1) This Saturday night is a busy one in the world of boxing. In Brooklyn, Adrian Broner faces Mikey Garcia; here’s Steve Farhood analysing the former, and here’s the latter’s final workout before the fight. Meanwhile, in Belfast, Carl Frampton returns from the first loss of his career against Andrés Gutiérrez. Here’s the Jackal opening up to Showtime’s Mark Kriegel and here’s an interview with babyfaced 24-1-0, 20 kayo Gutiérrez.
2) If you’re missing the Tour de France then why not re-live it with our World Cup-style montage. Oh, and here’s a nun descending like a boss.
3) Competition time. Spot the odd one out: Messi, Ronaldinho, Maradona, Inamoto. Give up? Well, here they all are before they were “stars” – along with various others, one of them a young Roberto Carlos with hair. And here are Buffon, Neymar, Xavi and more. A fresh-faced Maradona made a big impression on the 1979 World Youth Tournament, tormenting defences and scoring a tidy free-kick in the final to wrap up the Argentina’s triumph.
4) Michael Phelps tested his speed in the water against a great white shark (sort of) last week, which got us thinking about ridiculous human versus beast match-ups, all of which are ethically contentious at best and none of which we condone. Here’s South African rugby flyer Bryan Habana taking on a cheetah, gymnast Marshall Erwin attempting to out-hang an orangutan, legendary eater Takeru Kobayashi racing a massive bear through a plate of hot dogs, and who can forget the former Olympic 200m champion Shawn Crawford out-sprinting a giraffe (only to be put in his place moments later by a zebra).
5) The evolution of BMX racing, from way back when to now:
Highlights from last week’s blog
1) A message from Fred Trueman to congratulate Dennis Lillee at passing 300 wickets and breaking the world record. Recorded in a pub in Yorkshire. Fred manages to make his message to Dennis all about himself.
2) In the one-off Test match this week in Colombo between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe’s Tarisai Musakanda combined with Malcolm Waller for a spectacular run out of Dilruwan Perera. One of the stars of England’s Cricket World Cup win was Sarah Taylor, on her return to the side following a year out of the game. Here’s her world-class stumping to dismiss Trisha Chetty, and here she is at her best with a catch a few years ago against Australia.
3) Ultimate frisbee action: Michael Matthis from the “Austin Sol” putting on the afterburners for 70 odd metres to catch the disc in the end zone in the American Ultimate Disc League:
4) Helen Dorniden’s incredible 2008 600m race.
5) And finally, rugby league’s Rob Burrow announced his retirement this week. Here’s a great Grand Final try and here he is in a catchweight contest.
Spotters’ badges: YorkerBouncer, TheCedarRoom, BlackCaeser, LeeWall.
