5 lbs for their junior middle weight bout

Paul "the Punisher" Williams 37(27)-1 and his opponent Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez 44(24)-1 make weight for their middleweight bout taking place Saturday in Atlantic City.Williams weighed in at 157 lbs to Martinez coming in just one pound under the 160 limit at 159 lbs. Both fighters looked prepared, and Williams, as usual, had the obvious height advantage, as he stared down while Martinez stared up right back into his eyes.On the undercard top Mexican American heavyweight contender Chris "the Nightmare" Arreola 27(24)-1 weighed in at 263 lbs and also had a visible height advantage over his opponent Brian "the Beast" Minto 34(21)-2.Also on the under card Carlos "El Indio" Quintana 26(20)-2, the only man to defeat Paul Williams, weighed in at 153.5 lbs, and his opponent Jesse Feliciano 15(9)-7-3 weighed in at 152.5 lbs for their junior middle weight bout.The fight card titled: REAL CHAMPIONS is on HBO this Saturday night DEC 5 (9:30 p.m ET/6:30 p.m. PT) from Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, exclusively on HBO.The WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING team of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman, and Emanuel Steward will be ringside for the event. Never has that title been more true to me than it is right now.Maybe I have some bias as a Knicks fan watching Mike D'Antoni coach offense, offense, offense, and forget that defense exists.But it's not just him. Many other coaches are following in that lead.Just a couple days ago, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Toronto Raptors 146-115.

The Hawks scored 75 by halftime and passed the 100 mark with 3:40 left to go...in the THIRD QUARTER!Nine players finished in double figures scoring for the Hawks as they went on to shoot 59 percent from the field and 52 percent from beyond the arc.This can't be a fluke.Teams are coaching their players to save their energy on defense in the hopes that it will help themexecute better on offense and lead to outscoring their opponent and winning the game.What happened to defense winning championshipsWhyaren't teams copying the Spurs, Lakers, and Celtics, who all play excellent defenseThose teams are contending for NBA titles year after year while other are losing when it matters.It is true that the NBA is a flashier league than NCAA, yet I am finding myself more attracted to college ball because of the style of basketball played, among other things.NBA games are no fun without defense. In that game, the team proved they can score some, but they also showed that theydon't care much about defending and are content with giving up as many points as the other team wants, as long as it's less than their score.When I was younger, I remember that only a few teams every night broke the 100-point barrier.Now it's common place, and if youdon't get 100 points, it's almost anembarrassment, as though you had a bad night.Hopefully some teams will realize that the way to win basketball games is by hustling and playing sound defense, so that the games will go back to being intense and fun.. The Harmon Hotel & Spa Opening to Be Postponed and The Harmon CondominiumComponent to be CancelledLAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ CityCenter Holdings, LLC, a jointventure between MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) and Infinity World Development Corp,today announced certain scope changes related to The Harmon Hotel & Spa whichinclude postponing the opening of the hotel to late 2010 and cancelling TheHarmon residential condominium component.CityCenter Holdings, LLC is currently developing a spectacular 67-acrevertical city on the Las Vegas Strip.The Harmon is just one component of theCityCenter complex.Once complete The Harmon Hotel & Spa will featureapproximately 400 rooms and suites.The Harmon as developed would have hadapproximately 200 residential units, of which 88 are under contract to besold.Purchasers will be entitled to receive refunds of their deposits, butwill be given the opportunity to purchase units at the Residences at MandarinOriental Las Vegas, Vdara and Veer Towers.Construction at The Harmon willcontinue through completion of the structure and exterior, with interior fitout to be deferred.With the cancellation of The Harmon residential component as well as otheradditional cost savings the company now anticipates total cost savings ofapproximately $600 million up from its previously stated $400 million.Inaddition, by postponing The Harmon Hotel by one year CityCenter will deferapproximately $200 million in construction costs to complete the interior fitout of The Harmon."By cancelling The Harmon condominium component, we will be able to avoid theneed for substantial redesign of The Harmon resulting from contractorconstruction errors," said Robert Baldwin, President and CEO of CityCenter. "In taking these steps related to The Harmon we can remain focused onmaximizing the operating performance of Aria, Mandarin, and Vdara to theirdesired levels."All other components of CityCenter remain on schedule for a December 2009grand opening.Aria Resort & Casino is a dramatic soaring hotel towerdesigned by Pelli Clarke Pelli architects and is CityCenter's centerpiece.

The sophisticated, contemporary design will be demonstrably different from anybuilding that has preceded it and will provide a rich variety of experiencesat street level.The resort will feature approximately 4,000 rooms andsuites, 150,000-square-foot casino, fine dining and world-class entertainment. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel & Residences will feature 400 hotel rooms and 227residential units and will be managed by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Veer Towers will contain 670 residential units in two towers surrounded by thebest retail, restaurants and entertainment.Vdara is a 1,495hotel-condominium tower designed by Rafael Vinoly.Crystals retail andentertainment complex will offer approximately 76 outlets featuring high-endfashion, boutiques, dining and entertainment venues."The construction progress to date on this enormous project is nothing shortof incredible," said Mr. Baldwin."Over the next 11 months we will beginenergizing these architecturally beautiful buildings with the hiring of morethan 12,000 individuals for this dynamic resort complex.Creating this manyjobs will have a tremendous impact for both Las Vegas and the State of Nevadafor many years to come." "We have full confidence in the long term future of the Las Vegas market andthe success of CityCenter," said Chris O'Donnell, Chief Executive Officer ofInfinity World Development Corp."This is an appropriate action in thecurrent circumstances."In October 2008, CityCenter secured a $1.8 billion senior bank credit facilitywhich can be increased to $3.0 billion.Both sponsors continue to activelypursue additional financing for the project. "These scope changes received overwhelming support from our CityCenter bankgroup," said Dan D'Arrigo, Executive Vice President and CFO of MGM MIRAGE. CityCenter will featureARIA, a 61-story, 4,000-room gaming resort; three luxury non-gaming hotelsincluding Las Vegas' first Mandarin Oriental, The Harmon Hotel & Spa and VdaraHotel; Veer Towers, the development's only strictly residential buildings;approximately 2,400 condominium residences; and Crystals, a500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment district.