Joe Calzaghe has accused American Bernard Hopkins of being a “sore loser” after their light-heavyweight clash in Las Vegas on Saturday.Unbeaten Welshman Calzaghe, the undisputed super-middleweight world champion, won a split decision after recovering from a first-round knockdown against the 43-year-old.

Hopkins looked stunned after two of the three judges gave the fight to Calzaghe, one of them by a large 116-111 margin, and claimed he won the fight.

“He should get over it,” 36-year-old Calzaghe told the BBC on Friday. “He should watch the tape and accept that he lost.

Calzaghe accuses Hopkins of being a sore loser | Sports | Reuters

About 8,000 Britons are expected in Las Vegas for Saturday’s light-heavyweight clash between Joe Calzaghe and American Bernard Hopkins.Fans of the Welshman, who is the undisputed world super-middleweight champion, are expected to outnumber Hopkins supporters at the Thomas & Mack Arena.

That prompted Calzaghe’s promoter Frank Warren to taunt his opponent at this week’s final pre-fight news conference.

“On the night, most of the support in the arena is going to be again for the Brits,” he said. “Are the Americans going to come out for their man? Because otherwise he’s going to be drowned out, because they’ll just be cheering Joe Calzaghe.”

Boxing fans descend on Las Vegas for Hopkins showdown | Sports | Reuters

A Japanese high school pleaded for a regional game to be abandoned after surrendering 66 runs in less than two innings, local media reported on Thursday.

The hapless hurler had already sent down over 250 pitches, allowing 26 runs in the first inning and 40 in the second before Kawamoto asked for mercy.

School team hit for 66 runs in two innings | Oddly Enough | Reuters

Well hello all!

I’m back with another update. DHL turned up a short while ago with my package containing my new face cage and skates. Got my face cage fitted and it is alot easier to see now so no excuses for not seeing a puck on Saturday.  Furthermore my new skates are absolutly superb, super soft wheels, heavily armoured and awesome comfort, so I’m looking forward to using them in the match.  These should really support my ankles better!

Well I am afraid I have to go now as I have a coursework deadline tomorrow, but I will be going for a haircut and the gym over the next 24 hours.

Matt Wylde, #14 UPRHC

FFX Racing

Hello to all!

I’m Matt, a current member of UPRHC (www.uprhc.org.uk) playing as a defenseman and under #14, and this blog will be used so you can get a more detailed following on the club and me, and our happenings in UK Roller Hockey. My first few posts will be following myself, and possibly some others in our preperations for a match this Saturday. Thats right, I’m kicking you guys off with what should be an awesome B team match against our arch-rivals, the Southampton Spitfires (note: we actually love the Spitfires but I need to create dramatic effect ) on 19th April at 12:30pm BST.

So how are preperations going? Well, we had our final training session last night which went ok, but we still have some issues with changing lines on the fly. Also, we are unsure if one of our top forwards will be playing due to him pulling a hamstring Sunday in the London Marathon. Fingers are seriously crossed he’ll be back as last year’s fixture netted him a goal and an assist.

On a personal note, I’ve been partnered up with one of our Freshers, Pete. Personally, I find Pete a great teammate, and what he lacks in technique, skill and experience, he more than makes up for with his determination on the rink. I believe our pairing is solid, Pete holds position well and can shoot well if needed.

A second personal note is that I’ll be playing with some new kit Saturday. Sadly my order got cocked up, so my new skates and face-cage will be used on Saturday and I won’t have a training session to adjust to them. However I’m now receiving £199 skates for the price of £147. Seeing as my total order came to £183, I can’t complain to much.

For those interested in the skates it’s a pair of CCM Vector 6.0’s (image courtesy of www.prolineskates.com)

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Pretty swish aye?

To finish off, I’ll just add that I’ll hopefully be doing daily updates on preperation, and my feelings leading up to the game.

That’s all for now, I’ll update you guys soon.

Matt Wylde, #14 UPRHC

Major League Baseball strengthened its drug-testing program on Friday in response to the Mitchell Report on the use of drugs in the sport.Commissioner Bud Selig said 600 additional drugs tests would be performed each year and the number of off-season tests would double on average.

Baseball toughens its drug-testing program | Sports | Reuters