Friday 17 March 2017

Warrington Wolves: The Nearly Men of Rugby League



Warrington's start to the 2017/18 season hasn't been great to say the least.

Last season's League Leaders Shield winners have started their campaign with a horrendous five losing streak, having lost Catalans, Castleford, Salford, Wigan and Leigh. They have subsequently been pinned to the bottom of the Super League table.

It's a far cry from a side that many would usually consider as a title challenger and whilst there have been notable injures for Tony Smith's side, such as second row Ben Currie, fullback Stefan Ratchford and prop Chris Hill, there seems to be genuine sense of worry, anger and confusion at the Wire's start to the season and what it may mean come the end of July.



Now, Warrington fans should probably look at the rest of the season and think you know what we've still got the chance to get 36 points and climb up the table into the top eight.

Well, it doesn't seem that way.

Fans have been split in what their opinion of their club's current standing, with some very critical of Tony Smith, some in the middle and others embarrassed at the lack of support for the team and the manager who has transformed the club since his arrival on 5th March 2009.




Smith himself is optimistic that his side's futures will turn around and said after the 22-8 defeat to Leigh "There was an amount of self-inflicted pain again. My players are trying hard but just coming up with wrong options and it's hurting us."

 "Once we start making better decisions, we will come out the other side and get on a roll. "We will re-group. We'll get in tomorrow into some hard work and fix it up. We'll have Stef Ratchford back next week but we've got to get some the people who are already out there back in their best form."

What all Wire fans can agree on is that it's baffling how they've started so poorly after they beat Australia's Brisbane Broncos 27-18 in the World Cup Series.



It seemed that Warrington were finally going to take the step to break the glass ceiling and become Super League's top club but indeed they've been set to the bottom of the table whilst World champs Wigan and surprise package Castleford have emerged as the early title contenders.

However, this problem of Warrington cracking under pressure has only transitioned from the Grand Final into the regular Super League season.

Warrington lost back-to-back Grand Finals in 2012 and 2013 to Leeds and Wigan, respectively, and on both occasions were so close to winning their first league title since 1955.

They also lost the 2016 final to Wigan, with many considering it a 'bottle-job' as Smith's side leading 16-6 at halftime.



They also lost last season's Challenge Cup final 12-10 to Hull FC,with hooker Danny Houghton preventing a late-minute Ben Currie try to give the Yorkshire side their first-ever Wembley Challenge Cup victory.


Now all of this isn't to simply list all of Warrington's failures and just sign off.

No, I've done this to sate that Warrington fans maybe shouldn't be that surprised at their recent run of form when they look at previous occasions when they've had the opportunity to clinch a goal pass them by, with the Grand Final being the particular thorn in their side.

What has happened to every good team in Sporting history? They get found out. Once this happens, the club must make tactical and/or managerial changes or ultimately go downhill.

Getting rid of Tony Smith isn't the answer, in my opinion at least, but refining the basics is.

Who knows, this may all just be a blip in form and Warrington will find their form and climb up the league table into a more respectable position.

Wire fans will certainly hope so as I'm sure they'd rather be known as the nearly men of Rugby League than the team that's rapidly plummeting down Rugby League.





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Sunday 5 March 2017

Haye vs Bellew Review



Tony Bellew beats David Haye via 11th round Knockout

 Tony Bellew produced a shock 11th round win over David Haye at the 02 Arena in London.

The WBC Cruiserweight champ was the underdog going into the fight as it was his first venture up to heavyweight but he pounced on Haye as the former heavyweight champion suffered an Achilles injury in the sixth round.

Bellew took over the fight after the fourth round, the round in which he predicted Haye to 'gas out' in, and the Evertonian got a nine count when he dropped Haye.

The finish came when Haye was literally knocked out of the ring after Bellew landed a serious of sharp jabs, thus leading to Haye's corner throwing in the towel.

After the fight, the two embraced in a mutual respect which wasn't excepted due to the intense and controversial build-up to the fight.




Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Bellew said "He's probably the hardest puncher in the world, and he's so quick early on, he's like a sprinter. He can really hit but he can also take a few himself."

He added "In my eyes I've beaten the best cruiserweight this country has ever produced and one of the best heavyweights. I am honoured to fight in the same ring as him. I've looked up to him. He made the same mistake everybody else does. He underestimated me. Watch me on tape and I'm terrible but in the ring I'm harder to hit than you think."

 Haye talked about his injury to 5 Live and said that "The ankle was just one of those things. The better man won on the night."

 Bellew suffered an injury of his own in the fight, a broken hand in the second or third round, and described it as the size of a small bowling ball.

 So what next for both fighters?

 For Haye, he may have to retire or look to rebuild his in-ring reputation as quickly as possible. Although he battled through his Achilles injury, many will still say that he lost that to a natural cruiserweight.  

 The BBBofC (British Boxing Board of Control) will be looking into some of Haye's comments in the build-up, in which he said that he was going to beat Bellew into a coma.

 For Bellew, the option of fighting WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder is there after his promoter, Eddie Hearn said "If you beat Haye, who professes to be one of the best heavyweights in the world, then Deontay Wilder or Joseph Parker - why not?.""People have been writing him off for his whole career."   

Bellew himself called out Wilder after the fight, saying "You know what I want next? Deontay Wilder, the Bronze Bomber, I want you boy. I'm just thinking I maybe I have one more night left,"

 Even Dillian Whyte has called out Bellew for a potential WBC heavyweight eliminator between the two! 
So it's clear that Bellew has a good number of options for his next fight. Wheter he'll do so well in his second heavyweight fight remains to be seen.









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UFC 209 Review



The legacy of UFC 209 might be a card that it's best fight ripped from underneath it but it proved to be an interesting card with a late cancellation just a day before the event and one very surprising result on the main card. Regards of all that, here is my review of UFC 209.





Alistair Overeem defeated Mark Hunt via third-round Knockout (knees)

 Going into this fight, Overeem was the underdog as Hunt had survived three rounds with a boosted Brock Lesnar.

Overeem made everyone forget about his embarrassing claim at UFC 203 that heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic had tapped during their fight by taking out Hunt with a serious of brutal kness in the third round.

This becomes even more shocking when UFC President Dana White showed up to Overeem's post-fight press conference and said that the former heavyweight contender had been rushed to hospital with food poisoning and given injections in order to compete in the Octagon against Hunt.

For Hunt, it's very unclear if he will continue to fight in the UFC after the UFC pushed to dismiss the New Zealander's lawsuit. He also left the Octagon without doing a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan and despite saying on Instagram that he's suffered a broken tibia, people shouldn't hold their breath over Hunt returning to fighting anytime soon.





Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson cancelled due to Khabib being hospitalised

The most looked forward to fight of the night was unfortunately cancelled when Khabib Nurmagomedov was taken to hospital after falling ill and didn't weigh in for his co-main event interim Lightweight championship fight with Tony Ferguson. The Russian lost out on $500,000 but was thankfully released from hospital shortly after.

Tony Ferguson was gutted but humble in wishing Khabib a speedy recovery. Whether the pair will be booked to fight for the fourth bloody time or Ferguson will get the title fight when McGregor returns are both pleasable scenarios that Dana will have to ponder.


Tyron Woodley defeats Stephen Thompson via majority decision (48-47, 47-47, 48-47) and retains his Welterweight Championship

Tyron Woodley (now 17-3-1 MMA, 7- 2-1 UFC) retained the Welterweight title with a majority decision over Stephen Thompson (now 13-2-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC).

However, the fight was nothing like their first meeting that was named 'Fight of the Night' at UFC 205.

The first three rounds were uneventful as both fighters didn't want to commit in fear of getting caught by a quick punch or takedown.

Woodley was criticsed for being in a clinch for the majority of the fight and only coming to live in the final two rounds where he landed a takedown and ventured with some combos. Thompson put in a solid performance and in my opinion deserved to win the fight by decision.




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Saturday 4 March 2017

Haye vs Bellew Preview



So here we are.

The biggest Boxing fight of 2017 so far, in terms of media coverage it seems, and it's between two fighters who many wouldn't have predicted to clash had it not been for Tony Bellew's callout of David Haye after his first defence of his WBC Cruiserweight title against BJ Flores back in October of last year.



It's definitely a contest that has been set up due to the interest in whether or not the verbal sparring between the Evertonian and the former Heavyweight champion has a real edge to it. Here are some of their comments on one and other:

 "I don't like the person he is. The stories aren't good, I've seen him reject children who wanted pictures" - Tony Bellew.

"I've had a fight where I've wanted to cave someone's skull in like this, I really want to hurt this guy" - David Haye.

"This is a man who chooses to spend his Christmas and down time partying with strangers in Miami rather than be at home with his children" - Tony Bellew.

"This isn't about his career, his life is on the line" - David Haye.

Big talk indeed.

 They say that talk sells fights and if that's anything to go by, this should make all involved a healthy amount of dosh.

This is more to this fight than just the trash talk though.

Haye is looking to re-establish himself in the Heavyweight division after he beat Dereck Chisora for the WBO International Heavyweight title back in July 2012 and subsequently took a 42 month break from Boxing.

He has said that a fight with IBF Heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua will be on the cards, that is if he can beat Bellew.

This is also Bellew's first venture into the Heavyweight division and weighting in at 213 pounds (15 stone and 3 pounds), 'Bomber' was a stone lighter than his oppoent at yesterday's weight ins.

Commenting on Bellew's first-ever Heavyweight weigh-in, Haye said "Just look at him, he doesn't look like an athlete. Nine out of 10 people in the street have a better physique than he does. He's made heavyweight by eating a load of pies, I've made weight with methodical eating and training."

 Bellew returned fire and stated "I thought he'd be lighter, I'm over the moon about his weight. He's going to gas!."

 He added "When the fight goes out of him, fat boy's going to quit. That's my dream scenario. I don't want to flatten him I want him to quit and show his true colours." 

 The heat between these two has been turned up so much they took over Sky's The Gloves Are Off, making Johnny Nelson a bystander.

Whoever you want to win, you can't deny that's it been an unexpected but brilliantly aggressive build-up to what could be one of the fights of the year.  






Tale of the Tape

Name: David Deron Haye

Age: 36 (Born 13th October 1980)

Height: 6 foot 3 inches

 Reach: 78 inches

 Professional Boxing Record: 28 Wins (26 KO), 2 Losses


Name: Anthony Bellew

Age: 34 (Born 30th November 1982)

Height: 6 foot 3 inches

Reach: 74 inches

Professional Boxing Record: 28 Wins (18 KO), 2 Losses and 1 Draw




 Prediction

 When predicting this fight, I've been going back and forth for what feels like a lifetime.

Trying to see how much a factor Bellew's step up the divisions will be, how aggressive both fighters will be and whether this will kill the fight in the early rounds and if David Haye may, how unlikely it may seem, actually 'gas out' as Bellew says.

 I think that many will expect this fight to end within four rounds but I think that it will go into the later rounds.

 As much as I want Bellew to win, I predict David Haye to win by eighth round Knockout.

Whether he'll get Joshua after is a complex scenario that Haye, Eddie Hearn, Joshua and the various Boxing organisations e.g. IBF, WBC etc.

What this means for Bellew is a huge mainstream setback but the saving grace in this predicted scenario is that the Liverpool native is the WBC Cruiserweight champion.




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Thursday 2 March 2017

UFC 209 Preview



After the controversial fallout of UFC 208, fans look to the card that looked the best even a few weeks into 2017, UFC 209.

With a star-studded card, including two title fights as the co and main event, UFC 209 from the T-Mobile Arena in Nevada looks to deliver from what's been an underwhelming start to 2017.

In the three fights to be previewed in this article, the effect on the UFC will be looked at as well as how I think the six fighters will fair on March 4th.

Alistair Overeem vs Mark Hunt (Heavyweight bout)

 Fresh from his loss to Heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, Alistair Overeem (41-15 MMA, 6-4 UFC, 1 No Contest) will be looking to get back on track and begin another winning streak that saw him earn the championship fight back in September.

Standing in his way of doing that is Mark Hunt.

Hunt (12-10-1 MMA, 7-4-1 (1 No Contest) UFC, 1 No Contest) is currently suing the UFC, Dana White and Brock Lesnar for a number of charges, including fraud, in regards to Lesnar's two failed drug tests before and after his UFC 200 win over Hunt, which was later overturned to a no contest.

It's very interesting how this fight shapes up with one guy in Overeem being a sore loser in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, which Rogan handled brilliantly, and the other guy in Hunt is suing the company he works for. Well that's Sport in 2017 for you.

Both need a win but I favour Hunt with his striking and overall mindset heading into this fight that he asked for via Instagram. There's also the added spitualtion that Hunt will get the majority of the purse money if Overeem tests postivite for drugs.
PREDICTION: Hunt wins via unanimous decision.

A post shared by The Super Samoan (@markhuntfighter) on


Mark Hunt promotes his upcoming fight against Alistair Overeem at UFC 209 on Instagram.


Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson (For the Interim Lightweight Championship)

The UFC has been criticised for ignoring fans' desire to make Interim or what are essentially Number 1 Contender fights but in a very rare case, they have gotten what they've asked for.

Undefeated Number 2 ranked Lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov (24-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) will take on Number 2 ranked Tony Ferguson (23-3 MMA, 12-1 UFC) to crown the interim Lightweight champion and get a one-way ticket to being across the Octagon from Conor McGregor later this year.

Both put in dominate performances in their last outings in the cage, Khabib mulling Michael Johnson and Ferguson getting a comfortable unanimous decision over former Lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos, and deserve the chance to be the interim champ.

Going into this fight, the pair clearly have their hardest test in front of them and it seems that it will be a battle that comes down to Khabib's wrestling vs Ferguson's unique striking and various submission techniques.

The smart money says Khabib, even though he's never been in the fourth and fifth round, but Ferguson will surprise many by pushing Khabib to his physical limit and thus in my opinion make it the Fight of the Night.


PREDICTION: Nurmagomedov wins via fourth-round submission.





Tyron Woodley (C) vs Stephen Thompson (For the Welterweight Championship)

Here we are again.

Just under four months ago, as the co-main event of UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, Tyron Woodley (16-3-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) made the first defence of his Welterweight title against the karate-originated Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC).

What a fight it was.

Woodley dominated at times with elbows and strikes, at one point getting Wonderboy in a deep guillotine choke in the fourth round. Thompson stayed in the fight and rocked Woodley with sharp karate kicks to push for another slick KO.

However, this wasn't to be the case.

It was quite rightly named Fight of the Night, earning both men an additional $50,000, but it was too close for the judges in New York to call and a majority draw was announced.

Thompson looked for an immediate rematch as he said Woodley as champion shouldn't be happy with a draw. The champ was looking elsewhere though as he mentioned the recently resigned George Saint-Pierre, Lightweight champion Conor McGregor and Middleweight champion Michael Bisping as options for his next opponent.

The rematch was then announced for March 4th, with Woodley claiming that Wonderboy begged for the fight.

Away from the trash talking, the rematch will see the pair look to smooth over errors they made in the first fight (such as Thompson allowing Woodley so much striking room and Woodley allowing Wonderboy to pen him back into the cage at various points of the fight) but it will live up to it's main event billing.

 Will it be as good as their fight back in November? It will take some doing and may have to go five rounds again, hopefully with a definite winner this time.


PREDICTION: Woodley wins via third-round TKO.

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