Ricky Hatton’s new trainer has had a few harsh words for him. Specifically, he’s not impressed with the idea of Hatton meeting him half way on his demands for a booze ban:

“The only way is not to drink at all. Don’t meet me halfway - halfway is nothing. You don’t get half a title or half of being the best pound-for-pound fighter.”

Of course this new trainer is none other than Floyd Mayweather Snr, who has a pretty unique take on parenthood. He wants to get Hatton into shape in order to beat the crap out of his own son (that’s right, Floyd Mayweather Jnr). Isn’t your typical dad supposed to stick up for his kid when the other boys are picking on him?


Hatton looks pretty fighting fit for the weekend’s battle with Paulie Malignaggi, but he still won’t fully commit to a puritan lifestyle. And why should he? Maybe it’s not totally professional but you only live your life once. If a man couldn’t enjoy the odd pie and pint it would be a pretty sorry existence.


By all accounts Malignaggi couldn’t punch his way out of a paper bag and suffers from something called ‘brittle’ hands. Sounds like a serious disadvantage for a boxer - and should mean that Hatton may get away with his ‘half-assed’ attitude this time.


But even if it means he doesn’t reach the very top, some of us happen to think that Hatton’s attitude is a breath of fresh air. He’s happy to be a good boxer and enjoy his life at the same time. Is that a crime? Maybe he’s not making the absolute most of his talent, but then again how many of us even do that?

Posted in Boxing, Sportsbook | 5 Comments »

After his rise to the top was suddenly and spectacularly halted by Kiko Martinez last year, Bernard Dunne was trying to get his bid to land a world title back on track on Saturday night. He was taking on Cristian Faccio with more than one eye on a world title shot in the new year. It was all going along very nicely until the 8th round, when a clash of head caused the nasty little nick in the above picture. Rather than walk it off as most real men would probably do - only joking Bernard, don’t hit me - the fight was stopped and went to the scorecards before the scheduled end of the 10 round contest.

Dunne won on points, but in the interests of being fair to customers we’re paying out on Dunne to win in round 7 and on Dunne to win on points. We’re also refunding all other round betting/TKO markets.

On top of that we’re refunding all bets on Faccio, because although the scorecards didn’t look good, he still had a puncher’s chance of knocking out Dunne.

Posted in Boxing, Justice Payouts, Sportsbook | 3 Comments »

Joe Calzaghe’s unbeaten record is on the line again. After 45 fights, some would gladly retire, reflect on their career and stare at their bank balance. Not Joe – however, will he live to regret this decision to take on one of the greatest boxers of all time, Roy Jones Jnr?
(more…)

Posted in Boxing, Sportsbook | 14 Comments »

Jose Mourinho might call them points from the moon. Bernard Dunne called them points for shadowboxing, but whatever you decide to call them there was something amiss about Kenny Egan’s defeat in the Light Heavyweight final. Throughout the boxing tournament there have been several examples of inconsistent judging – poor punches earning a point whilst clean connections mysteriously get missed. Egan was harshly treated to lose by four points. On more than one occasion the Chinese boxer looked to have earned a point simply for being on the receiving end of Egan’s powerful hook.

We’re paying out on Irish boxing hero Kenny Egan as the winner in the Olympic light heavyweight boxing final.* Maybe the neutrals will say the Chinese man deserved to win the bout, but surely the margin and judging in general must come into question.

Admittedly looking through distinctly green-tinted glasses means that my gripes can be dismissed as sour-grapes or being a terrible loser, but the seeds of dubious judging were sown early on in the competition. Paddy Barnes was soundly beaten by Shiming Zou in the light flyweight semi-final, but the fact that he didn’t register a point when in fact he deserved several, left a bitter taste in the mouth, prompting the Belfast man to declare:

They can keep the bronze for all I care. The judges should hang their heads in shame. There’s no doubt I lost the fight by miles but not scoring a point? I’m getting drug tested here. The judges should be getting drug tested. But we’re in China so what do you expect.

It’s not simply a problem affecting the Irish boxers. Many of the bouts were characterised by some unusual awarding of points and it’s not even the first time the judging has been queried with accusations of corruption flying around a recent press conference.

Obviously home advantage is certain to have certain benefits for the athletes involved – that is accepted as the norm, but is it right to question the level of home bias across the Olympics? Some sports involve a definitive goal such as ‘run there fastest‘, ‘throw this furthest‘ or ‘jump as high as you can‘ and the results – technical infringements aside – are clear and unquestionable. Other sports such as amateur boxing, gymnastics and diving are essentially subjective sports, relying on the opinions of a panel of judges to decide the winner.

At these games China have won 51 gold medals. 20 of these have come in events that require judges, with 31 coming in events that have clear-cut conclusion. That’s 39% of China’s gold medals relying on the opinions of judges, with 61% being more straightforward. For the USA, who came second in the medal table with 36 golds, the breakdown is 5.5% of gold medals (2) in events using judges and 94.5% (34) in events not using judges. In the case of Great Britain, the figure is 5% (1) for events with judges opinions required and 95% of golds coming in more objective events. Even Russia, who have a history of success in a number of sports involving judges only accrued 26% of their golds via the subjective events with 74% coming in the more definitive.

Now obviously, there are two ways of viewing this:
(a) China are an emerging athletic force and the breakdown is simply a reflection of their dominance in sports that for years have used judges.

(b) there are darker forces at work.

Hopefully it’s (a) and the integrity of the Games is beyond reproach, but you just can’t help wondering.

*Payout applies to singles only.

Posted in Beijing Olympics 2008, Boxing, Justice Payouts, Sportsbook | 41 Comments »

Calzaghe v Hopkins

Hopkins is too old and Calzaghe is too white, depending on which fighter you want to believe. The Politically Correct movement has yet to get a firm grip on the world of boxing although it’s never been a sport for the overly sensitive. Who really cares what someone said to you during some press conference when he’s now trying to punch you in the face and people are egging him on. The most important thing is to punch him harder and more often than he punches you. You could say boxing gives you a better perspective on life, yeah your boss may be an asshole but at least you don’t have to check for blood when you go pee so a few inappropriate comments such as Hopkins continues to make should be treated as nothing more than part of the show and not allowed to take away from what is set to happen in the ring.

Back to the fight.

Like all good fights there is no clear favourite here. Calzaghe may be odds on in the betting but in a two horse race he’s only expected to win by a nose. Bernard Hopkins, despite his age, is rated by most boxing experts on both sides of the water as being one of the top ten best pound for pound fighters on the planet (using the word planet makes it sound even more impressive) and by some respected voices is as high as number one. There’s always a great deal of subjectivity with these things but there’s no doubting that The Executioner is universally recognised as being one of the best around and the best at light-heavyweight.

Hopkins’ age has never been the issue it probably should have been for two reasons. The first is the incredible condition he keeps himself in, there’s no Hatton like ballooning up between fights for this guy, and the second is his style of fighting. The American is an elusive and tricky customer who is an expert at making his opponent miss. His style doesn’t require the speed and reactions of a twenty year old, instead of trying to dodge punches he leans back, rolls with the shots that do land cleanly, minimising their effect. Thanks to this the forty three year old hasn’t endured a great deal of punishment over his long and illustrious career, so while he may not be as fresh as a daisy he’s certainly fitter than most men ten years his junior.

Which would bring him in to Calzaghe’s age bracket but then Joe is no ordinary thirty-six year old. The Welsh super-middleweight king proved his ability to last the pace when he outclassed and outworked the twenty-eight year old Mikel Kessler over twelve rounds. Hopkins will struggle to keep Calzaghe away for twelve rounds particularly considering the hand speed and high punch rate of the challenger. Age could well be a factor and though we’ve been saying it for a long time now the years may finally start to show in Hopkins’ skills as they do more clearly in his grey beard and balding skull.

Calzaghe is sure to outwork Hopkins and while the criticism that the Welsh fighter has a tendency to slap and cuff may not be completely unfounded, he does throw quick bunches of shots which contain as many good punches as they do slaps. His power may not be devastating but Calzaghe grinds his opponents down and his fists, when in working order, hit hard enough that you’d be hard pressed to find a fighter he’s beaten who says Calzaghe doesn’t bang. Add to this a solid chin, one which has been tested against some hard hitters (Kessler, Lacy and Brewer), and you have to see why the bookies have him as favourite.

It’s not that simple though. Calzaghe has never been in against anyone as clever, tricky and experienced as Hopkins and if he can use his ring intelligence to frustrate Joe then there could be problems. Throwing a punch, particularly a hard swinging punch, that doesn’t land takes more from a man than one which connects because he has to fight to check his momentum after the effort of launching his fist. If Bernard makes Joe miss often enough and Calzaghe is slowed down, even just a little, then Hopkins will be able to pick his shots on the counter attack. A knockout for Hopkins is unlikely and he’ll be happy to do only as much as is necessary to win. If this one is to have an early finish then Calzaghe will be the one to provide it. The older man may struggle to play keep away if a high pace is maintained and targeting the body will test his conditioning further. A Calzaghe knockout should it come will do so after an unrelenting quickfire barrage which results in a tired and dejected Hopkins slumped on the canvas unable, and perhaps unwilling, to get to his feet and carry on. A points decision is likely to be tight and even controversial and the experts fancy Calzaghe’s fitness and ability to make the difference in the crucial late rounds.

As always all we can do right now is take a guess and my guess is Calzaghe on points. Does anyone think differently? If so, tell me where I’m going wrong, I’ll disagree and we’ll find out who’s right on fight night.

Posted in Boxing, Sportsbook | 18 Comments »