Wales win the Grand Slam
Their 29-12 victory gave Wales their second Grand Slam in four years. Wales had too much for France in the last twenty minutes, scoring two tries. England should have tried harder to recruit Shaun Edwards (defence coach) -Wales conceded only two tries in the entire tournament. England's win earlier in the day meant they finished as runners-up on points difference. Prior to that game I had thought dropping Jonny was a mistake. However his replacement, Cipriani, played brilliantly at fly-half, converting all seven goal kicks (3 convs, 4 pens)
Prem title race
Four consecutive draws, & despite losing only once this season, Arsenal have lost top spot. (Under the old system of two points for a win Arsenal would be two points clear). Just like in the 2002-2003 season, Arsenal seem to choking at the run-in, to hand the initiative to Man United. They did play a fantastic game to eliminate Milan from UCL though. Who would have thought the Rossoneri would be outpassed & outplayed in their own stadium ?
Chelsea are still only three points behind, the title race is still far too close to call.
The Hayemaker
As I predicted in my last blog, David Haye knocked out Enzo Maccarinelli last Saturday. Haye will move up to heavyweight, as he's been struggling to make the cruiserweight limit. The heavy
division does not have any exceptional boxers at the moment, but Haye, as a natural cruiser, may struggle against some of the bigger guys.
Showing posts with label David Haye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Haye. Show all posts
Monday, 17 March 2008
Sunday, 2 March 2008
A 39th Step Too Far
Tiger Woods
ESPN.com recently ran an piece titled 'Is Tiger Woods the most dominant athlete ever ?' (link below)
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3263383
Woods won the WGC Match Play in Arizona last week. He has now won seven out of the last eight events entered ( his one blemish to a perfect record was a second place). When you think that one bad hole can cost you a round & a tournament, Woods winning run is astonishing. Clearly Tiger is the best player, but opponents have also admitted to being intimidated by him. Perhaps they over press by trying too hard to beat him, too. Woods focus & determination would seem to be the main reason for his dominance.Ominously, Woods said after his latest victory 'you can always get better'.
Champions League
Liverpool will be favourites to win their last 16 tie v Inter after the 2-0 win at Anfield. The trend for good European results but domestic inconsistency continues. How did a team who lost at home in the FA cup to Barnsley inflict the first defeat in five moths on the Serie A leaders ? Playing against ten men for an hour helps though- and both Materazzi's bookings looked a bit harsh. Arsenal may have missed their chance against Milan. Chelsea & Man U should win their home ties against Olympiakos & Lyon. In fact, I would be surprised if there was no English team in the final. If one of the Premiership sides does reach the final it will be the fourth year in a row-as you might expect from the richest league in the world.
Haye v Maccarinelli
These two massive punchers meet next Saturday. Haye's only loss (20 wins) was by stoppage to Carl Thompson in his 11th pro fight. Macca has also only one loss on his pro record from 29 bouts. Haye has arguably faced tougher opposition, and was impressive in knocking out Jean-Marc Mormeck in seven rounds in November, winning the WBA & WBC belts (traditionally the two most prestigious of the 'alphabet' titles). Haye by 10th round KO.
A 39th step too far
I share the delight of many footy fans that Richard Scudamore's plans for a 39th Premier League fixture abroad now seem to be dead in the water. Apart from it being just a cynical money-spinner which shows complete disregard for the fans, what about the sporting implications ? Imagine needing to win the last game of the season to stay up, & having to play a team going for the title. Hardly fair. The whole point of the league is that all play all home & away, and every team follows the same programme. Tacking on an extra fixture distorts the league competition. Instead of looking at more ways to generate revenue, the Premier League should be spreading more of the wealth from the TV contracts etc to the lower leagues & grassroots.
ESPN.com recently ran an piece titled 'Is Tiger Woods the most dominant athlete ever ?' (link below)
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3263383
Woods won the WGC Match Play in Arizona last week. He has now won seven out of the last eight events entered ( his one blemish to a perfect record was a second place). When you think that one bad hole can cost you a round & a tournament, Woods winning run is astonishing. Clearly Tiger is the best player, but opponents have also admitted to being intimidated by him. Perhaps they over press by trying too hard to beat him, too. Woods focus & determination would seem to be the main reason for his dominance.Ominously, Woods said after his latest victory 'you can always get better'.
Champions League
Liverpool will be favourites to win their last 16 tie v Inter after the 2-0 win at Anfield. The trend for good European results but domestic inconsistency continues. How did a team who lost at home in the FA cup to Barnsley inflict the first defeat in five moths on the Serie A leaders ? Playing against ten men for an hour helps though- and both Materazzi's bookings looked a bit harsh. Arsenal may have missed their chance against Milan. Chelsea & Man U should win their home ties against Olympiakos & Lyon. In fact, I would be surprised if there was no English team in the final. If one of the Premiership sides does reach the final it will be the fourth year in a row-as you might expect from the richest league in the world.
Haye v Maccarinelli
These two massive punchers meet next Saturday. Haye's only loss (20 wins) was by stoppage to Carl Thompson in his 11th pro fight. Macca has also only one loss on his pro record from 29 bouts. Haye has arguably faced tougher opposition, and was impressive in knocking out Jean-Marc Mormeck in seven rounds in November, winning the WBA & WBC belts (traditionally the two most prestigious of the 'alphabet' titles). Haye by 10th round KO.
A 39th step too far
I share the delight of many footy fans that Richard Scudamore's plans for a 39th Premier League fixture abroad now seem to be dead in the water. Apart from it being just a cynical money-spinner which shows complete disregard for the fans, what about the sporting implications ? Imagine needing to win the last game of the season to stay up, & having to play a team going for the title. Hardly fair. The whole point of the league is that all play all home & away, and every team follows the same programme. Tacking on an extra fixture distorts the league competition. Instead of looking at more ways to generate revenue, the Premier League should be spreading more of the wealth from the TV contracts etc to the lower leagues & grassroots.
Saturday, 15 December 2007
Pretty Boy Walks the Walk
Hatton v Mayweather
Floyd Mayweather proved he's not rated the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world for nothing. The Pretty boy dominated the fight before knocking out Hatton in the tenth. I had thought Mayweather would win on points by boxing at long range & on the retreat. But he put on a masterclass. He is now unquestionably one of the best boxers of the last ten years or so, along with other greats such as Roy Jones, De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins & Calzaghe. I think Hatton should take one more big money fight against the 'Golden Boy', Oscar De La Hoya, and then retire.
Premiership & Champions League
If sport was easily predictable, bookies would have a hard time. As it is, a fair share of shock results keeps them in profit, & the punters miserable. In the past two weeks, Arsenal could only draw with Newcastle & lost to Boro, & Liverpool lost at Reading. All 3 victors were on long odds to win.
Liverpool needed a win in Marseilles to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League. The Reds added to their glorious history of overcoming adversity in Europe - St Etienne 1977, Olympiakos & Istanbul in 2005, with a thumping 4-0 win which put them through on Wednesday. However, as group runners-up they are guaranteed strong opposition from one of the Italian or Spanish group winners in the next round.
Euro 2008 draw
Talk about the ultimate 'group of death'. Every major tournament normally has one, but Euro 2008 Group C takes the biscuit: Italy, France, Holland & Romania. The two finalists from the last World Cup; Holland are currently FIFA world-ranked 9 & Romania 13. The Euro 2008 draw was skewed by the co-hosts, Austria & Switzerland, being placed in the top 'pot'.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year
Joe Calzaghe was the deserved winner of the BBC award, having beaten the previously undefeated Dane, Mikkel Kessler (now 39-1) to become the undisputed no. 1 at Super-Middle. Currently 3 Brits are rated no. 1 in their weight divisions by boxing experts (including the Ring magazine, 'The Bible of boxing' ),which is surely unprecedented. Calzaghe at Super-Middle, Haye at Cruiser, & Hatton at Light-Welter (he moved up a division to fight Mayweather).
British boxing has perhaps never been stronger, with such strength in depth at one time. In the amateur ranks, British boxing also looks in rude health, several boxers having already qualified for Beijing 2008, and Frankie Gavin (Lightweight) became the first Brit to win gold at the Worlds in November. Amir Khan looks an excellent prospect for a world title. khan defended his Commonwealth Lightweight title last Saturday, knocking out Graham Earl in 72 seconds. Earl was overwhelmed by the speed & ferocity of Khan, it was the most impressive quick title win i can remember since Tyson destroyed Spinks in 1988.
Floyd Mayweather proved he's not rated the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world for nothing. The Pretty boy dominated the fight before knocking out Hatton in the tenth. I had thought Mayweather would win on points by boxing at long range & on the retreat. But he put on a masterclass. He is now unquestionably one of the best boxers of the last ten years or so, along with other greats such as Roy Jones, De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins & Calzaghe. I think Hatton should take one more big money fight against the 'Golden Boy', Oscar De La Hoya, and then retire.
Premiership & Champions League
If sport was easily predictable, bookies would have a hard time. As it is, a fair share of shock results keeps them in profit, & the punters miserable. In the past two weeks, Arsenal could only draw with Newcastle & lost to Boro, & Liverpool lost at Reading. All 3 victors were on long odds to win.
Liverpool needed a win in Marseilles to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League. The Reds added to their glorious history of overcoming adversity in Europe - St Etienne 1977, Olympiakos & Istanbul in 2005, with a thumping 4-0 win which put them through on Wednesday. However, as group runners-up they are guaranteed strong opposition from one of the Italian or Spanish group winners in the next round.
Euro 2008 draw
Talk about the ultimate 'group of death'. Every major tournament normally has one, but Euro 2008 Group C takes the biscuit: Italy, France, Holland & Romania. The two finalists from the last World Cup; Holland are currently FIFA world-ranked 9 & Romania 13. The Euro 2008 draw was skewed by the co-hosts, Austria & Switzerland, being placed in the top 'pot'.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year
Joe Calzaghe was the deserved winner of the BBC award, having beaten the previously undefeated Dane, Mikkel Kessler (now 39-1) to become the undisputed no. 1 at Super-Middle. Currently 3 Brits are rated no. 1 in their weight divisions by boxing experts (including the Ring magazine, 'The Bible of boxing' ),which is surely unprecedented. Calzaghe at Super-Middle, Haye at Cruiser, & Hatton at Light-Welter (he moved up a division to fight Mayweather).
British boxing has perhaps never been stronger, with such strength in depth at one time. In the amateur ranks, British boxing also looks in rude health, several boxers having already qualified for Beijing 2008, and Frankie Gavin (Lightweight) became the first Brit to win gold at the Worlds in November. Amir Khan looks an excellent prospect for a world title. khan defended his Commonwealth Lightweight title last Saturday, knocking out Graham Earl in 72 seconds. Earl was overwhelmed by the speed & ferocity of Khan, it was the most impressive quick title win i can remember since Tyson destroyed Spinks in 1988.
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