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After 112 years of amateur competition, the Olympics are welcoming professional boxers.All three of them.The International Boxing Associations high-profile plan to entice prominent pros to Rio de Janeiro didnt work, leaving the sport without the star-studded tournament many apparently wanted.Only a trio of traditional pros will compete for gold medals, and only hardcore boxing fans have ever heard of them: Cameroons Hassan NDam, Thailands Amnat Ruenroeng and Italys Carmine Tommasone.The Rio tournament will be more notable for what the men arent wearing. AIBA has removed headguards from male Olympic fighters for the first time since 1980.The biggest stars again could be the women, who are back for their second Olympics after providing the best moments in London.Here are some more things to know when the 286-person tournament begins Aug. 6:REIGNING CHAMPSAll three gold medal winners from the inaugural womens tournament in London are back to attempt to defend their titles. Britains Nicola Adams, Irelands Katie Taylor and American middleweight Claressa Shields all stuck with their sport, which has grown rapidly in prominence and quality over the past several years. In fact, only the dominant Shields is a strong favorite to repeat, given the improved competition at flyweight and lightweight.CAN YOU SEE MEAIBA announced its plan to remove Olympic headgear from the men three years ago, citing research claiming the bulky pads actually cause more concussions than they prevent. The quality of their science is considered dubious by many, but many fighters prefer to compete without the gear, and the sport is undeniably more telegenic when fans can see the fighters faces.UNKINDEST CUTThe biggest problem with the headgear removal is likely to be cuts, which will develop more frequently without the facial protection. Qualifying tournaments have been filled with fighters unable to continue to their next bout after getting cut, and Olympic stars seem likely to meet the same fate.BIG NAMESAIBA has tried for years to become a player in international professional boxing under President Wu Ching-Kuo, but it has succeeded only in nations without an established pro boxing culture. The Olympic-style sports growth in former Soviet republics will be obvious in Rio, where Kazakhstan (12 fighters), Azerbaijan (11), Uzbekistan (11) and Russia (11) will be well-represented along with the likes of Britain (12) and China (11). Cuba (10) has a fighter in every mens weight class, but still wont allow women to compete.EVEN THE SCOREAnother big change for Rio is the scoring system, which is no longer based on punch-counting. Fighters will be judged on the 10-point must system traditionally used in pro boxing, with the decision of each judge reduced to a single number. The final scores in the fights will be announced as 3-0 or 2-1. Unlike the headgear change, the move away from reviled punch-scoring has been greeted with broad approval. Still, it probably wont stop more than half of the losing fighters from claiming they were robbed, just as they do in every Olympic-style boxing tournament.YOUNG AMERICANSThe U.S. team is the historic leader in total Olympic boxing medals and golds, but the Americans are sending just eight fighters to Rio after four men and one woman failed to secure spots through qualifying tournaments. The team might be small, but Shields and lightweight Mikaela Mayer are both medal contenders. The U.S. men didnt win a single medal in London, but touted bantamweight Shakur Stevenson has a great shot to end that drought in Rio.THE GREATESTYoure not seeing things on the schedule: Thats Muhammad Ali competing in Rio. The 20-year-old British flyweight with the conspicuous name is among the medal favorites after training in the same gym as Athens silver medalist Amir Khan.HES BACKRussian ex-world champion Albert Selimov is best known for losing his first fight in Beijing to Ukraines Vasyl Lomachenko, the two-time gold medalist whose amateur legend truly began with that masterful performance. While Lomachenko reigns as a professional world champion eight years later, the 30-year-old Selimov is back at his second Olympics, fighting for Azerbaijan as a naturalized citizen. He is a medal favorite at lightweight.WATCH OUTCuba, another traditional world power, could return to prominence in Rio after winning just two gold medals in London -- a down Olympic cycle by its standards. Among its several strong medal contenders are London flyweight gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez, now fighting at bantamweight; three-time amateur light heavyweight world champion Julio Cesar La Cruz; and lightweight Lazaro Alvarez, a three-time world champion in two classes. Noah Hanifin Jersey . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Haydn Fleury Jersey . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. http://www.cheaphurricanesjerseys.com/?tag=adidas-victor-rask-jersey . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. Adidas Noah Hanifin Jersey . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. Cheap Hurricanes Jerseys . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. PHOENIX -- Chris Owings has had an odd season. Thrust into duty at center field when A.J. Pollock was hurt, then sidelined with foot injury, now back at shortstop as the season winds down.On Friday night, he added a little power hitting for good measure.Owings hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the Diamondbacks 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres.Thats the kind of power we see Chris display daily during BP, Arizona manager Chip Hale said. Hes got big power right-center field. That was the talk when I got here before his shoulder surgery, he really drove the ball to right-center a lot in the minor leagues. So hes starting to get comfortable and just stayed on that pitch and rode it out of here. Thats very, very impressive for a shortstop of his stature to be able to go the opposite way.Paul Goldschmidt also hit a two-run homer for Arizona. Ryan Schimpf hit a two-run home run for San Diego.Randall Delgado (5-2) pitched an inning of relief to get the victory. Patrick Corbin threw 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief before Daniel Hudson came on to get Wil Myers to pop out to first for his fifth save. Corbins performance was the latest in a series of strong efforts after he was demoted to the bullpen.He just feels like his stuff is back to where it was before (Tommy John) surgery, Hale said. He got tremendous life up to 96 today. His breaking ball, you saw Myers take the swing where he spun around. Its really good to finish this way. Hell fit right into our rotation the top two or three spots there next year.Edwin Jackson (5-7) gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings to take the loss.The crowd for the matchup between the bottom two teams in the NL West was announced at 42,651, the second-largest of the season at home for the Diamondbacks. Only the season opener drew more.By handing the Padres their 50th road loss, Arizona still has a chance to escape the division cellar. The Diamondbacks are a game behind San Diego with two to play.Goldschmidt put Arizona uup 3-0 in the third inning when he hit Jacksons 2-0 pitch over the porch in right-center for his 24th home run, and 94th and 95th RBI.ddddddddddddBut Diamondbacks starter Braden Shipley couldnt hold the lead. The Padres tied it 3-3 in the fourth. Manuel Margot doubled in a run and scored on Schimpfs two-run home run.Arizona regained the lead in the sixth. With two outs, Brandon Drury doubled and scored when Owings homered on Jacksons 2-0 pitch. Owings fifth home run of the season gave the Diamondbacks a 5-3 lead.I saw him pretty good tonight, Owings said. I got some good counts before that. Got to 2-0 on that one, just got a pitch out over the plate and was able to drive it.SCHIMPFS SHOTSSchimpfs 20 home runs are third-most by a Padres rookie behind Nate Colberts 24 in 1969 and Jedd Gyorkos 23 in 2013. They are second-most by a Padres second baseman behind Gyorkos 23. Schimpf had 15 homers this season in the minors. And they came in about a half-season.Has Schimpf surprised himself?I dont know, he said. I dont know if it has really settled in yet. Im just trying to constantly get better.GOLDYS BLASTGoldschmidts two-run homer gave him 14 RBI against San Diego this season, his career-high against the Padres. With two games to go, Goldschmidt is batting .346 against the Padres with five home runs.TRAINERS ROOMDiamondbacks: OF A.J. Pollock ran on the grass on Friday but still felt tightness in his groin and has been shut down for the season. ... OF Yasmany Tomas was scratched from the lineup with stiffness in his upper back.UP NEXTPadres: LHP Clayton Richard (3-3, 2.98 ERA) makes his ninth start and 38th appearancc of the season. In eight starts, he is 3-2 with a 1.88 ERA.Diamondbacks: RHP Archie Bradley (7-9, 5.15 ERA) makes the final start of his rookie season. His 132 strikeouts are third-most by an Arizona rookie in franchise history. ' ' '