Terence Crawford had a big year in 2014, so big in fact that he was named fighter of the year by ESPN.com and the Boxing Writers Association of America, among other outlets. That is a big box to check for any aspiring boxing star and potential future Hall of Famer.During 2014, Crawford traveled to Scotland and rolled to a decision victory to win a lightweight world title from Ricky Burns and then returned home to Omaha, Nebraska, for two impressive performances in title defenses, an exciting ninth-round knockout of former unified featherweight titleholder Yuriorkis Gamboa and a near-shutout decision against veteran contender Raymundo Beltran. Now fast-forward to 2016 and Crawford is on the verge of another 3-0 year against reputable opponents and another possible fighter of the year award.He will defend his unified junior welterweight world title belts against longtime contender John Molina Jr., a determined brawler with a punch as big as his heart, on Saturday (HBO, 9:35 p.m. ET/PT) at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.In the scheduled 10-round co-feature, lightweight up-and-comer Mason Menard (32-1, 24 KOs), 28, of Rayne, Louisiana, who replaced injured former unified titleholder Juan Diaz, will take on his most notable opponent in Raymundo Beltran (31-7-1, 19 KOs), 35, a Mexico native based in Phoenix.The telecast will open with same-day taped coverage of the vacant heavyweight world title bout from Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, between Kiwi star Joseph Parker (21-0, 18 KOs), 24, and Andy Ruiz Jr. (29-0, 19 KOs), 27, of Imperial Valley, California, who is bidding to become the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a heavyweight title.The 29-year-old Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs), who has not done much talking in the lead-up to the fight, did manage to squeeze out a few quotes about his belief that he deserves another fighter of the year award should he polish off Molina, a heavy underdog, though he faces stiff competition from fighters such as featherweight titleholder Carl Frampton and junior lightweight titlist Vasyl Lomachenko.If I win Saturday night I should be considered fighter of the year, Crawford boasted.After Crawford defeated Beltran, he moved up to the junior welterweight division and won a world title. In February, he made his second defense and scored a fifth-round knockout of second-tier contender Hank Lundy.Crawfords next fight was the one that put him squarely in the conversation for the award. In July, he scored two knockdowns and cruised to a one-sided decision win against Viktor Postol to unify titles against the fighter considered by virtually everybody as either No. 1 or No. 2 in the weight class. It is, without question, the most significant victory of Crawfords eight-year professional career.Molina (29-6, 23 KOs), 33, of Covina, California, is coming off a strong performance in a decision win against former titlist Ruslan Provodnikov in June. Crawford is so confident of victory that he had no problem continuing to talk about the possible fighter of the year award.I did a number on Hank Lundy, the kind that nobody else was able to do, Crawford said, continuing to make his case. I unified the title against Postol, a guy everybody said was almost as good as I was. I am an undefeated champion and was fighting a guy [Postol] coming off a knockout win against [Lucas] Matthysse and I totally dominated him.Now Im fighting another guy coming off an impressive win, a No. 1 contender, and a win over him should convince people that I am fighter of the year.Brian McIntyre, Crawfords career-long trainer and co-manager, is as outspoken as Crawford when it comes to the fighter of the year hardware. Hed also like get his hands on the trainer of the year trophy, which eluded him in 2014.Im not going to lie to you, we talk about it, McIntyre said of the awards. It is one of our goals to get fighter of the year and trainer of the year. Its not a priority, but it would be great to get it.McIntyre would especially like to win trainer honors and do it in the same year that his fighter gets top honors. He sounded wistful as he spoke about when then-super middleweight champion (and now unified light heavyweight titleholder) Andre Ward and longtime trainer Virgil Hunter collected the awards together in 2011.That was great for them because they did it together, McIntyre said. It would be great for us to do it as a team. It would be like getting the boxing Oscar award. Its like an actor and director getting the Oscar. It would be great for our city, great for our state and great for our gym.McIntyre agreed with Crawford that they deserve the award as long as Crawford beats Molina.Getting those awards is satisfying to a fighter or a coachs career, he said. You can only fight for so long, you can only train fighters for so long and there are not that many fighters and trainers who stick together for their whole careers. Weve been together since the beginning. Weve accomplished a lot together.We should get it this year. Theres nobody else. There are?some guys who accomplished good things out there, but [Crawford] knocked out a top fighter like Lundy, beat Postol easy after Postol came over here [from Russia] and knocked out Matthysse. Everybody had Postol first [at 140 pounds] before Terence. Those two wins were really good for us. This fight here against Molina should solidify fighter of the year and trainer of the year for us.As much as Crawford covets a second fighter of the year award in three years, he believes it is about time that McIntyre get his due from the media.Of course, he should be trainer of the year, Crawford said. How do you think I became fighter of the year? He has?been underrated for many years and he doesnt get enough credit. I think its because we fight out of a small market like Omaha.Then, in perhaps a dig at seven-time trainer of the year and International Boxing Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, Crawford added, If we were based in Los Angeles, it would be a no-brainer that hed be trainer of the year, like when I was fighter of the year in 2014. Thats why its so important to fight in Omaha, because HBO shines a national spotlight on our town and shows that there are great boxers and trainers coming out of here also. Fake Yeezys 2019 .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Fake Yeezy 451 . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. http://www.fakeyeezysforsale.com/ . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Fake Yeezys . 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. Fake Yeezys Online . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Carmelo Anthony returns to the roots of his NBA career on Saturday night. Whether he will be in uniform is uncertain.Anthonys New York Knicks (14-12) wrap up their five-game road trip against the Denver Nuggets but the star forwards status is questionable going into the game. He was a late scratch in Thursdays 103-90 loss at Golden State due to a right shoulder injury.Before the injury, Anthony had talked about sitting out games to rest, a practice that has gained popularity among NBA coaches in recent years. Earlier this week the reigning champs, the Cleveland Cavaliers, didnt bring stars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love on a one-game road trip to Memphis.I think everyone needs a rest day, to be honest with you, Anthony told Newsday. I think if youre an NBA player, professional athlete, you need a rest day. Its a matter of when you take it, how you take it. The decision is not just mine, its a collective as a whole. Whatever is the best situation for that individual.Derrick Rose (lower back injury) also missed the game against the Warriors. New York trailed by as many as 25 before making it a respectable score in the fourth quarter.Nuggets fans hope Anthony suits up for his one trip to Pepsi Center, where he cut his professional teeth. He was the third overall pick in 2003 and helped Denver (10-16) reach the playoffs in each of his seven full seasons with the team and the Western Conference finals in 2009.The Nuggets traded him to New York in February 2011 in a 10-player, three-team blockbuster deal. Only Anthony remains with the Knicks while Denver still has Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler on the roster from the trade.Not only are they on the rroster, they are, for the time being, starting together.dddddddddddd Coach Michael Malone had been bringing Chandler off the bench when Gallinari is healthy, but after Denvers recent struggles he had them on the floor together from the opening tip.Malone also put Nikola Jokic back at center to start and Gary Harris at shooting guard in his return to the lineup.It worked out well. Gallinari scored 27 points and Wilson Chandler 17 as Denver scored 38 points in the first quarter against Portland on Thursday night and never trailed in beating the Trail Blazers by 12.Those guys responded, Malone said after the game.The Nuggets snapped a three-game home losing streak with the victory and want to build on that with a game against the Knicks. New York is 2-2 on the road trip, but if Anthony and Rose do not play it will make it tougher to finish the Western Conference swing with a winning mark.Anthony said he hurt his shoulder against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, and when he went through drills Thursday morning the pain was too much.When I was doing workouts and not being full strength, there was no way I could get out there (Thursday) night, Anthony told Newsday.Rose missed two games last week with the back injury and aggravated it in Phoenix on Tuesday. Before the game against Golden State he sounded hopeful he could return Saturday.Just got to be smart about it, he told Newsday. Its frustrating as hell, but just have to be smart about it. Its improving, but its not where I want it to be, so Im looking for hopefully playing in Denver. ' ' '