Johnny Cueto intends to pitch in next weeks All-Star Game

LAS VEGAS -- Former light heavyweight world title challenger Isaac Chilemba was trying to bounce back from two losses in a row to remain relevant in the division, while Oleksandr Gvozdyk, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, was trying to brandish his credentials as a rising contender.It was Gvozdyk who accomplished his goal, forcing Chilemba to retire on his stool after the eighth round with a right elbow injury Saturday night on the Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward undercard at T-Mobile Arena.Left jab, left hook and straight rights to the body really hurt him, Gvozdyk said. People dont think I have a lot of fights, but I had over 250 amateur fights. I just broke him down.Gvozdyk (12-0, 10 KOs), trained by Robert Garcia, is close friends with Olympic teammate and junior lightweight world titleholder Vasyl Lomachenko, who was ringside. Gvozdyk?appeared on his way to a victory even before Chilembas injury. The Ukrainian fighter was steadily breaking down the slower, smaller Chilemba with precise punches and pesky jabs to the face.?Gvozdyk had Chilemba (24-3-2, 10 KOs) in deep trouble in the fourth round, forcing him to the ropes and unloading a sustained flurry that had referee Jay Nady looking closely.A new star was born tonight, said matchmaker Brad Abdul Goodman of Top Rank, which promotes Gvozdyk.Chilemba, 29, a native of Malawi who fights out of South Africa, was working with Roy Jones Jr. as his trainer for the first time, but the pairing did not seem to stoke much fire in Chilemba.I am devastated, Chilemba said. If I hadnt hurt my right arm in the third round, it would have been a completely different outcome. I was in an incredible amount of pain from the third round through the rest of the fight.Chilemba was coming off a decision loss to Kovalev in a July world title fight.Perez-Hooker a drawJunior welterweight Maurice Mighty Mo Hooker predicted he would knock out former lightweight world titleholder Darleys Perez, but did not stop him. Instead, Hooker came away with a shocking draw in a fight Perez appeared to clearly?win.One judge had it 97-93 for Perez, one had it 97-93 for Hooker and one had it 95-95.Perez, 33, of Colombia, lost his lightweight world title in November 2015 by fifth-round body-shot knockout in a rematch of a draw with Anthony Crolla. Perez won his next fight and then moved up in weight to face Hooker, a 27-year-old prospect from Dallas for whom promoter Roc Nation Sports had high hopes.But Perez (33-2-2, 21 KOs) seemingly upended those expectations by befuddling Hooker, a friend and sparring partner of unified junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford.Perez, who wobbled Hooker (21-0-3, 16 KOs) with a left hand in the ninth round, came forward throughout the fight and let his hands go while Hooker backed up constantly and rarely landed anything solid.Stevens wins decision against De La RosaMiddleweight Curtis Stevens (29-5, 21 KOs) won a unanimous decision against James De La Rosa (23-5, 13 KOs) in a fight that began with a lot of action and then slowed to a crawl. Stevens won 98-90, 96-92 and 96-92.I give myself a C-minus. Could have thrown my jab a little more, Stevens said. I am glad I got the W but I am a little disappointed in myself. The jab was good, but I could have popped that s--- a little more. Hurt my left hand in the fourth round. Hes got a hard-ass head. But I am glad I got the win.Stevens, 31, a powerful puncher from Brooklyn, New York, took control right away and dropped De La Rosa with a left hand behind the ear with 20 seconds left in the opening round. Things did not get any better for De La Rosa, 29, in the second round as Stevens opened a cut over his left eye.They engaged in a ferocious exchange in the third round in which both landed clean shots, and De La Rosas left eye began to swell.Stevens appeared to have De La Rosa in trouble in those early rounds but could not finish him, and then the pace slowed down and the fight meandered on. De La Rosa, of Harlingen, Texas,?appeared to have some good moments in the later part of the fight as Stevens began to tire, but could not put any punches together to do any damage.Referee Russell Mora docked Stevens?one point for a low blow in the eighth round.Stevens, who lost a world title challenge by eighth-round knockout to Gennady Golovkin in 2013, won his second fight of the year and, coincidentally, both were at T-Mobile Arena; he knocked out Patrick Teixeira in the second round in May on the Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan card, the first boxing event to be held at the new arena.De La Rosa lost his third fight in a row.I dont have any comments, De La Rosa said. People saw what it was.Darmani Rock (5-0, 4 KOs), a 20-year-old heavyweight prospect from Philadelphia, rolled to a nondescript decision win against Brice Ritani-Coe (4-5-1, 3 KOs), 30, of Las Vegas. The 6-foot-4, 247-pound Rock, who won the 2015 National Golden Gloves and U.S. National Amateur titles, won 40-36, 40-36 and 39-35.Toledo, Ohio, featherweight Tyler McCreary (12-0, 6 KOs), 23, won an unpopular majority decision against Vincent Jennings (5-3-1, 4 KOs), 32, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jennings lost his third fight in a row, but as far as the crowd was concerned he won the fight, which featured very little action; boos rained down when the scores were announced, 59-55 and 58-56 for McCreary and 57-57.It was a tough fight, McCreary said. Jennings is crafty for his size. Hes powerful too. But I know I took him every round. I had height and speed all to my advantage. Im pleased with my performance. I dug deep. It was a great learning experience. Next time, I will be more prepared.Junior welterweight prospect Sonny Fredrickson (15-0, 9 KOs), 22, of Toledo, Ohio, outfought Gabriel Deluc (11-2, 2 KOs), 26, of Boston, in a competitive and entertaining eight-rounder. Fredrickson, who put together a lot of solid combinations and was on the attack for most of the fight, got the nod 78-74, 78-74 and 77-75.It was a hard, tough fight, Fredrickson said. I think I took the edge during the middle rounds. But I also had a strong beginning and finished strong at the end. It was a good fight and a tough opponent that will allow me to grow and build.Middleweight Bakhram Murtazaliev (7-0, 5 KOs), 33, of Russia, blasted Uzbekistan native Botirsher Obidov (6-1-1, 2 KOs), 24, who is based in Kissimmee, Florida, via a second-round KO. Murtazaliev was ruthless, dropping Obidov hard three times in the second round, including a powerful right hand on the chin that sent him to the mat as referee Vic Drakulich waved off the fight without a count at 2 minutes, 52 seconds.Middleweight Meiirim Nursultanov (1-0, 0 KOs), a 23-year-old Kazakhstan native fighting out of Oxnard, California, made his professional debut and laid a beating on Henry Beckford (4-6, 1 KO), 21, of Coram, New York, in a shutout decision win. Nursultanov attacked Beckford with right hands constantly and won 60-54 on all three scorecards. Wil Trapp Jersey . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Jorge Villafana USA Jersey . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. http://www.soccerusateamonline.com/Tyler-Miller-America-Jersey/ . Pence singled in the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. DeAndre Yedlin USA Jersey . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Sebastian Lletget Jersey . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. SAN FRANCISCO -- Johnny Cueto intends to pitch in next weeks All-Star Game after not getting to play in his first appearance there two years ago.If Giants manager Bruce Bochy has any say in the matter, Cueto will start in the Midsummer Classic.Cueto pitched a five-hitter to become the NLs first 13-game winner, and San Francisco beat the Colorado Rockies 5-1 on Wednesday night to move atop the major league standings.He has made an enormous case of starting that game, Bochy said following Cuetos fourth complete game this season. You look at his record, his numbers, what a great first half hes had. Its obvious were pulling for it to happen.With the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw on the disabled list and Jake Arrieta of the Cubs stumbling in recent weeks, the door is wide open for the Giants right-hander to become the second Giants pitcher in five years to start the All-Star Game, following Matt Cain in 2012.It would be big, Cueto said through an interpreter. It would mean a lot because it would be the first time that I would ever pitch in an All-Star Game. And I want to pitch.Cueto (13-1) allowed one run on five hits with eight strikeouts and one walk while going the distance for the fourth time this season. He also became the first Giants pitcher since John Burkett in 1993 to win 13 games before the All-Star break.The performance gave San Franciscos slumping bullpen a much-needed break.Whenever hes hitting spots, its tough, Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez said. Hes going to keep you off balance with all the different moves that he has. I like him because whenever you are trying to get big hes hard to hit.San Francisco (54-33) passed the Chicago Cubs (52-32) for the majors best record and has won five of seven. Buster Posey homered for the second time in three days, Brandon Belt doubled and tripled and Brandon Crawford drove in two runs for San Francisco.Posey struck out looking with a runner on third in the first inning beforee hitting his 11th home run of the season off Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa (5-7) in the sixth.ddddddddddddDe La Rosa allowed three runs over seven innings with five strikeouts and one walk. The Colorado lefty has lost two straight since his four-game winning streak.Grant Green walked and scored on Belts RBI triple in the first. Belt scored on Crawfords two-out single.Green also scored on a wild pitch in the eighth and Crawford added a sacrifice fly to make it 5-1.Rookie sensation Trevor Story drove in Colorados lone run in the fourth on a fielders choice grounder with the bases loaded.CUETO AT THE PLATESan Franciscos starter wasnt as dominant at the plate as he was on the mound, but Cueto still managed to end an 0-for-26 slump when he singled off De La Rosa in the second inning.TRAINERS ROOMGiants: Bochy said he hopes to know by this weekend when OF Hunter Pence (right hamstring surgery) will begin a rehab assignment. Pence has been taking batting practice and running. Hes coming along great, right on pace, Bochy said. ... RHP Matt Cain (strained right hamstring) is scheduled to throw 65 pitches in a rehab start with Triple-A Sacramento on Friday. ... 3B Matt Duffy (strained right Achilles tendon) has been running on a treadmill. ... RHP Cory Gearrin was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder. ... RHP Albert Suarez was called up from Sacramento to take Gearrins place on the roster.UP NEXTRockies: Right-hander Chad Bettis (6-6) pitches Thursday in the opener of a four-game home series with Philadelphia. Bettis has a 6.58 ERA over his previous five starts.Giants: Jeff Samardzija (8-5) makes his third start against the Diamondbacks this season in Arizona on Friday. In his other two appearances combined the right-hander allowed five earned runs in 15 1/3 innings. ' ' '