This Week in Sportsball (9/11/25 - 9/18/25)
- lavozlatinatu
- Sep 22, 2025
- 8 min read
By Jael Hernandez
Estimated Read Time: 8-9 minutes
Terrence Crawford defeats Canelo Alvarez by unanimous decision to become the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world.
Photo Credit: David Becker/Associated Press
Welcome to Sportsball This Week, where I go through some major events happening in the world of sports over the past week! Lots of things happened, from the first MLB teams already claiming their spot in the postseason, some clutch wins in the NFL, the start of the UEFA Champions League, and Terrence Crawford with a historic win over Canelo Alvarez.
NFL This Week
Over in the NFL, things are off to a running start despite it only being Week 2.
I can almost hear a collective groan from the rest of the NFC North. Green Bay looks to be coming back for that division title. Despite what the score might say, what happened on the field tells a whole different story. This game wasn’t close; the Commies got put into a hydraulic press. Jayden Daniels was brought to heel, and his offense was put on a leash by the Packers' defense. And to add insult to injury, the Commanders had their players lined up and had their legs amputated, losing Ekeler, Wise, and Daniel, among others. Is it too early to say the Packers look like contenders?
The Houston Texans have, savant defense, totally inept at everything else. You’d think it should be an easy win for Houston, especially going against a Bucs offense dealing with injury. By now, it’s pretty obvious that, Texans have no offensive line. They’re dead last in the NFL for a reason. It’s so offensive, someone should get the SPLC to call it a hate group. You could put sandbags in front of Stroud, and that’d do better than most plays. But somehow, with two minutes left in the fourth and a Chubb touchdown, a win should be manageable, right? Nope. Out of all the times, the Texans' defense runs out of gas, add that to a Baker Mayfield that runs on hatred and spite, and now you’re 0-2 to start the season.
A grudge match Kansas City’s been waiting for since February. In a Super Bowl rematch, the Eagles showed exactly why they won the Super Bowl. Mahomes tried his best to turn this into a one-man show. Guess what? Didn’t work. Eagles are too strong, and his teammates ruined everything. Call my laundry Travis Kelce, because they’re washed. At least this wasn’t as bad as their Super Bowl loss, to an extent.
Talk about an offensive fireworks show, especially from the Giants of all teams. Giants being competent? It almost feels illegal. Even this early into the season, we’ve got a fight to the death. Things started off intense, and got crazier once we got to the fourth quarter. Six lead changes in the fourth and overtime, the most in NFL history. Almost 1000 yards of offense for both teams, 450 yards from a Russell Wilson past his prime. Too bad for that terrible pass. This is the kind of shit that Pittsburgh let him go for. Shoutout, Brandon Aubrey. In all honesty, Dallas should’ve lost like 12 different times, but they escaped because it’s the Giants.
MLB This Week
In the world of MLB, the season goes into the final stretch. 10 more days of regular-season baseball. I’ll provide an overview of the season once everything’s set in stone. But for now, let’s look at who’s already booked a ticket for October baseball!
Milwaukee Brewers
Despite only having two players with more than 20 home runs, their outstanding pitching all season, combined with their small ball strategy of using hits, stolen bases, and anything to put runs in, they’ve once again come to claim their spot as the best team in the NL Central. With 93 wins, they currently have the best record in baseball and have sealed their spot in the playoffs with a wild-card berth. The only thing that stands in their way is another team in the NL Central, looking to take that division title and five games behind the Brewers. But once the playoffs start, it’ll be a test of whether Milwaukee can finally get over that bump and make it past the NLDS after making multiple playoff appearances and falling just short.
Chicago Cubs
After some rough seasons, the Cubs are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Like the Brewers, they also look to take that divisional title, with 88 wins so far. However, they remain without Kyle Tucker, who’s been injured since last week and has suffered multiple injuries throughout the season. If they can get their players back, and the Brewers collapse in the last stretch of the season, the Cubs could be looking at a division title. I wouldn’t get too hopeful, though.
Philadelphia Phillies
Once again, the Phillies are back in the playoffs. In a late 6-5 win over the Dodgers, Philadelphia is the first team to claim its division title with a 91-62 record in the NL East. Despite losing their ace, Zach Wheeler, to injury, the Phillies have shown no signs of being affected, their pitching depth shining, also helped by their acquisitions at the trade deadline. Alec Bohm and their All-Star shortstop, Trea Turner, look to return soon, so Philadelphia may shape up to be a threat in the upcoming postseason.
Soccer This Week
The UEFA Champions League is back! This is the 2nd year under a new format, in which 36 teams play eight games each against different opponents in a league phase, with all teams being ranked in a group. The top 8 teams based on points go through automatically to the next round, while the next 16 go into a playoff round to determine which 8 get to move into the round of 16.
Penalties and Real Madrid go together like cilantro and onions on a taco. Mbappe converted two penalties and gave Madrid a win despite being down to 10 men. After Trent Alexander-Arnold comes off with an injury, their captain Dani Carvajal comes in as a substitute. Both teams went at it, Marseille’s goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli especially coming in clutch at least 10 different times. Carvajal gets sent off in the 72nd minute for butting Rulli’s head. With the score tied for most of the game, it looked to end as a draw until a VERY questionable penalty was called in the 81st minute for an apparent handball. I'll let you, the viewer, watch it and tell me if it was truly a handball. Regardless, Real Madrid managed to scrape by on penalties and get their three points.
What a match. Nothing much in the first half, but that second half? Goal after goal after goal. Dortmund starts by leading 1-0. Then Juve strikes back to make it 1-1. Then they exchanged goals again, 2-2. And by the 86th minute, Dortmund led by 4-2. Then came the 90th minute. 3 minutes into added time, Dušan Vlahović scores a quick goal that goes down the middle to make it 3-4. Then, with only a minute remaining of added time, Vlahović once again steps up, delivering a beautiful cross into a diving header by Lloyd Kelly to tie it all up at 4-4. Vlahovic keeps proving why he is that guy for Juventus.
Was Chelsea’s win against PSG over the summer Club World Cup just a fluke? Or is Bayern just that damn good? Probably a mix of both. To me, it looked like it was just Cole Palmer and friends on that field against Bayern. That Bayern attack? That could kill somebody (figuratively speaking). Harry Kane, who’s been world-class for nearly a decade, Michael Olise is one of the top 5 wingers in the world this season, and adding Luis Diaz from Liverpool? Bayern look to dominate Europe this season. But it wasn’t like Chelsea was all bad, it’s just those little errors that’s what Bayern lives for, and when those are made, Bayern will score. Chelsea just needs to be more consistent.
Rashford shines as he scores his first two goals for Barcelona. Leaving Manchester United was the best thing to happen to this guy. Beyond that, it was a comfortable 2-1 win; Newcastle never looked like too much of a threat. Not even a 90th-minute goal by Anthony Gordon could slow Barcelona down. Glad to say my team is looking like a threat.
Combat This Week
Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford
Terrence Crawford beats Canelo Alvarez by unanimous decision to become the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world, and Mexicans everywhere sit in stunned silence. For this one, Crawford moved up two weight classes, which already brought doubts into whether or not he could get accustomed to the weight. However, come fight night and he doesn’t show any signs of struggle; he looked right at home. He boxed circles around Canelo, especially starting in the first rounds. Crawford didn’t go for any dumb shots, kept his distance, and kept moving, not letting Canelo corner him. As the rounds went by, you could tell Canelo was frustrated. He tried to land more powerful punches, to force his way inside, but Crawford didn’t falter. He had full control, kept the pace, and avoided getting flashy; there’s a reason why he won. In the end, Crawford won by unanimous decision, each judge scoring in his favor. However, some of the scoring did seem too close, especially considering the performance he put on. Nonetheless, Crawford wins, stripping Canelo of the WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO super middleweight titles, becoming the first male boxer to hold the undisputed championship in 3 divisions in the four-belt era. Now, the question is: where do the two fighters go from here? Does Crawford keep fighting? Retire? Move up? And Canelo? Does he fight Benavidez? Does he take it easy and ride out the rest of his career? One thing’s for certain, though, there’s a new era of boxing coming.
Christian M’Billi vs Lester Martinez
What a war. Though not as advertised as the main event, this was still one of the standout fights from the night. The Guatemalan showed grit and power as he fought hard and heavy for the WBC interim super middleweight title. The best way I can describe it, is like a fight out of Dragon Ball Z. The fighters stood in the pocket, traded blows, and put it all out on the ring. The fight ended up in a split draw, and a rematch is already in talks to take place. Definitely the fight of the night, in my opinion.
Also on Saturday, the UFC held their third annual UFC “Noche” event, commemorating Mexican Independence Day, following 2023’s Grasso vs Shevchenko 2 and 2024’s UFC 306, taking place in San Antonio, Texas this year. Coming into the match, Diego Lopes was coming off a title loss to Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title. Lopes looked to stay in title contention with a win over Jean Silva, who was riding off a professional 13-win streak and was undefeated in his time with the UFC. Right away in the first round, Lopes started hot, taking Silva down, elbowing him on the ground, and cutting a small cut into Silva’s head, who managed to survive to the bell. Silva tried to bounce back in the second round, but the damage was already done, and Lopes finished him off with a clean spinning back elbow that opened a larger cut on his head, punching him on the ground a few times before the ref stepped in, declaring Silva the winner by KO. Fun fact, Mexican fighters went 5-0 on the main card, with Santiago Luna, Kelvin Gastelum, Rafa Garcia, David Martinez & Diego Lopes (who often chooses to represent Mexico) winning their fights on the main card.
So that’s it for Sportsball This Week. Remember, to win games, you gotta win the game. Hopefully, next week, we will get another round of action and fun in the world of sports.
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