defeated in her pro debut, and that was back in 2005. The UFC was reluctant to sign her for a long time, since she likely can’t make the 135-pound weight limit for the bantamweight division, where the likes of Ronda Rousey, Amanda Nunes, and Holly Holm were all top competitors. Instead, the UFC created the women’s featherweight division almost exclusively for Cyborg, and it’s a pretty thin weight class.

Evinger is an experienced fighter, with 25 fights to her name. She’s even the current Invicta FC bantamweight champion, plucked up by the UFC especially for this fight. Despite that, bookies don’t like her chances. Frankly, neither do we. Cyborg is a different kind of animal when it comes to female MMA fighters. As long as she makes weight and doesn’t fail any drug tests (both fairly big ifs, actually), Cyborg should win easily.

Prediction: Cyborg via Decision.

Tyron Woodley (-210) vs. Demian Maia (+170)

Tyron Woodley is the best welterweight wrestler since George St-Pierre. Demian Maia, on the other hand, is the best submission artist currently in the UFC, and perhaps the best BJJ practitioner that MMA has seen since Royce Gracie was making people look foolish two decades ago.

This fight gained additional prestige this week, when it was revealed that the winner will likely get a returning GSP for a big money title fight, now that the St-Pierre/Bisping ship seems to have sailed. Woodley is coming off a pair of ultra close fights against Stephen Thompson (a draw and a majority decision victory). Maia is on a seven-fight win streak and has looked incredible since his last loss — to Rory McDonald back in February 2014.

Maia has had one championship opportunity before, getting a crack at Anderson Silva’s middleweight title back in 2010. With all due to respect to Woodley, this is an easier task for Maia than an in-his-prime Silva. The Brazilian Maia may be almost 40-years-old, but he could finally capture UFC gold on Saturday night.

Woodley has plenty of power to go with his elite wrestling skills, but Maia is no slouch on his feet and is absolutely deadly on the ground. We wouldn’t be surprised at all if Woodley wins on Saturday, but it’s boring to always pick the favorite.

Prediction: Maia via Submission.

Jon Jones (-270) vs. Daniel Cormier (+210)

At long last, the most legitimately hate-filled feud in the UFC will get its second chapter. Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier absolutely despise each other, spewing nasty, personal insults at each other in every interview they do, press conference appearance, or social media post they make. Aside from all of that stuff, they are also both of the two most talented fighters in the UFC.

Cormier is a legit world champion wrestler who has competed at heavyweight before. His only professional loss is a decision defeat back in 2015, to Jones himself. Cormier had very little success wrestling with Jones in that first matchup, so hopefully he comes in to UFC 214 with a slightly different gameplan.

Jones is a legit candidate for the title of greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. Perhaps in UFC history. However, a number of self-inflicted career derailments in the last few years have weakened the argument. There was the DUI, the constant eye-poking during fights, the homophobic slurs on Instagram (surprise! — he claims he was hacked), the positive cocaine test, the hit-and-run incident, and the failed PED test that blew up the UFC 200 main event. Now he’s back, fully committed to being the villain.

This fight should be satisfying regardless of the outcome. But as much as we’d like the “good guy” to win and even the score at 1-1, Jones is undefeated for a reason (no, don’t come at me with that Matt Hamill bulls**t — Jones beat the hell out of him). The King will regain his crown.

Prediction: Jones via Knockout.

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The 10 Most Disappointing Movies Of 2017

It’s hard to believe we’re already well over halfway through 2017. When it comes to movies, the first half of any year is generally heavy on blockbusters, comedies, and films that studios like to dump in the early winter months, with more “serious” dramas and other Oscar-bait usually saved until the fall. So far, 2017 has been quite the treat at the cinema, with surprise hits like Get Out and Logan early in the year, and a string of excellent comic book movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man: Homecoming proving that the genre hasn’t quite run out of gas. Of course, like any other year, there were also a number of films that, for whatever reason, failed to live up to expectation. That isn’t to say that these movies are necessarily bad, but it’s doubtful that we’ll be seeing any of the following 10 disappointments appear on a list of the year’s best films when all is said and done.

10. Baywatch

Taking old TV shows and rebooting them into feature-length movies shouldn’t work but considering 21 Jump Street and its sequel are two of the best comedies made in the last five years, Baywatch easily could have turned out better. After all, it not only had natural charisma machine Dwayne Johnson as the lead, but Zac Effron as his co-star, who has been having a surprisingly good comedic run as of late with the Neighbors films. Unfortunately, while Seth Gordon’s Baywatch does its best to ape the structure and tone of Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s irreverent Jump Street films, it is nowhere near as funny and never strikes the right balance between spoofing its genre tropes and actually exhibiting those same tropes unironically.

If Baywatch had doubled down on being on spoofing its source material (because let’s be real, Baywatch isn’t a series that deserves much in the way of reverence) instead of just falling back on dick, boob, and fart jokes, we may well have had one of 2017’s best comedies on our hands rather than a forgettable film that largely wastes the talents of all involved.

9. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

It’s a stretch to say that King Arthur: Legend of the Sword looked like anything special but given director Guy Ritchie’s track record, it really could and should have been better than it is. Ritchie excels at making fun action movies and King Arthur looked like it would fit the bill nicely, with Ritchie applying his brash, kinetic filmmaking style to one of the oldest stories in Western culture. And if you just watched the first ten minutes or so — which features gigantic elephants laying waste to a castle — you’d think Ritchie had pulled it off.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for Legend of the Sword to fall back on monotonous hero’s journey tropes, with Charlie Hunham’s Arthur being perhaps one of the most frustratingly reluctant heroes to grace the screen in some time. Throw in flat dialog, boring characters, and a story that doesn’t even involve Merlin — Ritchie allegedly was saving him for a sequel, which will likely never happen now — by the time Arthur picks up Excalibur and actually starts using it, you’ll long since have stopped caring.

8. The Great Wall

The Great Wall is a film truly made for the blockbuster market as it exists in 2017, when how a film performs in foreign markets is almost (if not more so) important as how it performs domestically. With a diverse cast of both Western and Eastern actors including Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe, Tian Jing, and Pedro Pascal, Yimou Zhang’s film feels designed by committee to maximize overseas profits, as it’s all spectacle and zero substance. This might have been acceptable if The Great Wall embraced its bonkers premise and filled its running time with outrageous scene after outrageous scene but other than a few inspired sequences, such as a battalion of hot-air balloonists, the film is surprisingly dull and unremarkable for long stretches.

An unusually poor performance from Matt Damon and low review scores were enough to earn a tepid box office response in North America but fortunately for Universal, foreign markets seemed to eat up The Great Wall, as the film earned more than 86% of its money overseas. If there’s a sequel, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the producers ditch the Western connections altogether and make The Great Wall 2 a fully Chinese-made production.

7. Alien: Covenant

Five years after releasing the divisive Prometheus, Ridley Scott returned this year with Alien: Covenant, a sequel that attempts to fix some of the problems people had with the former film. It definitely succeeds in some respects, as certain plot elements help fill in some of the gaps in Scott’s previous film and in terms of structure, Covenant takes its cues from the original Alien and goes back to its horror roots. It’s too bad then that it feels like Scott learned the wrong lessons from Prometheus as, perhaps paradoxically, Covenant is at its best when it directly references the events of that film and and its focus philosophical questions surrounding mankind’s origins.

This is still a film where people routinely make stupid decisions that lead to their deaths and outside of the stuff involving Michael Fassbender’s two android characters David and Walter (the film would be SO much worse off if Fassbender wasn’t involved), Alien: Covenant covers too much familiar ground to stand out as one of the Alien franchise’s best outings. It’s not a bad film by any stretch, but it’s also one that probably doesn’t need to exist either.

6. The Fate of the Furious

The late Paul Walker wasn’t a great actor in the technical sense but like many of his co-stars, he found his niche in the Fast & Furious franchise and was an integral member of its ensemble cast. Say what you will about the relative cinematic value of the Fast films but Walker’s send-off at the end of Furious 7 was pitch perfect and would have made for a great finish line for the franchise. Of course, Universal wasn’t about to let one of its biggest moneymakers call it quits just because one of its main cast members unexpectedly died, which leads us to The Fate of the Furious.

In some ways, Fate is a bold step forward for the franchise; not as significant leap as Fast Five was, mind you, but it’s still pretty ballsy to take franchise hero Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and turn him against his “family” he adores so much. While the film is book-ended by thrilling action set pieces, the intervening time is surprisingly light on character drama for having such a heavy premise. The film is also quite mean-spirited toward certain characters, in particular Elsa Pataky’s Elena. This is also the eighth installment and even with the injection of new blood like Charlize Theron’s villain Cipher, this fuel-soaked series is starting to get rusty and it’s becoming increasingly clear that we may never see a sequel that tops Fast Five.

5. War Machine

Netflix and Brad Pitt are both typically reliable sources for good entertainment, so seeing them team up for a big budget war movie should have yielded great results. Throw in director David Michôd, who has a pretty impressive track record as both a screenwriter and filmmaker, and War Machine could have been something special for Netflix to tout alongside the Academy Award-nominated Beasts of No Nation. It’s a shock then to find that War Machine is a film with an identity crisis, which makes it a frustrating viewing experience.

Michôd can’t decide whether he wants his film to be a serious war drama or satire, meaning that the tone is all over the place. This extends to Pitt’s performance as well, which plays like his Lt. Aldo Raine character from Inglorious Basterds, only with more scenery chewing. Even the presence of prestigious actors Ben Kingsley and Tilda Swinton aren’t enough to elevate War Machine above the level of mediocrity.

4. All Eyez On Me

After the excellent Straight Outta Compton a couple years ago, it’s fair to have expected a biopic based on late rapper Tupac Shakur to be of similar quality, especially given its subject’s legacy. However, outside of an excellent lead performance given by Demetrius Shipp Jr., director Benny Boom’s All Eyez On Me might be one of the worst biopics of a famous artist to be made in the last decade, if not ever.

The biggest problem with the film is that it attempts to cover every important detail of Tupac’s life without delving into any of the smaller details that contributed to this man becoming such a revered icon.  Boom’s film feels like it has nothing to say about its subject other than celebrating his legacy at every possible turn and is about as surface-skimming as you can get in a biopic (which is saying something given its 140 minute runtime).

3. The Book of Henry

The main problem with The Book of Henry is not that it’s a bad movie — which it very much is — but that it hammers home the fact that Colin Trevorrow has no business being allowed anywhere near Star Wars Episode IX, least of all in the director’s chair. There are no shortage of films centered around precocious children, but The Book of Henry’s title protagonist — an 11-year-old genius boy played by Jaeden Lieberher — is so smugly unlikable that even if the rest of the film worked, Henry would probably still drag the whole endeavor down.

Unfortunately, not much really works here. The tone is all over the map, switching from whimsical to terrifying at the drop of a hat and the film absolutely wastes the talents of Naomi Watts as Henry’s idiot mother who is constantly talked down to by her young son. Between this and Jurassic World — a decent, but unremarkable blockbuster — it’s difficult to see what Disney and Lucasfilm see in Trevorrow as a filmmaker that convince them to let him direct a Episode IX. Our only hope now is if Trevorrow gets canned or has some hidden talent he’s been saving to unleash on the Star Wars universe.

2. Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell was never going to live up to expectations, as the film was engulfed in controversy and negativity right from the get-go. The 1995 anime feature is widely regarded as a masterpiece of the genre and Scarlett Johansson’s casting was (rightly) met with accusations of whitewashing by those who would have preferred an Asian actress in the lead role. Setting those issues aside for a moment, director Rupert Sanders’ adaptation is surprisingly watchable, containing a number of inspired visuals and stylish action sequences.

The problem is that a story as complex as Ghost in the Shell arguably demands more than cool visuals and action, and in terms of weighty philosophical questions, Sanders’ film has nothing on the original. It’s a perfectly competent blockbuster and one made to appeal to a wide audience but if you’re a fan of the anime or just films that you think, Ghost in the Shell is a frustratingly empty viewing experience.

1. The Mummy

Positioned as the launching pad for Universal’s Dark Universe, a shared cinematic universe that includes the likes of Dracula, Frankensten, and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (the latter of whom is played by Russell Crowe here), The Mummy is so bad that it feels more like a franchise killer than a proper introduction. It’s a shame too because Universal really could have had something here. The Mummy movies from the late ’90s/early 2000s weren’t cinematic masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination, but they were campy fun and felt like a more supernatural-themed alternative to Indiana Jones.

Alex Kurtzman’s Mummy reboot could have just aped that tone and style, thrown in Tom Cruise — who is generally a reliable, likable leading man — and made something decent. Instead, The Mummy is boring, charmless, and spends way too much time trying to introduce monsters for upcoming films that it feels more like an advertisement for franchise-building than a standalone movie (to be fair, the Marvel movies also do this but to a much lesser extent). If The Mummy is indicative of the quality of future installments in the Dark Universe, Universal should just scrap the whole thing now before they embarrass themselves any further.

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The Most Underrated NBA Free Agent Ever

We have to wonder, who among the 2017 NBA free agent class will have the most impact come the next few seasons?

There were a number of massive contracts handed out to household names like Stephen Curry, Blake Griffin and Kevin Durant.

But, what of the deals for good complementary players (still for fairly big money) who may have a hand in a championship a year, or two, or three down the road? We like the signings of Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson in Minnesota as well as Paul Millsap in Denver. Up and coming teams who definitely got better.

Historically, there have been many great free agent acquisitions, like LeBron James going from Cleveland to Miami and back to Cleveland. Questionable ethics on the first move, but he’s been a saviour in Cleveland after going back.

The best deals, in our estimation, have been for players who, though they may not be the biggest name, or a little past their prime, who made huge contributions to championships, or claimed significant individual honors.

Here are 15 of the best, and underrated, free agent signings in NBA history, in no particular order.

15. Chris Bosh – Miami Heat 2010

His career may be all but over as of today, but Chris Bosh meant a lot to the Miami Heat, who officially waived him last week, mostly due to ongoing health issues that have kept him out of basketball since February 2016. It wasn’t always thus for the 11-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion. In 2010, after seven standout seasons in Toronto, Bosh was a free agent and at a crossroads. The 2009-10 Raptors underachieved and Bosh became the third wheel in chatter about himself, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James and where they would sign the summer of 2010. The Heat upped the ante on Toronto and completed a sign-and-trade for the talented big man. The much ballyhooed signing of James and re-signing Wade, along with Bosh, was dubbed “the Big 3.” The Heat didn’t win in 2010-11, but with Bosh’s defence and timely scoring, Miami secured back-to-back championships in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

14. Derek Fisher – Los Angeles Lakers 2007

It wasn’t hard for Derek Fisher to fly under the radar with the great Los Angeles Lakers teams of the early part of the last decade. With the likes of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal around to take up most of the oxygen in the room, Fisher played a low-key role in three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002. Fisher, a point guard, left the team in 2004 to play two seasons with Golden State and then one season with Utah. After making big money at Golden State (and disappointing) and spending a year in Salt Lake City, Fisher asked to be released from his contract in 2007 to play in a city where his daughter could be treated for a rare health condition. The Jazz obliged and Fisher then signed a reasonable three-year, $14 million deal to go back to the Lakers. At 33, he seemed washed up, but the elder statesman held up well, playing in and starting all 82 games for the Lakers for four straight seasons. In 2009 and 2010 he played a more pivotal role in helping the Lakers win back-to-back championships (his fourth and fifth).

13. Rick Barry – Houston Rockets 1978

By the time future NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry signed with Houston in 1978, the all-star forward was already 34. A superstar in San Francisco (first with the S.F. Warriors and later the Golden State Warriors) Barry was a prolific shooter and rebounder. He led the NBA in scoring during the 1966-67 season with 35.6 points per game before missing a whole season due to a legal battle between the ABA and NBA. He played four seasons in the ABA before returning to Golden State in 1972. Thus, when he signed in Houston in 1978, it was thought that he would still contribute, albeit on a lesser scale, as a shooter. However, Barry transformed himself into an elite passer, dishing out a career high 502 assists in 80 games (6.3 average) while still dropping a respectable 13.5 PPG during the 1978-79 season. He retired in 1980 and was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1987.

12. Dennis Rodman – Chicago Bulls 1995

Even with superstars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in the fold, the Bulls failed to get past the Eastern Conference semi-finals in 1994 and 1995, after winning three straight championships from 1991 to 1993. Something was missing and that was tenacious defence and rebounding. Enter rebounding machine and character Dennis Rodman, who led the NBA in rebounding four straight years from 1991-92 to 1994-95, two with Detroit and the latter two with San Antonio. The Worm was obtained in a sign-and-trade with the Spurs, replacing the departed Horace Grant in the summer of 1995. It was a gamble, in that Rodman was already 34 and whose free-spirited personality put him at odds with hoops purists. It paid off in spades, as Rodman was the league’s top rebounder for this three seasons in the Windy City and which also helped propel the mighty Bulls to championships in those three campaigns.

11. Steve Nash – Phoenix Suns 2004

He never did win a championship with the Suns, but Steve Nash helped put the team on the basketball map. Originally picked in the first round of the 1996 draft by Phoenix, Nash played two seasons with the Suns before being traded to Dallas. He played six pretty good years with the Mavs, but when he became a free agent at 30 in the summer of 2004, Dallas owner Mark Cuban balked at paying him what he wanted, so he bolted back to Phoenix for a better pact. It proved to be his best move, despite his advanced age. In his first three seasons back in Arizona, Nash would lead the NBA in assists per game, reaching a high of 11.6 during the 2006-07 season. He also claimed back-to-back NBA MVP awards in 2005 and 2006, as well as being an all-star in four straight. Nash retired after the 2013-14 season with the Lakers as the third all-time assists leader with 10,335.

10. Gilbert Arenas – Washington Wizards 2003

Agent Zero was a good find for the Golden State Warriors out of the University of Arizona in 2001, as he was their second round pick, 31st overall. Arenas put in great work there, ending his second season with 18.3 points and 6.3 assists per game n 82 games, all starts. For that, he received the NBA’s “Most Improved” award. A bidding war for his services ensued for the restricted free agent in 2003 and he basically flipped a coin to join the Wizards for six years and $60 million. Arenas would team up with Larry Hughes in Washington to form the highest scoring back court in the league in 2003-04, with Arenas scoring 19.6 points and Hughes 22.0 per game. The next season Arenas would garner his first of three straight All-Star nods, scoring 25.5 points per game. He blew those numbers away in the next two campaigns with 29.3 and 28.4 PPG. He also helped turn an miserable franchise around, helping them make the playoffs four straight times after missing the post-season from 1998 to 2004.

9. Kurt Rambis – Los Angeles Lakers 1981

The New York Knicks never knew what they had in Kurt Rambis. Good thing the Lakers knew his worth. Drafted in the third round, 58th overall by the Knicks in 1980, Rambis was waived right away, played in Greece for a year, re-signed by New York and waived again. The Lakers were only too happy to sign “Clark Kent”, who quickly became the ultimate team player in L.A. and a fan favorite. His skill on defence and the ability to clean up in the offensive zone (his shooting percentage hit 59.5 in 1985-86) were the hallmarks of his 14-year career, most of it with the Lakers. Rambis, with his thick-rimmed glasses and moustache, left everything on the floor and did a lot of “spade” work for a Lakers team that won four championships with him in the line-up during the 1980s.

8. Carlos Boozer – Utah Jazz 2004

At one time, C/PF Carlos Boozer was to be LeBron James right hand man in Cleveland. Boozer, a German national, was drafted 35th overall by the Cavs in 2002 and wold put his considerable rebounding and shooting skills to use in two seasons in The Land. After scoring 15.5 points and pulling down 11.7 rebounds per game in his second season, Cleveland opted to release him from his entry level deal, making him a restricted free agent. Now, Cleveland thought they had a handshake deal (six years, $39 million) but he chose to sign with Utah for the same term and $70 million, which the Cavs chose not to match for cap considerations. It turned out to be a good move for Boozer, who recorded 17.8 points and 9.0 rebounds for a less-than-stellar Jazz team in 2004-05. Another so-so Jazz season would follow, but in 2006-07, Boozer became an all-star for the first time, registering a team high 20.9 points and 11.7 rebounds. That team made the Western Conference finals for the first time in nine years. He had his second and last all-star season in 2007-08.

7. Chauncey Billups – Detroit Pistons 2002

After being picked third overall by Boston in 1997, swingman Chauncey Billups spun his wheels in the NBA, splitting his rookie season between the Celtics and Toronto, then going to Denver for two seasons and Minnesota for two after that. In fact, at one point he was considered a big draft bust. But, fate intervened and he enjoyed a breakout year with the T-Wolves in 2001-02, before hitting free agency. He got a six-year, $35 million contract with Detroit in 2002 and would be the team’s starting point guard. Right away, Mr. Big Shot made himself a fan favorite in the Motor City by playing sound defence and sinking clutch baskets. During his time in Detroit (2002-08), Billups helped guide the Pistons to six straight conference finals, two NBA finals, and an NBA championship in 2004. He was also a three-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA member.

6. Jamaal Wilkes – Los Angeles Lakers 1977

At one time, it was other teams raiding the Golden State Warriors for underrated talent. Jamaal Wilkes was a big deal out of UCLA in the mid-1970s and was selected 11th overall by the Dubs in 1974. His was a career truly blessed as he won a title with Golden State in 1975, playing with legends like Rick Barry. Wilkes enjoyed three great seasons in San Francisco, but the Lakers “stole” him in 1977. Though never the big name player on any of the “Showtime” teams of the early 1980s, Wilkes would be a key figure in three championships (1980, 1982 and 1985). His most memorable contribution and typical of his underrated play came during the deciding Game 6 against Philadelphia in the 1980 finals. In a game where Magic Johnson played center for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and scored a game high 42 points, Wilkes scored 37 and hauled in 10 rebounds.

5. Gus Williams – Seattle SuperSonics 1977

There is a bit of a recurring theme here, in that the Golden State Warriors used shed talent, rather than accumulate it like they do now. USC swingman Williams was selected 20th overall by Golden State in 1975 and then go on to enjoy two fairly productive seasons with the Warriors. He made the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1976, but was allowed to pursue free agency in 1977, signing with the Seattle SuperSonics. Williams, a point guard, would have an immediate and lasting effect on a Sonics team that hadn’t tasted success during their first 10 years in the NBA. In 1977-78, he was part of a turnaround that saw the Sonics go from also-ran to NBA finalist (they lost 4-3 to Washington in the ’78 finals). He scored 18.1 PPG during the regular season then added another 18.3 points during the playoffs. The following campaign, Williams poured in 19.2 points and then added an amazing 26.7 points in the playoffs as the SuperSonics won their first and only championship.

4. Lamar Odom – Miami Heat 2003

These days, Lamar Odom’s life has settled down after the Love Ranch episode, but he is still the punchline to many a Kardashian joke. Before that, the power forward came highly regarded out of the University of Rhode Island, with the L.A. Clippers selecting him fourth overall in 1999. The Candy Man was pretty good in four seasons there, averaging 12.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists. A free agent in 2003, Odom caught the eye of Pat Riley in Miami, with the Heat extending an offer that the Clips declined to match. Though he played just one season with the Heat, Odom was instrumental in turning around a 25-win franchise from the year before. In his most complete season to that point (80 games, all starts), Odom recorded 17.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists as Miami went 42-40. They made it to the Conference semi-finals, too. Perhaps his biggest contribution to the Heat team was being part of a trade that brought the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal to Miami, which would win a championship in 2006. Odom would win two titles later with L.A.

3. Vlade Divac – Sacramento Kings 1998

Divac is the Kings GM these days, charged with trying to make a moribund franchise better. In his non-executive days, the big Serbian was a force in the paint for the Lakers in the early 1990s and for two more with the Charlotte Hornets from 1996 to 1998. In ’98, he was signed as a free agent by the Kings, who had not had a winning record in 16 seasons. His first season in Sacramento was shortened due to a lockout, but teamed with countryman Peja Stojakovic, Chris Webber and Mike Bibby, Divac was a key piece in a franchise turnaround. In his six seasons with the Kings Divac averaged 13.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game on one of the best teams in the West. The Kings also made the playoffs each and every year Divac played there.

2. Tom Chambers – Phoenix Suns 1988

For three seasons in the mid-1980s, the Phoenix Suns hit the skids after going to the playoffs in eight straight seasons (1978 to 1985). After a 28-54 finish in 1987-88, the Suns were looking for an answer at power forward and Seattle All-Star Tom Chambers fell right in their lap. Chambers helped make the Suns relevant again, scoring 25.7 points per game in 1988-89, a year he would make the all-star team (and be elected to two straight after that). While the Suns never won a championship with Chambers on the roster, he was a key player and Sixth Man during the 1992-93 playoff run that ended with a loss to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA finals. He has remained in the Phoenix Suns fold since his playing days, doing work community relations work for the team.

1. Robert Horry – San Antonio Spurs 2003

Robert Horry, aka “Big Shot Bob”, was a fine complementary player who scored clutch baskets with the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers in the 1990s and into the early part of the last decade. He won two championships with the Hakeem Olajuwon led Rockets in 1994 and 1995, before moving to the Lakers in 1997, where he would have a hand in three straight titles between 2000 and 2002. In 2003, Horry was turning 33 and in the twilight of his career when the Spurs offered a contract. Even though he was never the team’s biggest scorer and started very few contests, Horry went on to make a few more clutch shots on the way to winning two more titles with the Spurs. None other than Magic Johnson once said that Horry was “one of the 10 best clutch players in league history.”

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The 10 Longest-Reigning Welterweight Boxing Champions In History

The welterweight division has always been a big hit with boxing fans as it has featured some of the sport’s most dynamic champions. The division is contested for fighters weighing between 140 and 147lbs and sits between the lightweight and middleweight divisions. This list features the 10 longest reigning welterweight boxing champions in history. It deals with single reigns rather than combined reigns for those who held the title more than once.

The current champions as of July 10th 2017 are Keith Thurman (WBA Super and WBC), Lamont Peterson (WBA Regular) and Errol Spence (IBF) of the USA and Jeff Horn (WBO) of Australia. Some of the most popular past champions include Floyd Mayweather Jr., Jose Napoles, Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Leonard, Wilfredo Benitez, Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns, Oscar De La Hoya, Emile Griffith and Manny Pacquiao.

10. Simon Brown

He may not be recognized as one of the all-time greats, but Simon Brown of Jamaica was a solid welterweight champ, who defended the IBF Title nine times during his reign of three years, five months and 11 days. He was actually a two-division belt holder as Brown also won a junior middleweight title. Brown, who was nicknamed Mantequilla, was pretty active during his pro career from 1982 to 2000 as he fought 59 times with a record of 47-12 with 34 Kos while losing his final six fights. Brown started his career at 21-0 and then managed to win the vacant IBF Championship in 1988 with a 14th-round TKO over Tyrone Trice. Brown added the WBC Title when he beat Maurice Blocker in 1991, but lost his belts to Buddy McGirt in his next fight. He stopped Terry Norris two years later for the WBC Jr. Middleweight crown and defended it once against Troy Waters before losing to Norris in their rematch.

9. Mickey Walker

American Mickey Walker of Elizabeth, New Jersey and was known as the Toy Bulldog. He won world titles in the welterweight and middleweight divisions and even fought as a light heavyweight and heavyweight. Walker fought from 1919 to 1935 and officially went 94-19-4 with 60 Kos. He won the World Welterweight Championship in November, 1922 by a 15-round unanimous decision over Jack Britton at Madison Square Garden. He then held the title for three years, five months and 20 days and defended it five times as well as participating in numerous non-title bouts. Walker lost the welterweight belt to Pete Latzo in May, 1926 and then moved up to middleweight. He won that division’s title just seven months later with a controversial 10-round points win over Tiger Flowers. Walker reigned as middleweight champ for five years, but defended his title just three times before moving up to heavier divisions. After retiring, Walker became a world-renowned artist.

8. Jack Britton

Jack ‘Boxing Marvel’ Britton was another American boxer who fought in the earlier days of the sport. The native of Clinton, New York fought professionally between 1904 and 1930 and compiled an official record of 104-29-20 with 30 Kos. He was a three-time World Welterweight Champion with his longest reign being three years, seven months and 13 days. Britton first won the crown in June, 1915 with a 12-round decision over Mike Glover. However, he lost it in his first defense against Ted ‘Kid’ Lewis just two months later. Britton regained the title in a rematch with Lewis seven months after that, but once again lost it to Lewis the next year. Britton won the title for the third time by knocking Lewis out in the ninth round in March, 1919 and successfully defended it four times before losing to Mickey Walker in November, 1922.

7. Donald Curry

One of the best welterweights of the 1980s and 90s was Donald Curry of Fort Worth, Texas. Curry was known as the Lone Star Cobra and after a fine amateur career, made the 1980 American Olympic Boxing Team. His dreams of competing were shattered though when the U.S. boycotted the Games. Curry fought pro from 1980 to 1997 with a record of 34-6 with 25 Kos. He won the vacant WBA Welterweight Championship in February, 1983 with a unanimous decision over Jun-Suk Hwang. Curry’s brother Bruce would soon win the WBC Jr. Welterweight Title and the Curry’s became the first siblings to hold world titles at the same time. Curry added the IBF Welterweight Title in 1984 and then knocked out Milton McCrory for the WBC and Lineal Belts. He lost all of his titles in September, 1986 when Lloyd Honeyghan stopped him in six. However, he held the WBA Title for three years, seven months and 14 days while defending it seven times. Curry would later win the WBC Jr. Middleweight Title, but failed in three attempts at a middleweight belt.

6. Sugar Ray Robinson

Arguably the greatest boxer of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson of Ailey, Georgia fought between the featherweight and light heavyweight divisions between 1940 and 1965 with a record of 173-19-6 with 108 Kos after going 85-0 as an amateur with 69 Kos. He also enjoyed the longest unbeaten streak in pro boxing history at 91 contests between 1943 and 1951. Robinson won the World Welterweight Championship with a 15-roud unanimous decision over Tommy Bell in December, 1946 and held onto it for three years, seven months and 19 days while defending it five times and winning numerous non-title bouts. Robinson then moved up to middleweight and became a five-time champion in the division. After retiring, Robinson dabbled in acting, but he’ll forever be remembered for his fights against the likes of Jake LaMotta, Henry Armstrong, Kid Gavilan, Bobo Olson, Randy Turpin, Gene Fullmer and Carmen Basilio.

5. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

At 49-0 with 26 Kos since turning pro back in, 40-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. of Grand Rapids, Michigan will be coming back to take on UFC fighter Conor McGregor on August 26th. As a boxer though, Mayweather has won world titles in five different weight divisions and has racked up four different Lineal Titles and a grand total of 15 world championship belts. He reigned as Welterweight Champion for four years before being stripped of the title and defended it five times. The former 1996 Olympic bronze medalist at featherweight won the IBF and vacant IBO Welterweight Titles with a unanimous decision over Zab Judah in April, 2006 and added the WBA, IBC, and Lineal Titles in his next bout against Carlos Baldomir. Mayweather would give up the IBF belt and things would get a little complicated as he fought at catch-weights on a few occasions and he would later win the WBO Welterweight Crown by beating Manny Pacquiao in 2015. He was soon stripped of that title for failing to pay a $200,000 sanctioning fee.

4. Pernell Whitaker

One of the best pure boxers and defensive fighters in the history of the sport was Pernell ‘Sweet Pea’ Whitaker of Norfolk, Virginia. Whitaker would win world titles in four different weight classes and defended the WBC Welterweight Championship eight times during his reign of four years, one month and six days. He also won gold as a lightweight at the 1984 Olympics. Whitaker fought professionally from 1984 to 2001 with a record of 40-4-1 with 17 Kos and one no contest. After winning titles in the lightweight and junior welterweight divisions, Whitaker won the WBC and Lineal Welterweight Titles by unanimous decision over Buddy McGirt in September, 1993. He won the WBA Super Welterweight Championship in 1995 and held onto to his Welterweight Belts until losing to Oscar De La Hoya in April, 1997. Whitaker lost his last three bouts before retiring.

3. Jose Napoles

Cuba has long produced some of the world’s finest boxers and Jose ‘Mantequilla’ Napoles is a prime example even though he did end up fighting out of Mexico after becoming a citizen of that country. Napoles fought 88 times as a pro between 1958 and 1975 with a record of 81-7 with 54 Kos. Napoles won the WBA and WBC Welterweight Titles in 1969 when he stopped Curtis Cokes after 13 rounds. He would defend the belts three times before being stopped by Billy Backus in the fourth round in December, 1970. Napoles stopped Backus in their rematch the next year to regain the titles. He then held the belts for four years, six months and two days. Carlos Monzon stopped him in February, 1974 when Napoles challenged the Middleweight Champion. Napoles moved back to welterweight where he was still the champ and held the belt until John Stracey stopped him in his final bout in December, 1975 in Napoles’ 15th overall defense.

2. Antonio Margarito

Mexico’s Antonio Margarito will always be remembered for “doctoring” his hand wraps with plaster of Paris against Shane Mosley in 2009. But he did manage to defend the WBO Welterweight Championship seven times during his reign of five years, three months and 28 days. In fact, he’s a three-time champ at welterweight as he would later win WBA and IBF Titles. The 39-year-old is currently 40-8-1 with 27 Kos and one no-contest after turning pro in 1994. Margarito won the vacant WBO Title in March, 2002 with a 10th-round TKO over Antonio Diaz. He lost it in his eighth defense when Paul Williams beat him by unanimous decision in July of 2007. Margarito beat Kermit Cintron for the IBF Belt and Miguel Cotto for the WBA Title in 2008, but then lost to Mosley. He lost to Cotto in a rematch at junior middleweight and to Manny Pacquiao in the same division in a title shot. Margarito retired in 2011, but came back in 2016 and has won two fights since.

1. Felix Trinidad

The longest-reigning Welterweight Champion of all time was Puerto Rico’s Felix Trinidad as he held the IBF Title for six years, eight months and 14 days. Trinidad boxed from 1990 to 2008 after the five-time national amateur champ turned pro at 17 years of age. He would win world titles in three weight divisions and went 42-3 as a pro with 35 Kos. All three of his defeats came in his last five bouts. Trinidad captured the welterweight crown in June, 1993 when he stopped Maurice Blocker in the second round. He’d go on to defend it 15 times against the likes of Luis Garcia, Hector Camacho, Oba Carr, Pernell Whitaker and Oscar De La Hoya. He also won the WBC and Lineal Welterweight Titles in his September, 1999 win over De La Hoya. Trinidad then vacated his titles in 2000 to fight as a junior middleweight then middleweight and won world titles in both divisions.

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