Mayweather v Pacquaio needs to happen

LAST YEAR DAVID Remnick of The New Yorker edited a collection of the magazines finest sports writing. It is something to be treasured.

Such seminal gems from the likes of John Updike transport you to places like Fenway Park in the 1960s, misty-eyed at Gods who don’t return letters.

In amongst this collection is an epic centred on the ring. A.J Liebling invokes Ahab and The White Whale while writing on the heavyweight championship fight between Rocky Marciano and Archie Moore.

We are on his shoulders watching the two touch gloves “When the principals shook hands, I could see Mr Moore’s eyebrows rising like storm clouds over the Sea of Azov. His whiskers bristled and his eyes glowed like dark coals as he scrunched his eyebrows down again and enveloped the Whale with the Look, which was intended to dominate his willpower.

“I was sitting behind Marciano’s corner, and as the champion came back I observed his expression, to determine what effect the Look had upon him. More than ever, he resembled a Great Dane who had heard the word bone.”

Any writer would struggle to capture a moment of tension like that today but the problem would not be for lack of poetry. More lack of personality between the combatants. Boxing more than ever needs a fight to rekindle the wider publics interest in the sweet science.

There is only one that would be worthy of Liebling’s prose.

As Manny Pacquaio continued slicing through the weight divisions, reducing each step up to that of a step ladder, fight fans have yearned for him to clash with Floyd Mayweather. They are complete opposites in style and personality. Humble and brash.

A perpetual machine against the minister of defence. It is a fight that would render any other sporting event this year to the undercard but can it happen?

The answer is maybe. It has been long and often tiresome saga between the two. Claim and counter claim have jabbed from each side. Money, venue and blood tests proved the initial obstacles but they have given way to severe legal problems for Mayweather stemming from assault allegations against him from his ex-girlfriend and a security guard.

If proven guilty of these charges the undefeated star could face up to 30 years in jail.

It is almost impossible to see Mayweather fight in the first half of this year because of this. Pacquaio is scheduled to meet Shane Mosley on May 7 in a fight that has drawn criticism from some boxing commentators. Mosley is 39 and is far from the force he was but promoter Bob Arum had little to choose in picking an opponent for the Pac-man.

The feeling in some quarters is Pacquaio’s camp are trying to draw Mayweather out particularly as they have been highlighting the Mosley punch that nearly floored Mayweather in May of last year. “Pretty Boy” eventually won the bout with a unanimous decision. But if Pacquaio knocks out Mosley, he can claim with some justification he would do the same to Mayweather.

This would-be fight has already gulped a sea of ink and we haven’t even re-negotiated yet. If somehow, those choppy waters are navigated then the most mega of fights can take place. The destination would be worth the trek. The cerebral Mayweather ducking and diving waiting to pounce. The bullish Pacquaio, a whirl of fists, built for submission.

If it happens, it will be the biggest, but it could be the greatest of them all.

Fight fans, I don’t care where you are, here’s to our dreams

Hail little Leo, but save sympathy for Xavi.

In the end it was fitting. Lionel Messi centre stage, Xavi Hernandez watching him. It wouldn’t surprise anyone had Xavi directed him up there. Some of the football cognoscenti wanted the Catalan schemer rewarded for a year in which the two best sides in the world danced to the hypnotic beat of his passing. If not this year then when?

When would football’s top brass salute the man who treasures the ball above all others? A man who regularly completes more passes in a game than the opposing team combined. One who weaves and darts about the pitch creating quick-fire triangles despite pit bulls snapping at him.

In any other year, perhaps in any other generation Xavi would have won comfortably. But we live in the age of Leo. We have witnessed the birth, the initial steps, the ascent and now conformation of a legend. Fifty three goals in fifty two appearances in 2010. Many of them bewildering in inception and bewitching in execution.

South Africa is the stick to beat him with but Messi played well this summer. The reason for his lack of goals was he was trying to be Argentina’s Xavi as well as Messi. That and some simple bad luck in encountering a goalkeeper in Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama who described his own performance against Argentina as “divine” as he repelled an almost possessed Messi time and time again.

He has two more world cups at something approaching his peak in which to silence any internationally influenced doubters. To excel at tournaments such as the world cup a player needs to be injury free, playing as part of a settled team and be well coached. Messi had only one of that three criteria.

Xavi it must be noted plays alongside team-mates in Sergio Busquets and Iniesta in the centre of the Spanish midfield. That is not to downplay his monumental level of performance but it is undoubtedly a factor in the maintenance of his club form with the international side.

Messi’s level for Barcelona has not dipped for over two years. The have been sporadic disappointments when a system such as Inter Milan’s last April chokes him of space but in the main it has been a whirl of goals and assists. His shredding of Arsenal in the champions league quarter-final has already donned a mythical edge. Left-foot smash into the top corner followed by a right foot smash into the top corner. A full pelt scoop over the keeper for the hat-trick. A mere shot through the legs for four.

It has become almost mundane now, watching his brilliance every weekend. His duel with Cristiano Ronaldo atop of the picchi standings is compulsive viewing. Perhaps the difference between the two is best summed up in their free-kick approach. The brash Ronaldo with the gun slingers run-up and often scattergun result. Messi, with a careful stroke, like a golfer in a bunker teasing it towards its destination.

It is a duel that will drink ink for years but my money is on the Argentinean to stay centre stage. After all, he has Xavi directing him.

The Premier League's night of long knives.

The final weekend of the regular season in the National Football league ends on black Monday. It is the day traditionally used for teams to dismiss their head coach.

The Premier league has no equivalent, there is no set period where a win/loss record is tallied and the hard data makes the call. Even so January fifth may go down as black Wednesday for four premier league managers.

Avram Grant had seemingly pulled his West Ham side from the brink over Christmas with a healthy points return of seven from nine but a five nil shellacking from Newcastle has sealed his fate. The former Chelsea man has never seemed comfortable in a relegation slugfest. His luck in taking over Jose Mourinho's Chelsea and thus leading them into a Champions league final was just that, luck. He has never had the forceful personality nor the midas touch needed in the transfer market for the Hammers job.

Gerard Houllier took a major risk in replacing Martin 'O Neill at Aston Villa. The Villa owner Randy Lerner had made it quite clear that belts would have to be tightened at Villa Park and O' Neill knew that beyond the Villa first eleven quality was scarce. Houllier, it must be said is a long-term manager. He will have a vision, a grand plan but can Villa afford to wait out the season with the spectre of relegation hanging over them? Th Frenchmen will have to be practical with the pennies in the coming weeks. If he gets any.

Roy Hodgson has had the look of man facing the gallows for quite sometime now. He took the job at the behest of deeply unpopular owners, he inherited a dis-jointed and ultimately poor squad and replaced a popular manager. His signings such as Christian Poulsen and Paul Konchesky have failed miserably. He has failed to inspire the misfiring Fernando Torres and his selection and tactics have been baffling at times. Old Trafford awaits on Sunday for Liverpool with their old foes smelling blood. It may very well be do or die for Roy.

Carlo Ancelotti should not be a man living in fear of the sack. He took Chelsea to the double last season, despite not having anywhere near the funds his predecessors had. Yet with the champions losing to Wolves, it is not inconceivable that Roman Abramovich may look to bring in an temporary manager for the rest of the season. He has previous in this, replacing Felipe Scolari with Guus Hiddink halfway through the 08-09 season. The Italian needs funds to supplement and in some cases replace some of his ageing squad. Should Roman keep the chequebook closed however than Carlo could be saying arrivederci.

Some of the above may survive, they may even prosper and look back on January fifth as the dark before the light. But it is unlikely. The dye has been cast with all four. It could be a bright summers day when the axe falls, but it was a black night in January that has in all probability sealed their fate.