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It was surreal watching the referee refuse to accept the white towel flung into the ring to save Dan Garber from shipping further punishment against Adam Olaniyan, the promising young Irish heavyweight. Garber is 41 and it was bizarre to watch Amy Pu shake her head and kick the towel away. The next time the old heavyweight went down his corner pleaded with him not to get back up and Pu finally waved it off. It seems pretty obvious that a referee should always listen to a trainer who wants to protect a clearly beaten fighter.

Luke Littler, meanwhile, has just turned up and lingered awhile next to our row of press seats close to the ring. I’ve interviewed Luke before and he is not the easiest interviewee in the world and so, like all my other respectful colleagues, we left him in peace and didn’t ask for his Dubois-Wardley prediction.

From F1 feuds to tennis’s soap opera love triangle, we run through half a dozen rivalries that have defined (not so) sporting culture

A boxing rivalry so intense that their sons got to copycat it 35 years later, yet the original is simply the best. That the preening, poetry-spouting, monocle-sporting, Jodhpur-wearing Eubank would irritate the rough-and-ready ex-squaddie Benn was hardly surprising. But the depth of the animosity was remarkable.

• Ring walks expected around 10.50pm BST

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Back to Fury’s win against Wach – as we await the final undercard bout before Joshua v Prenga tonight. From the clips doing the rounds, the victor was switch-hitting and winning comfortably before Wach’s corner pulled their man out on his stool after seven rounds.

Fury did get clocked clean a few times – perhaps not ideal – but then he’s always fought up and down to the level of his opponent. Plus you can’t really read too much into a glorified sparring session.

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Every World Cup produces cult heroes, icons who make it possible for us to sit back and start misty-eyed recollections by saying: “Do you remember Roger Milla/Saeed Al-Owairan/Keisuke Honda/Paul the Octopus?” Well, the Geopolitics World Cup has not let us down! Here are 10 cult heroes who’ve emerged from this tournament.

⚽ Latest news from the 16th and final day of the groups
⚽ Third-place table | Player guide | Golden Boot | Mail Alex

Amid all the joy, there’s the treatment of Iran. They were denied permission to stay in Seattle after their draw against Egypt, reports Ben Fisher.

We’ve got to have another look at Cape Verde’s celebrations.

️ Lap-by-lap news from Montreal race (9pm BST)
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George Russell is trying out the intermediates as the drivers in the warm-up test the best tyres for the conditions. It’s likely too dry for those right now, but there’s spots of rain about and it looks very chilly in Montreal.

“We had a meeting yesterday and it’s all good, everything is settled,” says a smiling Kimi Antonelli as he’s asked trackside about his flashpoint with George Russell during yesterday’s sprint race.

Main-event ring-walks scheduled for 11pm BST
Wardley v Dubois is bout of uncertainty | Mail Alex

Prediction time! The only big favourite in Wardley-Dubois is that it doesn’t reach the final bell: the bookies can hardly split the pair.

For what it’s worth, I reckon the 31-year-old Wardley, who has this uncanny ability to ride punches and get stronger as a fight goes on, has an edge. Dubois doesn’t have a poor chin, the 28-year-old just hasn’t always shown the incredible mental fortitude of his foe.

Tyson Fury dominated Arslanbek Makhmudov over 12 rounds, then called out a ringside Anthony Joshua, who offered a lukewarm response

It’s pretty cold out here in Tottenham tonight but at least the atmosphere is starting to heat up. The arena is around 80% full and a sign that the once magnetic power of Tyson Fury is just fading a little as, at various promotional events this week, they were reduced to plugging ticket availability. Clearly, the fact that Arslanbek Makhmudov is not a stellar name has contributed to Fury’s failure to sell out the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight. But time is also ticking for Fury and his latest return follows two narrow defeats in a row to the mighty Oleksandr Usyk.

Conor Benn v Regis Prograis is about to start. I’ve been close to Prograis over the years and was in his locker room for one of the great world title nights of his career. But Prograis is 37 now and this could be a hard night…

Six Nations updates from Dublin; kick-off 2.10pm GMT
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Flower of Scotland is sung by some focused-looking, blue-shirted players. It gets a generous round of applause in the stands. Amhrán na bhFiann is followed by Ireland’s Call – belted out by the lads in green. Applause again. Nicely done. Kick-off is next!

Simon McMahon has emailed. “Hi Alex. You’re dead right,” he says. “For both these teams, the permutations are irrelevant unless/until they win.

⚽ News, buildup and discussion before today’s action
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Michael Carrick is also talking positively before Manchester United take on Aston Villa at Old Trafford tomorrow. He’s not letting his first defeat as United’s interim manager get him down.

“What’s going to be the reaction?” asked Carrick. “What’s the emotions in the group? What’s the motivation for the next game? And driving that forward.

Celtic won a penalty shootout 4-2 against Rangers after a goalless cup tie, before fans streamed on to the pitch

Simon McMahon, who has a Tangerines leaning, has emailed re. how open the Scottish Cup is at this stage:

“The last four of Falkirk, Dunfermline, St Mirren or Partick, Celtic or Rangers, makes Dundee United’s defeat at the Falkirk Stadium on Friday night all the more galling. A genuine chance to win the Scottish Cup for only the third time squandered to a team who were in Scottish League One two years ago. The Tangerines never really recovered from a dreadful start, two down after 20 minutes, though we still had chances to at least take it to extra time. Still, I’m over it now. Not over it. Hoping for a mountain of red cards goals at Ibrox.”

Ah, that footballing what-ifs! I know them well, Simon, and feel your pain.

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The centre-forward to whose leaving I refer is Jean-Philippe Mateta. You can’t argue with numbers, I don’t suppose, and he’s done a fairly good job in patches, I just can’t get on board with a striker so bad at finishing one-on-ones. If Milan are seriously prepared to give £30m for a 28-year-old, I’d say thank you very much.

In an effort to save themselves – an effort that ought, perhaps, to have been made in the summer, strengthening a team doing brilliantly to give it a chance of performing both domestically and in Europe – they’ve taken Evann Guessand on loan from Villa. I can’t say I like what I’ve seen so far, but perhaps Oliver Glasner’s system suits him more than Unai Emery’s.