Sergio Bellend

Flicking through Smackdown recently, and Cody Rhodes and Ted diBiase were back teaming together in a 6-man tag with Wade. Are they back as a full time tag team or was it just one of those random 6-man tags they do and the pair of them happened to be on the same team?

I saw REC 2 the other day which is pretty much a continuation of the first film, was okay in parts but not that much different from the first film really.

 

 

Aside from the demons. They need to retcon all that bullshit if they make a third one

I watched them both pretty much back to back last week with them both being on Sky. I thought the first one was fantastic, the second one was ok but nothing great. I get that they used the demon element to stop it being basically the first film all over again, but the whole demon shtick was a bit shit. I guess it drags a franchise out of it when in all reality it should have only been one film, two at a maximum with someone infected getting out of the building through the sewer when chasing that reporter woman for example.

Oh, and that Manuela Velasco

I absolutely despise Warren, the way he conducts himself, everything. He is a vile little cretin.

Where to start? Years of fobbing the public off with bogus WBU 'world' title fights, constant inevitable late pull-outs of fighters that mean a Warren card is never remotely how it was first scheduled, and the way he has Sky wrapped around his finger to put any old bullshit on PPV probably piss me off the most. That time when he moved the Khan v Kotelnik card from London (after I'd already paid for a hotel) to Manchester because it had hardly sold any tickets, and then one man and his dog watched it at the MEN did please me though.

I think you are giving him too much credit for the Mitchell v Katsidis fight Taylor. There weren't loads there-about 15k max I think-and it was your typical football fan crowd. While there was a bit of a novelty to the evening, it was an abysmal card full of mismatches from start to finish with a main event for a phoney 'world' title. Admittedly I suppose it was a pretty good crowd, as he'd have never got that much in a standard arena for that fight, and a fair few there had probably never heard of Mitchell either before or since, so I suppose you can't knock that too much.

I think his actions in 2008 some up how much of a 'man' he is. Sending Sports Network in to administration when he threw a paddy that Setanta had signed up Hayemaker Promotions, and when he owed Calzaghe an absolute fortune was a despicable act. Because of that, Joe C never got a penny of what he was owed, and Setanta's contract with him was void, meaning he could sign up with Sky, and put Khan on Box Office.

And don't even get me started on his newspaper column Thankfully you covered that Taylor

Now that Eddie Hearn has got interested in boxing, the sooner he becomes the dominant force in British boxing promoting the better in my book.

BBC Radio 5 Live just announced that Bellew is over 13 stone which is above the Light-Heavyweight limit. It's no longer a World Title fight for that reason so it might be a Catchweight fight or they might get another opponent in.

They've roped some easter european bum in. And no doubt Warren and Sky will still have the cheek to put it on PPV. No wonder boxing's up shit creek with stuff like this going on.

Double post, obviously but big news this morning, Jurgen Braehmer has pulled out of the fight with Cleverly this Saturday. Apparently he's been stripped of the belt, and Clev will get it, so presumably they will find some shitty late notice opponent, the majority of the public don't care and it stays on PPV.

It's in Four Kings? I bought my old man that very book for Christmas, so I'll be swiping it off him at some point for a read. Nice one.

Yeah I'm 99% sure it is, though it's a good couple of years since I read it. I was vaguely aware of the Panama Lewis thing before then, but it was in Four Kings that it was fully explained.

I've not actually watched the documentary yet, it's been on my 'to watch' list for a fair while.

But there is a fairly good account of the story in the book Four Kings, which I always recommend when people are on here looking for boxing books. It's predominantly about Hagler, Hearns, Leonard and Duran, but covers other big boxing incidents in the 70's and 80's, including this one. It's a fairly well known incident in the boxing world, and it was brought back in to the headlines recently with the whole Margarito shenanigans, and that HBO doc that was on around the same time.

excellent news about Ward/Abraham and Pascal/Hopkins i wouldn't have stayed up for either so 11am is good for me.

 

I honestly think James DeGale is going to smash Groves...George Groves hasn't showed me much as a professioanl outside of having decent skills and some serious heart, which likely means he's going to get a bit of a beating. In Boxing Monthly they interviewed like 30 boxing insiders for a prediction and i think it came out 28-2 to DeGale, i think that tells you everything you need to know.

 

Quick question about that night too...i know its on Box Office, but im at a gig the same night so i cant watch it live (gutted!), i was going to just hang on till sunday and watch it by other means, but im down to play in a 5-a-side football tournament and im afraid i'll hear the results. So if i buy the box office show, can i sky+ the live show? hopefully i can watch it after the gig? if i aint too pissed. Anyone know?

You can sky+ the live show, as long as you brought the PPV with your remote through the telly, rather than by ringing them up.

Good news-Sky are showing Ward v Abraham and Hopkins v Pascal 2.

Bad news-they are both delayed on the sunday mornings at 11am. Perfect if you aren't one for stopping up till 5 or 6am for fights though.

The problem with Pacquiao now, is that unless something truly remarkable happens, every fight he has (bar with Mayweather) is a foregone conclusion before they step in the ring. It's a bit of a shame really-like when Undertaker fights anyone big at Wrestlemania. You know it'll be a good fight, but there is only ever going to be one winner so it kind of takes away a bit of the enjoyment.

That being said I'm still looking forward to the event as a whole, and any fight the Pacman has is good to watch. He wins by about as unanimous a decision as you can get, I think Mosley might nick a round or two but that's it.

Elsewhere tonight, Prizefighter looks a bit shit now half the line-up has pulled out, but realistically Gomez and Johnson were never turning up. A bit like when Roddzilla books someone big for 1PW. But it might be alright so I'll sky+ it. The german card on Premier looks better, and it has a decent undercard which is more than can be said for the majority of fights over there.

I'm not totally overjoyed by the decision of Cook as one-day captain. I think he is a top batsman, but like Strauss could fall in to the trap of being too conservative a captain. Admittedly I am basing this purely on his spell as captain in Bangladesh last year where his leading of the side was nothing short of odd at times. And I think in the one-day game, where wickets aren't quite as key as in test matches I think we could see negative field settings, which is a shame as I am all for attacking with the ball.

I'm probably being too harsh on him, and I'll reserve full judgement until I've seen more of his captaincy. I'd have given the job to Rob Key a couple of years back, but that was never going to happen.

A shame Strauss has decided to call it a day completely in limited overs cricket, I thought over the last couple of years he had developed in to everything you want from an opener in ODI cricket-the WC innings against India was a prime example of this. But I suppose somebody has to make way for Cook to play, and Strauss is the obvious one.

I was in the press box for Leicester v Derby last week, and in successive days both james Whittaker and Geoff Miller were up there, and it seems that James Taylor is very, very close to an England call-up. I imagine Bopara is first in line to replace Colly, then we've got Morgan and Taylor next up.

Also Gladstone, Samit Patel is nowhere near being picked for England apparently. He is wayyyy behind the requirement in all 6 of the ECB's fitness drills and 'allegedly' goes in to his parents' post office in Nottingham at the end of every day's play to see them, and walks out with 3 mars bars and 3 cans of coke. So I think he has no interest in getting fit to play.

was there serious talk of RJJ being involved then? that link's the first ive heard of it.

When they first announced it was happening, Eddie Hearn was on Bunce's radio show and said they were trying to get him in. He signed to fight Denis Lebedev instead, which kind of scuppered that. There was all sorts of other names being tossed about such as rahman, or Michael Grant. Yeah they're shit, but they are big names that I'd have paid to have seen in this format. Instead we get Rogan, some bloke who's claim to fame is not throwing a punch in 12 rounds against Vitali, and some scrubs.

Though to be fair, if you think of the line-up we get on a usual Prizefighter of one decent name, and a couple of others you've heard of padded out with bums, then I suppose this is equivalent but with international names.

Global Prizefighter announced for May! Link

Well what a shit line-up that is. After all the talk of RJJ and Rahman, that is the most underwhelming list they could have come up with-and I would have gone if Jones was in it. Safetypin Johnson put up one of the worst 'efforts' in a Heavyweight title fight I've ever seen, and the 'former world champion' is an ex-WBF champ they call 'The white Dutch Sonny Liston'. Rogan and Perez are the only two interesting names in there.

Is ESPN any good for boxing? Recorded Friday Night Fights last night.

Nah, FNF is all they show, and that's only because it's an ESPN show in the States. The news and features segments are pretty good, they discuss all the major boxing news of the week, but for the most part the boxing itself is terrible. You get the odd good fight, but it's all prospect v gatekeeper or journeyman.

Kim Dickens, 45

 

Recently watched the first episode of Treme, which she was in. She was also Joanie Stubbs in Deadwood.

When I saw her in Treme, I did an imdb check to see where I recognised her from (Deadwood, natch) and was amazed that she is 45. She was fit as Joanie the madam and even manages to pull off the 'overwooked chef' look in Treme.

I don't think they're altogether bad, just when they're bad they are horrid.

 

I don't know, the West Indies have been horrid for a very long time now. I don't think this is far off an all time low for them, but at least they seem to have some talented young players. I wonder if it is about time for them to chuck out the deadwood-Sammy, Smith and any seam bowler not named Rampaul or Roach-and start again. I also think Chanderpaul's time is done, as great a player as he has been. But then again, with home series against Pakistan and India coming up, they need anyone with a bit of experience to avoid an absolute mauling.

 

Amazing to think how big a deal it was a decade ago when we beat them here, and then again when smashed them comfortably in the Caribbean back in '04. Tony Cozier is one of my favourite commentators, but every time I hear him now, there's always a bit of sadness and disappointment in his voice. In 60-odd years of watching them he's probably never seen it this bad.

 

In lighter news, India v Australia would be a cracker tomorrow. Winner faces Sri Lanka or England, so I'd probably rather the Aussies win (if we get through of course)

 

actually the winner tomorrow will play pakistan we would get either south africa or new zealand

 

LINK

Bollocks, I knew that. Sat watching them yap on about it all day. God knows how I reached the conclusion we'd be playing the India v Aus winner. Thanks for correcting me.

I don't think they're altogether bad, just when they're bad they are horrid.

I don't know, the West Indies have been horrid for a very long time now. I don't think this is far off an all time low for them, but at least they seem to have some talented young players. I wonder if it is about time for them to chuck out the deadwood-Sammy, Smith and any seam bowler not named Rampaul or Roach-and start again. I also think Chanderpaul's time is done, as great a player as he has been. But then again, with home series against Pakistan and India coming up, they need anyone with a bit of experience to avoid an absolute mauling.

Amazing to think how big a deal it was a decade ago when we beat them here, and then again when smashed them comfortably in the Caribbean back in '04. Tony Cozier is one of my favourite commentators, but every time I hear him now, there's always a bit of sadness and disappointment in his voice. In 60-odd years of watching them he's probably never seen it this bad.

In lighter news, India v Australia should be a cracker tomorrow. Winner faces Sri Lanka or England, so I'd probably rather the Aussies win (if we get through of course)

Also, Klitschko has pulled out of the Chisora fight AGAIN. This is the man who would be fine to fight 2 fights in 6 weeks. Lets re-emphasise this. He has not reinjured himself, this is no new injury, this is the original one.

 

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/41924125/ns/sports/

errrrrrrrr, he's pulling out of the fight to fight Haye instead.

'The Bronze Adonis' Steve Beaton

'Ravishing' Rick Rude

What's wrong with having Belly or Trotty opening? A top 4 of Strauss, Bell, Trott then KP isn't that bad. From being very confident of a good world cup before the Aussie one-dayers, the shambles of the last month with injuries and terrible performances suggests an early exit.

In lighter news, Swanny was found innocent today.

Eoin Morgan, along with our World Cup chances, has been ruled out of the ICC World Cup. Balls.

That's a huge blow. Despite the gash ODI's in Australia, I was still fairly confident of a decent world cup showing. Morgan is such an important player-I don't think a match is ever lost until he is out-that I reckon our slim chances are gone.

Elsewhere, there was an excellent Storyville documentary on BBC4 the other night about Afghanistan's road to qualifying for this World Cup that started down in Division 5 playing the likes of Singapore, japan and Jersey. Some great fish out of water moments as well.

Here's the iplayer link

Botha been doing the Holyfield stuff with fighting in weird and wonderful places across the globe who will give him a license and let him go. I'm sure he was actually meant to be facing Holyfield soon but it got postponed then Holyfield was meant to be using Saturday as a tuneup fight for Brian Nielsen in a month or two. Think that would be unlikely so soon after getting a cut on the eye so you might even end up with Nielsen fighting Botha.

It's already happened, Botha last to Holyfield a year back. Disappointed with Holyfield bottling it on Saturday, the cut was nothing but I guess a no contest is worth the risk over potentially losing and it really being the end of his career. With all the fannying about over this fight, I can't see him fighting brian Nielsen in a month. The cut gives him a perfect excuse to have another 6 months off, re-evaluate, and probably have the fight at the end of the year when he realises he needs the money.

Matthew Hatton is gonna be fighting Saul 'Eoin Morgan' Alvarez, who's about as big a prospect out there at the mo, Golden Boy have a lot riding on him. 5th March in California.

So long Matt, nice knowing you.

What an absolutely fantastic match, well worth getting up for. I thought we would cruise it as long as Morgan stayed in, cos blimey that lad is a bit special, but when him and Yardy went, I thought we had blown it. But top stuff by Woakesy at the death, that six off Tait was quality. Interesting squad selection problem for the one dayers, surely Straussy and Trotty have to come in, but who drops out? Wright seems the obvious one, especially as Collingwood, Trott and KP can make up any excess overs with the ball, but the selectors seem to like him in the limited overs game. I think he's crap, mind. Somebody else will have to go, unless they don't play Trott, which seems very harsh considering his form in both tests and ODI's. And if ever a batsman is suited to opening or coming in at 3 in one dayers, it's him.

But back to today, I'd put that in my top 3 favourite England limited overs finishes, up there with that England win in India in '02 when we looked doomed, and Flintoff turned it on and ending up taking his shirt off after the last wicket, and that one dayer in South Africa in '05 when Kabir Ali bowled a no ball six off the first ball of the last over, then took 3 wickets to finish it in a tie.

Doesnt he (Ruslan) only have Hep B?

Shit, your right, thanks. Here's me getting my illnesses mixed up . Either way, he won't be allowed to fight in the UK with hep b, so it'd have to be in Germany if he fought Haye.

But the point stands about HIV, you can box with it in certain countries, and certain shitty athletic commisions will allow it in the states.