Sources have brought me up to speed on the details of Allen/Mayo I, and judging by the fruit of this fight -- a black eye for O.J. Mayo and a fine for Tony Allen -- there will not be a rematch.
I'm told the two Memphis Grizzlies players, who are actually friends, scuffled over a debt of $7,500 that Mayo owed to Allen after losing in the card game Bourre.
Allen, regarded as one of the toughest guys in the league, tried to avoid a confrontation, but Mayo trash-talked Allen for roughly 15 minutes, criticizing his game, bragging about how he was a better basketball player than Allen, about how he was a lottery pick.
Allen was especially bothered by Mayo's chatter because they have a friendly relationship. Zach Randolph tried to play peacemaker, telling Mayo to stop ribbing Allen, but to no avail.
Finally, Allen had enough and struck Mayo in the face. He then landed a succession of blows to Mayo's eye, mouth, shoulder and the side of his head. Mayo was able to get off a swing, but Allen ducked to avoid it and then clocked Mayo once more for good measure.
As Apollo Creed said to the young upstart Rocky Balboa, "Ain't gonna' be no rematch.''