Boxing

Leave it to Josh Hall to get back up off the deck and get in position for a knockout.Hall, the former light heavyweight who is in theMaryland Boxing Hall of Fame, has been trying his hand at promoting and matchmaking with his wife, Victoria Savaliski, for the last couple of years.They have had limited success with boxing-only shows at the Glen Burnie Armory and in Baltimore, and ditto for dinner and boxing showsat LaFontaine Bleu in Glen Burnie in November and January.But a third such show at LaFontaine Bleu is scheduled for Thursday, and Hall is excited.

My niece, Natalie Barton, is an extra in the movie "The Avengers. " She is the daughter of Linda Southall-Barton and grand-daughter of Herb and Mary Lou Southall. Natalie and her mother traveled to Ohio to go on the "extras" red carpet on opening night. The CGR Relentless 5K and Fun Walk will benefit the Cody G Richardson Memorial Scholarship Fund. It will be held on June 2 in Perryville. The run/walk will start and end at Perryville Middle School, proceed down Aiken Avenue, turn right on Broad Street, right on Susquehanna Avenue, left on Frenchtown Road, left on Broad Street and left on Aiken Avenue.

An identity crisis Fred Mitchell, Chicago Tribune The face of boxing today is a tattooed police mug shot. Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson no longer fights in a sanctioned ring, yet his criminal reputation and name recognition resonate throughout the world - whether he is involved in an airport scuffle with a photographer, as he was this week in Los Angeles, or appearing on Oprah's show, revealing his sensitive side....

They did what they had to do, and they went home. That's the best that can be said of the special session of the Maryland General Assembly that concluded today. The tax increases, spending cuts, fund transfers and other measures lawmakers approved in 21/2 days this week protect public education, health and public safety and put the state on a path to fiscal sustainability, all while requiring a relatively minimal additional contribution from taxpayers. After a chaotic end to the regular General Assembly session, order has been restored.

Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski had his 45-game suspension from boxing lifted Thursday, his lawyer said. Zbikowski was disciplined by Chickasaw Nation Boxing Commission when he tested positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol, the main substance in marijuana, after Saturday's fight. To resolve the matter, Zbikowski sent a negative result from a self-described "more in-depth test" on Tuesday. He learned that the suspended was over when he received a certified letter from the boxing commission around 4 p.m. Thursday.

Saturday's Maryland-North Carolinamen's lacrosse showdown in Chapel Hill, N.C., was a fight to the finish - right up to the point where it actually became one. The two teams didn't shed their lacrosse gloves for boxing gloves as a bench-clearing brawl began in the final minute of the Tar Heels' 11-10 win , but that certainly didn't stop the fisticuffs before a national television audience. As you can see in the video below, in a matter of seconds, Tar Heels attackman Greg McBride goes from lying on the Fetzer Field grass to on the attack.

Tom Zbikowski sported white trunks with purple trim at his most recent fight, an obvious nod to the Ravens. His ring entrance music came from a local rapper. Zbikowski certainly brought Baltimore to Atlantic City, N.J., where he won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Caleb Grummet on Saturday night. So, when will the Ravens safety bring one of his professional boxing matches to Baltimore? "I'm trying to," Zbikowski said after he improved his record to 3-0. "I'll do whatever I can to get a fight there.

Outside the building's doors, he is Tom Zbikowski, NFL football player. Inside, he is "fresh meat. " This is Kronk Gym, legendary for turning out stellar boxing champions like Tommy Hearns and Oscar De La Hoya from threadbare surroundings. It is a proud legacy for the fighters who train here on a sagging practice ring seemingly held together by duct tape, and one that they will protect from the wannabes who have lifted a few weights or seen a few too many Hollywood renderings of their sport.

Fresh off three impressive wins in the ring, Tom Zbikowski has shut down his would-be boxing career again to refocus on football and the Ravens. Despite unresolved labor issues that have brought the NFL to a standstill, the veteran safety said he decided two weeks ago to resume preparations for training camp in late July or August. "I accomplished what I needed to accomplish and saw where I was in the boxing ring," Zbikowski said Tuesday from his family home near Chicago. "I wasn't going to be world champion in a year.

The NFL labor fight has led Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski to put on his boxing gloves. As football's impending work stoppage draws nearer, Zbikowski has decided to fight in a professional boxing match on March 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It will mark his second pro fight and first since 2006. Zbikowski said it's not about the money. He estimates that he'll make $100 profit. He isn't motivated by the notoriety, either. Zbikowski is fighting on the undercard against an undetermined opponent.

Having emerged as the top playmaker for No. 8 Johns Hopkins, Zach Palmer's most lasting play was the one-handed, wraparound goal he scored in the team's 11-10 overtime win against then-No. 1 Virginia on March 24. That play symbolized the independence with which Palmer, a natural lefty who curled around the left post and tossed the ball into the net with his right hand, has been granted by the Blue Jays coaching staff. “I think I'm more apt to be creative,” Palmer said, adding that he had never attempted that shot in practice or in a game.

The computer program came up with Hansen, and he certainly has a shot. However, Hansen's last prep race was very telling, and not in ways that suggest he can win. Many observers felt his Breeders' Cup Juvenile victory last fall demonstrated some distance limitations, and those concerns seem to have been validated in the Blue Grass Stakes, where he gave up the lead in the stretch. Additionally, his owner suggested that he would not go to the lead in the Blue Grass, but he surged to the lead and carved out fairly solid fractions.

Steep projected costs for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay could be trimmed by billions of dollars, a new study suggests, by allowing polluters to buy "credits" for less-expensive reductions made by others. The study, presented Thursday to the Chesapeake Bay Commission, an advisory panel of legislators from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, estimates that nutrient pollution trading could trim projected costs for upgrading sewage treatment plants and controlling urban and suburban storm water pollution by $1 billion or more a year baywide.

No one makes whiskey any longer on Sollers Point Road in Dundalk, where the old distillery stands empty, the weeds poke through the paving and graffiti marks the brick walls. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons closed its bottling plant there in the late 1980s, and it's been empty for years, considered an eyesore by many neighbors and the scene of several recent fires. The latest owner of these desolate 14.5 acres is planning a redevelopment, and one of his ideas involves moving county-owned offices there, freeing up a nearby property for "big box" stores at one of the biggest crossroads in Dundalk.

For 96 years, one thing has remained constant at T.G. Tochterman & Sons, Baltimore's oldest bait and tackle shop: There's always a Tochterman behind the counter. It started with Thomas in 1916, who handed the keys over to his son, Thomas Jr., in 1936, who handed them to his son, Tony, in 1981. Tony runs the store with his wife, Dee. But Tony's dad is still on the premises, his ashes in a fishing rod case behind the counter, surrounded by a collection of old reels and vintage photos.

Chef Brent Shellem reflects: Being from Annapolis and growing up on the Chesapeake, rockfish is what we know. Just the thought of rockfish reminds me of fishing on the bay, and what better way to fish than with a cold beverage in your hand? I decided on Carolina Iced Tea because the Carolinas have great fishing as well, but mainly because my wife loves it and it pairs well with the citrus and the light nature of the fish.  Pokomoke rockfish Ingredients: •    8 ounces rockfish •    1 ounce extra-virgin olive oil •    Juice of 2 fresh oranges •    2 ounces vodka (3 if you're thirsty)

ANNAPOLIS -- Brigade boxing champions from as far back as 1944 will return for the 50th anniversary celebration of the competition at the Naval Academy tomorrow (noon) at Hubbard Hall.The 1991 brigade champions will be crowned during a tournament tonight (7:30) at Halsey Field House.Among the 70 ex-champions who will attend is Lee Bramlett, captain of the 1946 football team who later ran for governor of Mississippi and made a fortune in the sugar business."Another guy coming back is Rod McKeon, a three-time champion at 165 pounds," said Tony Rubino, the academy's boxing coach from 1948-64.

What -- Women's and men's boxing at Martin's West in Woodlawn Time -- 8 Tickets -- $40, $50, $100. Call 410-675-6900 or 410-375-9175. Who -- Franchon Crews (20-2), Baltimore, vs. Hilary Jones (14-2), Philadelphia, in a three-round amateur light-heavyweight fight; Cory Cummings (15-0, 12 KOs), Baltimore, vs. Berry Butler (20-12, 18 KOs), Greenville, S.C., in a 10-round light-heavyweight main event. Skinny -- Crews, 19, a two-time winner of the National Golden Gloves and U.S. amateur championships, has secured a berth on the U.S. national team that will compete at the November women's world championships in New Delhi, India.

Saturday's Maryland-North Carolinamen's lacrosse showdown in Chapel Hill, N.C., was a fight to the finish - right up to the point where it actually became one. The two teams didn't shed their lacrosse gloves for boxing gloves as a bench-clearing brawl began in the final minute of the Tar Heels' 11-10 win , but that certainly didn't stop the fisticuffs before a national television audience. As you can see in the video below, in a matter of seconds, Tar Heels attackman Greg McBride goes from lying on the Fetzer Field grass to on the attack.

When boxing promoter Jake Smith was approached last month by the American Red Cross Gala of Central Maryland to put together a charity event, he thought about a card he organized eight years ago in Ocean City and thought it would be a natural for this region. Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh. "I know how big of a rivalry there is between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I wanted to find a way to put it in the boxing ring," Smith said. "I think when we hear about Pittsburgh [in Baltimore]