“To watch Hatton hone his skills is to understand not just the unglamorous agony of boxing but the finely tuned mechanics of the art. For minutes on end, he will stay transfixed on the target, lungs sucking at the stale air as he props forward at 80 degrees or so to the horizontal. He is prevented from toppling over not just by his proximity to the bag, which weighs about 100lb, but by an invisible force: his own certainty of where his feet and body should be. His footwork is neat, nimble. His shoulders roll and ripple. He never strays out of position, shifting to the rhythm of the smoothly swaying weight, right to left then back again, over and over, his wicked punches carving craters in the worn leather. Above the revved-up music that bounces off the grimy walls, you can hear the spare air hissing out through gaps in the stitching. You would not want to be a big brown bag in Manchester.”

Kevin Mitchell, Local Hero

Yes, I know Wikipedia says it’s only one hundred miles but don’t forget the 13600 feet of ascent and descent as well. Yeesh; I’ll be walking like Wayne for a week.

Funny walks aside, it’s all for a great cause so if you feeling charitable, head over to my justgiving page and donate to your heart’s content. And thank you, it really is much appreciated.

“Spain’s FA say their anti-racism drive has ‘borne fruit’: ‘We’ve done our utmost,’ says President Angel Maria Villar, ‘and we’ve had success.’ Among La Liga’s best signal moves so far: fining Real (annual profit £190m) £6,000 for Nazi salutes and flags; fining Getafe and Atleltico £435 each for ‘nigger’ chants; fining Deportivo, Albacete and Malaga £411 for sustained abuse including a physical attack on ‘black shit’ Paulo Wanchope; stopping regular grants to the Coalition Against Racism; shrugging off Getafa’s PR plan to ‘prove we’re no racists’ by blacking up players’ faces with boot polish for a photo shoot and - new last week - reacting to the cancellation of Luis Aragones £2,000 fine for calling Thierry Henry a ‘black shit’; ‘It is clear’ says Villar. ‘What he said wasn’t racist.’ Aragones says he’s ‘content’. ‘The fine was simply wrong. The whole thing was a stain on my reputation’”

David Hills, The Observer, 11/02/07