In a year with all eyes focused on the Los Angeles Dodgers possibly winning the 2024 World Series championship, they did exactly as many predicted.
This year 2025 the Dodgers could be even better.
With the World Champion Dodgers adding a young Japanese phenom plus a proven left-handed ace to this Los Angeles squad, it could be the greatest team ever assembled.
A close inspection of this team that includes Shohei Ohtani, perhaps the greatest baseball player ever seen, along with future Hall of Fame candidates Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and maybe Brett Snell, this 2025 Dodgers version could be chasing other powerhouse teams like the 1998 New York Yankees, the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, and the 1927 Yankees as the greatest team ever.
Or, they could just be a paper tiger.
Fernando Valenzuela R.I.P.
Fernando Valenzuela never sought fame or glory, but once you handed him a baseball he turned into some mythic Aztec warrior with a stoicism uncommon for a teen.
Valenzuela passed away on Tuesday Oct. 22. He was 63.
It was 1980 when the kid from Navojoa, Mexico first pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers who were in the middle of a divisional race with the Houston Astros. Nobody knew a thing about him, but he performed well for a total of 17 innings that September.
The next year he would stun the world.
Tom Loeffler’s Hollywood Fight Nights took over Commerce Casino with an Easter weekend fight card. The main card was broadcast on UFC Fight Pass and entailed seven bouts.
The main event between Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0-1, 13 Kos) and Elias Espadas (23-6-1, 16 Kos) kept fans on their feet for 10 rounds in an even fight. The two super welterweights were relentless from start to finish as they went pound for pound, round after round. It was a brawl between Mexico and Kazakhstan as the two fought off the strength of their home countries.
After nearly four years Mikaela Mayer finally returned to Las Vegas. Fans, friends and celebrities eagerly witnessed the WBO welterweight champion retain the world title with a savage display in winning a rematch with England’s Sandy Ryan.
Dressed in a powder blue outfit Mayer (21-2, 5 Kos) wowed the crowd at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, in Las Vegas with a demonstrative performance over former champion Ryan (7-3-1) in winning by unanimous decision after 10 rounds.
Just six months ago both fought a close battle in Madison Square Garden in New York City that ended in a majority decision win for the blonde Mayer. This time Mayer was clearly the winner.
Terence Crawford continues to reign as the top fighter pound for pound in the world. Though his win over Israil Madrimov was a closely fought contest, the Nebraska fighter out-maneuvered the super welterweight champion for the win in Los Angeles.
Others on the lost are Japan’s Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani, plus Saul “Canelo” Alvarez remains a steadfast member of the club.
American fighters such as Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and David Benavidez are new editions along with Russian light heavyweights such as Dmitrii Bivol and Artur Beterbiev.
Here is this year’s list:
Boxing and basketball, sometimes the two sports mix.
While college basketball was in its final run of the season, boxing was amassed with three eye-popping events in Arizona, Nevada and California.
Pro boxing fans took their pick.
Female prizefighting led the way as two champions in their own right collided in Arizona to determine the true absolute world champion in the minimumweight division. On one side was Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle the IBF and WBO world titlist. On the other corner was East Los Angeles fighter Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada the WBA and WBC titlist.
Fans had been waiting five years for them to finally meet. On Friday March 29, the two speedy and determined champions displayed their distinct skills for 10 rounds at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Top Rank promoted the showdown and fans packed the arena.