Good bang for buck

One of the reasons that fans follow sport is the glorious uncertainty of results and the emotions that winning and losing produce.

Two sporting events over the recent weekend underline the different emotions that victory and defeat bring.
On Friday evening, just when the Steamers looked likely to post their seventh win of the season, it was cruelly ripped away by a Hawkes Bay try in the dying moments of the Air New Zealand match in Rotorua.
Never has the saying, 'It is never over until the fat lady sings”, been more relevant.
In seconds, the atmosphere at the Rotorua International Stadium went from getting ready to celebrate to despair and frustration as Hawkes Bay executed a move that broke that Steamers supporters' hearts.
Twenty-four hours later at Mystery Creek the 'Fight of the Century” produced much joy and happiness for the David Tua camp. While Tua was favoured by punters and the majority of the media to prevail, few predicted the explosive nature of the David Tua demolition of Shane Cameron.
Watching the fight from home I was just settling down to watch what I expected to be reasonably competitive contest – when it was all over, 3 minutes and seven seconds into the bout.
Although I had predicted a Tua win, I thought it would come in the later rounds. David had the focus and determination of a hungry fighter, who was determined to do the business as quickly as possible.
While much is being made of the Tua victory, spare a thought for Shane Cameron. He is a warrior who didn't come to the ring to taste defeat – but on the night was taken apart by a boxer who was desperate for victory, to keep his world championship aspirations alive.
In my humble opinion the night was a success for the fans who had shelled out big bucks to be ringside and the punters who watched the pay for view. For those ringside it was a night of glitz and glamour, while at home it was a boxing show that lasted over four hours.
The matchmaker did a great job with the under card fights, as most were evenly matched, and provided plenty of action. The first that featured Kiwi boxer Steven Heremaia and the former Australian Light Middleweight champion was a cracker.
Heremaia took the fight to the Australian for the first couple of rounds before the Aussie stormed back into the encounter. While the visitor appeared to have much of the advantage in the later rounds - the decision awarded to Heremaia was the result of putting his opponent on the canvas twice in the first stanza.
There were plenty of emotions on show after big Colin Wilson upset John Hopoate in the lead-up to the main event. Coming from behind, Wilson made sure the bout wasn't put in the hands of the judges by stopping the current Australian Heavyweight champion in round four.
With there being plenty of feeling (and trash taking) between the pair – Wilson was ecstatic to knock down the former league star. It was sweet revenge that saw Wilson do most of the talking with his fists.

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