In an unexpected twist following his recent retirement, former Manchester United defender and Premier League winner Danny Simpson is trying his hands in the ring after agreeing to take part in his first-ever boxing match.
The ex-Man United, QPR, Newcastle United and Leicester City full-back only called time on his playing career after the best part of two decades this July, writing in a statement that he knew it was time to “hang up [his] boots and concentrate on other projects”.
As it turns out, the first of these new projects will be his boxing debut as part of the Misfits exhibition franchise, which has seen a number of celebrities, influencers and ex-athletes take part since the promotion was founded back in 2022.
Set to take place at the 3 Arena in Dublin on 31 August, the upcoming event will mark the official two-year anniversary of Misfits Boxing and its first visit to Ireland.
‘Deen The Great’ will be putting his MFB Lightweight Championship on the line against hometown favourite Dave Fogarty, Sami Hamed will be taking on Jesse Clarke and Danny Simpson’s aforementioned fight against 22-year-old YouTuber Danny Aarons will be making up the latest fight card.
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Elsewhere, there are bouts between HS TikkyTokky vs George Fensom and Ben Williams vs Warren Spencer booked, not to mention two cruiserweight quarter-final contests on the night, with both Jake Cornish and Mike Edwards, as well as DTG and Minikon set to lock horns.
X Series 17, which will be broadcast live on DAZN, was also set to see founder KSI take on an ambitious 2v1 match against Slim and Anthony Taylor but he ultimately had to pull out due to injury.
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Instead, KSI, who essentially started the whole modern advent of ‘YouTuber boxing’, will be performing as part of a special live concert on the night.
KSI tops HUGE night in Dublin Aug 31 🇮🇪
HS TikkyTokky takes on George Fensom, Danny Aarons takes on EPL winner Danny Simpson and KSI performs an exclusive music set when Misfits Boxing comes to Ireland ☘️@PrimeHydrate | @KickStreamingpic.twitter.com/CcjLbIKLfz
As for Simpson, his reaction to the announcement was short but sweet, writing on social media: “So it’s official. I’ll be making my boxing debut on the 31st of August in Dublin on the Misfits Boxing card.
“Excited for fight night. Let’s have some fun.”
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Gaining some serious traction in the space of just two short years, even the likes of Wayne Rooney have been offered to take part in the growing fight series, so we expect the 37-year-old won’t be the last retired footballer to get involved with Misfits.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
7th August 2024 
