Hold The Back Page: 13/11/2010

Matt Fleming
Saturday 13 November 2010 01:00 GMT
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It's a big weekend for...

That one big punch

Not Joey Barton on Morten Gamst Pedersen, but Audley Harrison on finding a way past the lighter, more nimble, faster-mouthed David Haye in tonight's all-British heavyweight world title bout.

The common consensus is that "Fraudley" has one last chance at doing something memorable with his career, and only one weapon with which to do it: his left hand. Says Mike Tyson: "I was a puncher, man. And wow, Audley can punch. It only takes one shot to turn a heavyweight fight right around." Tyson, at 5ft 10in, knows a lot about facing the bigger man, and a little about losing to the big underdog (remember Buster Douglas). Haye, time to watch out for someone else's haymaker.

We applaud you wholeheartedly...

Chinese security

For the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Guangzhou yesterday security was tight. Well, depends on your definition of tight, of course – some may say that hiding elderly locals living near the athletes' route behind 2.5m electric fences is perfectly reasonable. As, surely, is asking residents near the Games site to leave town during the festivities or face having a policeman in their lounge for the day. Food for thought for London 2012, if only to see just how much our boys in blue enjoy several hours' hospitality in Hackney.

And the stories you may have missed

Football, a universal language

Except if you're gay, of course. Credit to the often outspoken Germany forward Mario Gomez then, for encouraging homosexual players to come out of the changing-room closet. "They would play as if they had been liberated," he explained this week. They would also have to be strong enough to stand up to the inevitable abuse from a few dinosaur fans. Someone needs to blaze a trail, but the chances are the pioneer won't hail from Croatia. "While I'm a president of the Croatian Football Federation, there will be no homosexuals playing in the national team," said Vlatko Markovic. "Luckily, only normal people play football."

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