The LA Times reports that the boxing legend is in rehab while the man himself can't stop apologising on Twitter
Oscar de la Hoya has checked into rehab, reports the LA Times. The former world champion referred in a statement only to "certain issues that I need to work on" while CBS claimed alcohol and cocaine had been blamed by a gossip website.
Followers on Twitter may have sensed it as recent posts featured an air of self-analysis from "Good morning everyone. Today is the day to change one bad habit we have. happy hump day" to "Stop finding excuses not to live. life is controlled by what you make of it and not of what it makes of you". Subsequent tweets seemed to confirm he is trying to "make amends", a step central to many programmes. Apologising: "To manny paquiao for any wrong doing in my part. you are a great champion. I have realized that by accepting my mistakes"; then building bridges with promoter Bob Arum with whom De la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions has been in dispute: "Dear bob arum first I would like to humbly apologize for any pain I have caused to you ..."
This step seems to be working. Asked whether it may clear the way for fighters from both promoters to meet, Arum said: "We can certainly work together." It makes possible a bout between Pacquiao and Golden Boy's Victor Ortiz, as well as, importantly for fight fans, representing what BoxingScene described as a "love train" that could "give an impetus to making the Mayweather-Pacquiao superbout [happen] in 2012".
Ukraine: Skinheads and riot police: welcome to Euro 2012
Further problems for the Euro 2012 co-hosts as last week's clash between Obolon Kiev and Metalist Kharkiv ended in an on-pitch fight between fans. Both Poland and Ukraine have been struggling to dispel fears of trouble but seem unable to prevent such incidents.
Ukraine's The Day reported that "after the final whistle Kharkiv fans ran out en masse on the field and began to provoke the fans of FC Obolon". Metalist's home ground is one of the venues for Euro 2012, although several factors may comfort officials.
Video footage shows the combatants divided PE lesson-style into "skins" and "shirts", diminishing the sense of menace, while some of the fashions on display appear to have arrived direct from the 1970s, suggesting organisers need only consult old episodes of The Sweeney for tips on dealing with what would then have been called "aggro". Perhaps most pertinently for fans looking for a ruck in 2012 however, it was broken up swiftly and urgently by camouflage-clad policemen wielding night sticks with happy abandon.
Tanzania: NFL still locked out in US but not out of Africa
As the NFL lockout continues, there was some solace as the sport took its first steps into a new continent. The Arusha Times noted the enthusiasm greeting the first ever game of American football in Africa, when Iowa's Drake University played an All-Stars side from Mexico.
The Drake linebacker Tyler Moorehead said: "It was unique. What was cool was just how excited they were." Andre De Beer, of Tanzania Irie, a volunteer sports group, agreed: "All of the youth were extremely excited and were already practising and identifying with their favourite teams." Iowa's Des Moines Register reported that Drake won 17-7 but coach Chris Creighton acknowledged it was about more than the scoreline: "I felt as though we are part of history."
Back in the US, lofty ideals were eclipsed by more humdrum concerns as Baltimore Ravens' linebacker Ray Lewis warned ESPN the lockout would lead to more trouble: "If we don't have a season ? watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up if you take away our game." Asked how the two were connected, he replied: "There's nothing else to do."
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