After crawling to the bar last night to watch what was billed to be one of the fights of the century like many other hardcore madmen out there, I now wonder whether missing a sunny Sunday was worth it.
Everything looked set for a memorable showdown - Hatton looked in incredible shape, probably due to cutting the fry-ups down to just three a day and, although not the favorite, looked as though he was ready to give Manny a bit of a bruising. But no.
It took just two rounds for Pacquiao to take down one of the best boxers of my lifetime without hardly taking a blow, indeed the only thing the Hitman hit last night was the canvas. This was something I never expected to see and something that left me rather upset. Credit to Pacquiao must be given; the man was brutally clinical and blitzed through Hatton's defences like a hot knife through butter with some punishing blows to the noggin. He looked as surprised as me that he won so easily and was a very gracious fellow in his victory, fair play to him.
But what's next for the Hitman? After being on the end of two consecutive thrashings many are urging him to retire, and in all honesty I think he probably will. The fact of the matter is where can he go from here if he does continue? Hatton is just past his peak now and is extremely unlikely to improve, so getting pounded by Manny and Mayweather at this stage in his career bodes pretty badly for his future unfortunately.
On a brighter note, every cloud has a silver lining. Last night's came in the shape a boxer on the undercard, Joe Murray, who unanimously beat Missael Nunez earlier in the night. The featherweight showed fantastic potential, being tipped by Hatton himself to be the next big thing, and after having the pleasure of interviewing him recently I think he deserves every ounce of success he gets.
So was dragging myself out in the early hours of this morning a waste? Not for me. The opportunity to belt out renditions of "there's only one Ricky Hatton" with a 100 strong drunken rabble before and after the fight has restored my faith in the often fickle fans of sport - even more shocking to see Mancs not jumping on the Pacquiao bandwagon as soon as Hatton went down.
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Monday, 6 April 2009
Club No Longer a Match for Country
As a youngster I had many dreams: pilot, chef, rock star, dinosaur, but most importantly scoring a spectacular injury-time winner in a World Cup final for England. This dream was shared by everyone - young and old - who would happily give two very important body parts to be given even the chance at a friendly against the Papua New Guinea's finest.
Let's fast-forward a decade or so: "Who do you dream about playing football for son?" Nine out of ten times England shall be pushed well back into the queue led by the Manchester Uniteds, Liverpools and LA Galaxies of this world. Yes, it seems like club football has well overtaken its international counterpart in this great nation.
Reasons? Well England has failed to win anything shiny in 43 years, whereas Man U rarely fail to bring home a piece of silverware home each season. Fair enough I suppose, everybody wants to be on the winning team don't they? But it has now came to the situation where club success is at the expense of international glory.
Let's look at last week's games: a friendly against Slovakia and a World Cup qualifier against Ukraine. I very much doubt any of England's stars graced the hallowed ground of Wembley without their club game next Saturday in the forefront of their minds, thus staying firmly in fourth gear to ensure they would not be pooped for their "crucial" league encounter.
David Beckham is the only man who defies this. Say whatever you wish about his desires for publicity and an extra few dollars into a gastronomical bank account, England is his priority. He continues to give 100%, regardless of his role, at the age of 33 when many players hang up their England boots to prolong their club career as soon as they blow out 30 candles.
So what are England's reasons for such a baron patch of glory? Too many foreigners in the Premier League? Lack of opportunities for English youth? Maybe. But I believe that if this current crop want the World Cup or Euro as much as they crave the Champions League or Johnston's Paint Trophy then we have an absolutely fabulous chance bringing something home from South Africa. And releasing another horrible new shirt to celebrate.
Let's fast-forward a decade or so: "Who do you dream about playing football for son?" Nine out of ten times England shall be pushed well back into the queue led by the Manchester Uniteds, Liverpools and LA Galaxies of this world. Yes, it seems like club football has well overtaken its international counterpart in this great nation.
Reasons? Well England has failed to win anything shiny in 43 years, whereas Man U rarely fail to bring home a piece of silverware home each season. Fair enough I suppose, everybody wants to be on the winning team don't they? But it has now came to the situation where club success is at the expense of international glory.
Let's look at last week's games: a friendly against Slovakia and a World Cup qualifier against Ukraine. I very much doubt any of England's stars graced the hallowed ground of Wembley without their club game next Saturday in the forefront of their minds, thus staying firmly in fourth gear to ensure they would not be pooped for their "crucial" league encounter.
David Beckham is the only man who defies this. Say whatever you wish about his desires for publicity and an extra few dollars into a gastronomical bank account, England is his priority. He continues to give 100%, regardless of his role, at the age of 33 when many players hang up their England boots to prolong their club career as soon as they blow out 30 candles.
So what are England's reasons for such a baron patch of glory? Too many foreigners in the Premier League? Lack of opportunities for English youth? Maybe. But I believe that if this current crop want the World Cup or Euro as much as they crave the Champions League or Johnston's Paint Trophy then we have an absolutely fabulous chance bringing something home from South Africa. And releasing another horrible new shirt to celebrate.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Trump or Slump Time for Villa?
So what are Aston Villa this season? The team to demolish the "top-four" oligopoly? The team to bring through England's next generation? The team with a manager who should have taken the England job? Maybe all of these depending on the newspaper you invest in.
That was before the latest slump brought my heavily cautious optimism back down to earth. Others' once welcome conversation starter of: "How about Villa eh? Top four finish, I promise you" has been replaced with the less flattering: "What's happened at the weekend?" Bad times.
One point out of five games is admittedly awful, especially for the highfliers who went 13 games unbeaten earlier in the season, but this is a club which is still expanding, and the talent is yet to be fully nurtured.
Two years ago, when the messiah by the name of Martin O'Neill took up his post at Villa Park, Villa finished the season 11th. Compare this with the present day where pundits are claiming Villa are underachieving for not sitting in fourth and consider that point proven.
Things can only get better for Villa. They are probably the strongest squad since that of the early 1980's who brought the European Cup to the Midlands, and the majority of this young squad are yet to hit their peak. Furthermore, their ability to boast a fully British first-team is almost unrivalled in the Premier League. The current squad is teeming with talent such as Gabby Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, Curtis Davies and Nathan Delfouneso who have the potential to be world-beaters in a few seasons, and in Martin O'Neill and John Robertson they have excellent guidance to ensure this happens. Sorry if you feel the "mighty" Marlon Harewood has been unfairly excluded from that list, but I'm of the growing opinion Prof. Stephen Hawking would make a more effective striker and would like to wholeheartedly thank Wolves for taking him off Villa's hands - if only temporarily.
Behind the scenes things are also looking very bright. The notoriously penny-pinching chairman Doug Ellis, whose minimal investment attitude kept the club afloat but stifled almost any growth, has been replaced by American tycoon Randy Lerner who has taken a totally different approach. Lerner has been different to almost all of the foreign chairmen in the Premier League, leaving the management staff to get on with their jobs uninterrupted and investing significant funds if the right player becomes available. He has also been seen making the tea in his box on matchday which tells you a bit about his character.
Conclusively, through all this talk of a Villa slump there shall be light at the end of the tunnel, a tunnel which may last a season or so. By the end of this one I shall have a nice big smile on my face with anything above sixth and a place in the UEFA Cup. Villa is a club where things can only go better as long as key players and Martin O'Neill are kept on the payroll, and also that the great man realises Nigel Reo-Coker is a worse right-back than I am.
Ta much for reading
x
That was before the latest slump brought my heavily cautious optimism back down to earth. Others' once welcome conversation starter of: "How about Villa eh? Top four finish, I promise you" has been replaced with the less flattering: "What's happened at the weekend?" Bad times.
One point out of five games is admittedly awful, especially for the highfliers who went 13 games unbeaten earlier in the season, but this is a club which is still expanding, and the talent is yet to be fully nurtured.
Two years ago, when the messiah by the name of Martin O'Neill took up his post at Villa Park, Villa finished the season 11th. Compare this with the present day where pundits are claiming Villa are underachieving for not sitting in fourth and consider that point proven.
Things can only get better for Villa. They are probably the strongest squad since that of the early 1980's who brought the European Cup to the Midlands, and the majority of this young squad are yet to hit their peak. Furthermore, their ability to boast a fully British first-team is almost unrivalled in the Premier League. The current squad is teeming with talent such as Gabby Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, Curtis Davies and Nathan Delfouneso who have the potential to be world-beaters in a few seasons, and in Martin O'Neill and John Robertson they have excellent guidance to ensure this happens. Sorry if you feel the "mighty" Marlon Harewood has been unfairly excluded from that list, but I'm of the growing opinion Prof. Stephen Hawking would make a more effective striker and would like to wholeheartedly thank Wolves for taking him off Villa's hands - if only temporarily.
Behind the scenes things are also looking very bright. The notoriously penny-pinching chairman Doug Ellis, whose minimal investment attitude kept the club afloat but stifled almost any growth, has been replaced by American tycoon Randy Lerner who has taken a totally different approach. Lerner has been different to almost all of the foreign chairmen in the Premier League, leaving the management staff to get on with their jobs uninterrupted and investing significant funds if the right player becomes available. He has also been seen making the tea in his box on matchday which tells you a bit about his character.
Conclusively, through all this talk of a Villa slump there shall be light at the end of the tunnel, a tunnel which may last a season or so. By the end of this one I shall have a nice big smile on my face with anything above sixth and a place in the UEFA Cup. Villa is a club where things can only go better as long as key players and Martin O'Neill are kept on the payroll, and also that the great man realises Nigel Reo-Coker is a worse right-back than I am.
Ta much for reading
x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)