The heavyweight’s comments after his loss to Tyson Fury are best euphemised as misjudged – but he is not the first boxer to be pilloried for offering up a bizarre excuseCan anyone confirm whether there’s a possibility Deontay Wilder may have suffered a bump to the head of late? However outlandish that theory might initially seem, it is one we have to work on after the heavyweight addressed the circumstances of his loss to Tyson Fury in Las Vegas on Saturday night in an interview best euphemised as misjudged.According to Wilder, whose team threw in the towel in the seventh round, he has an entirely understandable excuse. “He didn’t hurt me at all,” this ran. “But the simple fact is...
This week’s roundup also features Fury v Wilder highlights, Tony Hibbert scoring and a wind-assisted long-range kick1) Chelsea face Bayern Munich in the Champions League next week, a fixture which immediately recalls this classic final in 2012. Bayern got lukewarm revenge in the 2013 Super Cup, as Pep’s Bayern beat José’s Chelsea on penalties. Let’s not forget the brilliant quarter-final first leg in 2004-05, which ended up 4-2 to the Blues. Chelsea would go on to win the tie 6-5 on aggregate, before going out to Luis García and Liverpool’s “ghost goal” in the semis.2) Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury meet again in Vegas this weekend: here’s a quick refresh on what happened last time out. And why not revisit...
As Woods prepares to host the Genesis Invitational, his response to Premier League Golf’s plans faces intense scrutinyThis week’s dreamy narrative is perfectly understandable. Should Tiger Woods, back in his native southern California, secure PGA Tour win No 83 the golf world may run out of Kleenex. Woods has a strangely patchy record at what is now the Genesis Invitational but that doesn’t matter for now; this was the first PGA Tour event he played in, as a 16-year-old in 1992. Earlier, he would visit Riviera Country Club to watch professionals he was merely hoping to emulate.This week provides a wonderful paradox where Woods is concerned. Media duties included tales of a bygone age. There was one encounter between Tiger...
This week’s roundup also features dramatic returns, odd volleys, missed doubles and an NHL brawl for the ages1) If Alassane Pléa meant this goal for Gladbach against Mainz he’s a creative genius. Paul Scholes has scored a similar-looking goal, mind, not that he meant it. Pléa’s ingenuity reminded us a bit of Thierry Henry’s no-look pass against Middlesbrough. And while we’re on the subject of Henry, he’s still got it, you know.2) In the Sydney Sevens, Spain’s Francisco Hernández abandons treatment on the touchline for a nasty cut to make a try-stopping tackle … in the 13th-place play-off. There was a less noble return to the field for another Spaniard in La Liga 2. Fuenlabrada’s Cristóbal Márquez was given a...
A crucial part of Bryant’s story is upwards of 1,000 more missed shot attempts than any other NBA player in historyOne regular season MVP award, two Olympic gold medals, three consecutive championships, four All-Star MVP awards, five championships in total. In the last couple of days we’ve seen these numbers in the papers, heard them on the news bulletins. And others too, 18 consecutive All Star appearances, 20 years with the Lakers, 39,283 career points, 57,278 career minutes, 122 40-point games, 25 50-point games, six 60-point games, one 81-point game. Caught short by the suddenness of his death, journalists used the stats to underpin their first sketches of Kobe Bryant’s life, a shorthand to capture something of the magnitude of...