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Black Panther actor, Chadwick Boseman, says he’s incredibly blessed

Boseman, an actor who has played several iconic characters, is breaking down barriers and making Hollywood screen history

Are you going to see the movie, Black Panther?

What’s The 411Sports correspondent, Crystal Lynn, caught up with the Black Panther star, actor Chadwick Boseman, after the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game held at Madison Square Garden.

Boseman, one of the players representing the East, says he is incredibly blessed and lucky to have played iconic characters in movies.

Boseman said that he is enjoying every moment of his acting career and hopes that whatever he does is enlightening to people. The Get on Up actor wants to do something different with each role; that’s all you can do is to “enjoy it and be thankful for it.”

Boseman’s role as T’Challa in Black Panther is certainly different and the movie is inspiring and we are all thankful for it.

If you haven’t seen Black Panther, run, don’t walk, and don’t wait for it to come to your video streaming service, catch Black Panther in theaters now!

NBA All-Star 2015 Meant More To New York City Than Basketball

When it was announced last year that the NBA All-Star 2015 would be held in New York City, fans from across the world were excited that one of the largest basketball events would be coming to the Big Apple. With the new Barclays Center in full effect located downtown Brooklyn, minutes from the Brooklyn Bridge and a new and improved Madison Square Garden, it was no question that the best city in the world could handle three days of NBA festivities. The remaining question that lingered going into NBA All-Star is whether or not Madison Square Garden is still the Mecca of Basketball and, perhaps, by extension, is New York City still the Mecca of Basketball. With the Knicks struggling to win games and the Brooklyn Nets remaining a team of overpriced players with a seemingly disconnected owner, there was only one New York born and partially raised player that made it on the All-Star roster—Carmelo Anthony. Yet despite the politics of basketball, it became evident that the events were more than just basketball.

The city had been recovering and healing after news spread on November 14 that Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old African American man who was shot to death by a NYPD officer in the stairwells in the New York City Housing Authority's Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York, Brooklyn. The rookie officer, Peter Liang who was patrolling the dark, unlit stairwell, fired his gun, resulting in a bullet ricocheting off a wall, striking Gurley in the chest. If that wasn't enough for the city to handle, a grand jury decided on November 24 not to indict Officer Darren Wilson after fatally killing Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. Then two weeks later, here in New York, a Staten Island grand jury cleared an NYPD cop in the chokehold death of Eric Garner after the attack was caught on video. Garner was arrested for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. To top an already bad ending to 2014, two uniformed NYPD officers were shot to death in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn execution style in the line of duty after a gunman's mission revenge for the deaths of Garner and Brown.

The NBA has always been an organization in which players were allowed to express their voices, and due to the protests over the grand jury's decisions in the Brown and Garner cases, players like LeBron James, Derrick Rose and Brooklyn Nets players Kevin Garnett and Deron Williams wore T-shirts that read, "I can't breathe," the final words of Garner before he died in the chokehold. The players were responding to the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture that had been a worldwide slogan due to the deaths of Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. During media day for NBA All-Star, Miami Heat Dwayne Wade spoke about the importance of the NBA coming together during the course of these tragic events.

Dwayne-Wade-at-2015-NBA-All-Star-Media-Day 650x650Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade at the 2015 NBA All-Star Media Day

"I think the individual guys have done a great job of [taking] a stand or getting behind on whatever they believe in. Nowadays it's obviously a lot easier because of social media...for your voices to be heard," he said. "The NBA supports us doing that....When we leave here (New York), we are obviously going to do something in the community."

Additionally, Wade revealed that he constantly talks to his sons about being "aware."

"My kids...are shielded from the real world. This doesn't happen to every kid in America or across the world," he said. "You try to show them as much as possible. I am an open book with my kids. I don't try to hide them from what's going on in the world; I try to educate them and hopefully one day if they get into a situation they know how to or what not to do." Wade's comments made it clear that NBA All-Star came at the perfect time.

New York City is labeled as one of the greatest cities in the world because the people have proven that they can and will always overcome adversity. The city has undoubtedly produced a lot of basketball talent, and the argument is still up in the air on whether or not it's still the Mecca of Basketball. However, what the NBA All-Star 2015 did do was help to unify a broken city, if only for a short while.

Trout Hands Cotto First MSG Loss

New York, NY - It was a very, very bittersweet night at Madison Square Garden Saturday night when Miguel Cotto stepped into the ring against Austin Trout for the WBA Super Welterweight title. First, a final 10 count was given to Hector "Macho" Camacho who was shot in his home town of Puerto Rico on November 20th. Camacho was taken off life support four days later losing his life at only 50 years old. Then, Cotto who had never lost at MSG could not add another belt to his illustrious career losing a unanimous decision to Austin Trout that was much closer than the scoring indicated.

Two judges, John Poturaj and Steve Weisfeld scored in favor of Austin 117-111. The most lopsided score came from Adalaide Byrd who scored it an obnoxious 119-109 giving Austin the first 10 rounds. This reporter had Austin winning 8 rounds to 4 or 116-112. Perhaps the judges were swayed by how both fighters looked as the fight went on and ultimately ended. Austin did not look like he was in the ring with a five-time World Champion coming away virtually unmarked. Cotto, on the other hand, looked like he was in a street brawl as his face had several red bruises and a welt under his left eye.

"I was blessed with good skin that doesn't swell up," said Trout afterwards about coming out of the fight with no telling marks.

Cotto clearly had trouble with Austin's southpaw style as the former world champion had a hard time getting inside. Cotto did most of his damage when he pinned Austin against the ropes but to the surprise of many, the man they call "No Doubt Trout" was able to get out of any serious trouble by taking the fight to the middle of the ring.

"I think the left hand was a big factor," Trout said. "I caught him with some good left hands, overhands. Stepping around him to my right countered with my jabs was a big thing."

Around the fourth round, the swelling around Cotto's left eye became a target for Austin. He used it to his advantage throwing the hook and uppercut that Cotto could not see. It was at that point that the fight started to sway in his direction. Still, the warrior that Cotto is pressed forward spurred on by the more than 13,000 fight fans in attendance.

When the decision was announced, Austin Trout was not quite sure the result would go in his direction knowing it was a pro Cotto crowd.

"When I heard unanimous, I was a little nervous." Then he heard "and still and my heart dropped."

Miguel Cotto appeared afterwards without sunglasses many fighters wear to hide the results of the fight.

"I was a little surprised at the decision of the judges," he began. "I have to accept it."

He will take time off and spend the Christmas holiday with his family before deciding what he will do next. In his customary classy style he did not offer any alibis or excuses for his performance.

"I accept my defeat, I learn from them and I'm going to continue."

  • Published in Boxing

Revenge and Reputation for Cotto and Margarito

New York, NY - The most anticipated rematch in recent years will take place December 3rd at Madison Square Garden when WBA Super Welterweight World Champion Miguel Cotto (36-2, 29 KO's) defends his title against 3 time World Champion Antonio Margarito (38-7 27 KO's). When they faced each other for the first time in July of 2008, both fighters had been at the top of their games and dominating their divisions. Cotto was undefeated coming off impressive, convincing wins over Zab Judah, Sugar Shane Mosley and Alfonso Gomez. Margarito rebounded after losing the WBO World Title in a unanimous decision to Paul Williams. He captured the vacant WBO Intercontinental World Title by knocking down Golden Johnson 3 times in the first round on the under-card of Cotto/Mosley, setting up the IBF Welterweight World Title against Kermit Cintron. Margarito stopped Cintron in the 6th round thus setting up the fight with Cotto.

No one thought the outcome of their fight would have lasting effects on both fighters. Neither have been the same since. Cotto had established himself as a fighter who could not only take a punch, but could inflict damage as well. He showed that he could adjust to his opponent, evidenced by how he out jabbed Mosley the entire fight. Even though many questioned Margarito's chin, his relentless style and punching power was something to watch.

The fight turned out to be one of the most action packed fights of 2008 with Cotto taking the early rounds. Margarito's patience paid off as he pressed Cotto with powerful right uppercuts sending Cotto to the canvas twice in the 11th round. Cotto's corner would throw in the towel as a bloodied and swollen Cotto would lose for the first time in his career.

Thinking and hoping that win would catapult Margarito to the next level, he faced Mosley in what would be the start of controversy regarding the wrapping of Margarito's gloves. Prior to the fight, members of Mosely's team discovered Margarito's gloves were wrapped with illegal substances. No one knows if that gave Mosely added incentive, but Mosely went on to knock Margarito down in the 8th round and ended the fight in the 9th on a TKO. Cotto went on to win 4 of his 5 next fights but just as Margarito took a beating against Mosely, they both took a beating against Manny Pacquiao.

Both fighters attended the press conference last month at the Edison Ballroom in midtown and the focus of the questions were about the first fight and whether or not the outcome had to do with Margarito's gloves possibly being doctored. Said Cotto, "the only people that can tell you if they use it (illegal wraps) that is him and the people on his team." Cotto refused to use that as a possible excuse for his loss but at one point, he showed a picture on his i-phone. One that was very revealing. In it, clear as day, is a picture of Margarito's hand without the glove on. The wrapping appears worn and chipped across parts of the knuckles. Cotto was incredulous in describing the picture as it was shown to the media. "I'm a boxer and I have never seen broken gauze broken like that. You don't have tape over your knuckles."

Antonio Margarito has always maintained his innocence going back as far as the first match with Cotto. After the revelations came to light in the Mosely match, he was suspended for 1 year by the California State Athletic Commission. He claims to this day that he had no knowledge that the substance his trainer was using was illegal. The trainer, Javier Capetillo, took the blame claiming Margarito had nothing to do with what the gloves were wrapped with. Still, the damage had been done and many questioned Margarito's victories after the Cotto fight, especially after getting hammered by both Mosely and Pacquiao.

"The people have the right to their opinions but I know that I am a clean fighter," he said. When asked if he took this fight to prove that his gloves were not tainted, he said, "not at all. This is a great fight for the fans. This is an opportunity for myself to become world champion again."

Miguel Cotto has never seen the first fight against Antonio Margarito in its entirety. He plans to sit down and watch the fight during his training camp in order not to make the same mistakes. He never used the fact that Margarito's gloves may have been doctored as an excuse for losing the fight. "I never said anything about it. I just accept my defeat as a true defeat."

Antonio Margarito admitted that the beating he took at the hands of Pacquiao was the worst of his career. "He fractured my eye socket, he was the cause of me having me to stay out such a long time. I had to have surgery on my orbital bone." Still, he believes he can win another championship. "I've had some time off. I've been back in the gym. I feel mentally strong and physically strong."

Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito were at the top of their boxing games when they met 3 years ago. No one could have ever imagined the paths their careers would take after the outcome of that fight on that July night. One is fighting for revenge and the other is fighting for his reputation.

 

  • Published in Boxing
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