According to Billboard, Target will not sell Beyonce’s new album when it goes on sale everywhere on Friday because it was released digital via iTunes first.
In a statement via Erica Julkowski (Target spokesperson):
“At Target we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, and when a new album is available digitally before it is available physically, it impacts demand and sales projections.”
This story has all signs of being a Hollywood rumor!!!!
FOX 17 News Reports:
LOS ANGELES, California – Talk about a casting controversy. Will Justin Bieber replace Paul Walker on “Fast and Furious 7”? Universal Studios has been discussing what to do following the tragic death of Walker on November 30. This week rumors started circulating that Justin Bieber is in the mix. People took to Twitter to vent their outrage at the thought.
Apparently it’s not true. The confusion started with a fake movie trailer. The website Hollywoodlife.com made the video months before Walker’s death. It was created after Fast and Furious co-star Ludacris apparently claimed he wanted to try to land his fried the Biebs a spot in the movie being filmed last Summer. So as of now, all signs seem to be pointing to this being a rumor, not the truth.
It’s been three days since Beyonce released her self titled LP and it has made history on iTunes, becoming their fastest selling album with 828,773 copies sold. It will debut at number one on the Billboard charts this week.
From CNN:
A bomb threat prompted officials to evacuate four Harvard University buildings Monday morning on a day of final exams, the Boston-area school said.
No explosions were reported, and law enforcement personnel were checking the buildings. While the investigation wasn’t complete, the threat appears to be a hoax, two law enforcement sources told CNN late Monday morning.
The school said around 9 a.m. that it was evacuating three academic buildings — the Harvard Science Center, Sever Hall and Emerson Hall — and a freshman dormitory, Thayer Hall, because of an unconfirmed report that bombs had been placed there.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the buildings have been evacuated while the report is investigated,” Harvard said on the emergency page of its website. “Harvard’s focus is on the safety of our students, faculty and staff.”
The morning’s final exams in the affected buildings were canceled because of the report, student newspaper The Harvard Crimson posted on Twitter, citing Harvard Dean of Freshmen Thomas Dingman.
Harvard University and Cambridge police were on the scene investigating. The bomb report was made by phone, and the FBI is also among the investigating agencies, a law enforcement official told CNN.
…that Brian was not killed off the show after all. From TMZ:
Jesus Christ ain’t got nothing on Brian the dog … as “Family Guy” brought him back from the dead on last night’s episode — 3 weeks after he was left for roadkill.
Here’s how Brian Griffin was resurrected — Stewie cries to a mall Santa that he wants his best friend back — and then through a wrinkle in the time-space continuum … steals his broken time machine from another version of himself … but before it was broken.
Yeah … time travel is confusing.
Blah, blah, blah … Stewie goes back in time, and pushes Brian out of the way of the car that ran him over.
After the episode … Seth MacFarlane tweeted: “And thus endeth our warm, fuzzy holiday lesson: Never take those you love for granted, for they can be gone in a flash.”
Whatever. All we know is Brian’s back … all is right again.
In an interview with Sway last week, T.I. announced that he is putting his sequel to Trouble Man on hold. Today, in an interview with Streetz 94.5 in Atlanta, he says he is working on his new project, titled Paperwork.
So, according to recent Tweets, the now super-remix will boast appearances from Drake (which we knew), Jeezy, T.I., ScHoolboy Q, and (gasp!) Pastor Troy. The only thing I’m not entirely sure of is if they are all appearing on one remix or if there will simply be several remixes with each artist. You can see the Tweets below.
The billionaire who co-founded YouTube is refusing to back down from Kim Kardashian and Kanye West — firing back at the couple after they sued him for posting video of their engagement online.
We broke the story … K&K filed a lawsuit against Chad Hurley, claiming he violated the confidentiality agreement he signed at AT&T Park in San Fran back in October … when he posted the footage on his video-sharing website.
But now, Chad has filed legal docs of his own … claiming NO ONE ever told him he wasn’t allowed to shoot or distribute the footage.
Chad says … after the proposal, someone did approach him with a waiver and told him it was a release so they could use his image in a TV special .. and he signed the doc without reading it.
He also posed for a pic with the signed form, at the request of K&K’s peeps.
But still, Chad says he shouldn’t be legally bound by the waiver because he was misled into signing it and he got no compensation in return for signing away his rights.
Chad is asking the judge to throw out the case — and force Kim and Kanye to pay for his legal fees.
Clearly, Chad can afford it … he’s just trying to send a giant F-you back to the happy couple.
Straight from the horse’s mouth, as told to SOHH:
I had a show with Juvenile and Mannie Fresh that was brought to me about a month ago and everything was cool. I was with it. I don’t have any problems with Mannie Fresh or Juve. So I’m promoting the show and everyone knows any shows that I do or any features that I do, I promote. If you follow me on Instagram, I post everything from my business to my family.
I keep everything open for me. I don’t want my fans and supporters to feel like I can’t be touched. So I feel it’s only right to let people know the truth of why I’m not performing at the Nitelyfe Club show in Jackson, Mississippi tomorrow. I thought about it for a while before I decided to say something because I don’t want anybody to take it the wrong way.
First of all, I want everyone to know that this is not a diss and it is not a beef. It’s just real talk.
I got a phone call from my booking agent about a week ago and he told me that they didn’t want me on the show, that either Juve or Mannie’s management called the promoter and told them either it’s going to be them, which is Juve and Mannie Fresh, not showing up to the show or they would have to take me off and they’re not getting their money back because they won’t show up.
If I was a promoter, I would have did what he did too. My booking agent contacted me and I was like, “For real? What’s going on?” I don’t know if Juve or Mannie Fresh felt some kind of way because of the video I recently posted when my daddy passed away. The promoter said they didn’t want to be in the building with me, they didn’t want to do a concert and basically like I’m eating up their money. That’s what they said. That’s what was brought to me.
I just want people to know that no matter what happened in my personal life, like me losing my daddy, I was going to the show. But the promoter contacted my booking agent and they took my picture off the flyer. They had been promoting the show for about a month. I have the first picture and now the new one. The first one had Hot Boys, Turk, Juvenile and Mannie Fresh on it. Then once all this stuff turned up, they got the one with just Mannie Fresh and Juve.
To make a long story short, it ain’t no beef. I’m not dissing them. If we’re gonna get money together, let’s get money together. I never had nothing personal against none of these guys. I’m just a real n*gga and I feel if there is a problem they should pull a n*gga up and let him know what it is.
I’m going to keep doing my thing. I have my own tour and my own thing that I’m doing. It’s very successful. I’m hitting all of the hoods. They love me in the streets. I’m just loving it and I appreciate all the people that are still there for me in my camp. Salute to my camp and to J. Prince, who believed in me in this new partnership. Much love to Juvenile and Mannie Fresh, I wish them all the best. If we can make money together, then let’s do that. It ain’t no beef. I got love for everybody.
From Global Grind:
After he was sentenced to 10 years of probation as a result of killing a family of 4 during a drunk driving accident, Ethan Couche is facing another huge battle.
According to CNN, the survivor of the accident who was in the pickup truck with Ethan, named Sergio Molina, is now paralyzed from injuries.
The family is now suing Couche’s family for $20 million, as his medical bills have racked up to nearly $1 million already.
Sergio is in constant need of medical care being that he is paralyzed, and is considered “minimally conscious” by his mother and older brother who take care of him.
This case has raised a lot of controversy, being that the lawyers of Ethan Couche are arguing that he suffered from “Affluenza”. They say that this is the result of his rich parents never setting limits and not teaching him about consequences.
From Hollywood Life:
Rapper J. Cole, whose real name is Jermaine Cole, reportedly asked Melissa Heholt to marry him! The couple met in 2003 at St. John University, while he was studying to get his Communications degree.
The “Power Trip” singer popped the question on Dec. 10, an insider told MediaTakeOut. He is currently in the middle of his “What Dreams May Come” tour and is set to hit the stage on Dec. 11 in Dublin, Ireland!
The couple usually keep their relationship extremely private. The 28-year-old Roc Nation rapper must really care about her and have a healthy relationship to keep it under wraps — and to be together for so long!
Just Jared recently got the exclusive on revealing the soon-to-be-newlyweds Christmas Card.
The 26-year-old Glee actress and the 25-year-old rapper will be spending their first Christmas holiday as an engaged couple this year.
From USA Today:
LONDON (AP) — Peter O’Toole, the charismatic actor who achieved instant stardom as Lawrence of Arabia and was nominated eight times for an Academy Award, has died, his agent said Sunday. He was 81.
O’Toole died Saturday after a long illness, Steve Kenis said in a brief statement.
The family was overwhelmed “by the outpouring of real love and affection being expressed towards him, and to us, during this unhappy time. … In due course there will be a memorial filled with song and good cheer, as he would have wished,” O’Toole’s daughter Kate said in the statement.
O’Toole got his first Oscar nomination for 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia, his last for Venus in 2006. With that he set the record for most nominations without ever winning, though he had accepted an honorary Oscar in 2003.
A reformed — but unrepentant — hell-raiser, O’Toole long suffered from ill health. Always thin, he had grown wraithlike in later years, his famously handsome face eroded by years of hard drinking.
But nothing diminished his flamboyant manner and candor.
“If you can’t do something willingly and joyfully, then don’t do it,” he once said. “If you give up drinking, don’t go moaning about it; go back on the bottle. Do. As. Thou. Wilt.”
O’Toole began his acting career as one of the most exciting young talents on the British stage. His 1955 Hamlet, at the Bristol Old Vic, was critically acclaimed.
International stardom came in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia. With only a few minor movie roles behind him, O’Toole was unknown to most moviegoers when they first saw him as T.E. Lawrence, the mythic British World War I soldier and scholar who led an Arab rebellion against the Turks.
His sensitive portrayal of Lawrence’s complex character garnered O’Toole his first Oscar nomination.
O’Toole was tall, fair and strikingly handsome, and the image of his bright blue eyes peering out of an Arab headdress in Lean’s spectacularly photographed desert epic was unforgettable.
Playwright Noel Coward once said that if O’Toole had been any prettier, they would have had to call the movie Florence of Arabia.
In 1964’s Becket, O’Toole played King Henry II to Richard Burton’s Thomas Becket, and won another Oscar nomination. Burton shared O’Toole’s fondness for drinking, and their offset carousing made headlines.
O’Toole played Henry again in 1968 in The Lion in Winter, opposite Katharine Hepburn, for his third Oscar nomination.
Four more nominations followed: in 1968 for Goodbye, Mr. Chips, in 1971 for The Ruling Class, in 1980 for The Stunt Man, and in 1982 for My Favorite Year. It was almost a quarter-century before he received his eighth and last, for Venus.
Seamus Peter O’Toole was born Aug. 2, 1932, the son of Irish bookie Patrick “Spats” O’Toole and his wife Constance. There is some question about whether Peter was born in Connemara, Ireland, or in Leeds, northern England, where he grew up.
After a teenage foray into journalism at the Yorkshire Evening Post and national military service with the navy, young O’Toole auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and won a scholarship.
He went from there to the Bristol Old Vic and soon was on his way to stardom, helped along by an early success in 1959 at London’s Royal Court Theatre in The Long and The Short and The Tall.
The image of the renegade hell-raiser stayed with O’Toole for decades, although he gave up drinking in 1975 following serious health problems and major surgery.
He did not, however, give up smoking unfiltered Gauloises cigarettes in an ebony holder. That and his penchant for green socks, voluminous overcoats and trailing scarves lent him a rakish air and suited his fondness for drama in the old-fashioned “bravura” manner.
A month before his 80th birthday in 2012, O’Toole announced his retirement from a career that he said had fulfilled him emotionally and financially, bringing “me together with fine people, good companions with whom I’ve shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits.”
“However, it’s my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one’s stay,” he said. “So I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell.”
In retirement, O’Toole said he would focus on the third volume of his memoirs.
Good parts were sometimes few and far between, but “I take whatever good part comes along,” O’Toole told The Independent on Sunday newspaper in 1990.
“And if there isn’t a good part, then I do anything, just to pay the rent. Money is always a pressure. And waiting for the right part — you could wait forever. So I turn up and do the best I can.”
The 1980 Macbeth in which he starred was a critical disaster of heroic proportions. But it played to sellout audiences, largely because the savaging by the critics brought out the curiosity seekers.
“The thought of it makes my nose bleed,” he said years later.
In 1989, however, O’Toole had a big stage success with Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, a comedy about his old drinking buddy, the legendary layabout and ladies’ man who wrote The Spectator magazine’s weekly “Low Life” column when he was sober enough to do so.
The honorary Oscar came 20 years after his seventh nomination for My Favorite Year. By then it seemed a safe bet that O’Toole’s prospects for another nomination were slim. He was still working regularly, but in smaller roles unlikely to earn awards attention.
O’Toole graciously accepted the honorary award, quipping, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, my foot,” as he clutched his Oscar statuette.
He had nearly turned down the award, sending a letter asking that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hold off on the honorary Oscar until he turned 80.
Hoping another Oscar-worthy role would come his way, O’Toole wrote: “I am still in the game and might win the bugger outright.”
The last chance came in, for Venus, in which he played a lecherous old actor consigned to roles as feeble-minded royals or aged men on their death beds. By failing again to win, he broke the tie for futility which had been shared with his old drinking buddy, Richard Burton.
O’Toole divorced Welsh actress Sian Phillips in 1979 after 19 years of marriage. The couple had two daughters, Kate and Pat.
A brief relationship with American model Karen Somerville led to the birth of his son Lorcan in 1983, and a change of lifestyle for O’Toole.After a long custody battle, a U.S. judge ruled Somerville should have her son during school vacations, and O’Toole would have custody during the school year.
“The pirate ship has berthed,” he declared, happily taking on the responsibilities of fatherhood. He learned to coach schoolboy cricket and, when he was in a play, the curtain time was moved back to allow him part of the evenings at home with his son.
__
AP writer Raphael Satter contributed to this report.
Check out plenty of pics of the many leaders, citizens, celebrities and more honouring the late great Nelson Mandela; below are some video clips of the service as well. From The Daily Mail, where you can read plenty more on the homegoing service:
Nelson Mandela has today been buried in the remote village where the anti-apartheid icon grew up after a four-hour state funeral attended by thousands of mourners.
South Africa’s first black president died in his Johannesburg home on December 5 at the age of 95 after a long battle with illness, and he was laid to rest in his grave in Qunu in Eastern Cape province after ten days of mourning in his beloved country.
Troops lined the route up to the hillside where he was buried as Mandela was carried on a gun carriage to a plot on his family’s estate.
As his body was placed on the grave the South African flag on the coffin was removed and handed to Mandela’s widow Graca Machel, who was comforted by his ex-wife Winnie Mandela.
A fly-past then followed accompanied by a 21-gun salute and a solitary trumpeter played the Last Post while his body was lowered into the ground.As he was buried armed forces Chaplain General Monwabisi Jamangile said: ‘Yours was truly a long walk to freedom, and now you have achieved the ultimate freedom, in the bosom of your maker.’
His funeral was also marked by his Xhosa tribe whose elders traditionally slaughter an ox to accompany the deceased’s spirit after burial, while guests are asked to drink its blood from a communal bowl.
But it is understood dignitaries such as Prince Charles were likely to be offered the animal’s meat to eat instead after it was cooked on an open fire.
Mandela’s family also talked to him until he was lowered into the earth and will have said ‘Madiba, we are now burying you,’ a tradition followed so the souls of the dead know where they are going in the afterlife.
Earlier [Mandela’s widow Graca Michel] arrived at the state ceremony ahead of her husband to honour the tradition of being home to receive his body in a room where his portrait stood above a bank of 95 candles representing each year of his remarkable life.
Around 5,000 guests, including his ex-wife Winnie, the Prince of Wales, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson and the American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, were also at the service.
But the ceremony overran by nearly two hours as political figures gave a series of extended eulogies, meaning that his tribe’s tradition that burials should be at noon ‘when the sun is at its highest and the shadow at its shortest’ had to change.
The current leader of his beloved country, Jacob Zuma, told mourners Madiba, as he was adoringly called, was ‘a fountain of wisdom, a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope for all those fighting for a just and equitable world order.
‘Today marks the end of extraordinary journey that began 95 years ago, the long walk to freedom has ended’.
‘When people see goodness in a person they respond by reflecting goodnesss back at that person and on their fellow man and women,’ Zuma said.
‘Thank you for being everything we wanted in a leader during a difficult period in our lives.
‘Your long walk to freedom has ended but in a physical sense our journey continues.
‘We have to take your legacy forward and in doing so we will continue taking lessons from your very rich and extraordinary life.
He read a Mandela quote: ‘I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I fought it all through my life. I fight it now and will fight it to the end of my life.’
He said he taught forgiveness and reconciliation.
‘We learned from you that to build a new society, a new SA from the ashes of apartheid and colonialism we had to rise above anger and the human desire for retribution.’
Zuma also spoke of Mandela’s dedication to gender equality which led to more women in public life.
He said: ‘We dare not reverse your achievements in this regard.’
‘As you take your final steps, South Africa will continue to rise.’
He said the poor and working class have benefitted from the fruits of democracy.
‘We commit to work more intensely to deal a decisive blow against poverty, inequality.’
In a political eulogy he promised improved utilities, better jobs and working conditions as well as efficient and accountable public service.
‘We will be able to complete this country’s transformation into a global force for social and economic leadership that you believed we were capable of being.
‘Tata as your triumphant journey comes to an end we sincerely thank you.’
‘We sincerely thank you, thank your family for sharing you with us and the world.’
From The Daily Mail:
Former X Factor winner James Arthur has apologised for his recent homophobic rap, bedding prostitutes and a 17-year-old fan, admitting ‘I regret everything I’ve done’.
Speaking of a fan he met on Twitter, slept with and then dumped the night after, James told The Sun: ‘I’m definitely not the guy who grooms young girls. I don’t want people to think that.’
‘Yes I got into things with girls who only liked me because of who I was. But I learnt my lesson quickly.’
He also apologised for a homophobic slur in one of his recent songs. You can read more about that and the teenage sex scandal here.
From Fox News:
A Pennsylvania teen has been charged in the rape and beating of a retired nun in the parking lot of a Roman Catholic church.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Andrew Bullock, 18, of Aliquippa confronted the unidentified, 70-year-old nun Friday outside St. Titus Church, located near Pittsburgh.
Bullock reportedly asked the nun if she needed help, then flashed her after she declined his assistance and thanked him for his concern. Bullock then grabbed the nun’s neck, choked and punched her, according to police. Then, he reportedly raped her.
“The first thing you notice when you look up where this horrific act occurred is the statue of the Virgin Mary looking down,” Dan Couch, assistant Aliquippa police chief, told KDKA Channel 2.
Police told The Post-Gazette the nun could not speak when they first arrived because of a dislocated lower jaw, but managed to write down on a piece of paper that she had been raped. She was reportedly taken to a local hospital, where she was able to speak with police before surgeons worked to fix her jaw.
Authorities found Bullock through a description, as well as a shoe imprint he left in the snow.
The Post-Gazette writes “the tread pattern, size and width of his boots were similar to a footprint,” found at the scene of the attack. Then — after questioning — Bullock reportedly confessed to officers what he had done.
A judge later ordered Bullock held in lieu of $50,000 bond on charges of felony rape, aggravated assault, sexual assault, as well as a raft of other, misdemeanor charges, according to court documented cited by the Post-Gazette.
“The Sisters of St. Joseph are deeply saddened and heartbroken by the assault of one of our Sisters,” a statement from the order reportedly said. “As we offer continued prayers of healing for our Sister, we also pray for the young man who has been arrested in the assault.”
The order said the victim is a, “a passionate advocate of nonviolence, peace and justice, and each month she conducts a prayer vigil for peace in the chapel of our Motherhouse.”
From Billboard:
Beyonce’s self-titled surprise release, which hit iTunes exclusively on Thursday evening (9 p.m. PT), has now sold over 430,000 units in just over one day, guaranteeing it the top slot on the Billboard 200 once that chart’s top 10 is revealed mid-week.
As reported yesterday, “Beyonce” shifted slightly over 80,000 in the three hours from 9 p.m. PT to midnight on Thursday evening and on Friday sold another 350,000, according to industry sources putting the total at 430,000. With two more days left in the sales tracking week, the title could sell over 600,000 before the buzzer sounds.
The iTunes exclusive “visual” album, retailing for $15.99 contains 14 tracks- not available for a la carte purchases until Dec. 20- and 14 accompanying videos, along with other bonus video content. No set date has been announced for the CD release to physical retailers or of its availability on other digital download sites.
At 430,000, “Beyonce” is already set to become the biggest debuting album by a female artist since Taylor Swift sold an astounding 1.2 million copies of “Red” in the week corresponding to Billboard 200 chart dated Nov 10, 2012. And if predictions in the 600,000 range hold, the set would grant Beyonce the best debut week- and best sales week period- of her career. Her 2006 album “B’day” started with 541,000 in September 2006.
.@AdrienBroner hold your head up champ. I love you. A true champion can take a loss and bounce back, my lil brother pic.twitter.com/jecoR7u7Ia
— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) December 15, 2013
Following his upset loss to Marcos Maidana, Adrien Broner received some probably welcome support from undefeated champ Floyd Mayweather, which you can see above.
The unfortunate truth is that sometimes it takes a knockdown to be humble, and if you’ve followed any of Broner’s antics outside of the ring, it might be well-deserved.
UPDATE: I had to add this video of Anderson Cooper grilling the psychologist for testifying that the kid shouldn’t be held responsible because of ‘affluenza’. It’s at the bottom of this post.
****************************************
From AATTP:
On June 15, sixteen year old Ethan Anthony Couch and seven friends stole alcohol from a local Walmart. After getting hammered, they decided it was a good idea to head to another store for a “beer run,” so they embarked on a brisk, drunken 70-mph cruise through a 40-mph zone.
Breanna Mitchell, who was headed home after a catering event, had stepped out of her car to repair a flat tire. Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby walked out to assist her. Youth pastor Brian Jennings also stopped to help. Couch accelerated his vehicle as it went off the road, mowing down all four victims as they stood in a driveway. He then clipped the rear of Jennings’ vehicle, sending it across both lanes and into an oncoming Beetle. Two children inside the Silverado were injured. Fortunately, there were no injuries in the other car. Cole’s truck then “went airborn” and slammed into a tree, sending two passengers flying from the truck bed. One is still in the hospital with severe brain damage.
Couch’s blood alcohol level was .24 at the time of the crash–three times the legal limit for an adult.
Couch’s attorney argued that his parents–not him–were responsible for his reckless decisions. A psychologist testified that Couch was a product of his wealth who got whatever he wanted. He had no boundaries, and was permitted to drive at age 13 and drink at a very young age. He said that Couch received no punishment after he was found passed our in a parking lot with an undressed 14 year old girl, citing that as an example of the “freedoms no young person should have.” The argument was that he would be good as new with two years of treatment away from his parents rather than the 20-year sentence the prosecution was seeking for Couch’s horrific act. The judge, despite the overwhelming evidence against Couch, agreed with that assessment that he was simply a victim of “Affluenza.” Allowing the teen to once again avoid any actual consequences with money, he sentenced the teen to ten years probation at a small inpatient facility where he can receive intensive one-on-one therapy. Couch’s father will foot the entire $450,000 bill.
SAN ANTONIO — Marcos Maidana overpowered heavily favored Adrien Broner to take the WBA welterweight championship, knocking him down twice in a unanimous decision Saturday night at the Alamodome.
The target of heavy trash talking leading up to the fight, Maidana was dominant in handing the brash Broner his first loss in 28 bouts. After the judges’ scores of 115-110, 116-109 and 117-109 were announced in favor of the Argentine star, Broner ran out of the ring.
“I had to show a lot of heart to win this fight,” Maidana said. “I did what I had to do to win.”
Broner is nicknamed “The Problem,” but Maidana (35-3) had the answer with power that the three-time world champion had never faced before.
“I’m OK. I’m still the three-time world champion in three different weight classes,” Broner said. “Tonight, Maidana was just the better man, but we fought a hell of a fight. I hope the fans got what they deserved. … I’m still going to live like we won the fight. I’m still going to party.”
With the victory, Maidana set up a possible fight against Keith Thurman. On the undercard, Thurman stopped Jesus Soto Karass in the ninth round.
Maidana left little question of what he wanted to do, landing 231 of 663 power punches while connecting on only 38 jabs.
The power stunned the confident Broner, who was unable to use the fluid counter-punching that had resulted in 22 knockouts and made him one of the sports’ top stars.
“I’ll tell you one thing, make a rematch,” Broner said. “I don’t need a warm-up fight. I want a rematch,”
Maidana staggered Broner early in the opening round with an overhand right to the back of the head, causing the Cincinnati fighter to stumble trying to regain his footing. Broner attempted to wrap up Maidana as Broner attempted to wrestle free to land more power punches.
Maidana spent the entire opening round charging at Broner, trapping him against the ropes and throwing powerful combinations.
Maidana sent Broner tumbling into the ropes early in the second round with a lunging left hook to the chin. After a standing eight count, Broner charged and wrapped up Maidana’s upper legs in an attempt to recover.
Maidana landed 57 punches in the opening two rounds to only 13 for Broner, according to Showtime. Broner regained his balance after the second round, spending the next five rounds trading punches and clenches before Maidana regained control.
“Broner is a very good puncher,” Maidana said. “He’s a very good boxer, very good puncher. Yes, I felt his blows.”
Maidana floored Broner in the eighth round with a left to the midsection and an overhand right. After a standing eight count, Broner again went to the canvas after taking a head-butt to the jaw. Amid heavy booing, Broner remained on the canvas and in a corner for about 3 minutes before returning to action.
In the ninth round, Maidana again stunned Broner, unleashing combination after combination that Broner was struggling to avoid. Broner again regained his feet in the 10th round, but was only able to exchange blows with Maidana the remainder of the fight.
“I don’t think he was on today,” said Broner’s trainer, Mike Stafford. “I thought it was a little closer than (the judges) had it, but I just don’t think he was on tonight.”
On the undercard, Thurman (22-0) stunned Soto Karass (28-9-3) with a left hook to the chin that had the Mexican fighter out on his feet. Defenseless, Soto Karass took four more heavy blows before the referee stopped the bout.
Soto Karass caught Thurman with an overhand right to the chin in the opening minute of the bout, staggering the Clearwater, Fla., fighter. Soto Karass followed it with another crushing right, but Thurman withstood the flurry and delivered his own staggering shots to the body and head to close the round.
“He made me bring it out from round one,” Thurman said. “He was ready Round 1. I was dilly dallying in Round 1 and he turned the lights on and woke me up.”
Earlier, Leo Santa Cruz (26-0-1) successfully defended his WBC super bantamweight championship, unanimously outpointing Cesar Seda. The judges scored the bout 116-111, 115-112, 117-110 for Santa Cruz, who landed 43 percent of his power punches in handing Seda his second loss in 27 fights.
Also, Beibut Shumenov stopped Tomas Kovacs in the third round to retain his WBA super light-heavyweight championship. Shumenov, from Kazakhstan, improved to 14-1. Kovacs, from Slovakia, dropped to 23-1. (AP/ESPN)
From TMZ:
Paul Walker’s family and friends gathered today for his funeral in Los Angeles — exactly two weeks after his fatal car crash.
Walker’s ashes were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills Saturday morning … and we’re told the ceremony was brief.
As we previously reported … the family is planning to hold another memorial in the near future … this time for more people that were close to Paul.
Gene Autry, Don Cornelius, and Liberace were also laid to rest at Forest Lawn.
It’s that time again: today, we are beginning the voting for this year’s DMV Freshman List. We will run the current poll below until December 30th. Following that, we will announce our list January 1st, 2014. If we did not include your name on the poll, you can comment below and we will add you. The artists that we will be including on the freshman list will be determined by your music, your buzz, your votes on the poll and your potential. The direct link to the poll is right here.
From TMZ:
Drake is a little too full of himself … bailing on 2 concerts to which he committed before blowing up, and agreeing to perform only if he was paid a fame premium — this according to a new lawsuit.
Several Chicago concert promoters claim Drake agreed to do the shows in 2012, just before he became very rich and very famous. According to the suit, the now-famous Drake said he would take the stage ONLY if the promoters would up the ante.
The show was set for March, 2012 at a venue that held 8,500 people. Drake performed 3 months later at a nearby venue that seated 28,000.
The promoters say they invested more than $200K and they want their dough.
BIG NEWS!!! Wrote another smash this week! Want you to have it! Making it a Christmas gift and moving #journals to the 23rd! So....
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) December 13, 2013
Justin Bieber has decided to push back his upcoming effort Journals so that he can add another song to the stash. This puts the project’s new date as the 23rd, two days before his Believe movie drops on Christmas.