HE’S back. In his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jnr, Anthony Joshua unexpectedly reminded me on occasion of Muhammadi Ali – floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee. We were all witnesses to a veritable masterclass of safety-first, box-and-move discipline – demonstrating how to hit and not get hit in return. Hats off to Robert McCracken for devising a brilliant game plan, which enabled his composed charge to become only the fourth deposed world heavyweight champion to win an immediate rematch. In contrast, Ruiz was disappointing. Having failed to step up to the plate, he came in disturbingly overweight and was unable to cut off the ring. To his credit, Andy had the honesty to admit afterwards that he had fallen for the temptations of too much partying following the first fight. With Joshua-Ruiz III doubtful, one asks whether “AJ”, our exemplary ambassador for the sweet science, has the courage to face the winner of the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch – a bout between the most dangerous fighter (Wilder) and best boxer (Fury) in the heavyweight division. Gavin Littaur
CANELO SPLITS OPINION
IT seems that Canelo Alvarez is like Marmite – you either love him or hate him. Opinion is split as to whether he’s the pound-for-pound No. 1 or not. Putting aside the Mexican beef, cherry picking of opponents and questionable judging decisions, Canelo still has to get in the ring and do the business. Credit to him – he’s rarely in a dull fight, advantages or not. It’d be great if his next few opponents consisted of Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Only time will tell, but I’m sure whoever is in the opposite corner in his next fight it’ll be a great night. Jamie Ingleby
BOXING ON THE BBC
WELL done to BBC Scotland for televising the Kash Farooq-Lee McGregor fight last month. It was a great fight, although I thought that Farooq deserved the decision. Let’s hope that the BBC show more British title fights in the future, including for fans in the rest of the UK. On another note, I recently read Tyson Fury’s autobiography. It was a great read and I’d highly recommend it. It’d be interesting to read similar life stories about the likes of George Groves, Tony Bellew and Derry Mathews. Mervyn Mason
VIRTUAL REALITY JUDGES
WITH so many so-called robberies occurring seemingly every weekend in boxing, why don’t we use virtual reality judges instead of human judges? Computers scoring fights would be fairer, as they would be impartial and not influenced by corner teams or fan reactions. R. Redington
