ERST LESEN! » Davis, like his coach, doesnt think Auburn

No American boxer has ever won two Olympic gold medals, but?Claressa Shields?is on the doorstep of history.Shields, the heavy pre-tournament favorite to repeat her gold-medal performance from the 2012 London Games, cruised to a four-round unanimous decision against?Dariga Shakimova, of Kazakhstan, on Friday in their 165-pound semifinal match at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.Shields, 21, of Flint, Michigan, will take on?Nouchka Fontijn, of the Netherlands, for the gold medal on Sunday afternoon.As she did in her quarterfinal match Wednesday against Russias Iaroslava Iaukushina, Shields was once again dominant in her second bout of the Rio Games.Shields, also the reigning world amateur and Pan American Games champion, started fast, going straight at Shakimova to make her intentions known early on. She fired right hand-left hook combinations throughout the fight, of which she controlled virtually every moment.At one point, Shields dropped her hands, daring Shakimova to come at her. When she did, Shields nailed her, backing her into the ropes.She landed punches to the head and body and never let up. As she did in the quarterfinal bout, Shields hurt her opponent with a left hook in the final seconds of the fight, forcing the referee to issue Shakimova a standing eight count.Shields was a tad rusty in her quarterfinal bout and gave herself a C when asked to grade her performance. She was much happier with the way she fought against Shakimova.I give it an A-minus, Shields said. I did great. I went out there and showed my skill. I went out there and showed my class. I showed I was the better, stronger and more skilled fighter. I actually could have stopped her, but I was having so much fun, I was like, Why do that?I decided to go out there and have fun in the rest of the rounds. I was able to start seeing a whole lot of shots come open in the third round. When she came out there in the fourth round, she knew she was down, so she started to come forward a little more, and I was able to counter and get her from there. I know I made it look easy, but thats because I did what I was supposed to do last night. I ate and I drank Powerade, a lot of water and I slept. I felt great. I felt energized. Im in the finals, but thats not enough. We still have one more.Shields said she began the fight with a more technical approach to see what Shakimova had for her. When she realized it was not much, she became more aggressive.In the first round, I was a little bit technical, Shields said. When I started seeing the openings, I started landing and landing. When she started to hold me, I would still punch her on the inside. I started going under her arms, around her arms. Anyway it went I was able to land my shots. I was landing some pretty hard shots. I think shes pretty brave for being able to stand up to those shots.Shields may have won both of her Olympic fights handily so far but she has one more win to achieve her goal of defending the gold medal.A lot of girls are here just to beat me, she said. Im here to win a gold medal, so them beating me is winning a gold medal to them, so they go out there and they fight a lot harder than their other opponents.Shields, who ran her record to 76-1, said a second gold medal will secure her legacy as the unquestioned greatest female fighter in the brief history of womens amateur boxing.The legacy is definitely important. I want to show that women boxers need to be respected on the amateur level and the professional level, she said. Also that people that come from where Ive come from or come from an area thats similar, dont let your surroundings create who you are or what your parents did or didnt do control who you are. Your life depends on your decisions and it depends on what you want to do.Growing up in Flint, there was so much darkness around me, but I still had a few good people around and thats how I was able to see things and become the person I am. I just want to show people that when you make your own decisions for your life, sometimes it plays out the way you want it to. I just want to help people, and I want to help them because what I grew up with and what I had to overcome was difficult, but look where I am now.The final against Fontijn -- who defeated Chinas Li Qian in the other semifinal -- will be a rematch from their bout at the world championships, which Shields won.Shes a really great fighter, Shields said. Shes very tall. I dont think she has the tools to beat me, but Im quite sure she went home and she worked on a few things. I worked on a few things also. Im definitely going to go out there and give it 300 percent and hopefully shes going to give her 300 percent. Let the best woman win. Cheap Tony Gwynn Jersey . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Cheap Padres Jerseys Authentic . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. http://www.cheappadresjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-dave-winfield-jersey . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Cheap Rollie Fingers Jersey . JOHNS, N. Cheap Randy Jones Jersey . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. AUBURN, Ala. -- The Auburn Tigers have emerged as one of the Southeastern Conferences hottest teams with a devastating running game and a defense that has been among the leagues best.The 15th-ranked Tigers have won four straight games since a 1-2 start when the season appeared on the brink. A team that only scored three touchdowns against its first three Power 5 conference opponents made a huge statement last Saturday with a 56-3 stampede of then-No. 17 Arkansas that followed a 24-point victory over Mississippi State.The Tigers (5-2, 3-1 SEC) have emerged from two seasons of mediocrity following the 2013 league championship run. Their confidence is certainly flying high going into Saturday nights game at Mississippi (3-4, 1-3).Any time you play well, youre confident, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said Tuesday. Youve got to be confident. Youve got to be mentally tough. Youve got to be confident but at the same time youve got to keep working. Youve got to keep the same mentality each week.It doesnt matter what happens. Youve got to have the same mentality to keep improving. You cant pat yourself on the back, not in this league.Lofty perches do tend to be precarious in the SEC West, where the Razorbacks and Rebels have both tumbled from the rankings. But Auburns win over Arkansas was the most lopsided defeat of any Top 25 team this season, and the 543 rushing yards was a record for a regular-season SEC game.The Tigers were one play away from being 1/3 but escaped with an 18-13, touchdown-free win over No. 19 LSU, which didnt get off its final throw into the end zone in time. Auburn has been rolling along since.Rebounding strong from a 7-6 season would be typical of Auburns recent history. The runs to the national championship game in 2010 and 2013 followeed seasons of 8-5 and 3-9.ddddddddddddThe Tigers have produced three of the programs top 10 performances in total offenses: 706 yards against Arkansas State, 688 against Louisiana-Monroe and most impressively 632 against Arkansas. The latter two have come since that LSU win.A player who didnt have a carry in his career, or play in the opening game, now leads the SEC in rushing yards per game. Kamryn Pettway is averaging 116.2 yards on the season and racked up 361 yards in the past two games.Auburn also leads the SEC in scoring defense, giving up 14.8 points per game. The Tigers held Arkansas to 215 total yards, including 25 on the ground.Rebels coach Hugh Freeze says Auburn has an elite defense.Only giving up 14 points a game is unheard of almost these days, Freeze said. You watch them on tape and you see why.Cornerback Carlton Davis, like his coach, doesnt think Auburn can afford to get carried away by the recent success.Weve been improving as a defense this whole year, and last week was another step in our journey, Davis said. We just want to continue to improve.Game notes Malzahn expects tailback Kerryon Johnson to be back after missing most of the past two games with an ankle injury. The good thing is we didnt have to play him last week, the coach said. I thought that was very important moving forward, not just this game but the rest of the year. ... Cornerbacks Jeremiah Dinson (knee and shoulder) and Jamel Dean (knee) are unlikely to play this season but should be ready in the spring, Malzahn said. Neither has played. Dean transferred from Ohio State.---Online:More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '