The Chiefs are positive they will have the services of All Blacks forward Liam Messam for the playoffs after the loose forward made a seamless return to Super Rugby against the Reds. Tony Kukoc Bulls Jersey .Messam was cut from the New Zealand Sevens team to play at the Rio Olympics but showed hes lost none of his skills in the 15-man game following a successful 40 minutes off the bench in Brisbane on Friday.However, the 32-year-old now faces a nervous wait to see if SANZAAR will allow him to play in the finals as he currently doesnt meet the criteria of having played four competition matches.The Chiefs have applied to Super Rugbys governing body for dispensation and are hopeful of receiving a decision in the next couple of days, with the quarter-finals looming next weekend.They believe Messam will be cleared to play after coming into the side earlier this month as an injury replacement.We are pretty confident and we wouldnt be using him now if it were pointless, coach Dave Rennie said.Hes good and he gives us a little bit of niggle, and I think that is going to be pretty important this week against the Highlanders.Its great having him back as he brings another strong voice and is a very passionate Chiefs man.Messam, who has played a record 146 games for the Chiefs, would add some vital finals experience to the team, having captained the side to back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.His presence would be even more welcomed now that Charlie Ngatai has been ruled out for the rest of the Super Rugby season with concussion symptoms while Japan captain Michael Leitch remains sidelined with a thumb injury. Isaiah Canaan Jersey . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. Taj Gibson Jersey . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. http://www.authenticbullsauthority.com/doug-mcdermott-bulls-jersey-c-18/ . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. LAS VEGAS -- Sergey Kovalev was knocking out everyone put in front of him when his handlers went to HBO a few years back asking for a coveted spot on one of the networks boxing shows.Not so fast, the network said.You got two problems with this guy, promoter Kathy Duva remembers an HBO executive saying. One, hes a light heavyweight. Two, hes a Russian.Two problems, indeed. The combination isnt particularly attractive to boxing fans, or the network that buys many of the biggest fights.But on Saturday, it doesnt matter that Kovalev is a champion at light heavyweight, a division that historically has gotten little respect. Not when hes got unbeaten Andre Ward in front of him in a classic slugger vs. boxer matchup that is perhaps the most anticipated fight of the year.And the Russian part? Well, it helps that Kovalev now lives most of the year in Los Angeles and has quickly picked up the English language.I learned English only with reporters, he said this week, displaying a gift for gab in his new language with a small group of boxing scribes.Seven years after coming to the United States to seek fame and fortune, Kovalev is on the brink of both. A devastating puncher who has not lost in 31 fights, he will try to do what no one has done in 20 years -- win a fight against Ward, the last American man to win boxing gold in the Olympics.If the fight isnt compelling enough, Kovalevs story should be enough for some to pony up the $64.95 to watch it at home. His Russian fans will get the fight free, with the nations Channel 1 lined up to broadcast the bout live in his home country.America gave me opportunity. Its two great countries for me, Kovalev said. I love both countries, which is why I have two houses, in Russia and America.Kovalev comes from a fighting family, though he is the only one to actually put on gloves and do it in the ring. His mother, he says, used to beat up people as a child in Chelyabinsk, a factory town, where she works in a liquid metals plant.My mother fought a lot of times on the street growing up, even with boys, he said. She grew up in poor area.Kovalev grew up poor, too, with the family of five living in two rooms of a three-room apartment they shared with an unrelated elderly woman. He fought in the amateurs, though he neever got a shot at making the Russian Olympic boxing team, before deciding to come to the U. Bulls Hats. S. and turn pro.Hooking up with Egis Klimas, a Lithuanian immigrant who now manages a number of Russian and Eastern European fighters, he fought for a few dollars here and there in tiny places he describes as garages.Kovalev was undefeated in 17 fights but still a relative unknown when he returned home to face Roman Simakov in a fight that turned tragic. Kovalev stopped Simakov in the seventh round of the December 2011 fight, and Simakov fell into a coma and later died.The death devastated Kovalev, and it might have unraveled his career like it has other fighters who have killed men in the ring. He would later reach out to try to take care of Simakovs family, but the pain still lingers to a point he rarely will talk about the fateful night.Kovalevs big break came when he was signed by Duvas Main Events promotional company. Duva would get the HBO dates she sought in that first meeting, and it didnt take long for the boxer they call Krusher to become a regular on the network.He dominated the ancient but still crafty Bernard Hopkins in 2014, forcing him into retirement, at least temporarily. And two knockout wins over Canadas Jean Pascal in Montreal cemented his status as the best 175-pounder in the world.Now he takes on Ward, the former 168-pound champion who has fought only three times in the last three years. Bookies in this gambling town make Ward, a defensive specialist and extraordinary boxer, a slight favorite, but Kovalev believes he will prevail.He doesnt have a punch like Mike Tyson, but hes very smart and has good defense, Kovalev says. Its not dangerous, but hes a tough target. He does very smart things in the ring.Kovalev has been doing some smart things, too. Perhaps none smarter than taking a chance and coming to the U.S. with nothing in his pocket and only his dreams.I love this country, he said. Im very comfortable with the people and the boxing in America.---Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlbeg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '