Great effort from Brook, he had his moments and back up Golovkin a couple of times but never hurt him. After seeing this guy live I can say he's a master of his art, cuts off every move his opponent makes in ring. Just no getting away from him the only way to force him back is to stand and fight or try and grab and wrestle. Providing he doesn't carry on too long I can genuinely see GGG retiring unbeaten. The only man around for me who could have gone 12 with him and maybe come out on top was ringside enjoying his retirement and new hooter !

Long arms and a body puncher is Liam so it makes sense, I think it was only a one off spar so good for them both you'd think.

Just caught up with the press conf for Brook and have to say i'm almost changing mind again. Triple G looks like he's coming in lighter than usual and he looked a bit bewildered by it all to be honest. He'll never have experienced anything like the o2 so it'll be interesting to see how he handles it. Brook looked cool and calm so you never know.

I wouldn't buy tckts for the Fury fight he's still to explain himself to the peds investigators yet apparently.....

Very much looking forwards to it yes and the prospect of a few more big fights this Autumn. Crolla, AJ, Fury, Klitschko all on the doorstep. Can't be bad and boxing provides a great respite to all things Rovers these days On the fight I only saw one winner but a bit like Gav I started to get drawn into the Brook hype, a fighter I like and rate highly. The other night I watched on of those build up slots on Sky and Brook was eating his 3rd meal of the day and it was only 9.30 am, looked a bit chubby round the gills as well. Shades of Khan there desperately bulking up. Main thing for me though was the clip of sparring it showed between him and Smith. Although he was landing some meaty shots it was clear from that brief bit Smith was picking him off to the body far to easily, something you can't allow GGG to do. Not sure I'd be showing that to my opponent so close to a fight but of course it could have been staged to give Golovkin the wrong idea I suppose. However it made mme think it could be a rather short and painful night for Kell. Triple G nails him in 4 for me although he'll make a fight of it and might have his moments. As we've said before it only takes the main man to have an off night. Stubhub is a bit of a Ticketmaster type thing but seems to be Hearns own private tout agency. It's advertised on his Matchroom website and you can always get tickets on there if your prepared to pay. Also if people have spares or unwanted tickets they'll punt them on for you so there is always a chance of the odd reasonably priced one. We paid twice face value plus 60 quid booking fee on there literally 5 mins after the tickets had gone on sale then amazingly sold out in 5 mins. With the best will in the world I don't know how you can shift 10k tickets in 5 mins unless huge blocks are going to ticket agencies. I've a lot of time for Eddie Hearn as a prompter but this particular method stinks sadly but after trying the conventional route a few times in the past it was just easier to get them this way.

Seems the Fury's are now officially ducking this fight because Klitschko is taking them to court to try and force the rematch. If successful and they still don't come to the table Fury will be stripped and that opens the door to AJ or more likely David Haye in Germany again. Something very strange in regards to Fury in all this and like Billy Jo Saunders he seems to have won the belts then gone about doing everything possible to hold on to them as long as possible without fighting. Doesn't reflect well on him considering he's still to answer on a doping allegation either.

Nowhere am I saying it is am I ? Just saying the new lower camera angle might pick it up where as the ones pointing downwards from the top of the JW didn't. Probably nowt to do with that anyway they've probably installed it on an angle and ballsed it up. Or done it on purpose so they can say the riverside is sinking we'll have to shut it (conspiracy alert)

Considering some of the robust full backs and what they could get away with you can understand how some went into their shell a bit. Sellars being about 5'1" and 9 stone wet through he couldn't shoulder barge these guys out of the way and he had really quick feet but no pace so could get away from them. Class act he was and a bit like Rhodes he just wasn't an aggressive player but he wasn't really a wallflower either he snapped a few tackles from behind in regularly.

Seem to think Howard might have been one of the first black players to turn out for Rovers first team ? I certainly remember some guff around at the that we never signed black lads so I think that's why the BBE gave Gayle such a rousing welcome the first time he stepped on Ewood. Haft time penalty comp if I recall and the crowd had a crack with him and he loved it and it went from there. Class act on the pitch on his day and a real fav of my from youth, proper cult hero the likes of which don't seem to pop up much these days. Maverick off the pitch driving around in his XR2 with long leather jacket and rappers hat on, allegedly put a few quid into one or two local raves that popped up in a farmers field or barn overnight Shame he won't accept his MBE because his work with deprived kids down the years fully deserves it but you can understand his reasoning. Maybe they ought to drop the Empire bit in modern times a call it something else ?

Yes not long after the FMC and the Mackay era was just getting going. Sticks in memory as we thrashed Derby, Garner was on form, hot day and biggest crowd of the season boosted by 3k away fans. We hadn't much to play for but it was to be the start of some good times as DM breathed new life into Rovers. We'll never relive the Jack era nor the stable Prem club era after that probably but hopefully some times like those under Mackay might be doable again in the distant future. It will only ever be after these lot have gone and someone comes in to clean up the mess though. Camera was on the Riverside back then as well for some of those good times, because it was closed

The stands always had character all of it's own even though it might look a bit odd now. To think they were considering rebuilding it with something a bit more modern not long ago, now the talk is of closing it Is that top pic v Derby around Easter time late 80's ? If so I was in there.

Not seen it but Rovers pitch does slope one way and maybe the higher up cameras in the JW didn't pick that up ? Anyway as some will remember the old £ barometer they used to have on the side of the pitch for the Riverside rebuilding fund and the fact Jack donated the steel for it at cost or probably less I say SAVE THE RIVERSIDE ! Sod Venkys and their camera angles, sod whatever anyone watching thinks and sod pen pushing clueless number crunchers. Everybody go and sit in there. From what I remember as a kid it was always the busiest stand anyway before it was all seated.

Hardly rocket science that bits of the JW looked a bit fuller after the family stand was relocated across their and others had to move in that particular stand.

Not seen it myself and I won't bother watching it but it believe Ward was in another boring fight last night. Never quite got the big deal about this guy. Yes I know he's technically quite good in terms of being a defensive fighter and picking his scoring shots but I've always thought he was a bit of a spoiler. Like an American journo said 'most Americans if Ward was fighting in their back yard would close the curtains'. Me too, hope Kovalev nails him but I see that being similar to the Froch fight and Ward bores his way to another decision.

We don't know that though do we ? Maybe the order came through from India move the gantry then Cheston had to find ways of saving money just to carry out the orders from above ? Like I said everything that happens now is part of the bigger picture and as for jobs well the tunnel still exists and the people in the closed section were still needed so if it wasn't closed they'd exist.

It all ties in though BlooBoy for example closing a section of the ground which has at least 5/600 hundred people in it every match to save money and presumably laying off the staff in there. Then redirecting those savings into needlessly a new camera gantry on a whim from those in India. Come on .............

The argument about the gantry is that it was planned before ST's went on sale so it was happening anyway before the realisation of a fair reduction in sales. Maybe it should've been shelved once they realised, work only started a couple of weeks ago.

That's next on the agenda according to Cheston, he's been on the roof you know ! All about priorities with these lot though isn't it. Arse about tit priorities.

The players come out of the tunnel regardless of who's in the ground. Maybe they'll shut that next and they can just come in through the gates in the corner of the JW ? BBE. There is no justification for wasting money on the TV gantry whatsoever during these tight times. Like has been said that's a few peoples wages, people who are still needed. Maybe they want one of those electronic advert hoardings I heard that was in the pipeline so possibly it can only be at the JW side but still we are hardly on the box anyway. This kind of stuff is what you do when you get back to the Prem ! We know the real reason is it's just a whim from owners who employ an accountant to cut costs at ground level then completely wipe it out by wasting it on something pointless. A classic example if there ever was one of what we are up against with these fools and why we will never move forwards under them, ever !

Except these plans for the gantry were in motion way before ST's were on sale !

Should have been done years ago when we had spare money to do it. No sense whatsoever wasting money we haven't got now doing it just so a set of idiotic gimps in India can see the main stand. You do realise people are getting laid off right ? How much wages has that cost ?

80 mins ? I presume you mean that's for the post match brew in the car sat in traffic, this is the riverside we're on about

Whilst chaos ensues in there on Sat as thousands jostle for the best available seats left a lone apologist turns up. He finds his seat he's sat on for nearly two generations not obstructed but removed completely along with those either side. A metal pole and stabilisers are now bolted to the step where his seat once sat. Shrugging his shoulders he sighs "oh it's a shame they've had to reconstruct it like this so they can see from India. They didn't mean it it's all an innocent mistake the Venkys just have no understanding of the English scaffolding system, they've been duped again" Off he shuffles to sit on a step elsewhere. No sign of a riot here, who is this mystery guy ?

Rhetorical question.

But surely with cost cutting measures in abundance we can't afford this. Factor in Cheston said ticket money goes towards running costs of the ground and that's going to take a big blow because of the stayaways. Then they lay some off who've worked there for years then hey presto they spend money on something as pointless as this. So lack of income doesn't apply to stupid whims then ?