A chaotic classic – but was ‘savage’ Wardley-Dubois fight stopped too late? 

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Sport newsletter. It’s Senior Sports Writer Kieran Jackson here this week to get you up to speed on the week’s biggest headlines.

It was a bloodthirsty Saturday-night crowd in Manchester, writes our boxing columnist Steve Bunce, and they packed the new Co-op Live arena in anticipation of something special, something memorable, and something brutal – they got all three. 

Fabio Wardley was rescued after 28 seconds of the 11th round and Daniel Dubois was hauled away to celebrate the win; it was the end of a fight that took both men to the very extremes in a boxing business where total sacrifice does happen. Wardley against Dubois on Saturday had that feeling very early. It was not always easy to watch, but it was also impossible to look away.

On a calmer night, with less at stake, the fight would have ended earlier. On Saturday night, it finished only when Wardley was close to collapse, helpless in defence and still resisting. It was a stunning last stand and that is how some of our greatest fights end.

Combat Sports Editor Alex Pattle – also ringside in Manchester – admitted to feeling equal amounts of intrigue and discomfort in the later rounds. “The boxing fan in me wanted to see more action; the human side wanted an earlier, merciful end for Wardley."

Elsewhere, Chief Football Writer Miguel Delaney dissects the 'biggest VAR decision the game has seen' after West Ham's last-gasp equaliser against Arsenal on Sunday was ruled out for a foul on Gunners goalkeeper David Raya. There was almost a cinematic element to it, writes Delaney; on-field referee Chris Kavanagh had to get it right. VAR official Darren England looked at it 17 times, over four minutes and 17 seconds. He probably did get it right, just about. 

Daniel Dubois (centre-right) won an all-British heavyweight classic against Fabio Wardley

Arsenal's dramatic victory at West Ham was the seventh time Mikel Arteta's side have won by a 1-0 scoreline in the Premier League this season.
Which is the only Premier League team to have had a more frequent scoreline in their favour – and what is that scoreline? (Clue: they have registered this scoreline eight times)

MUST READS

How Fifa lost control and made the World Cup a rip-off for fans 

While Fifa president Gianni Infantino boasts about how the US commercialisation of sport is ‘reaching different levels’, fans are left to pay the exorbitant cost of this World Cup. And as Miguel Delaney states, even US supporters – including Donald Trump – feel it is far too costly. 

Ticket prices are all the worse because of the awareness that everything else is going to cost so much. Even qualified teams are concerned that they could lose money due to expenses.

Fifa couldn’t have been aware of this, yet they have loaded the cost up anyway. And while this might normally have been accepted as the price of a World Cup in an expensive country, many extra costs are direct consequences of Fifa deals. A line by one insider speaks volumes. “It’s a lesson in how to suck the joy out of it.” Welcome to the great World Cup rip-off.

The inside story of Ronda Rousey’s rise and fall: ‘It was constant insanity’

Ahead of Rousey’s first MMA fight in 10 years on 16 May, Alex Pattle speaks to the controversial icon herself, her opponent Gina Carano, promoter Nakisa Bidarian, and journalist Chuck Mindenhall. 

My first question to Rousey feels an obvious one, yet still I’m pleasantly surprised by the depth of her answer. What was it like to be Ronda Rousey during those peak years? “God, it was just insanity,” she sighs. “Just constant, non-stop insanity. I was just trying to keep laying down the tracks in front of this speeding train."

The dilemma at the heart of Man United’s huge Marcus Rashford decision

LaLiga title winner Rashford has excelled on loan at Barcelona and his United career had appeared to be over, but as Senior Football Correspondent Richard Jolly explains, things have shifted at Old Trafford with a transfer puzzle to solve

As United’s recruitment drive last summer shows, when they spent around £200m on Cunha, Sesko and Mbeumo, they can end up paying at least £60m for forwards; the club would concede that they paid towards the upper end of their valuations for players who, in some cases, are less gifted than Rashford.

THE DISPATCH

Inside Kinetic Academy, the charity founded by a Chelsea coach giving players a second chance

What began as some local coaching sessions to serve marginalised youths following the London riots has developed into an impactful charity launching careers, as Chief Sports Writer Lawrence Ostlere discovers. 

In the aftermath of the 2011 London riots, when groups of young men looted shops and set fire to cars and buildings around the capital, two aspiring football coaches were jolted into action by the sight of smoke billowing into the night sky.

Home secretary Theresa May called the offenders “thugs” and justice secretary Ken Clarke blamed a “feral underclass”. Much of the media rhetoric urged authorities to lock them up and throw away the key. But to James Fotheringham and Harry Hudson – who is now a familiar sight in the Chelsea dugout – the fires burning on their doorstep in Croydon were a community’s distress signal.

Hudson had studied sport’s role in social inclusion at university in Southampton, and when he returned to London that summer to witness the riots unfold, he and Fotheringham decided to set up their own outreach programme, putting on free coaching for young people who couldn’t afford to pay. The sessions were deliberately timed in the early evening during the most common hours for anti-social behaviour.

And what started as a local scheme has grown into one of the most impactful sporting charities in the country. Read more here. 

Harry Hudson (right) is now part of Chelsea's first-team coaching staff