In many ways Ricky Burns has become a victim of British boxing's raised profile over the past few years as Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, Carl Froch, Amir Khan and David Haye have all taken part in major world title fights.

Bernard Hopkins was aiming to become the oldest boxer to win a world title when he challenged Jean Pascal for the WBC light-heavyweight crown in Montreal in the early hours of this morning. The American, 46, is six months older than George Foreman was when he dethroned the heavyweight world champion Michael Moorer in 1994.

There's something about British boxing's 12-stone men that makes them feel unloved.

'What was discouraging,' says Ian St John, 'was that the same mistakes were being made byHoullier, and then Benitez and Hodgson'

It might be sacrilegious to suggest so on the sport pages of a quality newspaper, but you have to hand it to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show. Over its many pilloried years, it has somehow managed to attain absolutely irrelevant status within the absolutely irrelevant confines of its own subject matter.

It took Carl Froch less than a minute to find his rhythm and the remaining 35 minutes to deliver a flawless, punch-perfect masterclass in old-fashioned boxing skills here on Saturday night to leave Arthur Abraham bruised, confused and battered.

Karl Froch regained the WBC super-middleweight title with a scintillating display of boxing skills to defeat the German based Armenian, Arthur Abraham in Helsinki last night.

Joe Calzaghe is one of those fighting to stop the cenotaph in a holiday camp for young colliers being vandalised

Microsoft is poised to re-enter the record books when it launches Halo: Reach on Tuesday.

Red was the (hair) colour at this weekend's V Festival in Chelmsford (and also in Staffs, but who goes to that one?). First up, strawberry blond-bonced Alfie Owen-Allen, née Allen, who told the Diary of his disdain for flame-haired Florence Welch and her Machine, who performed on Saturday. "She's absolute bollocks," Owen-Allen declared, adding that he thought she didn't write all her own songs.

A great character as well as one of Britain's finest boxing talents, the man with the monocle is back with a bang and 'mentoring' his son in the sweet science. Alan Hubbard speaks to Chris Eubank

'I’m actually pretty soft'

Unsung champion is happy to mix it with amateurs and show them the ropes

Whoever wins the election, sport can expect some fundamental changes in the way it is governed. The two main parties have plans to "shake up" the system, notably in football where the possible appointment of a regulator to oversee the game is likely to be included in both Labour and Conservative manifestoes. Any appointee – Tory peer Lord Mahwinney, until last week the Football League's chairman, is said to be favourite – could be given the US-style title of Football Commissioner. Government-backed organisations such as UK Sport, Sport England and the Youth Sports Trust can also expect some serious revision, as can their overlords, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, particularly if the Tories gain power. A strong Labour influence in these bodies has been of some concern to the shadow sports minister, Hugh Robertson, who also pledges to restore Lottery funding for sport to its original level of 20 per cent. This has fallen from £460 million to £217m. The election will pose fresh questions about the role of the sports ministry. Labour undoubtedly would retain Tessa Jowell as Olympics minister but some feel that Gerry Sutcliffe will have to raise not so much his game but his profile to keep her company as sports minister. Any Lib-Lab pact in a coalition government might see Liberal spokesman Don Foster given the job. Should Labour win, Jowell is likely to be offered a strictly non-political role by Seb Coe as a 2012 ambassador. The increasingly impressive Robertson, who has twice turned down offers from David Cameron of promotion to a front-bench shadow ministry, hopes to combine the jobs of Olympics and sports minister. Politically overseeing the delivery of the 2012 Games should make this a Cabinet position.