Kick it out

So BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Pat Nevin says that Eden Hazard was correct to kick the Swansea ball boy who antagonised him? Well I agree. And Eric Cantona was equally right to kick the hooligan who shouted personal abuse at him. The FA must apologise to Eric immediately and repay the £20,000 he was fined. Either that or, to be consistent,  Hazard should be banned for an equivalent period of nine months.

New year, same old story

Last night Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor once again became world darts champion. There simply aren't enough superlatives to describe this man.  I’m not even sure which is my favourite Taylor stat – 16 world titles, the highest ever three dart average in a match (118.66), his world championship semi-final record (played 19, won 19) or the fact that, out of 82 major final appearances, he has lost only eight. Surely the next BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award (an accolade which has previously been given to Frank Bruno) must go to Taylor - the greatest living Briton.

And the winner is…

I’m sure most pundits will be giving their fighter of the year accolade to Juan Manuel Márquez following his scintillating destruction of Manny Pacquiao earlier this month  However, in effect I pre-empted that by honouring Márquez at the end of last year (after he’d been robbed – once again - in the 3^rd Pacquiao fight: http://floatlikeabutterflysting.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/and-winner-is.html)

Instead, my 'alternative' fighter of the year award (aka The Fran) for 2012 goes to Andre Ward. At the very end of 2011 he dished out a one-sided beating to the very capable Carl Froch, winning the ‘Super 6’ tournament and proving he is far and away the best super middleweight in the world. Now, I’m generally not a huge fan of the ‘intermediate’ divisions – super this and junior that. However, in his only fight of 2012, Ward completely outclassed the light heavyweight champ Chad Dawson (in his first fight since defeating the legendary Bernard Hopkins – in my mind Hopkins’ only legitimate defeat in almost 20 years). So Ward is effectively the undisputed light heavyweight king – without actually having ever fought at 175 pounds. Not only is he deserving of The Fran, he may well be the best (active) fighter, pound for pound, on the planet.

Khan he change?

A friend of mine bumped into Freddie Roach, former trainer of Amir Khan, at JFK airport a few months ago. During their conversation, Roach hit the nail on the head when he explained Khan’s problem:  “he stays in the pocket too long”. Fans of the NFL will know that quarterbacks who hang around in the pocket tend to end up flat on their backs – precisely what has happened to Khan on more than one occasion.  He now has a new trainer, Virgil Hill, and claims to have developed a more defensive style, which he plans to display in Los Angeles on Saturday night.  He probably won't be troubled by his opponent Carlos Molina, a lightweight stepping up a division who is four inches shorter than Khan and doesn't carry much of a punch. Should he win that fight (and if he doesn’t he may as well retire), the caliber of opponent Khan will need to face in the future will necessitate the kind of defensive skills which have generally been lacking amongst British fighters. New style or not, what is certain is that eventually he will take one on the chin – even the greats get hit sometimes. And as I’ve stated before, it’s rare for any fighter to be able to add muscle to that particular part of their anatomy.

Sweet Memory

I haven't posted for quite some time, but couldn't let 6 April pass with mentioning such a significant anniversary. 25 years ago Sugar Ray Leonard defeated Marvellous Marvin Hagler in 'The Superfight'. It was probably the greatest comeback in boxing history - Leonard had only fought once in the preceding five years, whilst Hagler had not lost in eleven years. By winning the fight, Leonard secured his legacy as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Sweet indeed.

Happy New Year?

RIP Darlo...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16493533.stm

And the winner is...

My 'alternative' fighter of the year award (aka The Fran) for 2011 goes to Juan Manuel Márquez. Three times he’s fought Pacquiao (deemed by so many to be the pound for pound king). On at least one, if not two, and possibly even all three occasions, he’s won the fight. But the judges keep on letting him down. The fight this year saw possibly the worst decision of them all (Tim Smith of New York's Daily News wrote that Márquez "was robbed by judges who were either blind or corrupt"). He may not be a winner according to the record books, but Marquez is definitely deserving of The Fran.

Don't believe what the Scousers say

Evra has never played the race card:

http://therepublikofmancunia.com/how-patrice-evra-has-never-played-the-race-card-and-why-assumptions-are-dangerous/

Where have all the good kings gone?

Boxing has become a complete joke - too many titles, top fighters ducking each other, Don King...

It used to be my favourite sport, but now there are perhaps two or three fights a year in which I have much interest - hence the paucity of recent posts on this blog. I am intrigued by Pacquiao v Marquez III later this month, and would relish a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight (if it ever happens), but there is little else to get excited about.

My interest in boxing has become comparable to my interest in music - I pine for the glory days of my youth: the 1980s! I've just read Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing by George Kimball which is excellent. I hadn't realised that Hearns had broken his right hand during that phenomenal first round against Hagler, so basically fought the rest of the fight on guts. Them were the days.

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin

It’s been a long-held maxim in boxing that it’s impossible to add muscle to the chin. In other words, fighters who have a glass-jaw are stuck with this limitation for their entire (often relatively short) careers. However, two boxers are beginning to make me question the validity of this notion. I saw Wladimir Klitschko get brutally knocked out in 2003 and 2004, and to be quite frank, he looked like a bum. Having barely survived three knockdowns against Samuel Peter in 2005, Klitschko has now won 11 world title fights in a row. I was sure if David Haye caught him on the chin, Klitschko would fall, but Haye definitely landed at least two big right hands and Klitschko didn’t crumble. Admittedly, he didn’t land a full Hayemaker (the broken toe prevented that), and perhaps the defensive style Klitschko has adopted since those mid-career wobbles, has successfully prevented anyone from properly testing his chin. Certainly the current paucity of the heavyweight division has helped in this regard. But what about Amir Khan? How has he gone from having the most suspect chin in British boxing to being on the verge of dominating the 140 pound division (with talk of moving up to welterweight and challenging the likes of Floyd Mayweather)? Every time these fighters step into the ring – especially against dangerous punchers – I’ll still be thinking ‘maybe this time’. But how many world championship defences must a fighter make before one has to stop considering him ‘chinny’?

And the winner is...

My 'alternative' fighter of the year award, The Fran, goes to Bernard Hopkins. His performance earlier this month, just a few weeks shy of his 46th birthday, emphasised once again what a phenomenal fighter he is. Although he was robbed of victory by the judges - as he always seem to be in close fights - in reality he hasn't suffered a defeat since his loss to the great Roy Jones in 1993. Quite simply amazing.

Never too old?

A great weekend for 'old timers' - Phil Taylor at the age of 50 finally received some of the recognition he deserves at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, whilst Bernard Hopkins, 46 next month, outboxed a 27-year-old champion in his prime. Still, it would have been nice to see both of these legends declared the winners - they were clearly robbed.

Yes Khan do?

Great victory by Amir Khan on Saturday. The lad appears to have defied the old boxing adage, and actually added muscle to his chin. We should find out in the next year just how good a fighter he really is, but the signs are starting to look promising. Despite the astonishing improvement in his chin, I still suspect he may remain susceptible to being caught cold at the beginning of a fight...

It is now...

Or perhaps not. Ah well, there's always 2030 - the hundreth anniversary of the tournament, so an appropriate time to host it at 'the home of football'TM

They think it's all over...

So David Beckham is a bit of a joke? Well he's just made a speech which I suspect may win England the World Cup in 2018:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9250670.stm

Better late than never

The shortlist for this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year has just been announced, and Phil 'The Power' Taylor is included!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/default.stm

This clearly shows that the Beeb monitors this blog and listens to what I have to say - see my posting from a year ago:

http://floatlikeabutterflysting.blogspot.com/2009/12/shurely-shume-mistake.html

Hope the joke's not on Haye

David Haye should beat 'Ordinary' Harrison easily on Saturday (and I hope he does), but at heavyweight you just never know. That's why it was very silly for Haye to take this fight - if he's going to get caught by a bomb, far better that it happens against one of the Klitschko's than against some bum

Football vs. Football

I saw Darlo for the first time in ages last weekend, playing at Mossley in the 4th qualifying round of the FA Cup. The game itself was spoiled by the unnecessary 'double-punishment' rule (their goalkeeper was adjudged to have brought down our player in the penalty area, resulting in both a red card for the keeper and a penalty kick), but a 6-2 win is a 6-2 win. Also a reminder of the good old days, when I could watch Darlo for £7 - the £20+ I've paid to see them against the likes of Accrington Stanley and Bury in League Two is just ridiculous.

Now for this weekend, something completely different: San Francisco 49ers vs Denver Broncos at Wembley Stadium...

What the Haye?

Now I'm always been a big fan of David Haye. But calling the Klitchko brothers out, and then choosing to duck them and instead fight Audley Harrison? Come on David, get a grip man - you're a World Champion for goodness sake. A unification bout with Wladimir Klitchko would be huge (and very winable - his chin is so suspect); a fight with 'Ordinary' Harrison is just a joke.

World Cup Ramblings (5)

So my pre-tournament prediction that Engerland would definitely make the quarter-finals was wrong (even I didn't appreciate quite how bad they were). The inquest has already started, but I suggest that, instead of blaming the manager, the system, the linesman, etc., people just read this post from a couple of years ago:

http://floatlikeabutterflysting.blogspot.com/2008/06/42-years-of-hurt-and-counting.html