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Whether he competes in boxing or mixed martial arts, the toughest decision any professional prizefighter must confront is deciding when to end his career. Boxing history is littered with countless once great fighters that diminished their legacy and put their health and well being at risk by sticking around too long. As evidence that MMA has matured as a sport, it appears to be experiencing the same phenomenon with fighters such as Ken Shamrock soldiering on despite being well past their prime. Kazushi Sakuraba is definitely the most legendary fighter in the history of MMA in Japan, but unfortunately he too must be added to that list following his brutal knockout loss to Melvin Manhoef at DREAM 4.

Despite the recent explosion in the sports popularity, the United States MMA scene doesn’t really have anyone of comparable status to Sakuraba in Japan. Hes credited for helping the nascent sport of mixed martial arts emerge from Japanese professional wrestling as well as for making MMA a major league sport in Japan. Sakuraba is also considered by many to be pound for pound the greatest Japanese MMA fighter ever, with some suggesting that he transcends the national qualifier and should be regarded as the pound for pound best fighter in the brief history of the sport. A legendary series of matches against various members of the Gracie family further elevated the status of MMA in Japan and in the process made Sakuraba a superstar. In particular the 90 minute long battle against Royce Gracie at PRIDE’s 2000 Grand Prix tournament is frequently cited as the greatest match in MMA history. Hes also considered the best box office draw in Japanese fight sports of the past decade, which is part of the reason that hes been persuaded to stick around longer than he should have. Hes not only Japans greatest MMA fighter, but one that still sells tickets.

While Sakuraba’s resume certainly justifies the reverence with which hes held by the Japanese fight community, hes not really done anything to build on that legacy for several years. His last truly significant victory was a submission win over former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton Rampage Jackson and his last victory over what can be considered a quality opponent in his prime was against Kevin Randleman in late 2003.

Sakuraba is not only 38 years old, but he’s what fight experts consider an ‘old 38′ based on the number of grueling, physically and emotionally draining battles he’s competed in. His 90 minute classic with Royce Gracie alone took a toll that some suggest that Sakuraba has never recovered from. Despite this, he continued to face the best opponents in the world after that fight.

Sakuraba also made the most of his box office popularity, demonstrating his bravery by facing much larger opponents including heavyweights like Mirko Cro Cop and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. These physical mismatches would never be sanctioned in the more tightly regulated US fight scene, but were big box office in Japan. The result, however, wasn’t as favorable for Sakuraba with most ending with him losing by knockout or submission.

Sakuraba, unfortunately, has shown little indication that he’ll retire any time soon. Hopefully his prolonged career won’t undermine his legacy of greatness, or more problematically damage his long term mental or physical well being.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The Denver Broncos are for real. The NFL’s most surprising undefeated team certainly answered any remaining doubters on Monday Night Football as they used a fourth quarter surge to put away the San Diego Chargers 34-23. Broncos’ QB Kyle Orton had another solid, mistake free game as he passed for 229 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Denver’s special teams also excelled, with Eddie Royal becoming only the 11th player in NFL history to return a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in the same game.

NFL football sports betting fans that backed the Broncos as +3 road underdogs were rewarded with the outright victory and Denver continued their season opening undefeated run against the pointspread (now 6-0 ATS). The Chargers, meanwhile, have only covered one of their five games this season.

Royal was virtually untouched on both of his kick returns, a first quarter 93 yard kickoff return and a second quarter 71 yard punt return. After the game, he gave credit to his blockers:

“Man, it was a great feeling. The guys did a great job of blocking. I’ve got to give them a lot of credit. They opened up the seams and it was a home run.”

Despite the rarity of his feat, he said he wasn’t surprised that he turned the trick:

“You’ve got to believe it can happen before you do it. I’ve got a lot of faith in the guys in front of me, so I wasn’t surprised.”

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels also praised Royal’s blockers:

“I think our guys did a great job of blocking and giving Eddie a chance to get started.”

While losing coach Norv Turner lamented his team’s poor kick coverage:

“It doesn’t matter who you are playing; you give up two big returns on a punt and a kickoff and it makes it tough”

Chargers’ QB Phillip Rivers talked about the loss and the team’s slow start to the 2009 NFL season:

“It’s going to be tough. We have to get over this one quick or we’ll find ourselves in trouble in Kansas City because it’s a short week.”

Denver will get a week off to enjoy their 6-0 start before returning to action on November 1 at Baltimore. The following week they’ll host the defending Superbowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football before traveling to Washington, DC to face the Redskins. San Diego will play at Kansas City this weekend with the Chargers a -5 road favorite and the total set at 44. They’ll return home to face their hated rivals, the Oakland Raiders, on November 1 before a road game against the New York Giants the following Sunday.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and respected authority on World Cup soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Nicaraguan boxing legend Alexis Arguello was found dead of an apparent suicide in his home in early July. At the time of his death, he served as mayor of Nicaragua’s capital city.

Known for his class outside the ring as much for his tenacity inside the ring, hes best known to casual fight fans for his epic war in’82 with Aaron The Hawk Pryor when he moved up in weight after dominating at lighter weight classes. Ring Magazine not only named it Fight of the Year, but later would dub it Fight of the Decade. Promoter Bob Arum offered these thoughts on Pryor/Arguello:

“It was a brutal, brutal fight. That was something I will never, ever forget as long as I live. That was one of the most memorable fights I ever did.”

While the first Pryor fight may have brought him the most mainstream notoriety, boxing cognoscenti are aware that Arguello is arguably the best lightweight and junior lightweight in the history of the sport. Arguello would end his career with an astounding 82-8 record with 65 knockouts and championships in three different weight classes.

Ironically, Arguellos career didn’t get off to a good start and he lost his debut in’68 via first round TKO. He won his next three fights, before losing again via unanimous decision to another lower tier foe in his native country. After that, he seldom lost again and would go on to be respected as one of the best pound for pound fighters of his day. He was at his best against his toughest adversaries including Ray Mancini, Bobby Chacon and Ruben Olivares. Bob Arum remembered him not only as a great fighter, but as a great man:

“Not only was he one of the greatest fighters I’ve ever seen, he was the most intelligent fighter. He was a ring tactician. Every move was thought out. And he was a wonderful, wonderful person.”

The articulate, intelligent Arguello was frequently quoted on the fight game and how champions should conduct themselves. Here, he speaks of his attitude toward his opponents:

“Of course after the fight you want to make sure that you’re okay and so is the other guy, its a brotherhood in there, so you want to make sure everyone is okay after the war is over.”

Arguello didn’t fight for his first title until he’d had 58 fights, and would frequently admonish boxers who didn’t show the same respect for the sport or their status as champion:

“When you won that title you should know now that you are representing a whole country or nation with your actions and you are now in a glass house or under a microscope and you better be ready to make your people proud.”

Most importantly, Arguello loved boxing and sought to protect it from those who would undermine its greatness:

“I respect boxing because it has given me so much and thats why I will never allow anyone to mistreat the sport of boxing if I can help it.”

While the modest, dignified Arguello would never say it himself he also gave back immeasurably to the sport of boxing with his grace, intelligence, talent and toughness.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Its been a rough NFL preseason for last years Superbowl runner up. The Arizona Cardinals have only scored one touchdown in two games as they’ve stumbled to a 0-2 record. On Saturday night the visiting San Diego Chargers added to their offensive woes en route to a 17-6 victory. The Chargers evened their record at 1-1, while the Cards slumped to 0-2.

The Chargers cornerbacks performed admirably against Arizona, and Antonio Cromartie said scoring defense has been a focus for the team during the preseason:

“That’s one of our biggest focuses. Do whatever you’ve got to to keep them out of the end zone. We did that.”

Despite the teams lack of productivity Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt wasn’t particularly concerned:

“I’m disappointed that we haven’t had more touchdowns, obviously but I will say this, we haven’t game planned in the red zone. A lot of times when we game plan in the red zone we’re one of the best teams in the NFL, because we put our players in a position to best give them a chance to win.’

QB Warner concurred:

“It is disappointing because we had some opportunities we didn’t capitalize on like we wanted to but there is going to be a lot of stuff we can learn from tonight. We will get better and be all right in a couple of weeks.”

The Chargers offense hasn’t lit up the scoreboard either, and their pass protection has been particularly weak. San Diego coach Norv Turner indicated that this was a problem:

“The things we take a lot of pride in around here. Tonight our guys saw we have some work to do.”

LaDanian Tomlinson saw limited action”his first in the preseason since 2005. LT said that it was beneficial:

“I think it was just good to get in there and start to get a rhythm.

Arizona will host Green Bay on Friday night, while San Diego will continue their NFL preseason slate in Atlanta as they play the Falcons at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night. The Cardinals will open the NFL regular season on Sunday, September 13 as they host the San Francisco 49ers while the Chargers will start the 2009 campaign on Monday, September 14th as they travel to Oakland for a game against the Raiders.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.