Despite damning findings, Israel remains in World Cup contention - raising questions over football’s role in global accountability, writes JAMES NALTON

A MIGHTY oak has fallen.
On a certain level it could be argued that George Foreman, who died last week at age 76, spent his entire adult life in boxing and beyond as the man who lost to Muhammad Ali in 1974 in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the most epic heavyweight contest ever to take place.
Known to the world and to sports history as “The Rumble in the Jungle,” Foreman filled the role of villain relative to Ali’s sheriff in the eyes of a world desperate for something to believe in as the Vietnam war stuttered on in a post-colonial age. Where before Ali had filled the former role over his stance in opposition to Vietnam, by 1974 he’d been reborn as a fighter-philosopher revered the world over.

From Manchester pubs to global arenas, Ricky Hatton embodied working-class pride in and out of the ring, but his last round was fought in solitude, writes JOHN WIGHT

Vilified by the public after defeating Henry Cooper, Joe Bugner’s remarkable career and tragic decline reflected the era’s attitudes as much as the man himself, says JOHN WIGHT

Amid riots, strikes and Thatcher’s Britain, Frank Bruno fought not just for boxing glory, but for a nation desperate for heroes, writes JOHN WIGHT

In recently published book Baddest Man, Mark Kriegel revisits the Faustian pact at the heart of Mike Tyson’s rise and the emotional fallout that followed, writes JOHN WIGHT