1) On Saturday, James DeGale and Chris Eubank Jr will finally settle their longstanding beef: who was made to look sillier by George Groves? On which point, Naseem Hamed delivered a brilliantly withering assessment of Eubank’s performance against Groves, so withering that it required a second stanza; perhaps he was avenging this absolute rinsing he suffered at the hands of Eubank Sr. And for old time’s sake here are Groves and Carl Froch showing how it’s done, and here’s the best of the Prince.
Anthony Joshua brushes off Jarrell Miller testosterone claims before fight
2) To Cardiff, venue for the 65th meeting of Wales and England in the city and a potential Six Nations title decider. There have been some brilliantly bruising classics down the years, such as Wales winning 21-19 in 1981, their centenary year; the infamous ‘Battle of Cardiff’ in 1987 had plenty of old-school biff, which led to the suspension of four England players and a 19-12 Welsh win; England finally snapped a 28-year winless run at the Arms Park in 1991; two years later, Ieuan Evans showed a clean pair of heels to score a memorable try; while in 2007, Wales were staring a wooden spoon in the face, having lost all four of their matches, only for James Hook to inspire them past the old enemy.
3) It seems hard to believe now but, once upon a time, Manchester United were good at football – here they are, celebrating their 2007-08 title win. Come for Nani laughing at Rio Ferdinand and being invited outside for further deliberations; stay for Nani being laughed at by Ronaldo for his peculiar English accent.
4) “Sir” Charles Barkley turns 56 this week, which is as good an excuse as any to celebrate “The Round Mound of Rebound” in all his glory. As a superstar of 1990s NBA and one of the game’s greatest power forwards, here’s Barkley dropping a career-high 56 points on the Golden State Warriors in 1994; his famous game-winner over San Antonio’s David Robinson in the 1993 playoffs; his triple-double in Game 2 of the 1993 NBA Finals against Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls; a compilation of some of his best plays; and fighting Shaquille O’Neal in 1999. And then some gems in retirement: racing the 67-year-old referee Dick Bavetta at the 2007 All-Star Game; getting battered again by Shaq, 18 years after their first scrap; and a golf swing that only a mother could love.
5) This Sunday night sees the Oscars ceremony, and what better way to mark that than by celebrating the art of Francis “Freddie Mercury” Benali? Here he is accidentally calling Aaron Ramsey a naughty word, here he is cooking a “Benali Biryani”, and here he is launching John Fashanu into outer space. And, as a bonus, here’s Fashanu falling off a wall.
6) Continuing the Oscars theme, let’s enjoy the greatest cameo of all-time: Bryan Robson in Jossy’s Giants; and the second-greatest: Bobby Charlton in the same show.
Our favourites from below the line last week
1) Mikkel Hansen is pretty good at handball. Just look at this.
2) The freediver, Stig Pryds, engaging in some absolutely astonishing behaviour.
3) More freediving. Guillaume Nery base jumping at Dean’s Blue Hole, filmed on breath hold by his wife, Julie Gautier; here, they mimic a lunar landing; and here, their latest film, One Breath Around the World.
4) Players to watch in the 2009 GAA season, complete with Gaelic commentary.
Spotters’ Badges: BlackCaeser, GrahamClayton, whobroughtoranges
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