l nature of his performance.Crawford reportedly earned topic.3 million -- a nice payday, but nowhere near the estimated million Pacquiao was gua | Forum
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Mar 30 '19
Saturdays Champions Cup decider in Lyon will be the sixth time the final has been contested between English and French teams. Air Jordan 2 Retro . England currently lead the way with three victories and two of those came on French soil, Bath in 1998 and Leicester in 2001.Saracens were beaten in the last Anglo-French final in 2014 when Toulon overpowered them in Cardiff. On Saturday they face Racing 92, the team that ended Toulons three-year reign as champions of Europe. Ahead of this eagerly-awaited contest, lets look back at the five previous finals between English and French teams.1997: Brive 28-9 Leicester Sebastien Carrat beats Austin Healey to score his second and Brives fourth try Leicester were outscored by four tries to nil as Brive blew them away in the closing stages at Cardiff Arms Park.The French side raced into an 8-0 lead after only five minutes through a Christophe Lamaison penalty and Sebastien Viars try, but two first-half penalties from John Liley kept Leicester in contention.Liley added another penalty to give the Tigers the lead on 54 minutes but Brive then shifted up a gear and the pressure finally told.Leicester lost Dean Richards to injury and tries from Brive wings Gerald Fabre and Sebastien Carrat (2) ensured back-to-back victories for French teams in the fledgling tournament.1998: Bath 19-18 Brive In front of a partisan crowd, Bath became the first team outside of France to win the Heineken Cup Bath became the first non-French side to win the European Cup when they overturned a 15-6 half-time deficit against the defending champions in Bordeaux.The West Country team produced a stunning final quarter which was kick-started by Jeremy Guscott sending John Callard over for the games only try. Road to the Champions Cup final How Racing 92 and Saracens reached this seasons decider Full-back Callard scored all of Baths points and he kicked an injury-time penalty to give his side the lead for the first time after the touch judge spotted a late tackle on Adedayo Adebayo by Brive lock Yvan Manhes.There was further late drama, with Brive awarded an 82nd-minute penalty inside Christophe Lamaisons range after Bath collapsed a maul, but he was unable to add to his 15 first-half points.Lisandro Arbizu also saw a drop-goal attempt drift narrowly wide as Bath held on for the narrowest of victories.2001: Leicester 34-30 Stade Francais Leicester beat Stade Francais 34-30 in the 2000/2001 Heineken Cup. Leon Lloyds 80th-minute try snatched a thrilling victory for Leicester as they stunned Stade at the Parc des Princes to complete a Premiership and European double.Stade looked on course for victory in their home city thanks to an incredible 30-points tally from the boot of Diego Dominguez, but the Tigers scored three second-half tries to deny the French team.Leicester trailed 15-9 at the interval but Lloyd scored the games opening try just 50 seconds after the restart. Leon Lloyd scores the match-winning try Neil Back also crossed the whitewash while Dominguez kept his side in contention with two 50-metre penalties.Leicester survived the sin-binning of skipper Martin Johnson for punching but they fell behind with three minutes remaining when Italy fly-half Dominguez slotted a drop goal.However, the Tigers would have the final say as Lloyd crossed in the right corner following a superb break by man of the match Austin Healy, and they withstood a late barrage to clinch the first of back-to-back European Cups.2004: Wasps 27-20 Toulouse Rob Howleys last-minute try clinched a first European Cup for Wasps Clement Poitrenaud called time on a fantastic career last week but hes probably still having nightmares about the final minute of the 2004 decider at Twickenham.Wasps led a thrilling contest for large spells but their French opponents drew level with just three minutes remaining as replacement Jean-Baptiste Elissalde slotted his third unanswered penalty.Both teams were guilty of some abject kicking during a tense finish and a poor drop out from Frederic Michalak bounced into Rob Howleys arms. Howley celebrates with the Heineken Cup The Wales scrum-half booted the ball up the wing and gave chase but Poitrenaud was well positioned to deal with the danger.However, the Toulouse full-back tried to let the ball go dead, and as he waited for it to bounce into the in-goal area, Howley beat him to the punch and touched the ball down to snatch the most dramatic of victories.The day prior to that I was kicking with Shaun Edwards and he told me to be prepared for a huge kicking game, and to never kick and hope, said Howley.Well the kick and hope actually won us the cup final. He told me afterwards, never listen to me again!2014: Toulon 23-6 Saracens Toulon beat Saracens in the last ever Heineken Cup final Jonny Wilkinsons final game on British soil was a memorable one as Toulon comfortably retained the European Cup with a crushing victory over Saracens at the Millennium Stadium.The World Cup winner kicked 13 points as tries in either half from Matt Giteau and Juan Smith ensured the French heavyweights became only the third team to successfully defend their crown.Having hammered Clermont in the semi-finals, Saracens opened the scoring with an Owen Farrell penalty, but they were punished after failing to capitalise on the sin-binning of Juan Fernandez Lobbe.Instead, Toulon scored the opening try while down to 14 men, Wallabies centre Giteau crossing on the half-hour, and a drop goal from Wilkinson gave them a 10-3 lead at the interval. Jonny Wilkinson and Paul OConnell join our coverage of Saturdays Champions Cup final Saracens began the second half like they did the first as Farrell slotted another penalty, but that was cancelled out by Wilkinson and Toulon struck a decisive blow on the hour.Mathieu Bastareaud broke from inside his own half and Smith and Lobbe combined to send the Springbok over in the corner.Wilkinson landed the conversion to finish with a 100 per cent record off the tee.Watch Racing 92 v Saracens live on Sky Sports 2 HD on Saturday from 3.45pm. Catch the match for £6.99 with a NOW TV day pass Also See: Road to the Champions Cup final Champions Cup final on Sky Farrell keen to emulate Carter Rugby on Sky Jordan Retro 2 Cheap . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. Cheap Jordan 2 Wholesale . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. http://www.cheapairjordan2.com/ . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. In the classic film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, greenhorns Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt think they have discovered gold. They are set straight by grizzled prospector Walter Huston, who informs them that its pyrite (aka fools gold) but points to a mountain in the distance and assures them that the real thing is up there, up theres where weve got to go.Terence Bud Crawfords dominant decision over Viktor Postol last Saturday to unify two junior welterweight titles was not fools gold, not by any measure. Crawford is a talented, hardworking fighter who is probably going to get even better before hes through.But if hes going to become the new face of American boxing, Crawford still has a steep mountain to climb before he hits the sort of paydirt afforded to boxings elite.Boxing isnt a movie. It has a habit of going off-script. Crawford was clearly superior to Postol, but its doubtful that this fight was what promoter Bob Arum had in mind when he backed the match with his own money because HBO wouldnt.From a technical standpoint, Crawford was virtually flawless. Boxing primarily from a southpaw stance, he negated Postols offense with lateral movement and sharp counters, frustrating the Ukrainian Iceman to such an extent that he blew his cool and resorted to rabbit punches down the stretch.The official scores of 117-108 and 118-107 (twice) were spot on, and it wouldnt be an exaggeration to say that Crawford outclassed Postol, a previously undefeated boxer with impressive credentials.So whats not to like?What appeared to be one of those coveted best-fighting-the-best matches going in turned out to be largely uneventful. The thrill meter wavered in limbo for most of the fight, like a rollercoaster losing momentum right before plunging over the crest of a hill.Crawford gracefully circled, first to the left and then to the right, engaging only when a counter opportunity presented itself, which wasnt often. Postol rarely got close enough to lay a glove on him.It brought to mind trainer Eddie Shaws comment about former British and European middleweight champion Herol Graham.Graham has turned boxing into a poetic art, said Shaw. Trouble is, nobody ever got knocked out with a poem.HBOs broadcast crew was uniformly effusive in its praise of Crawford. It was, therefore, left to the networks unofficial scorekeeper, Harold Lederman, to finally give voice to what a lot of viewers were surely thinking.Why didnt Crawford let Postol off the hook instead of going for the finish against an opponent hed twice knocked down in the fifth round? Hed never seemed hesitant in the past, but Crawford failed to press his advantage in the sixth, choosing instead to revert to his move and pop-shot motif.Theres absolutely nothing wrong with that if all you want to do is win the fight. But if you are on the fast track to superstardom, its probably not the best way to advance your cause.According to CompuBox, Crawford threw 388 punches and landed 141. Thats an average of 32 punches thrown per round and just under 12 connects. Postol was even less active, throwing 244 punches and landing 83. This is not the kind of pace conducive to creating exhilarating fights.While purists were ecstatic over Crawfords exceptional display of boxing acumen, there simply arent enough of them out there to make him a major pay-per-view attraction. Maybe thats not fair, but you cant force consumers to pay for a product they dont want.Put yourself in the position of a casual boxing fan that shelled out for that PPV, only to witness a superior boxer effortlessly win round after rounnd but never close the show. Wholesale Air Jordan 2. How eager would you be to come back for more?The PPV numbers wont be available for a few days, but the crowd of 7,027 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena meant that approximately half the seats were empty. Not an encouraging sign.To be fair, part of that was due to the fact that Crawford is not well known beyond hardcore boxing circles. The Postol fight was supposed to test his marketability outside of his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where hes consistently drawn larger crowds that he did in Vegas.Of course, Crawfords performance against Postol had absolutely nothing to do with the live gate or PPV buy-rate. It did, however, have everything to do with the winners immediate future.Knockouts are the quickest way to the hearts of the masses, always were and always will be. Although the knockout is unquestionably the payoff most fans crave, its not just about the act itself.Theres a primal aura about a knockout puncher that seduces like no other. His art is absolute in a world filled with ambiguities. We crave that aspect of it almost as much as the violent spectacle it provides.The cognoscenti were right to rave about Crawfords boxing IQ, seamless footwork and disciplined fight plan. Buds capable of all that and more, but its the more that was missing against Postol.Those who said it was a boring fight were also correct. We got a brief sense of what it could have been in the 12th, when the opponents engaged in several spirited exchanged and created the best round of the fight.As it was, it took Postols most determined attack of the evening to draw the gritty version of Crawford out of hiding. By then it was too late.How did Postol, who won two rounds, three tops, managed to remain on his feet at the conclusion? Was the Ukrainian a greater threat than he appeared?Did Crawford play it safe because he was nervous about his maiden PPV voyage? Is there something we dont know?Intentionally or not, Crawford answered all these questions in a single declarative sentence, uttered in the immediate aftermath of the fight.I just stick to what I know: boxing.When youre as good at it as Crawford, boxing skills alone can take you a long way. But if you want to be special, youve got to do special things, which almost always requires leaving your comfort zone.I think Bud has it in him to do whatever it takes. When Yuriorkis Gamboa and Hank Lundy came at him hard and fast, he responded in kind and quickly made them regret their impertinence. A man of Crawfords temperament needs those kinds of adversaries to bring out the beast.Is Manny Pacquiao the man for the job?Arum seems to think so. Hes been angling for the match for some time now, probably hoping the aging star of his promotional stable will eventually pass the baton to Crawford.Some will tell you its a done deal, and maybe it is. But despite Crawfords scorecard supremacy, matchmakers may hesitate thanks to the equivocal nature of his performance.Crawford reportedly earned $1.3 million -- a nice payday, but nowhere near the estimated $20 million Pacquiao was guaranteed for his most recent bout, the third fight with Timothy Bradley.That sort of money is still there for the taking -- up where the terrain is treacherous, the competition is fierce and a figurative gold mine awaits those strong enough to claim it. Thats where Crawford has to go.He already has a toehold, but thats all. The toughest part of the ascent is yet to come. ' ' '
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