"People
are asking why I was delayed getting to the ring and the answer is I had a
local anaesthetic to numb the pain from a toe on my right foot I damaged during
training. It was supposed to last two hours but lasted maybe 35 minutes. As I
was going out I couldn't walk on it and thought 'Oh sh*t, I need another
injection'. Then I had to wait to make sure I didn't go into a shock because
I'd had double the dose in such a short space of time. I was struggling to walk
to the ring but I was telling myself to ignore the pain." - David Haye talks about the pain killing
injections he needed for his broken toe which he claims cost him a chance in
his world heavyweight title fight against Wladimir Klitschko.
"There
was no mention of any injection while I was in there and I oversaw David's
preparations." - Charlie Giles,
chairman of the British Boxing Board of Control, who was in David Haye's
dressing room throughout the build-up to the bout.
"..." - Wladimir Klitschko, left, whose silent movie posted on the internet ridiculing his opponent for his pre-fight excesses, in-fight failure and post-fight excuses was as short of words as Haye now is of credibility.
"Some
of the referee's decisions weren't the greatest. But that's how the game
is." - Australia midfielder Lisa
DeVanna's understatement is perhaps even more amazing than the failure of referee
Gyoengyi Gaal to spot the most blatant handball in the history of football
during the Australia v Equatorial Guinea World Cup match.
"I'd
be lying to you if I said I didn't have doubts. I did have doubts. I did have
difficult, crisis times where I didn't know if I could really make it, because
the first two guys were so dominant." - Tennis's new number one Novak Djokovic admits that he had a
crisis of self-belief before his remarkable ascent to the top of the game. If
that doesn't give Andy Murray hope, nothing will.
"It
was tough - it was like losing someone. It was probably as bad as losing a
family member in some ways. I even struggled to eat for a few days." - Craig Bellamy (top right) describes the sacking of former
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes in genuinely shocking terms.
"Living
without my children in Manchester has been incredibly challenging for me.
Everything I do, I do for my daughters, Katie and Florencia. I need to be
closer to them and to spend more time with them. I need them to be happy
because my life is about them now. I need to be in a place where they can
adapt." - After blaming his problems with the club's chief executive for
his transfer request last year, Carlos
Tevez (right) has now come up with much better reason to ask for a move away from
Eastlands.
"I
think it is the silliest thing that players have done over the years. I have
always been suspect about people diving into lakes, not knowing how deep they
are and what is in there. There could be something sharp. He was lucky it was
only a leg injury. It is not the way to celebrate -- taking the next three
months off because you've hurt yourself." - Colin Montgomerie shows his characteristic sense of humour after Thomas Levet broke his leg jumping into
the lake to celebrate victory at the French Open. Levet himself merely referred
to the injury as "bad timing", but added that, "the wonderful
memory of winning my national Open will definitely keep me going through my
recovery."
"It's
a shame to be compared to the Russian billionaire. I feel ashamed to be
mentioned with him. He accumulated his wealth by monopolising his country's
natural resources. I set up my business empire step by step, competing fiercely
in the market." - Dalian Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin bristles at comparisons to Roman Abramovich after he
pledges money to boost football in China.
"I
just received an email from Brian Marwood's secretary, a lady at the club
called Claire, telling me to report for training on July 9. No one at City is
man enough to speak to me face-to-face to explain. I just received an email
from the secretary. But when I spoke to the other players, I found out the
first team was leaving for the pre-season tour of the USA on July 8. So it's
clear they don't want me here but no one even called." - Emmanuel Adebayor reveals that the
Manchester City executive team have clearly been to the David Brent School of
Management Excellence.
"I'm
not sure that anyone really cares what some of those people are talking about
or their opinions. I think that if you have an opinion, just keep it to
yourself." - Lewis Hamilton
issues a scathing criticism of former F1 champions Nigel Mansell and Jacques
Villeneuve after the duo both publicly told the 26-year-old to stick with
McLaren rather than move to Red Bull.
"I'm just happy. For me it's so nice to win." - Kenyan runner Nicholas Manza Kamakaya makes St Francis of Assissi look like Gordon Ramsay with his post-race philosophical calm after losing out on a $10,000 bonus by just one second at the end of a marathon in Queensland, Australia.
"I'm
convinced Cesc will join us. Arsenal are in economy, Barcelona are in business
class and any player would want to join us." - Barcelona defender Dani Alves makes a good point, but raises
an even more interesting question: if Barcelona are only in business class, who
on earth is sitting in first?