Comrade 86

Seems the most likely outcome. Can't shake this nagging doubt though. Honestly, I think Ngannou will go at him straight from the off. If that the case, it's anyone's fight as both have the power to put anyone's lights out, Ngannou even more so than Anthony. I suppose it could equally be argued that Ngannou will be also be hit harder than ever before, though I'm less confident about that with a man who walks through knees, kicks and elbows for a living and Ngannou turned down $8 million to fight John Jones in the octagon to fight AJ instead which kinda worries me too. Anyway, nuff said now. May the best man win, both fighters avoid injury and the judges be honest and fair. In the final analysis, that's really all that really matters. Enjoy the fight mate.

Gotta say I'm counting down the hours on this one. Whatever anyone has to say, they can't deny that it's Ngannou who has breathed life back into the division which was stale AF until he shook up the natural order. On the Joshua mindset angle, it's already started I see: Also noted this which is quite interesting. Fury turning up to the presser to try and heckle Ngannou and gets owned. I beat you every day and twice on Sunday 😂 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/68488867 Back on the fight itself, there'd been no money for AJ at all, in recent weeks, hence his price more than doubling in recent weeks but at 1/3 he's found some support. I think that price is fair enough but I'll leave the long odds on shots to successful punters like Drake. As for the other fella, he's also been clipped into a best priced 11/4 so perhaps the bookies are just maxing the overround, which they always tend to the day of the fight. Or, Mile spends the next few weeks choreographing the fight with Jake's team and agrees to do it wrestling style, then on the night just marches over and lays him out in 10 seconds flat. I think I've never wanted a fighter to win more 🤣 On a serious note, for a man who hoovered more bugle than Tony Montana, he still looks pretty fookin scary. There's definitely a bit of that freakish power left, but I guess at 57, it's probably only gonna be there for 10 or 15 mins before he starts gassing. https://talksport.com/sport/1750732/mike-tyson-training-footage-jake-paul-fight/

Ok, sod Joshua vs Ngannou. Old hat. This is the fight you never knew you wanted to see. I am almost moist with excitement 😜 One question though... Anyone know why Jake Paul has a tattoo of a c*** on his shoulder

Your mum has quite the imagination, doesn't she?

The Hollywood movie to follow 😋

I can't see it going the distance to be honest, as I don't see Ngannou doing anything other than what he always does and that is taking the fight to his opponent. Folk don't know this and seemed surprised that Ngannou was fairly proficient in his first pro fight, but it was always his intention to box. When he first pitched up in France, he was penniless and homeless and couldn't even afford his gym fees, but Didier Carmont saw his potential and let him sleep in the gym. For over two years, that's where he slept. He only turned to MMA as he couldn't get licensed to box in France as at the time, as he was effectively an illegal immigrant. Moreover, I'm not convinced he'll be overly frightened of AJ's power, even if he ought to be. My gut is that AJ will be under pressure from Hearn to put on a show, but that Ben Davison will be telling him to work behind the jab and not get carried away with making Fury look bad. I hope AJ listens to his trainer. If he does, it might go the distance, but my hunch is one of them will stop the other. Whilst I've banged on about Ngannou, they both have frightening power, far more so than Fury, despite the latter's size. I just hope we get the fight we think it might be, as I don't think I've looked forward to a fight this much in years, especially in the HW division. As for the Parker fight, honestly, I'm not sure. Zhang can bang a bit, but Parker is durable so I think your suggestion is the most likely outcome, but it's a tricky fight to call. Interestingly the oddsmakers price Zhang as 1/2 shot, versus parker at 2/1. Not sure I'll get involved but I think Parker looks the value as things stand. Parker is around 4s on the exchanges to win by decision or technical and that looks a fair price to me. Sorry, lots of words without much meaningful content there! 😂

Nailed it. I think after the Wallin fight, he was already positioned to meet the winner of the Fury - Usyk fight. I mean really, who else is there right now? Hearn is a greedy t*** who has taken a fight with no upside as presumably the £60 million he's accrued is insufficient. The recent love-in with Warren too is as surprising as it is nauseating. It seems that now that Warren is happy to top up Hearn's bank account too means that all else is forgotten. Absolute w***** IMO. Perhaps I'm being unfair, but I do think that many so-called promoters are in fact little more than parasites who take liberties with men of lesser financial standing and acumen. I want AJ to win, but if he doesn't, seeing that smug smirk of Hearn's wiped off his face when he realises he's just dropped more than his entire current net worth in lost future earnings will certainly assuage any disappointment.

That away strip, hands down. Angry emojis every time it was even mentioned 😂

Well it's upon us. Tomorrow at 11pm our time, Joshua and Ngannou will be making their way to the ring in a fight unusually scheduled for a Friday to accommodate Ramadan. Looking at the markets, Joshua is now as big as 1/3, from an opening show of 1/7. Conversely, Ngannou is now as short as 5/2 having been as big as 13/2. That's huge swing, by anyone's metrics, so perhaps my claim that Ngannou was the value was not as outlandish as one poster seemed to think. A smart punter might take cash-out now before a punch has been thrown which was the initial intention, but I'm still mulling it over. For me, at the current prices, AJ is the bet, but I think Ngannou will shock some as IMO, folk still haven't grasped that the man's a stone cold killer. Forget the Hollywood smile and the polite and calm demeanour. This is a man who from the age of 10 spent the next decade in a sand mine, before leaving his family and crossing Africa under his own power, crossing thousands of miles through hostile terrain and war zones, with a singular dream; to become the world heavyweight champion. Folk talk of AJ coming from an under privileged background and how that hardened him, but Ngannou is a different beast altogether. When you've experienced the horrors this lad has, a boxing match is is a walk in the park and he will not be in anyway intimidated. He can box orthodox or southpaw and will throw punches that boxers tend not to and it'll be fascinating to see how AJ reacts should Ngannou connect. Whatever the outcome, this is a fight to savour. Hearn is typically busy talking up a bout with Fury as AJ's next target, so I just hope AJ is taking the Cameroonian a bit more seriously than his promoter appears to be. If he works behind the jab and stays focussed, he has a favourite's chance, but much as I'd love to see an English fighter as the undisputed HW king, this fight still worries me.

After the second break it's back to business this weekend. Have to say I'm looking forward to the games, but with some trepidation given our next opponents. The squad is as below: England: Furbank; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Lawrence, Freeman; Ford, Mitchell; Genge, George (capt), Cole, Itoje, Martin, Chessum, Underhill, Earl. Replacements: Dan, Marler, Stuart, Cunningham-South, Dombrandt, Care, M Smith, Daly. Now perhaps I'm being overly critical, but at what point do we commit to the rebuild. Think how ruthless Fabien Galthié was; old and underperforming? Off you go son and thanks for your service type ruthless. So when I look at the above and the number of players who have zero chance of making the next RWC, it annoys me. Quite a lot actually. I could understand it at the last tourny as a RWC is absolutely not the time to be experimenting, but with our 6N campaign effectively curtailed by the loss to the Scots, why on earth are we not using these games to blood more than just Freeman and Feyi-Waboso? This is the perfect opportunity for the next generation to experience test match rugby against a top side. Also, what on earth has Freddie Steward done to be dropped, not only from the starting 15, but from the squad too? Has Borth forgotten his performances at the world cup? Argh. Frustrating. Ireland by 20. Come on England, make a nonsense of my appraisal, pretty please!

Sure enough, she's been fired, the reason given being 'dishonesty'. What a repugnant outfit RBR really are. Horner quoted as saying 'it's time we drew a line under this'. Totally agree Horny-boy, must have been really awkward with everyone getting to see what a creepy, coercive and hypocritical Bamford you really are 🤬

Agree with every word of that.

Don't be talking like that you! Plenty of time for you to realise that dream, though you might end up wishing we hadn't!

I think at this point we can safely assume that Elon has just bought this as the world's most expensive toy. Setting aside the likes of you and I, he really could not do more to alienate his advertisers.Retweets and engagement is the whole feckin deal for them. Without it, what's the point and how does he not get this? The blue tick brigade should expect a price hike shortly, as Musk forces them to cover his bad bets. Ref the bots, I deactivated my account a while back, but had a relapse and opened a fresh profile just over a month back. I've only posted twice, as it was only really to allow me to catch up on footy gossip. Lo and behold, I now have 41 followers! They are all fitties inviting me to 'interact' which would be interesting if I were A) not in a relationship and B) vain enough to assume even one of them is an actual human being. Nice pics though 😂

Holy moly. I actually grasp that statistical analysis of sports has its uses, but f*** am I bored of the pointless to and fro between those who do and don't, especially you @ap04 Does everything you post have to be A) xG related and B) patronising AF? For pity's sake, just give it a rest, why don't you!

She was simply using his pronoun. Nothing to see here 😂

For someone whose character was called into question, perhaps not unfairly, he certainly seems to have found a home at Derby. The fact that he's chosen to forego international football to help get us over the line just makes me love him even more.

Why not just schedule races in Arab states outside of Ramadan? Bernie is a bit of a Bamford, but at least he understood the sport. Another 5 years and F1 will be unrecognisable.

Can we have a steward's enquiry on @rynny's total please?

Confirmed. Worth a try but that @mozza's a hard man to turn 😋

On reflection, I think I asked @mozza this about another game and for the purposes of this game, he doesn't. Annoying as I've actually remembered to submit predictions for nearly all of the games this year and I'm sick of ending the season amongst the L1 also-rans 😂

Don't earn a lot do they? For running the risk of being fried alive during take off I'd be wanting a considerably more than £120k. Also, NASA aren't going to the sunlit uplands of Mars, are they? Meandering about in space breathing in my own farts has limited appeal, there's no pubs up there for a start. It's a shame as I'm otherwise well qualified.

Seems a sensible approach to me Tamworth. I confess my sense that we'll finish top 2 is as much a hunch as any considered opionion. I backed us for the autos at fancy odds before we went on our run though, so perhaps it's my pocket talking, not my brain!