A sword used by Napoleon Bonaparte to seize control of France when he chased the revolutionary government out of office, leading to his becoming emperor, is set to be auctioned.
The sword, in a collection with other historic weapons belonging to Napoleon, is estimated to fetch between $1.5 million and $3.5 million, according to Rock Island Auction Company.
Some of Napoleon’s weapons that will be auctioned in December. (Rock Island Auction Company/Zenger)
“The sword is the one Bonaparte carried in his hand when he drove the Council of Five Hundred out of St. Cloud and became in consequence First Consul,” the Illinois auction house said.
Napoleon was First Consul from 1799 to 1804, after which he declared himself emperor.
The historical event, also known as the “Coup of 18 Brumaire,” is generally acknowledged as the event that ended the French Revolution.
“The Napoleon Garniture is among the most symbolic set of arms from the French Revolutionary wars and Napoleonic wars and dates back to when Napoleon was rising to power in the French Republic,” the auction house said.
“The placement of this sword at the ousting, comes straight from the catalog of the set’s first exhibition in 1816 at the Oplotheca in London. This was at No. 20, Lower Brook Street, Bond Street, and promoted by Thomas Gwenapp. In that exhibition’s catalog, among other significant items, Napoleon’s Garniture is listed as No. 17.
“The Met Museum contains a drawing of this exhibition, and a case labeled ‘Bonaparte’ can be seen in the back right corner.
“It is unknown if Napoleon carried it in subsequent battles, but presentation arms were seldom used in combat.”
The sword used by Napoleon Bonaparte at the “Coup of 18 Brumaire,” which brought him to power as First Consul of France, five years before he declared himself emperor. It will be auctioned along with other items in a lot known as Napoleon’s Garniture. (Rock Island Auction Company/Zenger)
In 1804, the auction house said, “after crowning himself emperor, he presented the set to another general, his close friend, Gen. Jean-Andoche Junot.”
The auction house said the lot of six pieces includes “a rifled carbine, carriage pistols, pocket pistols, and a distinctive sword and scabbard. Dubbed the “Napoleon Garniture,” it is being sold as a single lot from Dec. 3-5.
The Rock Island Auction Company will also host a public preview day on Dec. 2. Bids can be placed on the auction house website, as well as in person or over the phone.
During the auction, items that belonged to Elvis Presley, Brigham Young, Annie Oakley, and a member of the infamous Dalton Gang, are also going under the hammer.
The auction house said the auction is in honor of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte’s death.
The auction house has sold numerous items belonging to famous historical figures, including a revolver owned by John Wayne, which sold for $517,500. The revolver was used by Wayne in the films “True Grit,” “Rooster Cogburn” and “The Cowboys,” the auction house said.
The 5-foot-8 Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) has predicted an eighth-round knockout of Plant (21-0, 12 KOs) during their unification bout on Nov. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a Premier Boxing Champions event on Showtime Pay Per View (9 p.m. ET). If his prediction comes true, Alvarez would add Plant’s IBF crown to his WBA/WBC/WBO versions and become the first undisputed 168-pound champion of Mexican descent.
On Nov. 13, Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) pursues his fifth straight knockout against Davis (16-2-1, 6 KOs) before his hometown crowd at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona in a Premier Boxing Champions event on Showtime (10 p.m. ET).
On Thursday, Davis, 26, replaced former champion Jose Uzcategui (31-4, 26 KOs), who was forced to withdraw due to a failed pre-fight drug test.
“It’s a new opponent, but nothing has changed,” said Benavidez’s father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Sr. “The plan is the same, and that’s to get a spectacular knockout. We need a knockout, especially now.”
The Benavidez-Davis bout is an IBF and WBC title eliminator that would grant the winner a shot at the winner of the Alvarez-Plant match.
“Caleb Plant doesn’t have the power or the chin to keep Canelo off of him, and I’m the only one who can mix it up with Canelo with body shots, uppercuts and combinations, and I’m a little faster, and I’m taller and longer than Canelo,” said the 6-foot-2 Benavidez, a switch-hitting 24-year-old. “Caleb hasn’t fought the type of opponents that can push him to the level of intensity and skills he’s going to face in Canelo.
“Canelo will take him into deep waters. Once Canelo starts to put his foot on the gas, it’s going to be a matter of time before he gets Caleb out of there, maybe in the sixth, seventh or eighth round. My main focus is to win this IBF and WBC title eliminator by knockout, and then I’m picking Canelo to beat Caleb Plant. After that, I can fight Canelo for all the belts.”
In Davis, of Monmouth, N.J., Benavidez faces a fighter who is 3-0-1 (1 KO) in his past four bouts. Davis’ past two fights were a draw with former champion Anthony Dirrell in February and a unanimous decision over Martez McGregor in September.
Jose Benavidez Sr. (center) has trained his sons, two-time champion David Benavidez (left), and once-beaten Jose Jr. (right) in advance of their hometown doubleheader at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona on Nov. 13. (Esther Lin/Showtime)
“I know I can hurt Canelo. I’m a fighter who will give Alvarez a more difficult fight than he’s ever had, like Gennady Golovkin, who mixed it up with body shots, power and punch selection,” said Benavidez, referring to Alvarez’s majority decision unification victory over then-unbeaten WBA/WBC titleholder Golovkin (September 2018) in a rematch of their draw in September 2017.
“I have great power, great jab, great body shots, and I also have speed. I’m also much taller than Canelo. My arms are much longer, and I’m younger. This is something I’ve wanted my entire life, and now, I’m at the doorstep to making this fight happen. I’m motivated to leave it out there and to make sure that I come out of the ring with no less than a victory over Canelo Alvarez.”
Once the youngest 168-pound world champion in history, Benavidez had been stripped of his WBC crown in October 2018, declared “Champion in recess,” and suspended for six months following a positive drug test for Benzoylecgonine (the main metabolite of cocaine).
The WBC made its decision at its convention, also ordering Dirrell into a vacant title fight against Avni Yildirim, whom he defeated by technical decision in February 2019.
Benavidez ended his ring absence with a second-round knockout of J’Leon Love in March 2019 before regaining the WBC crown that September with a ninth-round knockout of Dirrell, who was stopped for the first time in his career.
“Since I’ve returned from my suspension, all of my victories have been by knockout, and that will continue with Kyron Davis,” Benavidez said. “My plan is to look impressive with a stoppage somewhere between the fifth and ninth rounds.”
An overweight Benavidez lost that title on the scales in advance of a 10th-round knockout of Roamer Alexis Angulo (August 2020) before scoring an 11th-round TKO over Ronald Ellis in his last fight in March.
But Jose Benavidez Sr. insists that his son is in top shape for Davis.
“David is looking very strong right now,” said Jose Sr. “He’s gotten stronger with each fight and matures more and more. He’s just getting his man strength, so everyone will see something spectacular on Nov. 13.”
Two-time 168-pound champion David Benavidez (right) is trained by his father, Jose Sr., in pursuit of his fifth straight knockout on Nov. 13 against Kyrone Davis. (Esther Lin/Showtime)
Benavidez sparred with former world champions Kelly Pavlik and Peter Quillin before he could even get a driver’s license. Benavidez also worked with Golovkin before making his pro debut in August 2013 at the age of 16, a first-round KO of Erasmo Mendoza in Sonora, Mexico.
“El Bandera Roja” (The Red Flag) won his first seven bouts by knockouts in Mexico before competing in his hometown three days after turning 18.
“I’ve been training since I was three years old,” Benavidez said. “So that’s about 21 years.”
At 20, Benavidez earned the WBC’s 168-pound title by split decision over Ronald Gavril in September 2017, overcoming an injured middle left knuckle and a final-round knockdown to become the youngest world champion in division history and the sport’s youngest titleholder at the time.
Darrin Van Horn had been the youngest boxer to win the 168-pound title when he accomplished the feat in 1991.
Benavidez ended Gavril’s seven-fight winning streak (five by KO) and won his return bout with Gavril in February 2018 by near shutout unanimous decision.
The split-decision victory over Gavril ended Benavidez’s knockout streak at 10 and at 17 in his previous 18 victories, including 13 inside of two rounds. The matches with Gavril followed Benavidez’s three-knockdown eighth-round TKO of former title challenger Rogelio Medina in May 2017.
“Canelo’s got a great resume,” Benavidez said. “He’s been fighting the best fighters and I respect him, but that’s going to mean so much to my legacy when I fight him and I beat him.”
The undercard features Benavidez’s 29-year-old brother Jose Jr. (27-1, 18 KOs) ending a 37-month ring absence against Francisco Emanuel Torres (17-3, 5 KOs) in his 154-pound debut. Jose Jr. is coming off a 12-round TKO loss to three-division and WBO 147-pound champion Terence Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) in August 2018.
“My fight is going to end early,” Jose. Jr. said. “I’m going to be ready to walk out with my brother and support him for his fight.”
A third (booster) dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 is 93 percent effective in protecting individuals against severe COVID-19-related outcomes, compared with two doses received at least five months earlier.
This conclusion is based on data from Clalit Health Services, the largest of Israel’s four nationalized healthcare maintenance organizations. The study was published in The Lancet on Oct. 29.
“To our knowledge, the present study is the first to estimate the effectiveness of a third dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine … against severe outcomes with adjustment for various possible confounders … and within subgroups,” state the study authors from Clalit, Bar-Ilan University and Harvard University.
These subgroups include males, females, Arabs, Jews, ultra-Orthodox Jews and people with various preexisting conditions and body-mass indexes. Risks were found to be higher in males and in people 70 and older.
The authors say that despite good results of nationwide vaccination campaigns, many countries — including Israel — experienced a resurgence of COVID-19, dominated by the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. This is because the protective effect of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine wanes over time and especially after six months.
A chronic leukemia patient receives his third dose of COVID-19 vaccine as his partner holds his arm at Sheba Medical Center on July 14 in Ramat Gan, Israel. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
The Israeli Ministry of Health therefore rolled out a vaccine booster campaign, beginning with immunocompromised citizens, last July, and by the end of August was offering the third shot to anyone over the age of 12 who had received the second dose at least five months previously.
Researchers examined Clalit’s records of individuals receiving a third vaccine dose between July 30, 2020, and Sept. 23, 2021, comparing them with demographically and clinically similar controls who did not receive the third dose. Each group contained 728,321 individuals.
Crunching the data revealed that at least seven days after receipt of the third dose, individuals who did become infected were 95 percent protected against hospitalization, 92 percent against severe disease and 81 percent against COVID-19-related death. Overall, the booster was deemed 93 percent effective.
The study was funded by The Ivan and Francesca Berkowitz Family Living Laboratory Collaboration at Harvard Medical School and Clalit Research Institute.
In the United States, Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA COVID-19 third vaccine (booster) has received emergency authorization from the FDA for those in specific age groups and /or with specific conditions.
Israel, which has 63.3 percent of people fully vaccinated, had 41,888 new cases and 334 deaths in the past month, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.
The United States, with 58.6 percent of the population vaccinated, had 2.3 million cases and 44,656 deaths in the past month, according to Johns Hopkins University.
A police officer in Australia is a hero to a young boy who has leukemia after he offered to take care of the boy’s pet rooster on his family farm to stop noise complaints from neighbors.
Neighbors had been complaining to the 6-year-old boy and his family about the noise made by their pet rooster. The family was ordered to find somewhere to house the bird. The boy’s family had given him the rooster to cheer him up following one of his chemotherapy sessions, which he has been undergoing as part of his treatment for stage 4 cancer.
He quickly became very attached to the rooster and named it Jackson.
However, Jackson soon became too loud for the quiet neighborhood in western Sydney, and noise complaints started to flood in to the local police department, the Fairfield City Police said in a video posted on Oct. 28.
The local council responded by ordering the family to get rid of the bird within 10 days.
An officer from Fairfield City Police visited the boy’s house in response to the calls.
The police officer talks with the boy in Fairfield City, Australia, after neighbors complained that the child’s pet rooster was making too much noise. (TheNSWPolice/Zenger)
The young boy greeted him when he arrived.
In the video, the police officer can be heard commenting on the boy’s hat and asking him how he is doing. The boy is wearing a costume that matches a police officer’s uniform and a black cap with the “police” on the front.
The officer gives the boy some toys, and then the video shows the rooster, which is in a cage in the yard. The boy’s father tells the officer that his son is suffering from stage 4 leukemia.
As the boy proudly shows the police officer his rooster, his father says that it is his son who feeds the bird daily.
After learning that the boy was going to lose his beloved pet, the officer tells the family that he has a big farm where Jackson will be able to live a happy life roaming around the fields.
“Anytime you want to see Jackson, you’re more than welcome to come,.” the officer tells the boy.
The police officer gets ready to load the pet rooster into his vehicle. (TheNSWPolice/Zenger)
The boy and his family happily agree to the offer.
The video shows the police officer putting the rooster in a cage and placing it in the back of a police vehicle to be taken to his farm.
The officer said that after hearing that the family had to get rid of the bird, he felt sorry for the young boy and saw no reason why the bird could not live on his family farm in the countryside, as there is “plenty of room.”
“All I do is to strive to help people and from a young age, I’ve always wanted to do that,” the officer said.
The officer said he had a friend who had leukemia, and when he heard about the boy, “it really hit home.”
A police officer in Washington, D.C., shot a suspect who had driven off with the officer in the back seat of a car. The suspect also knocked down two other officers with his vehicle during the course of his attempted escape.
The incident took place the afternoon of Oct. 22 on Kennedy Street NW, but the Metropolitan Police Department did not release footage of the incident until a week later.
The video was accompanied by a statement on how the incident unfolded. It started when “a uniformed fourth district officer was flagged down by an individual who reported seeing an adult male with a gun chasing another male.
“The officer provided the police dispatcher and other officers a description of the individual with the gun. At approximately 4:50 p.m., two officers located an individual matching the description in the 300 block of Kennedy Street NW. The officers attempted to stop and handcuff the individual, who immediately began resisting.”
During that struggle, one of the officers felt a concealed object that felt like a firearm, on the right side of the individual’s waistband. The suspect — who was subsequently identified as Natango Robinson — managed to break free and fled across the street into an alley where a black Jeep was parked.
Robinson then entered the Jeep on the passenger side and climbed into the driver’s seat, while officers were attempting to remove him from the vehicle.
“The involved officer responded to assist with apprehending the individual and entered the vehicle from the rear driver’s side door,” the police statement said. “The individual, ignoring commands from officers, started the vehicle and suddenly accelerated forward, throwing the two original pursuing officers to the ground, causing injuries to both and stranding the involved officer in the rear of the individual’s vehicle.”
The officer in the backseat repeatedly shouted at the suspect to put the vehicle in park. The individual briefly stopped, but did not place it in park, and quickly continued driving westbound on Kennedy Street NW. Robinson can be heard in the video repeatedly saying, “Don’t shoot me!” as this part of the incident unfolded.
“The involved officer discharged one round from his department firearm, striking the individual one time [on his side]. After discharging his firearm, the officer exited the moving vehicle and fell into the roadway in the 500 block of Kennedy Street NW,” police said.
This part of the bodycam video taken by a Washington, D.C., police officer shows him struggling on the ground after jumping from a moving vehicle. (Metropolitan Police Department/Zenger)
Robinson then proceeded to flee in the vehicle before showing up nearby hospital to be treated for a non-life threatening injury and was apprehended, authorities said. The police officers were also treated at local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries, according to the force.
Robinson was arrested and charged with felony assault on a police officer while armed, kidnapping while armed, unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting arrest, fleeing a law enforcement officer, failure to obey and reckless driving.
Police said the officer who fired his weapon has been put on leave, per departmental policy, while the incident is investigated.
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – WeGo bus operators won the most awards, ranking above all other transit agencies in the state during The Tennessee Public Transportation Association (TPTA) annual bus roadeo competition on Thursday, October 21.
There were a total of eight winners from five categories, which represented the largest amount of top placement performers across the state.
It was a monumental night for WeGo during the awards banquet at Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, as the proud drivers were each presented with trophies and life-size steering wheel awards.
The categories consisted of bus maintenance, van maintenance, 40 ft bus, 30 ft bus and cutaway van, where drivers had a rigorous route to navigate through as they were being timed.
The winners were 40 ft bus: Mark Johnson, 1st place, Michael Featherston, 2nd place, 30 ft bus: Eric Liggett 1st place, Kevin Sentes 2nd place, Bus Maintenance: Troy Willis 1st place, Van Maintenance: Christopher Brown 1st place, Cutaway Van: Joyce Banks, 1st place, Wanita Whitmore, 2nd place.
As the Virginia governor’s race tightens in its closing days, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe brought President Joseph R. Biden to Pentagon City, Virginia — a Democratic stronghold in need of shoring up.
The rally’s location is a worrying sign of the Democrats’ uncertain turnout in a nail-bitingly close election to elect Virginia’s next governor on Tuesday. Typically, winning campaigns focus on swing districts farther afield from their traditional bases of support.
Pentagon City, a collection of apartment towers and high-end shops that surrounds the largest military headquarters building in the world, is closer to the White House in distance than many parts of Washington, D.C. Packed with college-educated young professionals, the area has been one of the bluest parts of Arlington County, which contributed more than 130,000 votes for Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Democratic officials, at the rally, did not explain why Biden and McAuliffe are trying to boost Democratic turnout in such proven precincts.
President Joe Biden and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe shake hands at a campaign rally in Arlington, Virginia on Oct. 26, 2021. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The polls may explain why. McAuliffe defied history when he won the Virginia governorship in 2013 — by being the exception to the longtime Virginia trend of electing a governor of a different party than the president. With that history-bucking record and his proven fundraising abilities, Democrats nominated him and confidently expected victory.
At first he enjoyed a commanding lead in the polls. But as voters began to pay attention, the race closed from a 5.5 percentage point lead for McAuliffe in the Real Clear Politics average of state polls to a 0.9 percentage point deficit. For the first time, his Republican challenger, Glen Youngkin, now enjoys a small statistical lead.
The “enthusiasm gap” is more worrying for McAuliffe’s team. Republicans tell pollsters that 80 percent are enthusiastic to vote in the Virginia elections while only 65 percent of Democrats say they feel the same way, according to a poll by the Watson Center. That number has changed from an Oct 8 poll, which put 61 percent of Republican voters as enthusiastic compared to 55 percent of Democratic voters.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin meets with supporters at a campaign event in Suffolk, Virginia on Oct. 25, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Young professionals are seemingly less excited in voting in this state’s off-year election. Biden appeared alongside McAuliffe to energize and educate core Democrat voters. Between a Whole Foods and a Boeing office building, some 2,000 Democrats gathered in Virginia Highlands Park.
“I’m here to support and make sure to build the blue wave here for November 2nd,” Jesus Rodriguez, a nonprofit employee in the crowd, told Zenger.
“I’m very worried about the status of the race being so close and I think it’s too important for Virginia not to go backwards. We’ve just recently become a blue state and I’d hate to see that change,” Cynthia Pflugh, a rally attendee, told Zenger.
At the rally, McAuliffe stuck to his stump speech. “We have a choice: A path that promotes conspiracies, hate, division or a path focused on lifting up every single Virginian,” McAuliffe said.
It was a chilly October evening, but the atmosphere was lively. Hundreds of people in the crowd cheered and waved “Terry for Virginia” signs as McAuliffe welcomed Biden to the stage.
Biden, with a half-century of campaign experience, spoke with conviction. “You don’t have to wonder what kind of governor Terry will be because you know what a great governor he was. It wasn’t just because of what he promised. It’s what he delivered,” Biden said.
The president was confronted with left-wing protestors a couple of times during his appearance. A coordinated group began chanting “Biden, Biden, citizenship now” and waving matching neon signs shortly after the president began speaking. The group was escorted out by security.
Another protestor shouted “stop line three” in an apparent reference to the recently expanded Enbridge oil pipeline that has met resistance in Minnesota. Biden was unfazed by the protestors. “This isn’t a Trump rally, we let them holler,” the president said.
Biden went on to blast Youngkin for his close ties to former President Donald J. Trump, saying that McAuliffe was running against “an acolyte of Donald Trump.”
The crowd dutifully booed at hearing Trump’s name. Will the anti-Trump energy be enough to assure Democrat’s victory? The answer will not be known until polls close at 7 p.m. on Nov 2.
The rally ended with McAuliffe’s signature dance moves as he waved his arms on stage alongside his wife Dorothy McAuliffe, President Biden, Attorney General Mark Herring, and Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Hala Ayala.
Joe Louis once said of Billy Conn, “He can run, but he can’t hide,” before stopping his rival in the eighth round of their June 1946 return bout of “The Brown Bomber’s” 13th-round KO five years earlier.
Jaron “Boots” Ennis is saying pretty much the same thing to the entire welterweight division. Ennis should change his nickname to “Boogeyman” at 147 pounds, for the 24-year-old continued to kick ass and take names on Halloween Eve.
The switch-hitting Ennis (28–0, 26 KOs) twice floored Puerto Rican title challenger Thomas Dulorme (25–6–1, 16 KOs) en route to scoring his 11th first-round knockout and 18th straight stoppage win at Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas on Saturday, a terrifying performance announcing him a lurking menace if not a favorite against any 147-pound fighter or champion.
Ennis’ show-stealing achievement preceded a main event featuring WBA “regular” welterweight champion Jamal James (27–2, 12 KOs) losing his initial defense via ninth-round TKO to Radzhab “The Python” Butaev (14–0, 11 KOs), a 27-year-old whose previous fight was December’s third-round knockout of previously unbeaten Terry Chatwood.
“I wanted to show my skills and ability, but I got a big knockout. We got it early, and that’s fine with me. We don’t get paid for overtime,” said Ennis, who has gone as far as six rounds four times with three knockouts.
“I thank Thomas Dulorme for the opportunity. It was a good knockout, but it’s on to the next. Let’s get those big names. They can’t run for too long. It’s either sign up to fight me or get out of the way. I’m ready to take the Ennis legacy to the next level and take over the division.”
“I’m ready to take the Ennis legacy to the next level and take over the division,” said welterweight Jaron Ennis (left) after twice flooring Thomas Dulorme (right) during Saturday’s first-round knockout, the 26th of his career among 28 victories without a loss.(Esther Lin/Showtime)
Dulorme fell to his hands and knees a minute into the fight from Ennis’ equilibrium-stealing right hand behind his left ear but was able to rise at the count of seven from referee Mike Ortega. Dulorme failed to beat the count after the second knockdown, being floored as Ennis’ left-right-left combination — all to the head — dropped the Puerto Rican to his back.
“[Dulorme] leaned to the right side every time. We worked on that shot in the back room,” said Ennis, who hammered home 23 blistering jabs before the first knockdown, the first one coming only four seconds into the bout. “It was touch, touch and then chop, and that’s what I caught him with. I knew it was over at that point, but I just had to take my time and not rush anything.”
Ennis absorbed a pair of hard overhand rights between the knockdowns before finishing off Dulorme, describing the fight-ending sequence as “a straight left hand, right hook, straight left” combination.
“He caught me with a little shot, but I was just figuring him out,” Ennis said. “Everything I displayed tonight we worked on in the backroom. Catching his jab and throwing combinations. Every time he throws, throw right back, and that’s how I ended it.”
During an interview with Zenger last week, Ennis ranked himself the No. 1 welterweight ahead of undefeated left-handed IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence, his unbeaten switch-hitting, three-division WBO counterpart Terence “Bud” Crawford, two-time title winner “Showtime” Shawn Porter and WBA “super champion” Yordenis “54 Miracles” Ugas.
After that top five, Ennis said “you can throw [former champions] Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia in there,” also declaring, “I’m not ‘The Future’ of the welterweight division; I’m most definitely ‘The Now’ of the welterweight division.”
Undefeated welterweight Jaron Ennis (left) admires his work after dropping Thomas Dulorme (right) for the second and final time for Saturday’s first-round knockout. “Let’s get those big names,” Ennis said. “They can’t run for too long. It’s either sign up to fight me or get out of the way.” (Esther Lin/Showtime)
In August, Ugas won a unanimous decision over eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao, who retired afterward. An upcoming welterweight battle on Nov. 20 features a defense by Crawford (37–0, 28 KOs) against Porter (31–3–1, 17 KOs).
“Let’s line up the top five guys: Spence, Ugas, Porter, Crawford, Keith Thurman,” Ennis said on Saturday. “You know I’m coming to take over the welterweight division. Let’s get it. I’m ranked No. 3 in the IBF, so Errol Spence [should be next.]”
In April, Ennis scored a sixth-round KO of former champion Sergey Lipinets, who entered at 16–1–1 (12 KOs) but was knocked out for the first time. Lipinets was 3–0–1 (2 KOs) since being dethroned as IBF 140-pound champion in March 2018 by Mikey Garcia, who earned his fourth crown in as many divisions with a unanimous decision victory.
Lipinets won by 10th-round TKO in March 2019 over former champion Lamont Peterson, who retired after their fight, and was coming off a draw with unbeaten Custio Clayton in October 2020 before facing Ennis.
Dulorme was dominated more than at any previous time in his career, having lost decisions to Ugas, James and Eiamantas Stanionis, by sixth- and seventh-round TKOs to Crawford and Luis Carlos Abregu, respectively, and battled to a draw with two-division champion Jessie Vargas.
“[Ennis] was able to take those shots and demonstrate that he’s got a chin,” said ringside commentator and three-division champion Abner Mares, referring to blows described as Dulorme’s “Monster shots” by fellow analyst Al Bernstein. “Jaron Ennis started really well. Dulorme wanted a fight, and Jaron Ennis brought it. What a knockout, what a stoppage and what a way to do it.”
Radzhab “The Python” Butaev (right) battered WBA “regular” welterweight champion Jamal James (left) on the way to a ninth-round TKO. The undefeated Butaev’s stoppage follows December’s third-round KO of previously unbeaten Terry Chatwood. (Esther Lin/Showtime)
In the main event, Butaev alternated from orthodox to southpaw stance. The Russian outlanded James 175–121 in overall punches, according to CompuBox, including 36 body shots with a 46 to 36 edge in landed jabs.
“We worked hard on switching up and did it in sparring, and it worked, so we kept doing it,” said Butaev, who led James on two judges’ cards and trailed on the third. “Tonight [James] showed a lot of heart tonight, but I thought the fight was stopped at the right time. I felt it could have ended a lot worse.”
James had eyed a rematch against Ugas (27–4, 12 KOs), winner by 10-round unanimous decision in August 2016. Ugas has been declared “super champion” by the WBA, which has mandated a defense of his crown against Lithuania’s Stanionis (13–0, 9 KOs).
The Ugas-Stanionis winner has been mandated to face Butaev in March 2022.
“This was very important. This is a big step for me, but it’s only my first step. This is my dream, and I became a world champion,” said Butaev, who is currently fighting out of Indio, California, by way of Dagestan, Russia. “I believe that everything is ahead of me, and I’m looking for the biggest challenges. I’m looking to prove that I’m one of the best in the division.”
A Congolese Pygmy hunter–gatherer tribe has seen its members succumb to alcoholism as logging companies and conservation groups abuse and coerce them into relinquishing their traditional way of life, researchers say.
A team from Cambridge University has found that the once-isolated Congolese Mbendjele BaYaka hunter-gatherer tribe, one of several Pygmy populations, has seen their traditional lifestyle upended by conservation groups, logging companies and the Congolese government.
“Our team studied three Mbendjele camps situated in Congo’s Ndoki forest. We found that 44.3 percent of our sample had a hazardous volume of alcohol consumption based on WHO standards,” said Nikhil Chaudhary, assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology at the University of Cambridge and co-author of the study published in the journal PLoS ONE.
This level of consumption is significantly higher than in other segments of the Congolese population, he said. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaire, is the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa and the second-largest on the entire continent of Africa.
A Bantu stall selling alcohol and cigarettes in Central Africa. The Pygmy people were introduced to alcohol without giving them any information on the effects of substance abuse. (Gul Deniz Salali/Zenger)
Chaudhary explained that since the 1980s, vast swathes of rainforest traditionally inhabited by the Pygmy people have been handed over to multinational logging companies and conservationists.
As this trend continued, the tribe saw their nomadic lifestyle turn into a settled one. Complicating their survival, their hunting grounds have been designated as either protected areas or logging grounds.
The attack on the traditional lifestyle of this community, which Chaudhary describes as “incredibly kind and welcoming,” comes from several directions.
The loss of their traditional land combined with pressure from the government and logging companies to live a more settled lifestyle in villages has ripped the tribe from its roots.
The so-called “protected areas” have, according to Chaudhary, become notorious for the abuse of the Pygmy people.
He said “eco guards” (armed men employed by conservation groups) regularly abuse and imprison tribespeople who wander into the protected areas that were once their hunting and fishing grounds.
The tribe’s traditional survival methods have come under pressure as roads built by the government linking their villages to the logging grounds bring with them new employment “opportunities,” primarily with the logging companies themselves.
The rapid change in the environment surrounding the tribe that not so long ago would have gone decades without interacting with the outside world has brought with it the plight of alcohol dependence.
Chaudhary said outsiders have exploited the distress inflicted on the tribe by encouraging its members to abuse alcohol, making them easier to manipulate. Members of the tribe, viewed by companies as a source of labor, often fall into debt as a result of the addiction.
Apollon is a commercial spirit often drunk by members of the Mbendjele BaYaka, an indigenous Congolese hunter-gatherer population living in the rainforests of Central Africa. Rampant alcoholism among the tribe’s ranks has made them easier to exploit, damaging their traditional way of life. (Gul Deniz Salali/Zenger)
Interviews conducted by Chaudhary and his colleagues revealed that the tribe’s lack of knowledge on the effects of alcohol abuse has only exacerbated the problem.
Children in the tribe are now often exposed to alcohol at a very young age, with mothers dipping their fingers in alcohol and dripping it into the mouths of infants and even drinking during their pregnancies.
Overall, men drink more on average than women, but they drink more per event rather than more frequently, according to the study.
The tribe was introduced to alcohol but was not given any information on its dangers and side effects, making them far more vulnerable to the substance than most in the outside world.
This phenomenon is not solely a problem for the Pygmy people, according to Chaudhary. Alcohol dependence and abuse in once-isolated hunter–gatherer tribes has been documented in other countries such as Namibia, Cameroon and Botswana and among aboriginal groups in Australia.
Chaudhary said substance abuse has led to “alcohol-induced violence, high blood pressure and increases in the prevalence of diarrhea, which represents one of the major causes of mortality among indigenous populations.”
He emphasized the importance of not focusing solely on the problem of alcoholism as it is merely a product of the abuse and pressures these tribes face from outside forces.
“Alcohol abuse in response to hardship seems to be a widespread feature across all societies, including our own,” said Chaudhary. “What really needs to be tackled is the unjustified hardships faced by the Mbendjele.”
Currently, very little is being done to protect the Mbendjele, according to Chaudhary, and even the most well established nongovernmental organizations working in the region have failed to make any real headway in reversing the worrying trend facing the tribe.
“Given the combined pressures of deprivation, exploitation and rapid acculturation that BaYaka populations are currently facing, this research is essential to provide an evidence base for programs aiming to improve health and social outcomes.
“Crucially, it is essential that the communities are involved and empowered during the process of creating these health interventions,” said Chaudhary.
