Gr8at: Klitschko v Joshua

My favourite sports are football and tennis, but boxing has this raw, primal, violent energy that for me just can’t be replicated. So I was glued to the much-anticipated heavyweight fight between the 41 year-old two-time Ukrainian champion Wladimir Klitschko and the sport’s rising star, 27 year-old Londoner Anthony Joshua. The long-awaited fight lived up to the hype, with both fighters sent flying to the canvas in the opening six rounds after ferocious punches. To celebrate the 11-round epic, I’ve used some photographs collected in The Guardian, with an added mixture of Reuters and Getty Images being used (Richard Heathcote, Ben Stansall, Andrew Couldridge, Tom Jenkins)

Line(s) of the Day #RockyBalboa

Photography: Short Stories and Sports Books

I’ve always had a big interest in books. And amid my interest in the classic and the contemporary novels, I’ve had a big passion for short stories and sports books. I’ve quoted a few of them on my Literature and Sports pages but wanted to share them as pictorial form. You’ll find these two photos and plenty of others on my Instagram page of Raphaelalexx.

Line(s) of the Day #Rocky4

Duke: What’s happening out there?
Rocky: He’s winning… I see three of him out there!
Paulie: Hit the one in the middle.

Tony Burton, Sylvester Stallone and Burt Young in the politically-charged sequel Rocky IV (1985).

Gr8at: Goodbye and thank-you Muhammad Ali

It’s with great sadness that I heard of the death of the legendary heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali. Despite his phenomenal success in the ring, he was always far more than just one of the all-time great boxers. This was probably reflected when Sports Illustrated crowned “Sportsman of the Century”, while the BBC named him as “Sports Personality of the Century”. Ali was also a true civil rights campaigner who was an unfailing and iconic inspiration to many. Below are eight (well ok nine) quotes that sum up just why to many he will always be “The Greatest”.

Gr8at: Best Sporting Photographs of 2015

As 2015 comes to a close, it presents the opportunity to look back at some of the phenomenal sports that have been occurring throughout the year. I wanted to share my eight favourite images from the sporting world, as seen from a wider number in this feature by The Daily Mail.  If you are a fan of sporting photographs you should definitely check out my two previous posts, on the best black and white and colour sporting shots.

Gr8at: Wonderful Colour Sporting Photographs

There were some incredible shots in the black and white sporting photographs post, but here are eight different sports, this time using colour. Do you have a favourite of the eight? Which do you think was the most impressive?

Line(s) of the Day #EyeoftheTiger

It’s the eye of the tiger
It’s the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger.

The chorus lyrics of the iconic sporting anthem ‘Eye of the Tiger’ from Survivor, as shown in Rocky III.

Line(s) of the Day #Muhammad Ali

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
His hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.

‘The Greatest’ heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali, speaking before his legendary ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ fight with George Foreman in 1974.

Travel Snapshot: ExCeL Centre, London 2012

Taken in the ExCeL Centre where seven different sports were hosted during the London Olympics. I went with my family to see one of the preliminary rounds of the boxing. Great atmosphere, but I doubt there was a roof left on the day when Great Britain won the first women’s boxing medal in the history of the Games, followed by an Irish girl in the second final.