Sergio Bellend

It's primarily there to help sell the Eubank PPV in a couple of weeks. I imagine if ITV Box Office continues, they'll have a card on ITV4 ahead of them, which makes sense. Especially as they've not exactly been promoting the PPV anywhere else yet.

I've had the dvds for a while, but this is the kick up the jacksy to get going and watching the original. Regardless of whether the prequel film was any good or not, canononically is it better to watch it before the series, or after? As in, will it give away whodunnit before I've started watching it?

sounds like a good day out Bellend, enjoy it son!

Thanks ebb, will try to. Only problem is getting the Champions League final in at some point (not in person, mind), but that'll probably have to be sacrificed. Cracking weekend of sport when you throw in the golf, Monaco and Indy. For armchair sports fans, the May Bank Holiday is probably as good as it gets every year.

I'm going, the first fight I've been to in a couple of years (pretty much since I decided never to give Warren a penny of my money ever again) and really looking forward to it. Doing the double header with the Premiership final at Twickenham with my dad. Mega looking forward to it, seems like a proper big fight event for the first time in ages.

i was actually considering going a few weeks ago. I don't see how Warren promoted this without having it all nailed down. What the fuck.

It's how he does things, the man is an absolute cretin. After the farce of Khan v Kotelnik when he shifted it from London to manchester at about 3 weeks notice, completely fucking up my non-refundable train tickets and hotel room I promised never to give the slimeball another penny of my money ever again. Except for me getting some dirt, dirt cheap tickets for the Magnificent 7 card in Birmingham a few years back I've stuck to that. Never once had any inclination to shell out for BoxNation or any of his shows since then and never will.

Anyone know where I can watch the fourth episode of The Following online? The one link I've found won't play on my laptop. Missed both Sky Atlantic showings a couple of weeks back and now I'm behind, with the other episodes ready to watch on my Sky+.

It's up on Sky Go at the minute if you've got your login, though you might have to be quick as episode 4 could go behind the PPV paywall after tonight's episode goes on there.

What would you more knowledgable chaps say where the best boxing matches of this year?

I've not seen much from the first half of this year, but the three obvious standouts for me are Brandon Rios v Mike Alvarado, Robert Guerrero v Andre Berto, and Pacquiao v Marquez IV from this weekend. Apparently Brian Viloria v Hernan Marquez was very good as well, but I've not seen that yet.

someone metioned the Sergio Martinez KO of Paul Williams earlier in the thread, and they mentioned it on the broadcast...it was a very similar punch, with the same result, faceplant.

Twas one of the first things I thought of when I saw it. Almost certainly the best punch I've seen since Martinez v Williams.

Oh absolutely. But in some ways maybe the Floyd vs Manny fight is actually more likely now for that very reason. Maybe Floyd, in seeing Manny get sparked by a 39 year old, will think the time is right to put Manny's name on his resume. Maybe he'll see Pacquiao, as ripe for the picking now. The fight would obviously not be as big as if it took place in 2009 but would still be a huge payday and in Floyd's eyes probably sees it as an easier fight now than it would have been back then.

 

Reminds me of how Sugar Ray bided his time with Hagler and only took the fight when he felt Hagler was slipping and the fight would be less risky.

Lost all interest in it to be honest, but I'd say it was more likely to happen after Pac v Marquez 4. Pac didn't look great in that fight, but he got the win, so for me, that was the time when Floyd would have thought it was the best time to fight him. Whereas now after back-to-back defeats, Floyd is probably thinking he's well above him and is justified in not taking the fight. I've not worded that well, but hopefully you get the gist.

So what's everybody's pound-4-pound top five after last night then? Mine looks something like...

1. Mayweather

2. Martinez

3. Marquez

4. Pacquiao

5. Ward

Question for anyone purchasing the Hatton fight Saturday, i just went through my sky guide to Box Office and selected the fight:

 

it says 'checking purchasing infomation', then i press enter now ive gone back to the original box office page but a little timer clock symbol has appeared next to the Hatton listing, does this mean ive purchased it? i aint ordered from box office in years.

 

i wanna find out because ill ring Primetime if it hasn't worked.

Usually, thats the little reminder indicator. Although you need to have registered with Primetime in the past in order to buy through your Sky planner. If you have, then you've definitely brought it.

Junior Witter is complaining on Twitter about not having been paid yet for the Gavin fight.

 

https://twitter.com/JrWitter/status/269083675474423808

 

Junior Witter ‏@JrWitter

 

@eddiehearn @deanpowell @boxnationtv @hennessysports Official complaint in to the bbbofc 2 weeks still not paid from FrankWarren

 

6:25 AM - 15 Nov 12

I've no idea how ticket sales for Texas has gone, it could go either way really. It just doesnt strike me as an area to host an F1 race and unlike Indy, the ticket prices are not cheap.

Stupidly its been scheduled against the final Nascar race of the season, which means the majority of the US motorsport media will be at Homestead, and any general publicity and hype of F1's 'triumphant return' to the States will be lost.

Sad news, seems as though Manny Steward has died, according to Wlad's new trainer Johnathan Banks on twitter.

R.I.P.

Cheers I'll Sky+ it.

Don't bother. It somehow manages to make the Prizefighter concept even shittier by piling it with fat eastern European kick boxers.

In all fairness though, I feel really sorry for the associate teams. Look at Kenya in the World Cup in 2003. They come joint third, and what does the ICC do with them after this fantastic achievement?

 

"Well, that's it for now. See you in 4 years, lads".

 

It's horribly insular and Cricket will never grow as it should unless this changes. Even if the minnows get success the ICC won't get behind them. It's a lot like when Argentina came 3rd in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Instead of fast tracking them into the Tri Nations, they've only just got around to it now costing vital years of continuing development playing wigth some kind of regularity against top teams.

And look at Kenya now. They're shit, when really they shouldn't be. Okay they were an ageing side in '03, but with a proper development programme the likes of Tikolo, the Obuya brothers and the Sujis would have been replaced, but they weren't and Kenyan cricket went in to meltdown.

The whole thing leaves you with the wrong situation of at least two associate teams in Ireland and Afghanistan in all probability better than two of the test match teams in Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Bangladesh are no better than when they were first given test status more than a decade ago, and Zimbabwe are failing at another major tournament with pretty much the same squad they've had since their 'golden generation' packed it in.

Admittedly Ireland won't get test match status anytime soon after what has happened with Bangladesh and their lack of a domestic first-class structure, but there is something more than a little wrong with Joyce, Morgan and now Rankin attempting to make the England team cos its their only hope of playing test match cricket.

Easy option is the winner of the Intercontinental Cup plays whoever is bottom of the test rankings at the end of that cycle, and if they beat them then they take their spot and the process is repeated every two years. But that's common sense, and the ICC don't do that.

At the last race, I was saying to some other F1 friends how it seems almost ridiculous that teams have test/third drivers who don't have an FIA Super Licence and can't step in to race at short notice if required. I understand why it happens, but teams should try to have at least one spare driver on the books who can step in. They apparently had D'Ambrosio's seat at the back of the garage from last year being carried around as a spare, so they could have easily gone to him. Even if Villota had been able to step in, with no prior experience of the car in racing situations, it would have been amazing if she'd managed to qualify the car with just an hour of Saturday practice to get up to speed.

 

None of that matters now though, it's a terrible freak incident that shouldn't really happen. All the best to Villota for a speedy recovery and no more long-term damage. I don't think she would have made it into a race seat but no one wants to hear of someone's career ending like this. She was set to do the Young Driver Test for Marussia this season to gain more experience and she most likely would have been able to rack up the required miles for a Super Licence.

With the greatest of respect to her, and with no malice intended, anybody who saw her race in Superleague Formula around '09 and '10 will know she had absolutely no right being anywhere near being a F1 car-testing or racing.

I know that seems overly harsh, and I have nothing against her-she always seems a really nice person in interviews and I do wish her all the best. It's a dreadful thing to happen.

Thanks to Netflix, watched the first series of Pete VS Life in one late-night sitting. I don't like the gimmick of the show with the two commentators as that aspect is quite forced and it doesn't really do anything new with the 'guy does things at the start of the episode that will come back to haunt him by the end' but I like Rafe Spall and some of the writing is decent. I get the feeling the show didn't make much of a splash though?

 

No, got one series and was binned. It was heavily advertised by Channel 4 but I don't think anyone watched it.

Not quite, a second series aired at the end of last year. I know it's throwaway fluff, but I quite enjoyed it and Rafe Spall is Rafe Spall. It's hard to imagine anyone else playing Pete quite the way he does.

I'm sticking with Luck till the end, dunno why as it's been axed and it's not exactly tremendous, but anyway, is it me or does Escalante seem like he could play the stereotypical 'anti-American hispanic heel' character in WWE or TNA? He's just got the right mannerisms and that for it.

Oh and that one bloke who plays the angry ex-jockey is a terrible actor.

Watching the IPL is a very unfulfilling experience and leaves a sour taste in the mouth. It is crass, vulgar, and what often gets forgotten about among all the other complaints about is that the standard of cricket is often dreadful. The fielding is horrendous, and some of the locals and 'second-rate' Aussies are very poor. I don't think I can really add much more to the argument that is made about the commercialism of the league, but everything about it just reeks of squeezing every single penny out of it and forcing their ideology on to the viewers. The silly forced handshake between the umpires at the start, the staged meetings between Bollywood stars and franchise owners, and the commentary from the likes of Shastri, Gavaskar and Bhogle that is little more than BCCI propaganda. KP can fuck right off with his jealousy. If that passes for cricket, then the media are right to turn their noses up at it.

But above all that, take a look at West Indies v Australia. WI have been shit for most of the last decade, but have a chance to cause and upset against an OK Aussie team yet they have three potential matchwinners in Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Narine larking about for a few quid in the IPL. Admittedly a fair chunk of blame lies with the WICB as to why they aren't taking part, but if they really wanted to represent their country then they would be in the Caribbean right now. And forget all your Karbon Kamaals, strategic time-outs and shitty commentary, that is the saddest thing of all.

Around how much would I be looking at for front row tickets (from Ticketmaster/Arena website) for the November TV tapings?

About

Cheers guys. Shame about Brock that, was hoping to see him in person. Suppose they could whip out the old 'live via satellite' schtick they sometimes do.

I remember going to one of the spring Raw tapings in Birmingham when Hogan was back with WWE (I forget the year, but I think Batista vs. Christian may have been the main event). Hogan obviously hadn't flown to the UK, but throughout the night they showed (pre-taped) backstage skits where they pretended he was backstage, there in Birmingham. To say the live crowd was pissed off would be an understatement.

Slightly linked to this, wasn't there an episode of Raw about 3, maybe 4 years ago when they did a 'live via satellite' promo between a wrestler in the ring and somebody supposedly backstage, but their whole segment on the screen had been pre-recorded so there were awkward moments of overlapping between the speeches? Something tells me it might have been a Santino skit, but it could have been something a bit more serious.

Sorry the details are so vague, but I've only just remembered it.

Cheers guys. Shame about Brock that, was hoping to see him in person. Suppose they could whip out the old 'live via satellite' schtick they sometimes do.

I'm a bit behind on the WWE (not seen anything since 'Mania barring brock's comeback), so is Brock likely to be at Raw in London next week?

On the universities front, the only time the matches are ever competitive is when first class counties put out their second XIs. They are really a mockery of the whole first class system - look at the bowling figures for that Durham match. They subvert averages, and how often do first class teams turn their batting orders upside down for the second innings to give their tail-enders some batting practice? That's not first class cricket.

 

As early season warm-ups for the county games, fine. But they should not be given first class status just because the universities occasionally see one of their players go on to international honours, something that is happening less and less these days anyway. I don't see that removing first class status would necessarily affect anything like funding.

Yeah I'd agree, and I've been saying for a few years that they shouldn't really be 'first class' cricket, because well, they aren't. I'm all for keeping the matches, and most counties play a couple of unis in unofficial pre-season friendlies on top of their official commitments, but they are friendlies and mismatches most of the time.

Just watched the original version of Rec, thanks to someone who uploaded it to YouTube with English subtitles. Absolutely terrifying; the last forty minutes I had to watch with the laptop screen slightly turned away. Really enjoyed it.

 

Is Rec 2 worth watching?

No. The first one was absolutely fantastic, but the second one sort of spoilt it I thought when I watched them back to back. I mean it wasn't horrendous, but they went in a different direction (very mild spoiler) SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

that was really naff. As is often the case with these sorts of things, the 'virus' is often better left unexplained, but I guess they felt if they didn't come up with an explanation then a sequel would be just exactly the same film again.

what a crazy fight! There has to be some kind of explanation for what went down in the first round, that was just insanity. I remember something similar happening in Danny Williams fight a few years back in Germany. I just don't see how a time keeper can mess that up?

Have a look who the promoter of the fight is, and then you'll see.

But seriously as much as I love Enzo he has absolutely no business being in the ring anymore. I've seen him knocked out horribly in person 3 times (Haye, Afolabi, Frenkel) and against anyone other than McPhilbin, who with the greatest of respect is DREADFUL it would have been the same on Friday. In fact it probably should have been the same anyway if the timing was correct.