Florida Sentinel Bulletin

LAS VEGAS – Juan Manuel Marquez carried more than eight years of frustration, disappointment and anger with him when he got into the ring with Manny Pacquiao on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden. After losing two and drawing one in three fights he had a right to believe he won, the bigger and stronger version of Marquez left no doubt this time around.

He concluded one of the year’s best fights in stunningly brutal fashion, catching Pacquiao on the chin with a perfectly placed counter right hand, knocking the Filipino superstar out cold at 2:59 of the sixth round before an arena packed with his delirious fans.

As Pacquiao lay prone on the mat and Marquez and his fans celebrated, somewhere, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. had to be kicking himself. The world’s top boxer failed to sign a fight with Pacquiao that would have been the richest bout of all-time. While it’s not out of the question that Mayweather and Pacquiao could still fight, the bout will never have the kind of luster it had when they were 1-2 in the rankings and both seemingly invincible.

Mayweather’s one-time close friend, hip hop star Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, knew as referee Kenny Bayless attended to Pacquiao that it was equivalent to flushing millions down the drain. “That was a lot of money [going away],” he said. Pacquiao didn’t show for the post-fight news conference. He walked out of the arena under his own power, but was taken to a local hospital for a CAT scan. The scan came back negative. In the ring after the fight, he said simply, “I got hit with a punch I didn’t see.”

LANDOVER, Md. — Robert Griffin, III walked gingerly through the Washington Redskins locker room, his sprained right knee in a big black brace.

Teammates stood at their lockers, mixing the emotions of an improbable 31-28 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens with the fear that their franchise player could be seriously hurt. Griffin went down during Washington’s final drive of regulation Sunday, with the Redskins trailing by eight.

Fellow rookie Kirk Cousins, who had played in only one other game this season, stepped in and hit Pierre Garcon for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds remaining, then ran the quarterback draw for the 2-point conversion to tie the game.

ASHBURN, VA – Robert Griffin, III already has a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

On Wednesday, the Hall collected the grass- and dirt-stained burgundy jersey and cleats worn by Griffin when he set the NFL single-season record for yards rushing by a quarterback in the Washington Redskins’ win over the New York Giants.

Griffin ran five times for 72 yards in the 17-16 victory Monday night, giving him 714 yards on the season and topping the mark of 706 set last year by Cam Newton.

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend – and later himself – after he spent the previous night in an entertainment district and slept at the apartment of another woman, witnesses told police.

The events could explain why Belcher got into an argument with Kasandra Perkins, the mother of their 3-month-old child, that preceded the murder-suicide. Five hours before he shot Perkins, Belcher was questioned by police when he was reported sleeping in a car outside the other woman’s apartment, police said Tuesday.

Police responded to a suspicious vehicle call about 2:50 a.m at an apartment complex near downtown Kansas City, Missouri, where they found Belcher dozing in the car, Sergeant Darin Snapp said. Officers woke him up and asked what he was doing, Snapp said. Belcher said he was waiting for his girlfriend to come home and didn’t have the door code number so he could not go inside, Snapp said. Belcher then called someone on his cell phone and about that time a woman came to the door of the apartment and waved him in, Snapp said.

Witnesses who live in the apartment told police later that Belcher went to sleep there and at his request they woke him up at 6:30 a.m. so he could get to a Chiefs’ team meeting by 9:30 a.m, Snapp said. Belcher returned to his home in Kansas City he shared with Perkins, 22, and the couple’s 3-month-old daughter, police have said. The couple got into an argument and at 7:50 a.m. police responded to a call from the house and found Perkins shot dead in the master bedroom. Belcher’s mother was at the house at the time of the shooting.

After the shooting, Belcher kissed his wounded girlfriend on the forehead, kissed his daughter and apologized to his mother. Belcher fled in his Bentley to the practice facility, where he encountered Chiefs’ General Manager Scott Pioli and other Chiefs’ staff in the parking lot, police have said. Belcher then stepped out of his car with a handgun pointed at his head and said, “I did it, I killed her,” Snapp said.

Pioli tried to persuade Belcher to drop the weapon. Head coach Romeo Crennel arrived on the scene and also tried to talk Belcher out of hurting himself, police said.

Having moved far from home to train for the Olympics, Gabby Douglas told her mother when she was 15 years old that she was ready to throw in the towel, move home, and “get a job at Chick-Fil-A.” Douglas texted her mother, “gymnastics is not my passion anymore.”

In her new memoir, Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of Faith, Douglas reveals that she just wanted to be a normal teen. She had moved away from her Virginia Beach home at the age of 14 to train in Des Moines, Iowa with renowned gymnast trainer Liang Chow. Only after a talk with older brother John did Douglas decide to keep training in Iowa.

Along with homesickness, Douglas discusses the painful absence of her father and the racism she faced during her time training in Virginia Beach. She noted that her father, Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Douglas, was not as supportive as he portrayed to the media which caused resentment.

Douglas also discusses being a victim of racial bullying from past teammates and even coaches. She claimed she was told in front of teammates that she needed a nose job by one of her coaches. Gabby Douglas’ memoir Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of Faith was set to be released December 4th.

NEW ORLEANS — Kobe Bryant has become the youngest player in NBA history to eclipse 30,000 career points and only the fifth overall to hit that mark.

Bryant entered the elite scoring club during the first half of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the New Orleans Hornets. He arrived in New Orleans 13 points short, and scored his 13th and 14th points on a short jumper with 1:16 to go in the first half.

Because the basket came in the flow of play, there was hardly any reaction on the court as Bryant and his teammates ran back on defense. Bryant is 34. Wilt Chamberlain was 35 when he hit the mark, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone were each 36 and Michael Jordan was 38.

The Minnesota Vikings have shut down wide receiver Percy Harvin for the remainder of the 2012-2013 season.

The Vikings announced Harvin’s move to injured reserve Wednesday night, just over a month after tearing a ligament in his ankle in week 9’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Harvin will finish the season with 62 receptions for 677 yards and three touchdown grabs. The loss looms especially large for the Vikings, who have struggled developing a consistent aerial threat in Harvin’s absence – despite being out for the past three games, Harvin remains the Vikings’ leading receiver.

On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came out swinging against Peyton Manning (pictured) and the Denver Broncos. At halftime, they actually led 10-7, and things were looking good. But after a 21-point third quarter, the game was over for all intent and purpose, and the final score of 31-23 doesn’t really indicate just how lopsided the game really was.

Manning threw for 242 yards and three touchdowns, and gave his team the AFC West title. The Bucs (6-6) still have a chance for a wild-card spot for the playoffs.

Josh Freeman completed 18 of 39 passes for 242 yards, two touchdowns, and 1 interception. Running back Doug Martin rushed for 56 yards on 18 carries, and wide receiver, Mike Williams, finished his day with 6 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown.

The Buccaneer defense didn’t have a bad day overall, but failed to stop the Broncos from driving down the field on two of their second-half scores. The Bucs also were exposed in their defensive backfield with Aqib Talib being traded, and Eric Wright serving a suspension.

With just four games remaining in the regular season, the Bucs will now face the Philadelphia Eagles at home; the New Orleans Saints on the road; the St. Louis Rams at home, and end their season against the 11-1 Atlanta Falcons in Georgia.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It began like any other Saturday for the Kansas City Chiefs during the NFL season, their general manager and coach at work early to put final touches on this weekend’s gameplan. Then they got a call to hurry to the parking lot. The two men rushed through the glass doors of Chiefs headquarters and came face-to-face with linebacker Jovan Belcher, holding a handgun to his head.

Belcher had already killed his girlfriend and sped the short distance to Arrowhead Stadium, right past a security checkpoint guarding the entrance. Upon finding his bosses, Belcher thanked general manager Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel for giving him a chance in the NFL. Then he turned away and pulled the trigger.

Authorities did not release a possible motive while piecing together the case, other than to note that Belcher and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra M. Perkins, had been arguing frequently. The two of them left behind a 3-month-old girl. She was being cared for by family. The 25-year-old Belcher was from West Babylon, N.Y., and played college football at Maine. He signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent, made the team and hung around the past four years, eventually moving into the starting lineup. He played in all 11 games this season.

The drama unfolded early Saturday when authorities received a call from a woman who said her daughter had been shot multiple times at a residence about five miles from the Arrowhead complex. The call came from Belcher’s mother, who referred to the victim as her daughter. Police then got a phone call from the Chiefs’ training facility, and Belcher’s description matched the suspect description from the initial address. Snapp said officers pulled into the practice facility parking lot in a matter of minutes, in time to witness the suicide.

“Pioli and Crennel and another coach or employee was standing outside and appeared to be talking to him,” Snapp said. “The suspect began to walk in the opposite direction of the coaches and the officers and that’s when they heard the gunshot. It appears he took his own life.” The coaches told police they never felt in any danger. “They said the player was actually thanking them for everything they’d done for him,” Snapp said. “He was thanking them and everything. That’s when he walked away and shot himself.”