This week at a glance

This week at-a-glance

Posted: Thursday 19^h May

Bellew answers Warren call for help – or does he?

Tony Bellew yesterday stepped into the breach to save Saturday’s card at the O2 Arena following Juergen Braehmer’s last-minute withdrawal from his title bout with Welshman Nathan Cleverly.

After the farce last month with the Amir Khan bout, the last thing Sky needed was another pay-per-view event falling through. They’ve invested a huge amount in the build-up to Groves-DeGale which shares top billing.

It looked as if Frank Warren had pulled a rabbit out of the hat and gotten Bellew to take the title fight at short notice.

But following this afternoon’s press conference, Bellew has failed to make weight. Replacing him is Polish fighter Aleksy Kuziemski.

Who’d be a promoter?

Tony Bellew v Nathan Cleverly and George Groves v James DeGale can be seen on Sky Box Office on Saturday night.

Couture retires, Holyfield fights on

This column recently compared the fortunes of two ageing fighters, Randy Couture and Evander Holyfield.

Couture was the victim of a spectacular knock-out at the hands of the unpredictable Lyoto Machida at UFC 129. Beforehand the 47-year-old UFC Hall of Famer declared this would be his last fight.

He’s sticking to his word. And he retires with the thanks of MMA fans worldwide.

Meanwhile in Denmark, Holyfield’s victory over a bloated Brian Nielsen, who hadn’t fought for a decade, has prolonged his career further. The attendance for the fight was sparse, despite Nielsen’s great popularity in his home country.

Even the fans are turning their back on Holyfield.

But he’s not listening.