By Osagie Alonge
Sports lovers will attest it was a very eventful and interesting weekend in the world of Boxing and Football…
On Friday, December 8, 2012, in the US, the anticipated showdown between boxers Manny ‘Pacman’ Marquez and Juan Manuel Márquez went down with Pacman getting knocked out cold with one second left in the sixth round by a right blow to the jaw, giving Marquez the KO win.
For seconds, Manny didn’t move an inch from the ground and caused quite a scare for a while.
On Sunday, December 9, 2012 the first leg of one of the biggest derbies in not just the Premiership but in England was played between Manchester United and Manchester City with the Red Devils coming out tops.
United, the visitors, had taken a two-goal lead by the 28th minute thanks to Wanye Rooney only for City to level the scoreline with two goals from Yaya Toure and skipper Pablo Zabaleta. New signing Robin Van Persie however proved his worth once again with a late minute 25-yard deflected free kick.
A few hours later in Spain, Lionel Messi became the player to score the most goals in a calendar year after his brace led Barcelona to a 2-1 win over Betis in their Liga clash. Unstoppable Messi scored his 85th and 86th goals to surpass a 40-year-old record of 85 set by Gerd Muller in 1972.Messi is up for this year’s Ballon d’Or.