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The Premiership relegation battle is usually just as exciting, if not more so, than the title race and this year anyone of eight teams could go down – well according to the bookies.

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Not surprisingly the three promoted sides are favourites to face the drop. It’s become an almost reflex action for the bookmakers to make the top flight’s new comers shortest price for relegation.

Hull and Stoke are both heavily odd-on to make the return trip back to the Championship but the Humberside club could surprise some this season. The Tigers have been very busy in the transfer market and have used their money quite wisely. In has come premiership experience in George Boateng and Anthony Gardiner to add strength to the spine while the addition of Giovanni form Man City will give them some flair.

Stoke on the other hand do looked doomed. Physicality is enough in the Championship but in the top flight you need a bit extra.

West Brom play excellent football, have got in some good players and could well beat the drop. Most significantly they have signed a keeper of real quality in Scott Carson from Liverpool.

Blackburn at around 10/1 could be value to go down. Reports of unrest in the camp with new boss Paul Ince and the loss of their best players could the clubs downfall.

Also worth a punt is Wigan to finish in the top half at 9/2. They’ve had a good pre-season and have bought well.

South Africa today wrapped up the Test series over England with a five wicket victory at Headingly in the third test to take a two nil lead in the four match series to become the first South African side to win on English soil since the sixties.

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Captain Graeme Smith led from the front when at one stage all around him seemed to dropping like flies to score a breathtaking knock of 154 not out and bring the South Africans home by reaching their victory target of 281. Today’s battle seesawed with Andrew Flintoff grabbing a couple of crucial wickets Mackenzie went first then Kallis in quick succession went in between Monty Panesar trapping Hashim Amla lbw leaving the South Africans facing an uphill battle.

But when Smith and Boucher came together with the South Africans still needing over a hundred runs to seal the win and take the series the batsmen began to take control of the game and began to smash England’s tired looking bowlers all around the pitch when they realised they could wrap the game up within four days and although there were a couple of half hearted appeals mainly from Monty they quickly collected the runs and the 5 wicket victory leaving next week’s final test at the Oval pretty much a formality for everybody involved.

West Ham have the unenviable task of facing the MLS Allstars at Toronto FC’s BMO Field this Friday.

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Unenviable because the MLS side will be really up for claiming a Premier League scalp and they are in the middle of their season. Pre-season in England is notorious for throwing up strange results as Premiership teams get back to fitness and struggle with the physicality of so called lesser sides.

You only have to look at the statistics to find MLS supremacy in these games and thanks to our American friends there are plenty. In the four games the Allstars have hosted international opposition they have out scored their opposition by 10 goals to two. Last year they welcomed Scottish champions Celtic, who are roughly the same standard as the Hammers ,and despatched them 2-0. In 2006, the side defeated defending Premier League Champions, albeit a weaken, Chelsea one-nil and the standard of player available has increased since then.

West Ham still a team in transition. Manager Alan Curbishley is still building a team in his image and will be relieved if he can get all of his squad fit probably for the first time since he took over. The East Londoners have already recorded a win on US soil 3-1 over Columbus Crew but will find things a lot tougher in front of a partisan crowd baying for English blood.

It will be the battle of South America when Miguel Angel Cotto of Puerto Rico defends is WBA Welterweight title against Mexican Antonio Margarito in Las Vegas this Saturday night.

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Cotto is now unbeaten in 32 fights and most of those, 26 to be precise, have come by the way of knock-out. ‘Junito’ is carving out his own piece of boxing history and should make it 33 wins from 33 fights when he makes his fifth defence of the title.

British boxing fans could hold interested in the result as Cotto has been touted as a future opponent of both Ricky Hatton and Amir Khan.

27-year-old Cotto is a heavy odd-on favourite with the bookies to retain his title and why not with a KO percentage of 81.25%? However his opponent is no clown having held the WBO version of the title and he stppped Kermit Cintron in his last bout to claim the IBF belt. That said he has lost five times showing a little vunerablity but none of them have come by knockout. So this fight looks as if it could go the distance but the longer fights go on the stringer Cotto seems to get.

Cotto seems to be in a different class at the moment so expect him to win but it will be an entralling contest.

It will be a Greater Manchester boxing derby when John Murray and Lee Meager face off against each other at Wigan’s Robin Park on Friday.

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The fight takes on extra significance, as the winner will most likely get a shot at Amir Khan when he fights for the first time at the MEN Arena in September.

Undefeated Manchester lad Murray has been touted as a future world champion and will start this fight as odds on favourite. The 23-year old has been developing quite a reputation and is making good progress through the ranks. He is 24 unbeaten now with 12 of those victories coming inside the distance. It is generally agreed that he would have recorded more knockouts but the majority of his fights, so far, have been scheduled for four or six rounds. That said there is no doubt over his stamina going the distance twice in 10 round match-ups.

Salford’s Lee Meager by comparison has had a more stuttering career and has already lost his last two attempts at claiming this title. ‘The Macho Man’ has won 21 of his 25 fights knocking out just eight of those. He also has two draws to his name including his last fight when he was involved in a stalemate with Jose Alberto Gonzalez who he really should have beaten. He’s seen years older than his opponent but not necessarily wiser and the further the fight goes the more it plays into Murray’s fists.

With the big kick-off to the new Football season only a month away the whole of Europe is looking forward to what should be one hell of a roller coaster ride especially when you consider England’s failings with not qualifying for the European Championship.

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Premiership
With the big four all trying to improve their squads with the best talent from around the world I think Chelsea’s appointment of Brazilian coach Scolari could be the signing of the season. The former Portugal manager brings a wealth of experience and a superb attacking style of football which the Chelsea supporters will adore.
Manchester United’s public battle with Ronaldo and Real Madrid over the star’s future is threatening to ruin Ferguson’s plans to build his team around the best player in the world at the moment, Ronaldo has publicly came out stating his dream of leaving United for the Spanish giants but Ferguson has stated many times he is not going anywhere and one way or another this story will be sorted out very soon.

Arsenal and Liverpool are clubs that need to sign big if they are to break the strangle hold of the big two but I have a feeling this could be the year Benitez gets his hand on the Premiership trophy if he manages to sign Barry and David Villa because playing alongside Gerrard (Barry) that will be one hell of a central midfield, and Villa and Torres will of course be the pairing of Spain so if Liverpool can pull this off watch out for the Reds next season.

Amir Khan beat Michael Gomez on Saturday night but not before the Manchester fighter had exposed a few weaknesses in the Khan armour that he’ll need to fix to become world champion.

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The former WBU champion had his young opponent on the canvas in round two with a left hand to the side of the head and despite Khan’s attempts at a smile there was no hiding the fact he was hurt by the shot and slightly rocked. This all happened after Gomez himself had been on the deck, the commonwealth champion landing a flashy combination that was too much of the 31-year-old. That was good but Khan’s eagerness to finish the challenger quickly left himself open to counter punches and let Gomez back in.

Khan just looked short of world class, Gomez’s big shots took a lot out of him including a body blow which his corner feared had broken his ribs. It’s a sign of a good boxer though to come back from those and he again floored his opponent with a body shot of his own in the fifth. That was one of the few positives to come from the bout as Khan added more variety to his game. One thing the Olympic silver medallist does well is finishing and after Gomez got up he showed no mercy moving in for the kill forcing the ref to stop it.

He will improve further and but a few in the world of boxing are wondering if he may just be short of world class.