The documentary, directed and produced by Succar, chronicles his journey from humble beginnings as an unknown indie artist recording in his parents’ garage to winning one of the most prestigious honors in Latin music.
In 2019, Succar was nominated for four Latin Grammys for his record “Mas de Mi,” winning for Best Salsa Album and as Producer of the Year.
“Más de Mi” will be part of the four-day festival that spotlights the emerging film industry in Panama and creates exchanges and networking opportunities with the film industry in the U.S.
This is the fest’s seventh annual edition.
Born in Lima, Peru, Succar immigrated with his family to the United States when he was two. Music runs in Succar’s family. His father, Antonio, is a pianist and his mother, Mimy, is a singer. Also, his paternal great-grandparents are Mexican composer Lauro Uranga and Spanish flamenco dancer Rosa Rodríguez Valero. His maternal Japanese-Peruvian great-grandparents also sang and played musical instruments.
When he was 3 years old, Succar began playing the Peruvian cajon with his parents’ group in both private and business events around Miami.
After earning degrees in music, Succar took over his family’s band.
“Más de Mi” is Succar’s second studio album. The first, which he produced, was “Unity: The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson,” a salsa take on the King of Pop’s biggest hits. This album featured Tito Nieves, La India, Kevin Ceballo, Michael Stuart, Jon Secada, Jennifer Peña, Jean Rodríguez and Obie Bermúdez. Succar is also featured in all the album tracks.
He also worked as a producer of a music film inspired by the album, capturing a musical tribute to Jackson by over 40 musicians and artists in various cities.
That makes “Más de Mi” Succar’s second film production.
“The purpose of ‘Más de Mi’ is to inspire people to follow their dreams, despite the obstacles, and never to give up,” said the singer about his movie. The salsa star is expected to attend the festival’s red carpet and his film’s screening on Oct. 8. A question-and-answer session and reception will follow.
Also featured at the Panamanian International Film Festival in Los Angeles are “Blursday,” a dramatic film by director Sergio Guerrero Garzafox, and “COVID-19 Sins & Virtues,” produced and directed by various Latino filmmakers in lockdown during the pandemic, including Yeniffer M. Behrens, Mauricio Mendoza, Oscar Torre, Hugo Garcia, Caroline Brethenoux, Hernan de Becky, Cesar Gamino, Juan Gil, Marabina James, Miguel Paredes, Shanay Patalano, Jesus Schettino and Alex Toedtli Mera.
The fest is also presenting a Panamanian shorts program.
Lava fountains from the western fissure in the Halema‘uma‘u crater wall at Kīlauea’ss summit continue to spew forth at heights up to at least 50 feet.
The new eruption is drawing thousands of visitors to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park “eager to see the plume of gas and steam by day and the lava glow after dark,” the National Park Service said.
Video recorded on Oct. 2 shows massive lava fountains in a fiery display of magma’s yellow, red and orange flames.
“Sustained fountain heights from this fissure ranged from about 33–49 feet with occasional higher bursts of spatter,” the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Low lava fountains are still erupting near the southeast edge of Halema‘uma‘u lava lake on the Big Island of Hawaii, the geological survey said. “One of the small (less than 16-foot) fountains has built a cone on the edge of the island.
“Occasional spatter is visibly ejected from the vent at the top of the cone, while the main fountain is directed laterally onto the lava lake surface from within the grotto that it formed near the base of the island.”
One of the most active volcanoes in the world, Kīlauea has been sending molten rock and plumes of smoke high into the air after weeks of high seismic activity.
Plumes of smoke and gases rise from the Kilauea volcano on Sept. 29. (NPS, J.Wei/Zenger)
“Beginning at approximately 3:20 p.m. [local time] on Sept. 29, 2021, lava fountains appeared on the surface of the lava lake … Scientists on the rim used a laser rangefinder to measure fountain heights of 65–80 feet,” the geological survey said at the time.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory initially raised the volcano’s alert level from “advisory” to “warning” and the aviation alert from yellow to red. But now the warning has been reduced to a “watch.”
However, the National Park Service has issued a list of safety guidelines for visitors to the park, not only because of the hot lava and gases emitted, but also due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“Hazardous volcanic gases are billowing out the crater and present a danger to everyone, especially people with heart or respiratory problems, infants, young children and pregnant women,” said the National Park Service.
Hawaii’s Kilauea is a highly active shield volcano that is believed to be between 210,000 and 280,000 years old after emerging from the sea.(@USGSVolcanoes/Zenger)
The park remains open 24 hours, “and the public is reminded to stay safe by following these precautions,” the park service said.
Video posted on Twitter by Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Service shows time-lapse footage of the increasing volcanic activity.
Kīlauea is a highly active shield volcano that is believed to be between 210,000 and 280,000 years old after emerging from the sea.
Its last major eruption took place between May and September 2018 and led to the displacement of thousands of residents and the destruction of 716 homes.
The eruption in 2018 saw lava oozing from 24 vents, with one major eruption sending debris 30,000 feet into the sky.
An elderly African lion, one of three brothers kept in an enclosure in the 59-acre Wuppertal Zoo in Germany, had a veterinarian recently tend to a wound inflicted by a sibling.
Zookeepers found and removed a 2-inch-long claw from Massino’s eye after a fight, though the initial examination was done to treat conjunctivitis.
A vet carefully removed a claw from Massino’s eye. One of his brothers had fought with him at Germany’s Wuppertal Zoo. (Wuppertal Zoo/Zenger)
During the procedure, a small white strip appeared on the rim of his lower eyelid, and vets at the zoo were unsure what it was. To examine Massimo more closely, they anesthetized him.
Once Massimo lost consciousness, the vets realized the strip was the upper edge of a hard foreign body embedded in his conjunctiva, the mucous membrane that covers the front of the eye and lines the inside of the eyelids.
The object was removed with tweezers. Massimo’s eye was undamaged and after cleaning around the area, the problem was resolved in minutes. His conjunctivitis also cleared up over the next few days, according to the zoo.
A vet at the Wuppertal Zoo carefully removes the claw from Massino’s eye. (Wuppertal Zoo/Zenger)
Despite the animal’s advanced age, the zoo said the lions lead an active social life and fights break out between the trio from time to time, resulting in scratches and minor injuries.
“It all ended well, and we are pleased that he is now back on the mend. But it really was an unusual injury and the veterinary team said it had never seen or even heard of anything like it,” said the zoo.
African lions, now found only in Sub-Saharan Africa, are regarded as vulnerable in the wild with populations almost nonexistent outside protected areas, given ongoing conflict with humans and serious habitat loss, due to agriculture, settlements and roads.
In just two decades, their population decreased by 43 percent, and it is estimated that as few as 23,000 remain, according to the African Wildlife Foundation.
The African lion lives in a pride where they spend up to 20 hours a day resting. The remaining time, the lions engage in grooming and even play fighting.
At dawn, they are far more active, which is when hunting usually takes place. Antelope, zebra and wildebeests are common prey for the big cat. The female does 85 percent to 90 percent of the hunting. Her focus is setting up an ambush for its prey, though the kill is not shared equally in the pride, which can result in cub fatalities.
Replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners is not a good idea, it turns out.
While it’s known that added sugar is not good for our bodies, now we also know that six FDA-approved artificial sweeteners — aspartame, sucralose, saccharine, neotame, advantame, and acesulfame potassium-k — could cause long-term health problems as well.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev professor Ariel Kushmaro revealed three years ago that these six sweeteners are toxic to digestive gut microbes.
Now, he and colleagues from BGU and from Cyprus report in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences that three of these substances — aspartame, sucralose and saccharin — interfere with bacterial communication.
And this, they theorize, could lead to digestive diseases and discomfort.
“The fact that bacteria use quorum sensing to communicate with each other revolutionizes our understanding and enables us to provide clearer answers,” said lead researcher Karina Golberg from BGU’s department of biotechnology engineering.
“Artificial sweeteners disrupt that communication, which indicates that artificial sweeteners may be problematic in the long run,” said Golberg.
Athletes at risk from sports supplements
Using bioluminescent indicator bacteria enabled them to see the effect on bacterial communication caused by the artificial substances, both in pure samples and in sports supplements. Reduced luminescence indicated a disruption in bacterial communication.
The scientists found at least one of the three problematic sweeteners in every sports supplement they tested. These supplements are often consumed by athletes, and that may put them at particular risk.
“Since athletes pay attention to their diet and use supplements to improve their performance in training sessions and competitions, we hypothesized that they may be the highest consumers of artificial sweeteners, because many of the supplements they use contain artificial sweeteners in an undisclosed amount,” the researchers explained.
Kushmaro said he hopes the research will push the food industry to reevaluate the use of artificial sweeteners.
“There is little accurate labeling of artificial sweeteners on products, which makes it difficult to know how much each product contains,” said Kushmaro, who heads BGU’s Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, in which Golberg is a researcher. Kushmaro also is affiliate with the university’s Ilse Katz Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology.
This is not the only cause of his concern.
In his previous research, Kushmaro noted that the consumption of artificial sweeteners has been linked with cancer, weight gain, metabolic disorders, type 2 diabetes and alteration of gut microbiota activity.
Artificial sweeteners also have been identified as environmental pollutants, as traces have been found in drinking and surface water as well as groundwater aquifers.
Additional researchers taking part in the current study included Victor Markus, Orr Share, Marilou Shagan, Barak Halpern, Tal Bar, Esti Kramarsky-Winter and professor Robert Marks of Ben-Gurion University; Prof. Kerem Terali of Near East University in Cyprus; and Prof. Nazmi Ozer of Grine American University in Cyprus.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 loses considerable effectiveness six months after the second dose, according to new Israeli research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study echoes findings published by Pfizer and Kaiser Permanente in Lancetthis week, showing the vaccine’s effectiveness drops from 88 percent to 47 percent after six months. This study also proved the vaccine 90 percent effective for at least six months at preventing hospitalization of infected people.
The Israeli study involved more than 4,800 fully vaccinated healthcare workers. From Dec. 19, 2020, to July 9, 2021, their antibody response was tested monthly.
The researchers found a significant waning of immune responses — especially among men, people over 65 and immunosuppressed people.
“The decrease in neutralizing antibody titers was brisk initially, in the period of up to 70 to 80 days, but slowed thereafter,” they reported.
The researched noted a “striking difference” between vaccinated people and recovered Covid-19 patients: “Overall, the accumulating evidence from our study and others show that long-term humoral [immune] response and vaccine effectiveness in previously infected persons is superior to that in recipients of two doses of vaccine.”
This may explain the substantially lower incidence of breakthrough infection among previously infected persons than among vaccinated persons.
Lead author Dr. Gili Regev Yochay, chief of infectious disease epidemiology at Sheba Medical Center, said the new study was one of three that contributed to the Israeli government’s world-first decision to give a third (booster) shot to citizens fully vaccinated at least five months before.
“We have shown in our previous work in the New England Journal of Medicinethat there is a correlation between neutralizing antibodies and breakthrough infection,” she said.
The third study that influenced the decision to give boosters relied on Israeli Ministry of Health data indicating a decrease in vaccine effectiveness over six months.
The researchers also created a predictive model to assess the likelihood of different morbidity levels in various subpopulations. This could help health practitioners make decisions about specific patients.
Now, said Regev Yochay, Israeli and international scientists are working to quantify the threshold of antibodies required to protect from SARS-CoV-2 infection, from severe Covid-19, and from death due to Covid-19.
“After we learn the threshold of antibodies, the large table of probabilities we are publishing will help predict what is the right preventive measure for the different subpopulations,” she concluded in a statement to the press.
Israel offers a unique perspective, as it was the first country in the world to vaccinate a significant portion of its population, and the first to endorse a formal booster vaccination policy.
By the end of March 2021, more than half of Israel’s population was vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine — many weeks before most countries.
Encouraging results were quick to follow: Covid-19 incidence dropped from about 900 cases per million per day in mid-January 2021 to fewer than two cases per million per day by June 2021.
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — Physical disability doesn’t stop creativity.
A young Brazilian woman with cerebral palsy, a neurological disease that affects motor and cognitive development, published her first poetry book, “Diário Poético” [Poetic Journal], during the pandemic.
Luana Leites, 21, lives in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul’s capital. Her disability does not prevent her from doing what she likes most: studying, reading and writing poems.
“It was not meant to be a book; it was a diary that helped me vent. It all started as a game. I was in physical therapy and blurted out a few sentences that inspired me to write. I wrote everything I felt. I had always been very creative. I was already writing at 11. It was Débora, my physiotherapist, who gave me the idea of publishing a book,” said Leites, currently enrolled in her second semester at Uniritter’s College of Letters in Porto Alegre.
Débora Muccillo became Leites’ physiotherapist when she was 10. Their first session took place at the Rehabilitation Center for Patients with Brain Injury, a nonprofit organization based in Porto Alegre. Patients receive free care from a multidisciplinary team of physiotherapists, speech therapists, psychologists, occupational therapists, physicians, and nutrition and social service professionals.
The book has more than 35 poems written during the pandemic. (Courtesy of Luana Leites)
Although Leites refused to start treatment in her childhood, she gradually gained confidence in herself.
“Luana had great resistance to taking physical therapy with me. It was tough at first, but then we began to bond, to develop an affinity. We met twice a week to do the exercises,” Muccillo, who lives in La Plata, Argentina, said by phone.
“We love the same type of music and artists, and that united us a lot during the physiotherapy sessions. She was discharged after five years of treatment. Luana was always curious. She liked to read, told me what she had read, and shared her poems with me. One day I asked her: ‘Why don’t you write a book with your poems?’”
Leites accepted the challenge, and the physiotherapist promised to make some drawings for the book, which she did.
She said the book would be distributed for free to public and private schools. It has more than 35 poems written during the pandemic and helps to break stereotypes involving people with disabilities.
“The project shows the relevance of poetry when reflecting on life. The book also provides the opportunity to break with the paradigms of ableism, discrimination of people with disabilities, which is still present,” said Leites.
The writer is just one of the 17.3 million people in Brazil who have some type of disability, according to a Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics survey. The figure represents 8.4 percent of the population over two and is part of Brazil’s 2019 National Health Survey, published at the end of August.
Leites admires musicians Dado Villa-Lobos, Caetano Veloso, Renato Russo and Cazuza and points to their work as a source of inspiration. “I dream of meeting Dado and Caetano Veloso in person one day,” she said.
Eduardo Dutra Villa-Lobos, artistically known as Dado Villa-Lobos, became known in the 1980s. Back then, he played the guitar in the Legião Urbana rock band, led by singer-songwriter Renato Russo. He died in October 1996, due to complications caused by HIV, at 36. Six years earlier, in 1990, Cazuza died of the same disease.
Luana Leites is currently enrolled in her second semester at Uniritter’s College of Letters in Porto Alegre. (Vinicius Mello)
Through the creation of her “Diário Poético,” Leites had the support of her friend Vinicius Mello.
She met him in 2014. The classrooms were working on a joint project of Porto Alegre’s Department of Education and Department of Health. Its objective was to help students reflect on issues such as sex, suicide, bullying, alcohol and drug use among teen. Mello delivered a series of lectures in Porto Alegre’s public schools, and they met. They have been friends ever since.
Leites is notable for the way she deals with bullying and transforms the experience into poetry, according to Mello.
“Lulu is a source of inspiration for many people. One day she told me, before the pandemic … about her intention to write a book. I said, ‘Come on then, let’s think about it.’ When the pandemic began, Luana texted me she had written a lot of poems, and that’s how we started the project,” he said.
Public project Criação e Formação Diversidade das Culturas was behind Luana’s book. It has resources from the Aldir Blanc Law (No. 14.017 / 2020), which allocated emergency aid to workers of cultural industries who had interrupted their creative work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Luana’s mother, Iracilda Leites, says her daughter’s effort and dedication to learning are incredible.
“Whoever reads my book will find a reason to live,” said the young writer.
‘’Complex” is one of the poems included in Luana Leites’ “Poetic Journal.” (Courtesy of Vinicius Mello)
“COMPLEX”
It is so complex, but I do not know where this poem will end …
This complex thing called life …
Am I crazy or an artist?
Rhymes …
Once again, the rhyme saves my integrity
It’s true
I am decision within an indecisive society … but it is hard …
I offer love but get conflict back. What is that?
I am not a victim of anything: my partner has reached out his hand to me from heaven.
My partner is God. I am not alone; he is supporting my evolution … gratitude!
Translated and edited by Gabriela Olmos; edited by Fern Siegel
Working to land new clients can take a great deal of time and effort, especially for those new to the sales field. To build a solid client portfolio and support your business, many look to a time-tested recreational activity.
Insurance broker Bill Greenbaum believes building a thriving business is similar to succeeding in his favorite sport: fishing. The most accomplished fishing enthusiasts catch the biggest fish, he said, without catching anything most of the time they’re in the water. Indeed, the most effective fishermen are not the most efficient, especially when the calculating the total hours they spent on their craft.
During long summer days, extraordinary fishermen spend most of their free time observing and analyzing the ecosystem. The most dedicated spend every free moment on their sport. They are thinking about fishing, talking about it, learning more about it, or sorting, cleaning and ordering gear from catalogs. They are planning their next trip.
In a similar vein, Quantum Media Group CEO Ari Zoldan said great entrepreneurs diligently evaluate their terrain, plan accordingly and execute on a well thought-out plan. Zoldan has never seen a successful business where those ingredients weren’t part of the overall blueprint. Every great company is driven by commitment and passion.
“A critical component to building a successful business is planning and patience,” he said “These factors can’t be put into a spreadsheet and often not taken into account.”
Extraordinary entrepreneurs are diligent, not dilettantes. Instead of just chasing after immediate cashflow, they put time into cultivating high-value clients for larger long-term rewards. Their startup is not a side-hustle, but a way of life. It is on their mind every waking, and sometimes sleeping, moments.
A successful entrepreneur knows building a high-value client base is a long-term proposition. (LinkedIn Sales Solutions/Unsplash)
“Their passion helps reduce frustration from failure, just as it provides drive to pursue alternative solutions or modify their goals as necessary,” says Greenbaum, the insurance broker. “Anyone can wander by and pick a piece of low-hanging fruit, but if you intend to live off of it, you’ll need to plant the seeds, tend the earth and harvest sustainably.”
An extraordinary entrepreneur never builds a high-value client base overnight, just as an amateur fisherman rarely catches a prize-winning fish on his first attempt.
More than 20 years ago, Jason Saltzman entered the consumer-debt industry, motivated to help people and families struggling with toxic debt. He opened several offices across the country with the intention of disrupting the industry. Even after pivoting his business model, he came to the realization that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his mission or providing debt relief without access to scalable technology. He made the painful decision to shut down multiple offices and lay off hundreds of employees.
“I carried this sacrifice with me for two decades, waiting patiently for the right time to come back and reinvent the credit debt industry as CEO and co-founder of Relief,” said Saltzman. “Twenty years since I first started in the industry, technology has advanced to where we now all have access to scalable technology within the palm of our hands, and my network is much stronger.”
Effective leaders know the power of good connections and how to harness them.
“The most successful entrepreneurs are not pikers, gambling on small bets,” said BatesCainelli managing director Stephen Bates. “Sure, you have to put food on the table with transactional efforts, but you will not achieve success with piker’s bets.
“Investors and customers must buy into your vision, which will only be realized by your ability to sell/tell an effective story: How your product or service will be a pain pill (mitigate risk, reduce cost, simplify the complex) or by a pleasure pill (expand capacity, introduce new capability or increase quality). How you manage these connections will drive business, and high-value relationships are not cultivated overnight — they often take years.”
Michael Alpiner looks on as Qi Alchemy founder Grace Yoon (center) speaks with Amanda Mactas. (Lisa Chau/Zenger)
Travel writer Amanda Mactas stays in touch with friends she made along the way on press trips. Sometimes they find themselves on another trip together, but more frequently they check-in on one another via social media or e-mails, and even holiday cards. “Forging these relationships is so special because you connect with like-minded individuals who look out for one another,” said Mactas.
She met fellow journalist Michael Alpiner at an event for New York Tourism that took place in 2019 in New Orleans. Though they hadn’t seen each other since, they reconnected recently, and he subsequently invited her to a recent event, hosted by wellness brand Qi Alchemy. There, she met the company’s founder and CEO, Grace Yoon, who explained, “The journey of starting a business must begin with your heart, so listen to it as you build your company. There are no overnight successes. Building a business takes patience, perseverance, discipline and a combination of timing and luck.”
Sometimes, it also takes a grand gesture. When Zoldan first opened his marketing agency, he was keen to land a specific client based in Singapore. After several pitches for the business, it came down to his company and the competition. To show his commitment, he offered to hop on a plane from New York and show up the next day in Singapore for a dinner meeting. His commitment and perseverance won the account.
The best leaders (and fishing enthusiasts) leverage extensive research and deep analyses to understand their particular market to ready themselves for big opportunities which arise, just as Zoldan did.
They recognize that luck and nimbleness to pivot intelligently inevitably play a large part in achieving desired outcomes. All of this takes extreme patience, preparation, and time over years of discipline. They are focused on the long game over immediate gratification of small gains.
Los Angeles Police are hunting for two suspects whose vehicle ran a red light and smashed into several cars, killing a woman in one of them. In the aftermath of the crash, the occupants of a black Range Rover can be seen calmly exiting their smoldering vehicle — with one of them returning to it a second time to retrieve some items — before striding rapidly away from the scene.
The crash and its aftermath was caught on a traffic camera at the intersection of Hayvenhurst Avenue and Nordhoff Street on the city’s northwest side. It took place at 5:20 a.m. on Oct. 5.
The footage shows a 2016 Range Rover running a red light and speeding through a busy intersection, where it smashes into at least three other cars before coming to a stop in a steaming heap in the middle of the road. Two men get out of the vehicle and can be seen walking away the scene — but not before one of them returns to car to retrieve even more items than he was carrying when he first exited the Rover.
The footage was shared online by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), who said the Range Rover was traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Hayvenhurst Avenue when it ran the red light and collided with a 2018 white Toyota Camry that was headed eastbound on Nordhoff Street. The Range Rover then collided with a gray Honda Civic and white Toyota Tacoma traveling westbound Nordhoff. The force of the multi-vehicle collision caused the Rover to continue in a northwest direction north of Nordhoff before coming to rest.
“This multi-vehicle collision resulted in a fatality and moderate injuries to the other victims involved,” police said. “The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced the driver of the gray Honda dead at scene. The driver was a female approximately 56-years-old and her identity will not be released until next of kin has been notified. She had a male passenger inside her vehicle who was transported to a local hospital with moderate injuries.”
Police said the driver of the Camry was alone in her car and treated at the scene for minor injuries, while the sole occupant of the Tacoma did not sustain any visible injuries from the collision.
Police are asking anyone with information that could lead to the apprehension of the suspects to contact the Valley Traffic Division Office at (818) 644-8117.
A Russian social media influencer reportedly was stabbed and beaten by her neighbor in a dispute about a pizza delivered to the wrong address.
Rapper Sasha Kosmos, known as “Rarrihood” on social media, reportedly was attacked in Saint Petersburg on Sept. 28 after she and several other TikTok influencers rented an apartment in the city and ordered pizza and sushi for a night at the residence, according to Kosmos’ manager and producer, who goes by the stage name Evil Glock.
However, they gave the food company the wrong flat number and the delivery person brought it to the wrong door.
A couple who received the order, both allegedly drunk, started eating the food before knocking on Kosmos’ apartment door to ask for more, according to Glock.
“They called us from the apartment and said they wanted to leave because they were terrified,” Glock said. “When we arrived at the apartment, we saw this woman eating our pizza near our apartment and swearing at us.
“We wanted to find out more about the situation, but she pushed us away and closed her door. We started knocking on her door. As soon as she opened, she jumped on Sasha and injured her with a knife.”
Russian social media influencer Sasha Kosmos was treated for injuries after reportedly being attacked by a knife-wielding neighbor of the rented apartment where she was staying. (@rarrihood_/Zenger)
No one had noticed the knife in the woman’s hand, Kosmos’ manager said: “A man rushed out of their apartment with a screwdriver in his hand. He blocked my way. As seen in the videos, a bloody fight broke out.
“We saw traces of blood on the ground. We followed the splatters and found Sasha in a state of shock, covered in blood.”
Kosmos’ manager said friends administered first aid to wounds around her temples and eyes.
She was too affected to leave a statement with police on the scene and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
TikToker Sasha Kosmos, known as Rarrihood, was taken to the hospital after she was attacked by unnamed neighbors during an argument over pizza in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (@rarrihood_/Zenger)
The couple, whose names were not reported, were arrested and released after being questioned by the police. An investigation is underway.
Kosmos’ manager said she is still in shock and cannot concentrate on her work because she is in so much pain.
Several instances of Russian influencers being attacked have been reported in the past couple of years. In 2020, a gay influencer, Ali Zabinov, better known as Ego Gromov, was killed at the home of a friend in Saint Petersburg.
In 2019, Russian influencer Ekaterina Karaglanova was found stabbed to death and her body stuffed in a suitcase. Maxim Gareyev was found guilty of her murder and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Boxing legend Evander Holyfield is both critical and complimentary of recently crowned heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk as a hypothetical opponent.
Holyfield didn’t see the body attack from Usyk as “The Cat” dominated and dethroned IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua on Sep. 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Despite that, “My question is, ‘What about Usyk’s inside game? Does he have one?’” Holyfield said of the man who joined “The Real Deal” and England’s David Haye as the only former cruiserweight titleholders to also capture heavyweight crowns. “I’m a gladiator who brings it, applying pressure with combinations to the body, the head, and back to the body. I didn’t see Usyk fight on the inside at all.”
Former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk dethroned IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua by unanimous decision in September, joining the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, as the third Ukrainian heavyweight title winner. (Andriy Makukha/CC BY-SA 4.0)
But what of Holyfield’s 1–3 record against lefties such as Usyk, who became the sixth southpaw heavyweight champion following three-time title holder Michael Moorer, two-time champ Chris Byrd, Russia’s Sultan Ibragimov, South Africa’s Corrie Sanders and Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Chagaev.
Holyfield lost unanimous decisions to Byrd (December 2002) and Ibragimov (October 2007). Holyfield split bouts with Moorer, losing by majority decision in April 1994 before flooring him five times and stopping him in the eighth round of their rematch in November 1997.
“No doubt I had problems with left-handers. Oleksandr Usyk is a very good boxer,” said Holyfield, who turns 59 on Oct. 19. “They move the opposite way, make it hard to crowd them and can hit you with big shots you don’t expect.”
Holyfield, who retired in 2014, compared himself to Usyk in an exclusive interview with Zenger News with input from blow-by-blow commentator Corey Erdman and boxing historian Cliff Rold, both of BoxingScene.com.
“It’s difficult to compare fighters from different eras,” Erdman said of the two men, each of whom is a devout Christian. “But Holyfield and Usyk share enough similarities to make it fun.”
In defeating Joshua, “The Cat” vanquished his sixth current or former world champion in 10 fights. A former undisputed cruiserweight titleholder, the 34-year-old Usyk (19–0, 13 KOs) also handed the 6-foot-6 Joshua (24–2, 22 KOs) his first loss in his native country, doing so in the same city that the Ukrainian earned a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics.
Usyk-Joshua happened in advance of Saturday’s third bout between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (30–0–1, 21 KOs) and Deontay Wilder (42–1–1, 41 KOs) at T-Mobile Arena In Las Vegas.
Wilder and Fury battled to a draw in December 2018, but Fury dethroned Wilder via seventh-round TKO in February 2020. A unification bout between Usyk and the winner of Wilder–Fury III would be appealing.
“Holyfield’s total heavyweight run gives him a run Usyk hasn’t had time to remotely attempt to catch,” Rold said. “Usyk won’t match Holyfield [at heavyweight] without a win over the Tyson Fury–Deontay Wilder III winner.”
Usyk won his third heavyweight bout in 23 months, having beaten Chazz Witherspoon by seventh-round TKO in October 2019 and journeyman Dereck Chisora by unanimous decision in October 2020.
Usyk also became the third Ukrainian heavyweight champion, joining the Klitschko brothers, former IBF/WBA/WBO titleholder Wladimir, 45, and ex-WBC champ Vitali, 50, who reigned simultaneously for two years, five months and 13 days between 2008 and 2012.
“There was a record in the cruiserweight division where Evander Holyfield became the champion. I thought about that, and I told my team, ‘Let’s make our own history, our own record, to beat Holyfield’s record,’” Usyk said.
“I watched and followed Holyfield for quite some time,” Usyk added. “I really appreciate and admire him moving up from cruiserweight and fighting big guys. Every one of us has our own page in history. He wrote his, and I’m writing mine.”
A bronze-medal winner in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Holyfield (44–10–2 with 29 KOs) was considered the greatest cruiserweight of all time before retiring in June 2014 at age 52 as the only four-time heavyweight champion.
As a cruiserweight (weighing between 180 and 190 pounds) from July 1985 through April 1988, Holyfield went 14–0 (12 KOs). That run includes being 6–0 (5 KOs) in title fights after earning the crown by split-decision in July 1986 over Dwight Muhammad Qawi and his fourth-round KO of Qawi in a December 1987 rematch and fourth defense.
Holyfield’s fifth and final cruiserweight title defense was an eighth-round TKO of Carlos DeLeon (April 1988) in a division established as 190 pounds in the early 1980s and changed to a 200-pound limit in 2004.
“The Real Deal” earned the heavyweight crown in his seventh division bout by third-round KO of James “Buster” Douglas (October 1990), representing his seventh consecutive stoppage beyond 190 pounds and 13th straight overall. Douglas had dethroned Mike Tyson in February 1990 via 10th-round KO.
As cruiserweight champion, Holyfield had four knockouts against reigning or former titleholders. They included a seventh-round TKO of Olympic gold medalist teammate Henry Tillman (February 1987), a third-round TKO that May to add Ricky Parkey’s IBF crown to his WBA version, and an 11th-round TKO of former titleholder Ossie Ocasio that August.
Holyfield was 12–0 (8 KOs) after dethroning Qawi compared to Usyk’s 10–0 (9 KOs) after dethroning previously unbeaten WBO champion Krzysztof Glowacki in September 2016. Because it came against a fellow Hall of Famer, Holyfield’s title-winning victory over Qawi is more substantial than Usyk’s win over against Glowacki.
A former 175-pound champion, Qawi owned sixth- and 10th-round TKO wins over former titleholder Matthew Saad Muhammad. Qawi had also scored seventh- and sixth-round knockouts of ex-light heavyweight belt holder Mike Rossman and 1976 Olympic gold medalist Leon Spinks, the latter already having split heavyweight championship bouts with Muhammad Ali.
“Evander’s most memorable win at cruiserweight, Dwight Muhammad Qawi,” said Erdman, “is still better than Usyk’s best win at cruiserweight.”
Usyk had six defenses (three KOs) at cruiserweight, his second and third being a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Michael Hunter in April 2017 and a 10th-round TKO of former titleholder Marco Huck that September.
Usyk fought three times in 2018 comprising a majority decision over previously unbeaten Mairis Breidis in January, a unanimous decision over then-undefeated Murat Gassiev in July and an eighth-round TKO of former titleholder Tony Bellew in November.
Briedis lost his WBC crown to Usyk, and Gassiev, his IBF/WBA crowns, the latter making Usyk an undisputed IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO champion. Bellew had scored consecutive 11th- and fifth-round TKOs of Haye in March 2017 and May 2018.
“Qawi and DeLeon would be formidable foes for Usyk,” Rold said. “Usyk’s ability to consistently win on the road is commendable.”
An undersized Holyfield debuted as a heavyweight in July 1988 with a fifth-round TKO of title challenger James “Quick” Tillis, with other heavyweight highlights including a 1-2 mark against 6-foot-5 champion Riddick Bowe in November 1992, 1993 and 1995.
Bowe outweighed Holyfield, 235 to 205 pounds, in their initial clash of unbeatens — a unanimous decision loss that dethroned Holyfield as IBF/WBA/WBC titleholder. Holyfield won their rematch by majority decision, with Bowe scoring an eighth-round TKO in their third fight.
Holyfield went 0–1–1 against 6-foot-5 undisputed champion Lennox Lewis, being outweighed 215 to 245 in their first bout. Holyfield handled Tyson by 11th-round KO in November 1996 and disqualification in the infamous “Bite Fight” in June 1997.
Holyfield also knocked out champions Michael Dokes, Pinklon Thomas and Bobby Czyz, and earned decisions over champions Larry Holmes, George Foreman, Ray Mercer, John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman.
So who would win a Holyfield-Usyk clash?
“I would be more comfortable picking Usyk in a head-to-head matchup with Holyfield,” Erdman said. “His struggles with Michael Moorer and Chris Byrd can’t be ignored. Usyk is a more evolved version of that era of southpaws.”
Evander Holyfield on a hypothetical matchup with Oleksandr Usyk: “Let’s just say If he fought in my era, I would beat him, and if I fought in his era, he would probably beat me.” (David R. Lutman/Getty Images)
Rold’s pick?
“Holyfield would be the most rounded, difficult foe for Usyk beyond Briedis and would be able to match Usyk’s smart combinations,” Rold said. “It’s easier to pick Holyfield because we have a more complete picture of his best days, but Usyk would be in it.”
Holyfield had the last word.
“I would light up [Usyk] if I was the guy you saw against Michael Dokes or Dwight Muhammad Qawi,” Holyfield said. “But let’s just say If he fought in my era, I would beat him, and if I fought in his era, he would probably beat me.”
