WHAT’S HOT WHAT’S NOT

HOT

WOMEN’S BOXING

IT has not always been an easy sell and it’s not always been an upward curve, either. But you watch a fight like Katie Taylor v Natasha Jonas, and the blend of technicality and drama that they brought, and you see a branch of the sport on the cusp of huge things. They didn’t headline the Chisora-Parker card but the women stole the show.

GERAINT THOMAS

THERE hadn’t exactly been a slump since he won the Tour de France in 2018, but there also hadn’t been a win. That clock was stopped at the Tour de Romandie this week and with it you would assume the chances of another Tour de France selection snub have diminished greatly.

FOREST GREEN ROVERS

THEY became the first professional club in England to call for a ban on gambling sponsorship. Others won’t follow because those deals are worth a fortune — £40million across the EFL’s 72 clubs, apparently. So it’s a bold step and credit to Forest Green for taking it.

NOT BILLY JOE SAUNDERS

MAYBE he had a point in that dispute about ring sizes. Perhaps liberties were being taken by Canelo Alvarez in pushing for a smaller one. But here’s the issue — no one ever believed Saunders would act on his threat to pull out. And that’s because he’s forever proving that beyond his gift for fighting, nothing else he does is worthy of attention.

SUPER GOLF LEAGUE

HAVING watched football’s breakaway plough into a mountain of cow dung surrounded by angry protesters, the bright sparks of golf are still persisting with their plans for something similar. To make it more cuddly, they are backed by Saudi money. Good on Rory McIlroy for calling it out.

THE IOC

IT IS increasingly likely that Laurel Hubbard will become the first transgender athlete to compete at an Olympics. The New Zealander, who transitioned in 2012, aged 35, will contest the weightlifting and plenty will see it as an enlightened move. And yet it is awfully difficult to favour that argument over the one that protects the entire female category.