Hard-core boxing fans decried last month's Floyd Mayweather--Conor McGregor bout as a farce - an overhyped mockery of an event designed to generate a huge payday Femme Nike Air VaporMax 97 Beige Blanche Pas Cher , boxing's reputation be damned. While these fans weren't 100 percent wrong, last weekend's draw between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin definitely stole some of their rhetorical thunder.


Without question, Mayweather-McGregor was a gaudy, made-for-television spectacle. And while its first media event generated tons of interest, subsequent events were both anti-climactic (repetitive gimmicks) and borderline offensive (allegations of various types of slurs).


But the fight itself wasn't the competitive sham many boxing fans thought it would be. The scrappy McGregor took the fight to Mayweather early and held his own into the 10th round, when his conditioning limits (MMA fights are shorter than boxing matches) allowed Mayweather to swoop in and score a technical knockout.


In the end Homme Nike Air Max 97 VaporMax Beige Blanche Pas Cher , McGregor's performance embarrassed neither himself nor the sport of mixed martial arts. The same cannot be said about Saturday's controversial draw between Alvarez and Golovkin. Not only did the final outcome prove unsatisfying to fans, bettors, and sportsbooks (boxing's holy trinity); judge Adelaide Byrd's confounding 118-110 scorecard in favor of Alvarez exposed one of boxing's long-held dirty little secrets: inept judging.


And although Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Bob Bennett has promised to give Byrd "a little break" before allowing her to judge future big-time bouts, the damage has already been done. The Alvarez-Golovkin match-up was the perfect chance for boxing to capitalize on the afterglow of Mayweather-McGregor and regain some of its past glory. Instead, boxing delivered a "same as it ever was" moment.


A sport that launched the careers of convicted criminals Don King (manslaughter) and Mike Tyson (rape) doesn't get to claim the high moral ground very often. Saturday's showcase in Las Vegas proved that the action inside the ring is still just as shady as the action outside of it.


by Betty L. Martin


HOUSTON, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- With the Chinese Spring Festival holiday season of 2016 approaching Homme Nike Air VaporMax 97 Japan Noir Vert Pas Cher , residents in Houston of the U.S. state of Texas, with or without Asian origin, have stepped up their expectations for the annual celebrations starting next Monday.


One of the them is Barbara Quattro, a 72-year-old local retiree who has been helping coordinate a parade in a local community of Houston, the fourth largest U.S. city with a Chinese population of 300,000 Nike Air Max 97 Femme Pas Cher , to mark the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Year of Monkey.


"I live in the most diverse neighborhood in Houston, so we have wonderful opportunities to observe and celebrate the holidays of many different cultures without ever leaving home," said Quattro who claimed to be a fan of the traditional Chinese celebrations.


"I love to see the Chinese dragon dancer," said Quattro. Traditional Chinese customs including wearing native clothing and giving and receiving red envelopes with money in it also appealed to her.


In downtown Houston, a large celebration has been slated on Feb. 13 in front of the Houston City Hall. Last year's event drew over 20 Nike Air Max 97 Homme Pas Cher ,000 participants coming all over Texas.


"This year, we hope to double the size and interest of our annual event," Angela Chen, a festival coordinator, told Xinhua, "If the weather is good Nike Air Max 97 Rouge Pas Cher , we are expecting many more because we have more exciting events that celebrate many cultures."


At the grand gathering, Asian communities from countries including China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippine will display their own unique ways of celebrations.


Dragon and lion dancing Nike Air Max 97 Argent Pas Cher , stalls and vendors selling Chinese food, and traditional cultural demonstrations will be part of the annual event.


Houston Rockets, an American profession basketball team based in the space city, announced earlier that its players will wear specially designed jackets printed with Chinese characters in honor of the traditional Chinese new year in three of their games during the week-long festival.


"We are proud to once again honor our many fans in China by wearing uniforms in recognition of their cultural celebration," Houston Rockets Owner Leslie Alexander told local media.


The Rockets has established a special bond with Chinese basketball fans since Yao Ming was selected by the team as the first overall pick in the 2002 draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA).


Yao's nine-year NBA career brought about unparalleled popularity to Houston Rockets, which has developed a tradition to add some Chinese elements in its games during the Spring Festival.


"It is truly an honor for our organization to continue this tradition Nike Air Max 97 Noir Pas Cher ," Alexander said.


For common people, the Spring Festival celebrations are more than just entertainment.


"It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly cleanse the house, in order to sweep away any bad fortune and to make way for good luck coming in the new year," Chen said.


It is not unusual, Chen said, to see windows and doors of Asian American homes decorated with red colored paper cut outs carrying popular themes of good fortune Nike Air Max 97 Blanche Pas Cher , happiness, wealth or longevity.


Bin Lu, an attorney born in northern China who came to Houston in 1996, said he enjoyed both the home and festival traditions of the Chinese New Year.


"I come from that culture. My wife and children come from northern China, where we invite family and friends over during the Chinese New Year to make dumplings and have some family reunion time," said 52-year-old Lu.


He planned to attend local festivities and take his family to see the dragon and lion dancing as well as firecracker performance staged by local Asian communities.


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