Savannah Duo Triumphs At Golden Gloves

By Edward DeVita

        Freeze and Beecher returned home as Golden Gloves Champions.

On March 16-17, years of hard work and dedication paid off for two Savannah fighters, Holden Freeze and Robert Beecher as they took part in the Georgia Golden Gloves tournament and came away as champions by winning their respective divisions.

“These guys have been busting their butts getting ready for this tournament,” said Muhsin Corbbrey, owner of Champions Training Facility where the pair trains seven days a week for up to four hours a day. “They both have worked really hard and put in the time, energy and sweat and they came away with the coveted Golden Gloves Championship. That’s a great step in their development as fighters.”

While the duo emerged victorious by winning both of their respective three round fights, both boxers arrived at their championships following slightly different paths. The 32 year old Beecher, who stands at 6’5” 165 pounds, started boxing in May of 2008 and had four fights before Golden Gloves.

“I was really prepared for this event,” said Beecher. “When you have the best coaches, sparring partners and training partners like I have here it gives you an advantage. It makes the actual fights that much easier, even if I have a tendency to make things harder than they should be sometimes for myself in the ring.”

                In the championship fight Beecher was pushed to the limit but the Champions Fighter was more than ready for the challenge.

                “He just kept coming at me,” grinned Beecher, who won both of his fights by decision. “After all of the work I had put in here at Champions though, I kind of knew what to expect. He didn’t do anything that I had not seen before countless times when I was training so I was able to counter what he was doing and win the fight.”

The Duo Had Strong Coaches in Their Corners Including Corbbrey, Bell and Jones

Things were a little different for Freeze. Even though he had been training for five years, the 6’3”, 150 pound twenty-two year old would be stepping into the ring for the first time at the Golden Gloves.

“These were my first organized fights and so, to me my first fight was like a movie, “recalled Freeze. “Just walking to the center ring before the fight for the handshake was almost surreal. Then, I got in there and got worked on. After that it was a lot of fun, especially at the end winning. It was really fulfilling to realize that all of that hard work had paid off and that I was able to push myself and win.”

Like Beecher, Freeze credited his work and preparation that he received at Champions for his success in Marietta.

“The training that I received at champions helped immensely with my skills as well as my confidence,” said Freeze. “I had been in the ring with pros like Muhsin and Norman Jones training every day here at Champions. These are world-class fighters. So when I got to the Golden Gloves, I knew that anything that came at me could not be better than what I have seen every day in the gym. Once that sank in, it was easy to remain focused and confident.”

                He also remained powerful, winning his first fight by TKO in the second round and then followed that up in his next fight by winning the Golden Gloves Championship by TKO in the third round. He now hopes to fight as often as possible in the hopes of earning a shot to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

                “Both of these men are exceptional fighters,” explained Champions trainer Frank Bell. “They are both strong, tall and rangy and are also great athletes. They bring a tremendous amount of energy with them every day when they come here to work. They have become multi-dimensional fighters and are progressing quite well.”

                “Holden is really a special kid,” said Bell. “He works really hard and his attitude is great. He has the potential to go as far as he wants to go. Literally, the sky’s the limit for this kid.”

                “Robert is a little older and the Olympics are also a goal for him,” continued Bell. “He’s ranked sixth in the MMA in the state as an amateur so he has the skills to take the next step.”

                “They are both very skilled fighters who have come a long way,” added fellow trainer Norman Jones. “I think that they were well conditioned and very well trained. They just needed to go up there and show what they could do and not get overwhelmed by the big show and they did that. I was very impressed with how they performed.”

It's the Rangers vs. Phillies! Our 2012 Major League Baseball Predictions

Jimmy Rollins will lead a veteran Phillies team back to the World Series. 
Photo by Patricia Huisinga/The Savannah Sports Monthly

By Edward DeVita

            Well, baseball fans, it is that time of year again. The temperature is rising and the best baseball players from around the world are headed to either the Arizona desert or the Sunshine State of Florida in order to begin the Major League Spring Training season.

That means it is time for me to give you our 2012 Major League Baseball predictions.

While the addition of the second wild card team in place to create a one game playoff “play-in” game may end up causing more havoc than it helps fan interest, it also makes one stop momentarily when it comes to predicting who will win and who is in the postseason picture. If last season was any indication, 2012 should be another summer long thrill ride.

On that note, here we go, as always, division by division. Let’s begin with the American League.

American League East – Every season it seems like this is the tightest and best division in baseball, and it still just keeps on getting better and better. With age finally creeping up on the New York Yankees, manager Joe Girardi will turn to a suddenly loaded pitching staff to hold off the Red Sox and Rays, both of which will be ready for a playoff run of their own. The emergence of Ivan Nova and the insertion of Hiroki Kuroda and Michael Pineda into the Yankees rotation, alongside C.C. Sabathia, will allow the Yankees to beat you with pitching, even though no other team in baseball hits as many home runs as the Bronx Bombers did a year ago. In Boston, new manager Bobby Valentine will keep the Red Sox breathing on the Yankees heels, that is until they are overtaken by the Rays, once again, as Tampa claims a wild card berth. The Orioles and Blue Jays, while improved, have no chance in this formidable division. Order of finish: Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles. Wild Card: Rays.

   American Central League – What used to be an exciting and hotly contested division now firmly belongs to the Detroit Tigers. In addition to having Cy Young and MVP winner Justin Verlander, the Tigers now boast the big bat of Prince Fielder to go along with Miguel Cabrera. If you pooled the best players from the rest of the division, the Tigers would probably still win a best of seven series. The Twins and White Sox will make some noise early, but by Mid-July this race will be over. Not even an additional wild card will be good enough for a team from this division to punch a postseason ticket. Order of finish: Tigers, White Sox, Indians, Twins, Royals.

American League West – Talk about a division race. The Rangers and Angels will be locked in mortal combat from start to finish, even though the second wild card berth will insure that both of these teams make the playoffs. Twice last season the Rangers were a single strike away from winning the World Series, and even though pitcher C.J. Wilson left Texas for their rivals in California, Texas will be fired up and ready to go from Opening Day. Texas replaced Wilson with the electrifying Yu Darvish, who is poised to become a superstar. Even though the Angels added slugger Albert Pujols to their club, the Rangers still have the most powerful lineup in baseball. Keep an eye on the rejuvenated Oakland A’s, who have a ton of talented young players, including the athletic center fielder Yoenis Crespedes from Cuba, as they attempt (successfully) to surprise the league and wrestle away the second wild card berth. Order of finish: Rangers, A’s, Angels, Mariners. Wild card: A’s.


Curtis Granderson and the Yankees will once again be in the playoff hunt.
Photo by Patricia Huisinga/The Savannah Sports Monthly

The Unthinkable: Tim Tebow Goes To The New York Jets



Photo by Edward DeVita/The Savannah Sports Monthly

          By Edward DeVita



What a week it has been for NFL fans.

If you had asked anyone a year ago where the league would be today, they would have the same odds of getting these recent roster moves right as they would if they had filled out a perfect NCAA tournament bracket.

Impossible.

Now, within a week, Peyton Manning has been jettisoned from the Indianapolis Colts and has subsequently signed on to be the new quarterback of the Denver Broncos and last season’s hero Tim Tebow has been traded to above all places, the New York Jets.

For Manning to head west was a surprise in itself, especially when the Tennessee Titans began to woo the quarterback like a high school junior would attempt to convince the Homecoming Queen to be his date for the prom. With Titans fans, coaches and ownership promising everything from pancakes for life to an ownership stake in the team after he retired, the stage seemed set for Manning to return to his college roots and in a sense “come back home” to Tennessee.

But he politely said no.

Observers thought that the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins or the San Francisco 49ers were in the mix ahead of the Broncos who had evident pluses and minuses to their case. On the positive side, Denver had a winning tradition, a great running game and defense and Hall of Famer John Elway at the helm as the team’s president. On the negative side, they had Tim Tebow. One day after signing Manning, Elway took care of the “negative” element by trading the former University of Florida quarterback to the New York Jets for a fourth round draft pick.

Tebow a negative? That still stuns me.

It’s like in the movie The Princess Bride where Diego Montoya says, “I don’t think that word means what you think it means.” All Tebow did was rescued a doomed 1-5 season to lead the Broncos to the playoffs and win a game in the postseason. He brought the locker room together. He sold a staggering number of jerseys. He was popular. Specifically, he suddenly became more popular in Denver than the legendary John Elway. Elway never liked Tebow’s style of play, even though it produced wins. Somehow, this humble kid from Florida had come into Elway’s town and become the new hero. Fans demanded that Tebow play with passion that had never been seen before. No matter what he did, Tebow was the guy that Broncos fans wanted to see. What’s negative about that? Don’t you want to have players on your roster that are popular? When you think of a negative element on a football team you can say names like Pacman Jones and Albert Haynesworth and maybe even Terrell Owens or Chad Ocho Cinco but Tim Tebow? All he did was remain positive and win games.

Photo by Patricia Huisinga/The Savannah Sports Monthly

And that led to him being shipped to the Jets.

If Elway wanted to divest himself of this problem, he had to bring in a big fish or face a historic backlash and Peyton Manning is the mother of all big fish. By bringing in someone of Manning’s stature, Elway could cut ties with Tebow and still not look bad. In fact, he could take a step back towards being Denver’s favorite son. At his introductory press conference, Manning stated that if Tebow were on the team that he would be a “great teammate to him” and that he respected Tebow as a person and a player. That remark would seem to indicate that the team was still unsure of what they would do with Tebow a few who were there noticed that all of the action photos of Tebow that adorned the Broncos facility had already been taken down, even though the quarterback would not be traded until the next day.

That brings us to Tebow. Through no fault of his own, he walks into perhaps the biggest powder keg in all of sports as a newest member of the brash New York Jets. This environment is hardly a walk in the park. Head coach Rex Ryan is at the top of his class when it comes to the colorful use of profanity and he wields it within a divided locker room that melted down at the end of last season. Tebow’s arrival could potentially make that locker room division even worse. Jets defensive back Antonio Cromartie tweeted hours before the Jets acquired Tebow that the team “didn’t need him” and that they should leave Tebow alone. Now they are teammates.

That should make the newest Jet feel welcome.

This scene gets even worse. The Jets have a quarterback in Mark Sanchez who is not exactly beloved in New York despite leading the Jets to the AFC title game in two of his first three seasons in the NFL (interestingly neither Peyton nor Eli Manning did that). Now the moment that Sanchez happens to throw back to back incompletions next season, Sanchez will have the thrill of hearing the bloodthirsty cry of rabid Jets fans clamoring for Tebow to take his place under center. Talk about adding even more pressure on Sanchez and the Jets. All he has done, like Tebow ironically, is conduct himself with class and win football games.

It seems like a no-win situation for everyone involved and it’s a shame. As a lifetime Jets fan, I am glad the team picked up Tebow. I think that he can help them win some games. As a fan of Tim Tebow, I am sad for him to end up in New York. I would have liked to have seen him come to Jacksonville, where hard working local heroes can be appropriately appreciated within a sold out stadium of teal wearing Jaguars fans.

Local Fighter Ready for His Title Shot

Photo by Edward DeVita/The Savannah Sports Monthly

By Edward DeVita

When an athlete truly loves a sport, there is literally nothing that he or she will do to test themselves and see just how good that they can be. It doesn’t matter the cost, the work or the pain and sweat, for these athletes it is about the competition. It is a chance to see where they stand and to push themselves to the limit and then survey the horizon.

Muhsin Corbbrey is that type of athlete.

The owner of Champions Training Center in Savannah, Corbbrey has fought and held championship titles in virtually every licensed organization except one – the UFC. At age 33, he aims to add that to his list.

“The thing is that I have fought everywhere,” explained Corbbrey who has fought in the WEC among others. “You name it, I’ve done it. The UFC is like the last frontier for me. It’s also where the big boys are. I am at a point in my life where I want to test myself against the best people in the world and so just how good I can be. This is a challenge that I am eagerly entering into.”

“I have a fight coming up in early February against Ludwig Salazar in Panama and in that fight I am looking forward to getting on track to the UFC,” said Corbbrey. “This is the first step to getting back into the UFC. My opponent in a tough guy, he has been in and won a ton of fights so this will be a challenge for me but a good challenge in that it will give me an indication of where I am at. Of course, my plan is to put him away in the first two rounds.”



Photo by Edward DeVita
The Savannah Sports Monthly

“This will give me the chance to South America which is a place that I have never been,” said Corbbrey. “I have been to Asia, Canada and seemingly everywhere in between but not to South America. It will be nice to have the opportunity to see something new.”

In addition to with running Champions Training Center, Corbbrey is training three times a day in order to maximize his conditioning and strength. In each of the three 90 minute workouts each day, Corbbrey endures an intense mixture of fighting and training that would leave lesser competitors longing for a break. For this budding champion however, the work is something that he simply can’t get enough of.


 

Why Jacksonville is the Perfect Place for Peyton Manning

Photo by Patricia Huisinga/The Savannah Sports Monthly

By Edward DeVita

It has often been said that sports imitates life. For every time there is a storybook ending that captivates us and makes us stop and take notice, there is a series of events or a story that leaves sports fans shaking their heads and wondering aloud, “How could that happen.”

As the NFL enters its offseason, one of the leagues’s most accomplished and recognizable athletes enters what can only be described as a life changing storm. For more than a decade, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has been synonymous with the blue horseshoe on his helmet. Once a moribund franchise with little or no real identity, Manning rescued the team from the scrap heap and single handedly turned them into a consistent winner. He had always said that he wanted to be like John Elway and have the privilege of playing his entire career for only one team.  Now a myriad of circumstances have all converged in such a way as to make that all seem impossible. Four neck surgeries and a missed 2011 season, the Colts “earning” the number one draft pick, this season that means the acquisition of Stanford All World quarterback Andrew Luck, and a $28 million roster bonus that is due to Manning on March 6. Add it all up with a dose of Colts owner Jim Irsay letting go all coaches and executives from the General Manager on down and what you get is the very real scenario that Peyton Manning, if he can play at all in 2012, will be doing so for another organization .

Now that’s where the fun begins. For the next several months, sportscasters will be filing their two cents worth as to where this future Hall of Famer will be headed when training camps open. Some teams are already at the forefront of the speculative storm, but one, and perhaps the best possible fit is not being mentioned at all – the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look at some of the variables that will have to be considered before Peyton takes his winning ways to any team’s training camp.  First of all, Manning will have to go to an organization that will let him run the show offensively as the starting quarterback. Peyton is not coming to be a backup to anyone. He would like to go to a team on the rise. Also, warm weather and some offensive weapons would be a plus. If a team has all of these going for them, then you have a good chance at landing the biggest offseason prize in the history of the NFL.

In order to get a solid reading as to where Manning will go, and why Jacksonville is the perfect choice, we should take a look at the scenario team by team and compare the possibilities. The first rumor that will be dispelled is that 20 teams will be lining up to make a run at Manning. As you will see, that is simply not the case.



Photo by Patricia Huisinga/The Savannah Sports Monthly



In the NFC South, the Saints (Drew Brees), Falcons (Matt Ryan) and Panthers (Cam Newton) are all set at the position. The Buccaneers do have a new coach, but also have a young quarterback in Josh Freeman that some are very high on. The biggest drawback for Manning is that the division is loaded and that Tampa Bay has little or no weapons on the offensive side of the football. Mark Tampa Bay as a maybe, but not a frontrunner.

The same type of scene unfolds in the NFC North where some of the best quarterbacks in the league already reside. The Packers have Aaron Rodgers, the Bears have Jay Cutler and the Lions have Matthew Stafford so all of these franchises can also be crossed off of the list. The only possible suitor for Manning in this division is the Minnesota Vikings. What makes this doubtful is that they have a young quarterback in Christian Ponder who made tremendous strides last season. Also in their favor is Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson. They also play indoors, not only for their home games, but also in division games in Detroit. Count them ahead of the Buccaneers, but this division is even tougher than the NFC South and Manning does not have the time left in his career to start at the bottom and work his way up.

The NFC West has some legitimate fits for Manning with only the Rams (Sam Bradford) being quickly taken off of the list. The Seahawks need a quarterback, but the weather would be atrocious and there is nothing there on the offensive side of the ball. Also, it would be unlikely that Coach Pete Carroll would turn everything on offense over to Manning. The 49ers are a dark horse possibility, simply because everyone always seems divided on Alex Smith, even though he just led San Francisco the NFC title game.

That leaves the Cardinals, who have just been burned by Kevin Kolb, who simply did not pan out as a free agent pick up last season. They play indoors. They have a stout defense and numerous weapons including wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald already in place. The division is also easily winnable. In addition, Arizona just signed coach and former quarterback Frank Reich to the coaching staff. This is significant because Reich just spent six seasons as Manning’s quarterback coach with the Colts. All of these points vault the Cardinals to the top of the Manning sweepstakes list.

There does not seem to be a fit at all in the NFC East. There is no fit for Manning with the Cowboys (Tony Romo), the Eagles (Michael Vick) or the Giants, where little brother Eli just earned his second Super Bowl ring. Some have speculated on the Washington Redskins, but there seems to be very little reason for Peyton to go there. First of all, the organization is a mess and the team has no playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. The division is loaded and playing for Washington will mean a large number of games in bad weather stadiums. It is also unlikely that Peyton would volunteer to step directly onto his brother’s turf.

In the AFC, we see more of the same. Beginning with the East, we can quickly rule out the Patriots, who have one of the best in Tom Brady. The Bills can be eliminated even though they do have some players on offense to make them an interesting possibility. The division is too tough, the weather is too bad, and the Bills just gave quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick a ton of money. Some have said the Dolphins are a good fit, which is a team that does need a quarterback. Offensively, Miami just seems inferior, and while one can argue that bringing in Manning will change that, the fact remains that Peyton will have to try and overrun Brady and Company in New England as a division rival every year. That, in itself, may keep Manning out of South Florida.

Since Manning’s potential departure from Indianapolis first became a possibility, rumors began that he would be headed to the Meadowlands as a New York Jet. While this may be nice to think about, it just doesn’t make sense. First of all, the Jets do have a young quarterback in Mark Sanchez that did take New York to the AFC Championship Game in his first two seasons. With the Santonio Holmes meltdown and the disarray in the locker room, the team is totally dysfunctional. The weather is also bad and he would be sharing the New York spotlight (as well as the same stadium) with Eli, both of which work against Peyton donning Gang Green. Besides that, the salary cap situation with the Jets is in terrible shape.  Could you really envision Peyton Manning playing for Rex Ryan?

The AFC North has little room for Manning as well. The Steelers (Ben Roethlisberger), Bengals (Andy Dalton) and Ravens (Joe Flacco) are set at quarterback, although the Ravens could emerge as a candidate for Manning’s services. True, they have a slew of bad weather games, but they have a formidable defense, a strong running game and a coach that would be willing to turn the keys over to Manning. The only question is how sold is the team on Joe Flacco (translation: Who does Ray Lewis want to share his last few seasons with?). Keep an eye on this one.

That leaves the Browns, who have Colt McCoy at quarterback. The team does have some possibilities as a Manning suitor, but I just don’t see him starting at the bottom of the division in Cleveland.

In the AFC West, the Chargers (Philip Rivers) and the Raiders (Carson Palmer) seem to be out. The Broncos already have all the craziness that they can handle with the Tim Tebow phenomenon and adding Manning to that mix will only make Denver spontaneously combust. That leaves the Chiefs, who have a lot of talent on their roster. Even though Matt Cassel and Kyle Orton are on the roster, Manning would be a huge upgrade in a winnable division with a fantastic fan base. If the move was good enough for Joe Montana when he was cut loose by the 49ers, then it may be good enough for Peyton Manning as well.

Photo by Patricia Huisinga/The Savannah Sports Monthly