MANCHESTER, England -- Bastian Schweinsteiger might still have a future at Manchester United.It seemed the former Germany captain would be on his way out of Old Trafford in January when he was told to train away from the first-team squad for the first few months of the season, and even written off as an asset in Uniteds published accounts in September.But the 32-year-old Schweinsteiger has impressed United manager Jose Mourinho with his attitude and determination. Having been asked to rejoin training with the senior team last month, the midfielder made his first appearance of the season as a substitute in Uniteds 4-1 win over West Ham in the English League Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.Suddenly, Schweinsteiger is on Mourinhos radar. Mourinho, famously dubbed the Special One during his time at Chelsea, is calling Schweinsteiger the Powerful One.In the summer, we try to make something happen for Bastian to have a different future, Mourinho said Friday. He decided to stay, even in difficult circumstances. He worked for that, he deserved that little happiness of the last match.In January, he will be the powerful one, probably with better feelings than before now he is working with the team. I think he understands our dynamic, our philosophy.Schweinsteiger, who joined United in July 2015 and still has 1+ years left on his contract, has a fight on his hands to regain a regular first-team place with Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini seemingly ahead of him in the midfield pecking order.Given the strides he has made to earn Mourinhos confidence in the past two months, Schweinsteiger can still hope. And the reaction he got at Old Trafford when he came on against West Ham suggested United fans would be happy to see more of the 2014 World Cup winner.He is another one who can help us, Mourinho said. During the season, you have injuries, suspensions ... Of course, it was 3-1 and he played for 10 minutes (against West Ham), but he was ready. He is another one in the squad working to have more chances.There are a few more in that situation.Attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has made two starts in the past week after being mostly overlooked by Mourinho since joining from Borussia Dortmund in the offseason. He also impressed against West Ham, setting up two goals and potentially doing enough to keep his place for Sundays match at Everton in the Premier League.Then theres Anthony Martial, the 20-year-old France forward who was Uniteds top scorer in his debut year last season. He has been in and out of the team under Mourinho, who has sometimes preferred Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford in the wide positions.Martial doubled his tally for this season with two goals against West Ham and looks to be responding to some pointed comments by Mourinho in the British media.He is working. Working harder than before, to be honest, Mourinho said. When you score two goals, maybe it helps your happiness to be back, your confidence levels to be back.Mourinho will be back in the dugout at Goodison Park after serving his second touchline ban of the season in the West Ham match. That was a punishment for kicking a water bottle next to the technical area during a league match at Old Trafford last weekend.Mourinho said he deserved to be sent to the stands for the offense but queried whether other managers would receive the same punishment.The only thing I would like, he said, would be the same rules for everyone ... I accept the suspension of one match. Its as simple as that. But it has to be the same for every manager. Swell Fles Kopen . PETERSBURG, Fla. Swell Bottle Kopen .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing. http://www.swellkopen.be/ . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Swell Bottle Belgie . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. Swell Drinkfles . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. A roundup of the past weeks notable boxing results from around the world:Saturday at Trenton, N.J.Mario Barrios?W12 Devis Boschiero Junior lightweight title eliminator Scores: 120-107 (three times) Records: Barrios (16-0, 8 KOs); Boschiero (39-5-1, 21 KOs)Rafaels remarks: You might have seen more action had you watched a test pattern or the Yule Log instead of this absolutely horrible fight, one of the single worst bouts in recent televised boxing history. On paper, it was a prospect (Barrios) stepping up to face a decent fringe contender (Boschiero). In the end, it was mind-numbing.Barrios, 21, of San Antonio, was entirely ineffective, but he won easily by shutout decision because Boschiero, a 34-year-old former junior lightweight world title challenger from Italy, was so much worse. How bad was it? According to CompuBox punch statistics, neither fighter landed a single punch in the first round - the first time that has ever happened in thousands of fights CompuBox has tracked during its 31-year history. The fight did not get much better from there, because it was one redundant round after another, as Barrios threw a lot of punches that didnt land and Boschiero, well, just did not throw many punches at all, as he was totally unwilling to engage. The only interesting moment of the fight, if you lasted that long to see it, came in the 12th?round, when Barrios scored a knockdown.According to CompuBox, they combined to miss 878 punches. Barrios landed 77 of 848 punches for a woeful nine percent connect rate. Boschieros punch stats were historically bad, as he landed 23 punches (an average of 1.9 per round) of 130 (18 percent). For perspective on just how bad Boschiero was, lets take a brief look at just one fight in particular, Antonio Margaritos 10th-round knockout of Sebastian Lujan in 2005. In that fight, Margarito threw and landed more punches in four different rounds than Boschiero did in the entire fight, including landing 65 of 140 punches in the 10th?round.Despite the horrendous fight, the 6-foot Barrios, who held an eight-inch height advantage, claimed the No. 2 spot in a sanctioning bodys rankings and moved a step closer to a mandatory world title shot at the 130-pound belt held by Jose Pedraza (22-0, 12 KOs).Initially my game plan was to work the jab and see what would open him up, but as the rounds went by, he didnt seem like he was going to come at me, Barrios said. He just didnt seem to want any action. It was pretty frustrating. I came out to put on a show for the fans, and unfortunately it seemed like my opponent was just trying to survive. I can try to press the fight all I want, but if he doesnt want to fight, its not going to happen.This was my first 12-round fight, and it felt good to get the experience. I was just hoping for more intense action.Said Boschiero, who is unbeaten in Italy but 0-5 outside his home country: I had trouble finding my range tonight. He was tougher to hit then I expected.Eddie Ramirez?W10 Jessie Roman Junior welterweights Scores: 99-91 (twice), 98-92 Records:?Ramirez (14-0, 9 KOs); Roman (20-3, 9 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Ramirez, 23, of Chicago, took command of the fight from the outset and cruised to the decision against Roman, 25, of Garden Grove, California. While Ramirez let his punches flow and landed many clean shots, Roman did not do much and rarely landed anything with authority.The one time Roman did land solidly was in the fourth round. After Ramirez went on the attack and was landing, Roman came back with a hard left hook that stunned Ramirez. But overall it was Ramirezs sheer volume of punches and regular connects that carried that day in a solid performance.According to CompuBox punch statistics, Ramirez landed 283 of 856 blows (33 percent) and Roman, far less active, connected with 137 of 467 punches (29 percent).I felt like I was in control and like I was getting hit a lot less than he was, Ramirez said. He came out of the ring a bloody mess, and my face feels good. I was prepared, because I had a really long training camp. Ive been ready to fight since mid-June. I was just in great shape. He did catch me with a couple of clean hooks when I let my defense down. That was my fault, but it was nothing that hurt me very bad.Fighting on ESPN is like a dream come true. As an amateur, I always envisioned myself on this network. So this feels like a great accomplishment, and Im leaving with a lot of new fans tonight.Roman was fighting for the first time in 11 months and said the rust worked against him.I gassed out a little bit in the end. I havent fought in a year, and I think some of my struggles tonight were due to that, Roman said. My timing was off a little bit tooo.dddddddddddd He was landing a lot of combinations, but he never hurt me. Im only 25, and I want to keep active.? If I can do that, I feel that I can beat a lot of fighters at 140 pounds.Saturday at Lemoore, CAJose Ramirez? TKO4 Tomas Mendez Junior welterweights Records:?Ramirez (18-0, 13 KOs); Mendez (21-8, 14 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Ramirez, 23, of Avenal, California, was a 2012 U.S. Olympian and is one of boxings top prospects. Top Rank is moving him slowly and steadily, and hes promising enough that a Hall of Fame trainer runs his corner.He thoroughly dominated Mendez, 31, of the Dominican Republic, in the main event of UniMas Solo Boxeo Tecate card. Ramirez nearly blasted Mendez out in the opening round, as he scored three knockdowns and had referee Jack Reiss on the verge of stopping the fight. In the first minute of the bout, Ramirez knocked Mendez down twice. Ramirez was all over him from the opening bell and driving him back with solid punches before dropping him to his back with a left hook to the chin. Then he floored him again with another left hand to the chin. With about 45 seconds left in the round, Mendez hit the deck again, unable to take a powerful combination of a left hand to the body followed by a left to the head. He surprisingly made it out of the round and continued to take a pounding. Finally, in the fourth round, Ramirez hurt Mendez badly yet again with a left to the body, and after whacking him around the ring for a bit longer, Reiss stepped in and waved off the fight at 53 seconds.Mendez should be commended for his big heart to last as long as he did, while Ramirez banked another win in an offensive-minded performance and will keep climbing the ladder.Andy Vences?W8 Moises Delgadillo Junior lightweights Scores: 79-73, 78-74, 77-75 Records: Vences (16-0, 10 KOs); Delgadillo (17-15-2, 8 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Vences, a 25-year-old prospect from San Jose, California, put in a solid night of work, as he methodically ground out a clear decision win over Delgadillo, 28, of Mexico, who lost his fourth fight in a row.The quicker Vences displayed a good jab, which he used to control the fight, and mixed in some nice right hands and combinations. He basically did as he pleased but could not put away his overmatched opponent, as he went the eight-round distance for his second consecutive fight.Saturday at San Mateo, CACesar Juarez TKO8 Albert Pagara Junior featherweights Records:?Juarez (18-5, 14 KOs);?Albert Pagara (26-1, 18 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Upset alert! Juarez, 24, of Mexico, came into the fight having lost two decisions in a row and was supposed to be easy picking for Pagara, 22, a bright prospect from the Philippines. But not so fast.Two fights ago, Juarez challenged Nonito Donaire for a vacant junior featherweight world title in December, and the blazing slug fest was a fight-of-the-year contender. Then Juarez dropped a split decision to journeyman Giovanni Delgado in March. Early on, it appeared as though Pagara would notch a quick victory when he dropped Juarez with a flush left hook in the first round. But, as he did against Donaire, he survived the knockdown and showed tremendous resiliency and mounted a big comeback.By the seventh round, Juarez was hammering Pagara and had him in trouble. Pagara was still shaky when the eighth round began, and Juarez went on the attack, immediately driving him into a corner and down to the mat with a barrage of punches from both hands. Pagara got partly to his feet but pitched forward and fell face first on the mat, and referee Edward Collantes waved off the fight at 15 seconds, sending Juarez and his corner into a wild celebration. It was a really big upset. Pagara went to the hospital to be checked out and for a precautionary CT scan, but he was released soon after and given a clean bill of health.Jason Pagara?TKO3 Abraham Alvarez Welterweights Records:?Pagara?(39-2, 24 KOs); Alvarez?(21-10-1, 10 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Pagara, 24, of the Philippines, is the older brother of main event loser Albert Pagara. Jason Pagara is close to a mandatory title shot against the winner of the July 23 junior welterweight title unification fight between Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol. He stayed busy with the expected easy win over Alvarez, 28, of Mexico, who dropped to 4-9 in his last 13 fights.Pagara, who won his 12th?fight in a row since a decision loss in 2011, was cruising along until he flattened Alvarez with a right hand. Alvarez nearly got to his feet but fell down again as referee Michael Margado waved off the fight at 55 seconds. ' ' '
