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Archives for October 2010

Brave Chisora in too deep

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Ben Dirs | 08:05 UK time, Friday, 22 October 2010

Boxers are like stain removal products: they promise the earth but more often than not fail to deliver. Which is why you have got to give it up for Dereck Chisora, the unheralded British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion .

Leaving aside the fact the man from Finchley, North London should not be anywhere near a world title shot - he is ranked in the top 15 by only one of the four main governing bodies, 10th by the WBO, and has had only 14 professional fights - he has demonstrated tremendous bravery in signing up for the match, as Klitschko conceded.

"I have to give respect to Dereck Chisora, he took the challenge and showed courage," said the 34-year-old Ukrainian, who has and has not been beaten for six years.

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Munroe a modern Rocky

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Ben Dirs | 13:06 UK time, Thursday, 21 October 2010

There is a common misconception that any boxer who fights for a world title must have a fair few quid already, a fallacy not even - debt collecting by day, fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world by night - could erase.

People who saw Rocky thought it was a fairytale, which of course it was, but it was a one that contained a healthy dose of realism. Just ask Rendall Munroe.

Leicester fighter Munroe challenges Toshiaki Nishioka for the WBC super-bantamweight title in Tokyo on Sunday, having taken a nine-week, unpaid sabbatical from his day job as a binman. But win or lose in Japan, Munroe says he will return to his round.

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Cipriani: a rebel with a cause?

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Ben Dirs | 10:07 UK time, Monday, 11 October 2010

Some might think it entirely appropriate that to join a team dubbed the . Celebrity rugby player, isn't he? Likes a glamour puss, a night on the town, scrapping with his team-mates, getting up the nose of his coach. All in all a bit of a wrong 'un. All in all a bit of a rebel.

Or you could view it another way: a rare talent - all too rare as far as English rugby is concerned - fleeing the stifling confines of the European game, hoping to flower in more enlightened climes. Misguided at times but misunderstood, another lavishly-gifted English sportsman viewed with suspicion, whose face doesn't fit.

Cipriani is one of English rugby union's few crossover stars, yet the man himself is something of a mystery - and has been since the time he was axed by a twitchy England coach before he had even made his international debut.

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