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In all of my years of taking a casual interest in boxing - of watching the odd title fight and taking a fleeting glance at Friday fight night when I was craftily looking for porn - I think the only other fighter I've seen who was so superior to his peers and as phenomenal as Manny Pacquiao was the first incarnation of Mike Tyson from the mid to late 80's who destroyed his way to the top of the heavyweight division before developing a taste for the ole' snorting of the cocaine and the raping of the women.

Last night's fight was really very one sided. An eleven and half round fight, but Cotto's title, defenses and much of his dignity had been stripped away from him after about 5 minutes. Thank the laaard for the casual fans' license to be as fickle as he chooses - because when Manny gets round to fighting Floyd Mayweather I'll be back in the wee Filipino's corner.

He might not want me there to be sure, but I'll be there anyway. I'd make him favourite. I'd make him an even money shot against David Haye as it goes, but I think it's best for all concerned that I don't bet on boxing again. As it goes, I've just received Tooko's dossier back from the translators - Manny in 12 it advised.

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Labels: Betting, Sport

It's always the f*cking way isn't it? You bet an Irish barman £100 that Arsenal will finish above Manchester United in the Premier League and Robin Van Persie is immediately nobbled by an Italian.

Is it not about time we called time on international football? Does anyone really give a hoot about the World Cup any more? No..it's rubbish. Surely it's about time it was devolved to the amateur game and club football was free from this irritating diversion.

Back in the day the World Cup was something different. Exotic even, especially when it was held in South America. The poor technology of those days added to its allure. The commentators even sounded thousands of miles away. It was an opportunity to see footballers from all over the globe when the globe was oh so much bigger, 'specially the Brazilians in their famous yellow kit on a colour TV for the first time, it was magical stuff, but those days have passed.

All those players are playing in our domestic game now and technology has made the world oh so much smaller. The Champions League is the highest level of football as we speak. The World Cup has become redundant.

Pointless international friendlies clearly only exist now to reduce Arsenal's chances of winning trophies. Robin Van Persie is always odds on to snap a bone or two in these games. Ferguson's probably been on the blower to the Italians, sat in a leather chair in a big room in an underwater city, stroking a white cat and demanded our man be taken care of. It's a f*cking conspiracy.

Labels: Football

I've just been handed a dossier on this fight by my chief of boxing "Tooko" - a Mexican chihuahua - who has forgotten more about the sport than I have ever known.

It makes for very interesting reading indeed. Or, I assume it does, it's in Spanish so I don't understand a word of it. But while I wait to run it through the translator, let's discuss what we know about this fight and possible outcomes.

Young Cotto is the bigger man - huge even - a natural Welterweight, not Valuev/Haye huge, but still significantly bigger. So big Pacquiao even stated in an interview a while back that he would not fight at Welterweight as Cotto would be too strong for him.

With only one loss on his record - to Antonio Margarito who may just have had a horse shoe in his glove or at least had his fists caked in plaster of paris as they were when he fought Shane Mosley and received a year suspension as a consequence - Cotto may well actually in all probability be favourite for this fight.

Pacquiao is the best pound for pound boxer in the galaxy, lightning fast and a nice chap to boot. Floyd Mayweather may have something to say about that, but he's such a prat I think we can give the decision to Manny. But "pound-for-pound" is the operative phrase here - as you move up the weights there are always going to be some dudes who are just too big no matter how fast you are.

Nonetheless, the betting is heavily skewed in favour of the cockfighting promoter from the Philipines because of his status, so we can dismiss these prices as casual punters lumping on Pacquiao because they probably haven't heard of Cotto and have assumed this will be an easy one.

From what I can tell, opinion amongst those who know, is divided and Cotto should be something like evens, possibly 6/5 - but certainly not the 21/10 currently on offer. A good big one always beats a good small one - except if the fight is under a circus tent - and Miguel is a very good "big one."

Hopefully his encounter with Margarito's horseshoes hasn't damaged our man, but this disparity in the wagering alone demands a punt on Cotto, so unless Tooko's dossier tells me other wise I'm going to have a few shillings on a Cotto win and a few shillings more on a late stoppage for the man from Puerto Rico - Rounds 9, 10, 11 and 12 at 46.0, 46.0, 48.0 and 60.0. I'm in the mood to go against the grain.


Breaking news**

Not breaking news really, just something I've read. Manny Pacquiao will be performing at Mandalay Bay after the fight!! Crazyness. He's quite the amateur Sinatra apparently and will regale his audience with 13 songs. Call me over critical, but might young Manny be taking this fight a little too lightly if he thinks he can spin over to Mandalay Bay for a sing song afterwards? For one thing he's assuming his mouth is going to work. I'm even more confident of a Cotto win now.

Labels: Betting, Sport

Peter Mandelson is to become the Government's Minister for Information. A fantastic appointment...I can't think of a more honest and scrupulous man to keep us all in the dark sell the Government's message? Actually people, I can think of one person.

Labels: Nonsense, Politics

On the Daily Politics yesterday the Sun's Political editor Tom Newton Dunn was invited to explain his newspaper's approach to Gordon Brown's missive mishaps. Sat next to him was Labour minister Phil Woolas, invited to argue Brown's case.

Amusingly, throughout the entire show, Tom Newton Dunn referred to Phil Woolas as "Andy." Tee hee. I'm giggling as I type this. Bless them for trying, but you always knew the Sun were punching above their weight attempting to score points on matters of literacy, insensitivity and attention to detail.

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Labels: Politics