PETES PUNCHLINE

The National Sports

  • Reegan Campbell-Gillard runs as hard as any prop I’ve seen in the NRL, and he does it consistently.
  • Got bagged on Facebook about my comments about the 7pm kick off for the NSL final on Saturday. Apparently, soccer fans banded together to pack PNG Football Stadium to watch what was an exciting match. The third-place playoff was a good one too. So I stand corrected. But, something occurred to me: I reckon my comments probably spurred on many fans to attend the game, so I’m going to pat myself on the back for that master stroke. Thanks guys for turning up.
  • The Lakers claimed the NBA title despite Jimmy Butler’s best efforts to take the series to a seventh game. LeBron James is now a legit top five all-time great after that championship win. So, that’s four titles from 10 finals series for LeBron, which is 40 per cent. But Lakers coach Frank Vogel thinks Bron is “the greatest in the universe.” Check this out: Michael Jordan is six from six in NBA finals. That puts him on the top of the list of all-time NBA greats. So the question is: What’s Vogel smoking?
  • Something to chew on for the boxing aficiandos out there. I always wondered how a great boxer like Juan Manuel Marquez lost on points to Indonesian Chris John in 2006. Then I watched the fight and I had Marquez winning 116-111 despite being docked points twice for low blows. John was never that good. He looked amateurish in the fight. Juan Manuel is a legend and one of Mexico’s greatest.
  • On Sunday (PNG time) lightweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko takes on American Teofimo Lopez in a showdown that is expected to be a fight of the year candidate. I’m tipping Loma to come out of this scrap with a points win and further enhance his reputation as one of the best pound-for-pounders in boxing today.
  • The English Premier League is back this weekend after last week’s international break. The match of the round will certainly be the clash between Manchester City and Arsenal. Meanwhile, Manchester United need to return to winning ways with a victory against Newcastle United. New signing Edinson Cavani will sit out the match as he is still self-isolating.
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