Ken, I really am at a loss.
Sky is gaining in popularity and thus has control of the sports market.

The programme controllers on terrestrial tv don't seem to give a damn anyway.
They stopped showing Wednesday baseball on Ch.5 some weeks ago, much to my annoyance.

Now Sky have cricket rights for 5 years.
Before long, only people who can afford to pay for sport will be able to.

The households - and there are many of them - where the parents, (or most likely, single mother), cannot afford to pay will see no or very little sport.
Thus, any kid who would be interested and may take up boxing, cricket etc, will be deprived of his/her role models.

We'll probably all flounder as the Island sinks below the waves, caused by the excessive weight of all the flab.

I've just read it AITL.

Ali would have been proud to call it one of his own!

Excellent news Ken.
Thanks for the link.
Im looking forward to watching the fight.

He hasn't replied yet AITL - Perhaps he thinks you're kidding!

Moved up to get Assessors post off the forum

Here you are Tommy, lifted from Other Sports

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno has told of the "black hole" he plunged into after taking cocaine - and believes it may have contributed to his mental illness.

In extracts from his autobiography and an interview published in the News of the World, the ex-fighter has admitted for the first time of his hard drugs use, and reveals he believes taking cocaine was the worst thing he could have done in his psychiatric state.

The revelations come in the wake of the furore surrounding supermodel Kate Moss' alleged use of cocaine.

Bruno, now 43, says he took the Class A drug for six months after watching a fight in Las Vegas in 2000 and meeting some fellow English visitors.

But he told the paper today: "Cocaine took control of my brain. I wish I had never seen the stuff.

"Taking it was the worst thing I could have done in my mental condition. It was like a black hole with no ending."

In 1996, 660,000 people paid to watch Frank Bruno's world heavyweight title fight against Tyson, which the American won. Bruno had lifted the WBC crown when he outpointed Oliver McCall at Wembley Stadium in September 1995.

He was forced into retirement by an eye injury, and was divorced from wife Laura, the mother of his three children, in 2001. He received treatment after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act in September 2003.

He has previously said his time in a mental hospital followed a descent into depression and strange behaviour, which included buying lorries, wheelchairs and old cars he did not need.

He said today he had taken cannabis when he was just 12 years old and used it after fights to calm down, but added: "If you have a puff it chills you down but coke makes you feel weird, nasty, edgy, gangstery, fighty, just crazy."

But after he stopped taking cocaine, while working as a DJ, he turned to powerful cannabis, known as skunk, which he says "nearly blew my head off".

He also claims a Colombian cocaine dealer tried to enlist him as a drugs mule when he was only 19.

And he admits he may again be tempted by drugs, but tries to avoid such situations, and tells the newspaper: "Using drugs is not a nice experience. I didn't really want to get involved in Class A.

"I am talking about it now because I think it's better that I come clean."

Boxing tonight:

Ch.4 - 02:55 - KOTV - Boxing Magazine.

I like watching evenly matched fights Premed.

No boxing tonight on terrestrial tv.

Just watching Leonard V Duran 1980.

Is Leonard mad? Fighting toe-to-toe against Duran?

Leonard rematch TT.

Was it Sabre?

I really can't remember.
I just remember what a pleasure it was too see all the great fights on BBC or ITV right up to about 1989 or so.

I missed the Ali era TT ,so Hagler ,Hearns ,Duran ,Leonard was mine.For sport the 80's was superb.Hearns knocking out Duran was the greatest punch i personally have seen.Happy days mate.

I don't know if i'm looking through rose tinted specs ,but the fights in those days seemed to be much more eagerly awaited ,a real sense of occasion when the fights were talked about for weeks prior.And very rarely did these fights fail to deliver.Maybe it was just a fluke that great fighters appeared at around the same time ,ie the 70's and 80's.

I went with 3 friends to the first Tyson v Bruno fight at a local cinema.

Great atmosphere - I still have the programme and the ticket stubs - 25 each for a very short fight!

It was worth it though - When Bruno rocked Tyson in the 1st or 2nd, you should have heard the cheers.

A decorator who has worked here, is a big boxing fan and buys/sells memorabilia on the internet.
He reckons the programme and tickets are worth about 15 now.

Sabre, I was typing my post when you were talking.
Yes - fights were very eagerly anticipated.

The midweek 'Sportsnight With Coleman' nearly always had a piece from Harry Carpenter either showing or talking about a fight.

Great days.

I really believe boxing did itself no favours when it went 'Pay Per View' and sold it's soul to Sky.

There is hardly any talk about boxing in the newspapers or on tv now.
A generation has been lost already with little accessability to a great sport.

Cricket will go the same way if it isn't careful now that Sky have that for 5 years.

Strangely enough I've just seen a trailer for a programme about Bruno:

Next Tuesday: Frank Bruno - Gloves Off - ITV1: 9:45pm

Sabre, I love sport and feel I'm being cornered into getting Sky - I hate the fact.
However if things carry on, it's going to be the only thing to do - and then see how the prices rocket up!
Ratbags, the lot of them.

AITL - It's taken a few days but MB has finally responded.

Fair comment - I would say.


I'll get you another drink in at The Horse Box for your undoubted talents.