back on top in the heralded return of boxing

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SAN ANTONIO -- Fans screamed "Go Spurs Go!" in unison at the slightest glimpse of a San Antonio Spurs player or coach floating down the River Walk. China Jerseys Stitched . It was reminiscent of last season when the Spurs walked off their team charter to those chants, except the tone Wednesday night was much sweeter. The victory parade for Spurs fifth NBA title was part celebration and part exorcism. "It is soaking in, but Im still going to live it up for about the whole summer," NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard said. "(I havent slept) very much. Ive been trying to live the moment. Its been hard to sleep still. Thought I would get some sleep after we won the finals, but Im still celebrating. Go Spurs Go! San Antonio!" After falling 25 seconds shy of capturing the title last season only to fall in seven games to the Miami Heat, the Spurs made another run to the NBA Finals. Except this time, they closed out the Heat in five games for the teams first title since 2007. "I cried (last year). I think the rest of the city cried, too," Spurs fan Rosalinda Gonzalez said. "How they lost, that was bad. It made this years victory even more sweet, sweet. (And) the way we did it. All the games that we won were by a billion points. It was awesome. Great comeback." Given a chance to celebrate what they couldnt last year, Spurs fans endured 90-degree heat to line the River Walk and stand outside of the Alamodome up to five hours before the festivities began. The City of San Antonio estimated about 100,000 people attended the River Walk parade and 75,000 were at the Alamodome. "Weve got to thank the people of San Antonio," said Spurs guard Patty Mills, who served as the events master of ceremonies. "You really make this way more special than it already is. You guys are so genuine and really care about us. Youve embraced all of us as a family." And the fans soaked up the moment as if it was the citys first championship. Even usually cantankerous Spurs coach Gregg Popovich fully embraced the moment, smiling and waving at the crowd as the barge he rode on floated along the River Walk. Popovich raised one finger with a puzzled look before counting off two, three, four and nodding his head when he reached five, raising an outstretched hand to symbolize how many titles the franchise has won. It was Popovich who admitted the Spurs were "hurting" after losing last seasons finals. Still, the team was greeted by thousands of cheering fans upon its arrival home following the Game 7 loss to the Heat. "Ill be honest with you, when you saw the crowd the first feeling I had was embarrassment," Popovich said last year. "Was just embarrassed that we didnt get it done and then as you look at them all and they just keep cheering you realize, my gosh, you really felt the love and the way they care for these guys and their team and then it did make it easier." It also was Popovich who implored the team to face the defeat head on and learn from it, and the Spurs certainly did that. The Spurs Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili guided the team to the leagues best regular-season record and to a dominant post-season run after escaping a seven-game series with the Dallas Mavericks. San Antonios combined 70-point winning margin over Miami was the largest in NBA Finals history. "We owe it all to Pop," Ginobili said as his barge made a stop. "He had us playing great basketball at the right time." The Big Three twice received standing ovations from the capacity crowd inside the Alamodome as Duncan celebrated his fifth title and Parker and Ginobili their fourth. "Thats the best thing about them, you can hang with them, you can have jokes with them," Mills said about the Big Three. "They are better people than they are basketballers." Aside from the Big Three, the loudest ovations were for Leonard, who Popovich has called the future face of the Spurs since his arrival via a draft day trade with the Indiana Pacers in 2011. On the Alamodome stage, Mills shared a story of how he asked Leonard which superhero he was going to be for Parkers annual Halloween party. The quiet 22-year-old responded with, "Kawhi Leonard superhero." And Leonard was that in the finals. Leonard had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the series-ending victory Sunday night, becoming the youngest finals MVP since Duncan received the honour at the same age in 1999. The Spurs face an uncertain off-season with up to six possible free agents, but that wasnt even a consideration for the players or the fans Wednesday. After waiting a year, they all got to exhale and celebrate another title. Cheap Jerseys From China . -- Syracuse was dangerously close to letting another less talented opponent pull off the upset when C. China Jerseys Cheap . 28 with a Vancouver entry for the first time in 10 years and a novel new collective bargaining agreement. https://www.chinajerseyscheap.us/ .C. - Blair Jones scored the eventual winner in the third period as the Abbotsford Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Oil Barons 3-2 in American Hockey League action on Friday.INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Although Juan Manuel Marquez rarely acts his age in the ring, the 40-year-old welterweight turned back the clock to a specific time and place while he battered Mike Alvarado. Under the spotlights, the smoke and the deafening cheers, Marquez was once again the king of the Forum ring, returning in grand style to the refurbished arena for one more celebration of his brilliance and longevity. Marquez won a clear unanimous decision over Alvarado on Saturday night, dominating in the Forums first boxing card in 13 years. "I wanted to give the public here a gift," the four-division champion said afterward while a pro-Marquez crowd roared its approval. "A gift that dignifies the history of this event and the history of the Forum. I wanted to make this fight a gift for the fans." Marquez (56-7-1) dismantled Alvarado with 12 rounds of technical brilliance and vicious power, knocking down Alvarado in the eighth round and bouncing back from his own ninth-round knockdown to finish strong, even staggering Alvarado right before the final bell. Judges Max DeLuca and Julie Lederman scored it 117-109 for Marquez, and Robert Byrd favoured him 119-108. The Associated Press also scored it 117-109 for Marquez, giving him 10 of the 12 rounds. Marquez improved to 13-0 at the Forum, the former featherweight prospects regular home during the late 1990s. Although he once lived in Anaheim, Marquez hadnt fought in California since his last Forum bout in 1999, and thousands of his local fans turned out to support arguably the greatest Mexican fighter of his generation. The win sets up Marquez for a fifth fight with Manny Pacquiao in the fall in Macau, if Marquez wants it. His knockout victory over Pacquiao in December 2012 was the crowning moment of his career, but the money might compel him to add a fifth chapter to their rivalry. "Well relax first," Marquez said. "I dont know at the moment, but any decision we make will be good for me, good for my family and good for the Mexican fans." Alvarado (34-3) never got rolling in his second straight defeat, struggling to land any major shots beyond the right that sent Marquez to the canvas. "It was a bad experience being in there with a legend," Alvarado said. "I was warming up a little bit too much beffore I started getting off. China Jerseys Wholesale. It was on me, but it was a great fight." Marquez, who made $1.4 million, showcased the roots of his success against Alvarado, whose apparent fear of Marquezs famed counterpunching left him waiting for Marquez to clobber him. Marquez outlanded Alvarado in 11 rounds, connecting with 44 per cent of his 627 punches. His power shots were even more devastating, landing 57 per cent to just 34 per cent for Alvarado. Marquez was in charge from the opening rounds. With Alvarado sitting back and waiting, Marquez pounded him to the body and pulped the left side of his face, opening a cut under his eye in the middle rounds. "Thats the kind of fighter I am. I like wars," Alvarado said. "Thats how he exploited me, but thats how I fight." Marquez knocked down Alvarado with a counter right hand in the final seconds of the eighth, sending Alvarado sliding under the ropes and nearly off the canvas into the photographers. Alvarado recovered after the bell, and he knocked down Marquez with a double right hand early in the ninth, stunning the crowd. But the shot only seemed to enrage Marquez, who landed big combinations for the rest of the round. Alvarados face was swollen with damage under both eyes in the final rounds. Alvarado wobbled Marquez again in the 11th round, but Marquez kept his feet and finished to a standing ovation. Marquez took a split-decision loss to Timothy Bradley last fall in his first fight since his victory over Pacquiao, but he was back on top in the heralded return of boxing to the Forum, the former home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings. The Forum was a boxing hotbed for 30 years, hosting Muhammad Alis second fight with Ken Norton along with dozens of fight nights promoted by the late Lakers owner Jerry Buss. "It was a very entertaining fight, and the thing that really thrills me is its a great fight to come back to the Forum with," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said. "So many years ago, there were so many nights at the Forum when we had fights like this." Alvarado hadnt fought since Ruslan Provodnikov stopped him last fall. Alvarado moved away from his native Denver to the Los Angeles area in preparation for this bout, determined to avoid the pitfalls lurking in his hometown. ' ' '