THOSE WERE THE DAYS

ON THIS DATE IN SPORTING HISTORY

1948: Boris Stankovic of Yugoslavia went into the record books as the first footballer to be sent off at Wembley. He received his marching orders in the final of the Olympic football tournament, which Sweden won 3-2. 1995: Colin Montgomerie, below, lost a play-off for the USPGA Championship in Los Angeles to Australian Steve Elkington. The Scot had been beaten in a play-off for the US Open the previous year and was second again in 1997.

1999: Steffi Graf announced her immediate retirement from tennis. The German, who spent a record 377 weeks at world No1, claimed 22 Grand Slam titles in all, seven coming at Wimbledon.

2011: England beat India in the third Test at Edgbaston to win the series 3-0 with one match remaining and knock their opponents off the top of the Test rankings. 2016: Mo Farah became the first British track-and-field athlete to win three Olympic golds by retaining his 10,000m title in Rio. Matchroom MD. “That’s come from a fake website, from Facebook. They have 100 per cent signed the contract.

“Once Ruiz won the first fight, every man and his dog from his local gym is telling him he should be getting this and that. The deal was very fair, the deal was negotiated and everyone who signed that deal know their obligations.”

Hearn and Joshua are being criticised by human rights organisations for accepting the Saudis’ lucrative offer to fight in a purpose-built 12,000-seater stadium just outside the capital Riyadh.

Hearn feels the controversy can make it an even bigger event and is impressed by the Saudis’ ambition to stage big fights. He claims the rematch could rival the Rumble in the Jungle or the Thrilla in Manila in terms of size.

“I knew there’d be criticism and controversy,” he said.

“I’m a promoter and sometimes the criticism and the curiosity will lead to an event of an extraordinary magnitude. You can talk about the events of the past, whether it’s Rumble in the Jungle or Thrilla in Manila. I put this in the same kind of area.”

Hearn turned down offers from Madison Square Garden, where Ruiz beat Joshua in June to claim the WBA, IBF and WBO titles, and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. He added: “We have an obligation to grow the sport. That is something that really truly excites me.”