The ferocious Jamaican puncher delivered a knockout blow to his reputation by quitting in the seventh round of his world title fight against Vasyl LomachenkoThe ugliest word in boxing is “quit”. Muhammad Ali wouldn’t do it when he fought all the way to the finish with a broken jaw against Ken Norton.Danny Williams wouldn’t do it when he knocked out Mark Potter with a dislocated right arm. Audley Harrison, often derided, came from behind nursing an injured shoulder to knock out Michael Sprott in the final round. Don’t even start with the bare-knuckle boys. Related: Ken Norton: a jaw-breakingly good fighter and myth buster | Kevin Mitchell Related: Orlando Cruz stopped by Terry Flanagan in WBO lightweight title fight Related:...
The San Francisco 49ers have been terrible this season but their controversial quarterback is close to his best as free agency loomsColin Kaepernick is probably not going to be the San Francisco 49ers quarterback next season. This has less to do with his refusal to stand for the national anthem and more to do with the fact he will be a free agent this winter and the Niners need to find themselves a quarterback around whom they can build.But he should be somebody’s quarterback in 2017. In a league filled with retreads, flops and never-really-were’s surely there is a place for a 29-year-old near Super Bowl winner who can beat teams with both his arm and legs. In what has...
If the USMNT coach really wants to make an impact on US soccer a second time around, he must look at the problems inherent in the American gameBruce Arena, the Brooklyn-born, no-nonsense manager who once elevated USA as high as fourth in the Fifa rankings, will return to a seat he once occupied for eight years. Between 1998 and 2006, the 65-year-old collected 71 wins for the US national team – including a memorable run to the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals – and became the most successful coach in the history of the national team. He has also proved himself on the domestic stage, winning five MLS Cups with LA Galaxy and DC United. Related: Bruce Arena's in-tray: the key...
This week’s roundup also features NFL missed kicks, NBA circus shots, Neath v South Africa and Ron Burgundy watching the World Series1) This weekend sees a full programme of rugby union internationals. On Friday night, Samoa play Canada, as good an excuse as any for some Brian ‘The Chiropractor’ Lima. Elsewhere, Argentina visit Twickenham – so here they are enjoying a set-to with Wales in 1999 - and South Africa visit Wales – so here they are enjoying the Battle of the Gnoll in 1994. Continue reading...
Players across the league are missing kicks they should make with ease. Has an infamous blooper from last season got into their heads?The number must be an anomaly, one of those statistical improbabilities that will forever glare strange in the record books, because what other explanation can there be? Why else would NFL kickers suddenly miss a collective 12 extra-points on a single day as they did last Sunday? Never before had something like this happened, not even after the league moved the ball back from the two- to the 15-yard line in 2015. What made this weekend different from al the others before it?“It was a coincidence,” former NFL kicker Michael Husted told the Guardian on Tuesday. Related: Why...