Lomachenko Rigondeaux is finally among us.....possibly the world's best offence against the world's best defence, two double Olympic gold medallists and their combined amateur record is 859 wins 13 defeats (Rigo with 12 of those). Tough one to call but if pressed I would go for Lomachenko, heavier guy and his weight class though Rigo has a reach advantage and a great jab, not to mention a nasty left counter. The Cubans fight so calculated though and can see it being hard for Loma if he tries to draw him out.

Probably make a right pig's ear of it.

All he needs is the chicken to go with those beans and we would have a real player on our hands.

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That's true and I can't really see him toppling Lomachenko but I'm just glad it's happening after all the talk of the past couple of years. Mind you I'm saying that, look at what happened to Chocolatito! I didn't see that coming, for me he won their first fight but he was being soundly beaten in the rematch before the finish.

Rigondeaux vs Lomachenko announced for 7th December, finally it is signed! How that news slipped me by I don't know.

A Mexican fighting in Vegas, however ridiculous the 118-110 score was, I can't say it surprised me. A hard fight to score with GGG coming forward as he does and Canelo landing the cleaner, nastier shots, with a hint of round stealing. Can't remember what round it was, 9 or 10, when they were forehead to forehead, was just brilliant. Delighted I'll get to see it again.

I said it would be an attractive proposition Tyrone, which also stated things other than money. I didn't mention game time. I'm sure he was wholly upset and bewildered as to why he wasn't getting the minutes he wanted. I'm not even sure why Mahoney has been brought up again, yes there are potential parallels that can happen between now and the end of the season, but only 4 games in I'm not sure how relevant it is at this point.

Regarding Mahoney's wages, I did say 'at a guess', I'll assume you skimmed that part. Also nowhere did I say that he wasn't unhappy with not getting first team opportunities, nor decrying anyone that said so! I'll assume you made that bit up in your head. Your post that a quoted said thus: "they both apparently told TM he needn't bother with Harper especially as they feel they have better players in the U23s already which are further on in their development" "And it's not about throwing loads of kids in it's about opportunities for OUR own kids being blocked by a player from another club who is no better....." So between those two comments I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that I or anyone else would think that you think (wordy I know) our youngsters are better than Harper and other loanees. Especially the part where you said "OUR own kids being blocked by a player from another club who is no better", now you can make that statement with more validity than me as you've seen our u23's play more than I have, also Harper too, I mean you would have had to seen him play a couple of times at least to come out with that and I will certainly take that opinion on board. Regarding me "passing judgement" and "spouting uninformed garbage" I said on more than one occasion in my post that I wasn't saying our youngsters aren't good enough, nor that they shouldn't be given game time (providing they are good enough, again I made a point of saying I hadn't seen them enough to pass judgement), which if you read it I was merely coming up with a theory as to why they weren't getting games. Again, I'll assume you skimmed past those bits. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry, Skip.

So it took an 'injury crisis' for Rashford to get his chance, he was obviously considered ready, or at least more so than any of his teammates, or another player would have gotten in. Fair play to him, Rashford is a special talent though. I'm not averse to giving youngsters a chance, not at all, as long as they are ready and good enough. My post was just why I think Mowbray isn't picking them. Im not saying our youngsters arent good enough, I dont watch them often enough to determine that. You say our kids are better than Harper and others, that's great, good for you, however that's not something I would have known, nor was it the point I was trying to make. I'll reiterate what I said above, I have no problem with youngsters being given games, providing they are the best option. My post was just the reason I think they aren't being picked, as I can't really see any other logical reason, other than a decision by the management that they think they're best served where they are for now. I'm aware of the Mahoney situation thanks. Though I would imagine quadrupling his wages (at a guess) and moving to a Premier League club with one of the top young managers in the country would be an attractive proposition for any young professional, regardless of where you are born.

These young players are obviously not considered to be ready yet, they have numerous professional coaches, some of which have played at a very high standard, that work with them every day and I would imagine Mowbray gets regular reports on them too. They are far more informed than most to say player X,Y or Z is ready to step up to the first team. Plus this is League One and we need promotion. Not exactly a scenario I would want to throw a load of kids in, if they aren't ready.

I may be remembering incorrectly but I seem to recall they didn't even announce Wembley as the venue until the semi finals were finished either! Talk about belt and braces!

Could fill a rant thread talking about utter shyte telly like that, utterly astounding that millions of people watch it.

Finished watching series 1 of Gomorrah last night, it was superb. One of the best series I've ever watched, possibly the best. Certainly top 3. It's about the mafia in Naples and brilliantly written and acted. It's bloody and violent but that's the world of the Camorra. It's in Italian with English subtitles (as it's an Italian made show) which further elevates it. I couldn't recommend this highly enough to anyone.

'each take pairs of kicks in an attempt to reduce the pressure on the side taking the second kick in a shootout.' Reduce pressure on the poor little lambs. This is professional sport ffs! Not a children's sports day!

Some cringeworthy moments though for sure. Would love it to become 49-1 of course but I think Conor even knows he's selling wolf tickets.

So then...how much of that was scripted last night? Also I don't know how that will go down with the IRS, Mayweather flaunting a $100 million cheque when he owes them $22 million, and asked for a reprieve til after this fight so he can pay.

I was actually going to post something similar myself, in response to Sukur.

If you're up for playing an old one, then it's got to be 01/02 or 97/98!

Bit over the top, what does he think is going to happen, Conor goes for the double leg or something? Perhaps these are a regular thing in boxing contracts though, maybe after what happened with Holyfield (which I would imagine would have been open to legal proceedings regardless).

I'd rather see McGregor face Tony Ferguson or Max Holloway and preferably Mayweather stay retired. Or even if they fought under mma or kickboxing rules to level the playing field a bit, heck even a hybrid rules fight where each round is under a different set of rules a la Shinya Aoki vs Yuichihiro Nagashima (again to level the playing field and make it more competitive). Perhaps if they have a rematch they will do this. 100% more enthused about GGG vs Canelo.

Crikey, I don't know whether to laugh or cry! The way Conor goes on, there will be plenty more with that view come fight time I suspect. Probably the same people that were bigging up Ronda, there were people legit saying she would beat Mayweather!

Let's face it McGregor has an extremely low chance of winning but the $75 million dollars or so in the bank will soften the blow I'm sure. What is going to wear thin is the inevitable boxing > mma comments that will follow when Mayweather wins. The press conferences will be crazy.

Anybody watching the Putin Interviews? Enjoying it but something really odd about the whole thing that I can't quite put my finger on. Took towards the end of the second episode for Stone to begin with a more 'difficult' line of questioning, with regards to the subject of homosexuality in Russia. Though I don't know which is more disturbing to me at the minute, Putin's plastic surgery or Stone clinging into his thinning hair!

If someone has offered him 8k per week then they need their head (or their eyes) checking. Crackers.