Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. It was a busy weekend full of playoff action, the NFL Draft, and an epic boxing match for the unified world heavyweight championship. Needless to say, there is a lot to get to in today’s “Weekend Recap.”

Boxing: Anthony Joshua TKO’s Wladimir Klitschko to Become Unified Champ

The best of the weekend came to us from the middle of the squared circle at Wembley Stadium in London, England. A colossal unification bout for the world heavyweight championship stole the sports weekend. Saturday night became a changing of the guard in boxing. More importantly the sport now has a superstar in a time where it desperately needs one.

Anthony Joshua entered the night with an undefeated record, the IBF title, and a chance at immortality by defeating the legendary Ukrainian. Not only did Joshua score an 11^th round TKO of Klitschko, they put on one of the best boxing matches the sport has seen this decade. A masterful heavyweight clash the world has been waiting decades to see.

If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend taking some time this week to check it out. As someone that was burned by the Mayweather-Pacquiao “superfight,” this is the exactly what boxing needed to get back into the good graces of the mainstream. A rematch with Klitschko or a potential clash with former champ Tyson Fury will make Joshua’s next bout must see TV.

NBA: Finally a Game 7 and Potentially the End of “Lob City”

It took nearly the entire length of the first round of the NBA playoffs to get a Game 7. The Utah Jazz couldn’t finish off the Los Angeles Clippers at home on Friday night, which set up yesterday’s winner-take-all series finale. Despite having home court advantage, the Clippers could not get the job done in a 104-91 loss. This could effectively be the end of “Lob City” as we know it as well.

The Clippers now head into the offseason following one of the most disappointing playoff exits. Los Angeles not only blew a series lead for the fifth consecutive year, but lost three home games in the round. To add to the disappointment, the next few months could see the end of this iteration of the team. Chris Paul and J.J. Reddick both have player options for next season with reports indicating that both will at least test the market in July.

Los Angeles could also be looking to move on from Blake Griffin this summer as well. Griffin has improved immensely in the previous few years, become much more than just a dunk specialist. The only problem is that he is injured too often to be a cornerstone for this franchise. Keep an ear to the ground because the rumor mill will be swirling quite a bit in Los Angeles. Oh, don’t rule out the dismissal of coach/GM Doc Rivers either.

NHL: It’s All About Control and If You Can Take It

Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs has been anything but a close shave so far. Photo Credit: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

While the majority of the first round featured teams trading the series lead back and forth, the second round seems to be much more about taking control of the series quickly. Ottawa needed a double overtime win in Game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead heading back to New York. Pittsburgh took both games in Washington and head back home with a commanding 2-0 lead against the Capitals. Edmonton won the first two games in Anaheim, but the Ducks were able to return the favor with a crucial Game 3 victory yesterday. The Oilers keep the series lead at 2-1.

The most competitive series thus far has been St. Louis-Nashville. After spitting the first two games in St. Louis, the series shifted to Nashville yesterday for Game 3. Nashville used its home-ice advantage to near perfection, winning in convincing fashion 3-1. Now up 2-1, Nashville will look to stay unbeaten at home this postseason to take a commanding 3-1 series lead tomorrow night.

Looking ahead just a bit, Pittsburgh and Nashville look like the two favorites to meet in the Stanley Cup Finals.

NFL: Trades, Trades, and More Trades On Day 2 and Day 3 of the Draft

War rooms were extremely busy this weekend during the NFL Draft. Photo Credit: Associated Press.

Round one of the NFL Draft was crazy and unpredictable, the rest of the weekend featured teams swapping picks like a wild game of hot potato. In fact, teams made trades at a record-setting pace during the course of the three-day draft. A total of 38 trades were over the course of seven rounds, surpassing the previous record of 34 from the 2008 draft.

Wheeling and dealing was the theme of the weekend, but the real question on everyone’s minds is who benefitted the most from the draft? In all honesty, there is no way to know until these guys get on the field. Draft grades are kind of a joke are really premature, so take them with a grain of salt.

Every team added a good amount of talent (some more than others), and only time will tell who really won the 2017 NFL Draft. For now, that honor goes to the city of Philadelphia, who set a new standard for hosting the event. The second biggest surprise of the weekend was the fact that no arrests happened at the Fan Experience during the course of the draft.

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow to make preview the second round of the NBA playoffs. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.