ERIK BAZINYAN WILL RISK HIS UNBEATEN RECORD AGAINST MARCELO COCERES ON JUNE 23
According to Flashsport.com, unbeaten super middleweight contender Erik Bazinyan will face former world title challenger Marcelo Esteban Coceres at the Montreal Casino, Canada on June 23. Bazinyan, who kicked off his 2022 campaign with a ninth-round stoppage over Reinaldo Paniagua in March, will be facing his toughest opponent to date.
Coceres was unbeaten in his first 29 outings and was rewarded with a WBO title shot against Billy Joe Saunders in November 2019.
Although the Argentine fighter didn’t win, he was able to give Saunders a stern examination and was ahead on one of the scorecards before being stopped in the 11th round.
Coceres surprisingly lost to awkward southpaw Sebastian Papeschi (SD 10) in an off-night, after having previously beaten him.
NAOMI OSAKA WANTS GO EASY ON HERSELF ON CLAY; SETS SEMI-FINAL TARGET FOR MADRID, ROME
Naomi Osaka enters the clay-court season with the goal of not being too hard on herself.
Osaka made the final in Miami last month and will be playing as a wild-card entry when the Madrid Open begins on Thursday.
“I’m trying to embrace my mistakes compared to the previous years as well, so I’m not that hard on myself,” she said Wednesday. “If I make a mistake or if I don’t move up to the ball fast enough — because I find on clay you actually have to move much more — but if I do stuff like that I just tell myself not to be mad.”
Osaka withdrew from the French Open last year and took a break from competition after saying she “suffered long bouts of depression” and experienced “huge waves of anxiety” before speaking to the media. The four-time Grand Slam champion has openly talked about working on her mental health since winning the 2018 US Open over Serena Williams. She left last year’s US Open in tears and was brought to tears again by a comment from a spectator at Indian Wells earlier this year.
WRESTLING: AEW DYNAMITE RATINGS FALL TO SECOND-LOWEST NUMBER OF 2022
The ratings and viewership data are in for last night’s (Apr. 27) episode of AEW Dynamite.
Per Showbuzz Daily, Dynamite netted 921,000 viewers for a 0.33 rating point in the 18-49 year old demographic. The show finished 4th place in the demo rating on cable for the night.
The overall audience was similar to last week’s 930,000 viewers, but the demo rating dropped down from last week’s 0.37. These numbers are Dynamite’s second-lowest of 2022 in each metric, with only the Feb. 16 episode doing worse. However, the 4th place finish on cable remained the same from last week, once again with only NBA-related shows beating out AEW on cable networks.
The NBA playoffs aren’t ending anytime soon, so pro wrestling will be dealing with this for a while longer. Perhaps AEW World Champion Hangman Page will return from COVID next week and more of the AEW Galaxy will tune in to see a hot angle between him and CM Punk?
MINO RAIOLA TWEETS FROM HOSPITAL, ANGRY OVER DEATH REPORTS
Football “super-agent” Mino Raiola shot back on Thursday at widespread media claims that he had died at the age of 54, taking to Twitter to say he was angered by the reports.
Reports of the death of Raiola, whose clients include Paul Pogba and one of world football’s current hottest properties, Erling Braut Haaland, quickly spread from Italy.
It was the second time this year that speculation surrounding his health has been denied by Raiola or his entourage.
“Current health status for the ones wondering: pissed off second time in four months they kill me. Seem also able to resuscitate (sic),” Raiola’s official Twitter account said.
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