JACK CATTERALL and Arnold Barboza are in action in a massive Manchester bout RIGHT NOW!
The huge fight is a final eliminator for a shot at Teofimo Lopez‘s WBO super-lightweight title.
Catterall goes into Saturday night’s blockbuster main event fresh from wins over Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis.
But Barboza Jr will be a huge test for the Chorley-born fighter as the 33-year-old boxer goes into the fight with a spotless 31-0-0 record.
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RUSSIA will turn its guns on Europe next if Ukraine falls, President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.
He told Western leaders to improve their military defences as the world can no longer rely on the US to bail them out.
And he called for the creation of a European Army to defend the continent’s borders against tyrant Vladimir Putin.
Mr Zelensky warned the Russian president “does not want peace” and is “not preparing for dialogue”.
It came as the US said the UK and Europe may not be invited to Ukraine war peace talks.
Mr Zelensky said: “I believe in Europe. I urge you to act for your own sake, for your nations, your houses, your children, for our shared future.
“We need confidence in our own strength so that other people respect European power. I believe the time has come to create an Armed Forces of Europe.”
He said all European nations must rearm and prepare for war.
Mr Zelensky added: “Money alone will not stop an enemy assault. It is not just about budgets, it is about people realising they need to defend their own home.”
He revealed Ukraine had clear intelligence Russia plans, this year, to send troops to puppet state Belarus.
And he asked the Munich Security Conference: “Will this force attack Ukraine? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe they’ll attack you.
“And what about your armies — are they ready? How fast will they respond? And will they respond at all?”
He spoke out just days after US President Donald Trump called Putin to try to broker a peace deal in Ukraine.
Mr Trump wants the three-year war over so US taxpayers can stop subsidising defence budgets across Europe.
Officials are working on plans to shore up support for Kyiv if the US does cut military aid.
They want to unlock around £250billion of frozen Russian assets to help bankroll the war effort, although it has proven legally impossible before.
The UK is also considering buying more military kit from the US to link the war to Mr Trump’s America First strategy.
Details of the US peace plan are expected in the coming few weeks.
Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said it was not certain Europe would take part.
He admitted: “That may grate a little bit.”
The US has suggested UK and European troops man a demilitarised buffer zone in Ukraine.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated the UK’s position that there was an “irreversible pathway” for Ukraine to join Nato.
Some of the Trump team have ruled it out.
Mr Lammy said: “We know too that even when we get to a negotiated peace, Putin will not go away. So this is an existential question for Europe.
“We meet that question alongside the United States.”
He went on: “The best deal and security guarantee is binding US industry, business, defence capability into their future.
“That’s what will make Putin pay attention. That’s what’s attractive to a US president who knows how to get a good deal.”
THE United States has 114,000 active-duty forces deployed to Europe — but has ruled out using them to help police Ukraine’s security.
More than a third are stationed in seven bases in Germany, while the UK has just over 10,000 at two RAF sites.
US Army systems are also used throughout Europe and any withdrawal could harm the ability of neighbouring countries’ forces to continue to work together.
Russia claims to have a standing army of three million, plus two million reservists.
THE Canaries were helped by a SQUIRREL in a bizarre turn of events in Norwich City’s match against Hull City.
The visitors were trailing the East Yorkshire side 1-0 when an unplanned secret squirrel attack unlocked The Tigers’ defence.
As the playoff hopefuls worked the ball forward in search of an equaliser, the speedy rodent was seen running down the wing on the MKM Stadium pitch.
Norwich’s Borja Sainz spotted the squirrel making the perfect overlap, but opted to play Kellen Fisher in.
Fisher’s cross was then met by the head of US striker Josh Sargent who notched his ninth goal of the season.
However, it would be amiss not to credit his new furry teammate for creating the goalscoring opportunity.
Needless to say, football fans online were full of puns and praise for the mammal.
One fan wrote: “That’s nuts.”
A second posted: “They squirrelled the ball away.”
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A third shared: “Decent overlapping run that to draw out the full back.”
While a fourth joked: “It was onside so no issues.”
Animals on the pitch in the EFL are nothing new, though.
Only last month, a DOG had to be chased off the pitch moments before kick-off at Bristol Rovers vs Leyton Orient.
The League One clash was in danger of being delayed as the hosts tried to chase down the four-legged pitch invader.
The dog entered the pitch from one corner and managed to sprint all the way across to the opposite corner flag, all while being chased by a hapless club official.
The hound was cheered all the way and greeted to cries of: “Sign him up! Sign him up! Sign him up!”
MANCHESTER UNITED could be forced to field a misfit XI against Tottenham with ELEVEN first-team stars out injured.
Amad Diallo became the latest big name to find himself sidelined after suffering an ankle ligament injury.
The winger is now expected to miss the rest of the season.
And he’s not the only big name who will not feature in north London on Sunday.
United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo is recovering from a muscle strain.
While fellow holders Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer are both major doubts as United look to avoid a third defeat to Spurs this season.
11 stars set to miss out:
Elsewhere, Mason Mount remains out along with goalies Tom Heaton and Altay Bayindir.
While defenders Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof will play no part tomorrow either.
It means boss Ruben Amorim has been left with a small amount of options against Spurs.
Andre Onana will start between the sticks, with a three-man defence of Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui a possibly combination.
Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu could start as the wing-backs, although it remains to be seen which flank they’ll be on.
In midfield, Amorim may have no choice but to turn to veterans Casemiro and Christian Eriksen.
While in attack, captain Bruno Fernandes could get the nod alongside Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee.
There are several other options for Amorim to choose from though.
Harry Maguire and Rasmus Hojlund will also be pushing for starts.
While teen goal sensation Chido Obi could get a go after impressing for United’s youth sides.
He is one of five kids to travel with the seniors to London.
Sekou Kone, Harry Amass, Jack Moorhouse and Elyh Harrison could yet play some part on Sunday.
But with Spurs set to welcome as many as six senior players back from injury, including Guglielmo Vicario and James Maddison, Amorim is likely to favour the few senior options available to him.
AMANDA Holden flaunted her impeccably toned body as she celebrated turning 54 with a sizzling hot photoshoot.
The Britain’s Got Talent judge showed off her enviable figure as she stripped down to the two-piece as she marked the big occasion.
Known for her daring outfits and love of fun in the sun, Amanda made sure all eyes were on her for the steamy birthday photoshoot.
Amanda struck a variety of poses to show off her model looks and it’s clear she could be giving her daughter Lexi, who last year signed a top modelling contract, a run for her money.
In the playful snaps, Amanda threw her hands behind her head as she kept eyes hidden behind a set of shades.
Her gym-honed figure looked fantastic as she posed seductively against the side of the wall.
Amanda’s birthday coincides with the launch of the brand new series of BGT.
The Heart FM star has been a part of the panel since the show began in 2007 and has showed no signs of slowing down year-on-year.
Amanda is currently busier than ever balancing BGT with her daily Heart Breakfast show as well as her double act with Alan Carr which has seen three series of their Property Job show as well as hosting the Royal Variety Performance together last year.
A recent change to the format of BGT will also mean Amanda is busier than ever before.
The show will now run for a whopping four months with new episodes weekly.
It means the usual semi-final format has been ditched with the judges now watching on each Saturday, similar to Strictly Come Dancing, rather than one night after the other.
Amanda and her fellow judges – Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, and Bruno Tonioli – have therefore had to sacrifice their Saturday plans in order to commit to their roles on the show.
FROM now on, the special relationship looks like it is going to be the one between the United States of America and Russia.
President Trump is drawing up plans to meet Russia’s chief thug Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia, while our own Prime Minister waits anxiously for his first visit to the MAGA White House.
For this was the week when an alliance that has endured for 75 years came to a bitter end.
Trump and his flunkies did not simply tell Europe that the USA is no longer going to bankroll European national security.
It was far worse than that.
The brutal subtext of all the soundbites about Uncle Sam not being taken for Uncle Sucker was this — Trump is just not that into you, Europe.
It is undeniable that Europe has been hiding behind America’s military might for a lifetime.
And it is true that nobody has spent more on aid to Ukraine than the United States — £73billion, compared with £13billion from Germany, £12billion from the UK and £7billion from Japan.
Japan? Tokyo is more than 5,000 miles from Kyiv!
Why should Japan pay more for Ukraine’s protection than most of the nations of Europe?
The freeloading Euros are going to have to start defending their continent. And paying for it.
And for all British warm words and big promises to Ukraine — Starmer has promised that the UK will support Ukraine for “100 years” — that includes this country.
For all his wistful wittering about the Royal Family, Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn about us.
The UK has to be the military force we were in the 20th century.
Trump wants his allies — something tells me that should be “allies” in inverted commas — to spend five per cent of our national wealth on it.
Our defence spending is currently a paltry 2.3 per cent of national income, although Labour say they might be able to manage 2.5 per cent.
Although they don’t say when! Not good enough. Nowhere near good enough.
Not when Trump just emboldened the nuclear-armed warmonger in Moscow.
It feels like we have no choice.
Russia spends more on defence than all of Europe combined.
So our priorities have just changed for ever.
Nothing can be considered more crucial than protecting our way of life.
Nothing is of greater importance than defending our nation.
But this Labour Government has allocated £13.3billion in foreign aid for 2024/25 and £13.7billion for 2025/26.
And we can’t afford that kind of virtue-signalling largesse any more.
It is total madness when Putin is waving nuclear weapons at us and expanding the Red Army.
And Labour can forget blowing £1.4trillion to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
We can’t afford it. And £18.8trillion to Caribbean countries for reparations for slavery?
I think possibly not. We can’t afford it!
And our Armed Forces can no longer be allowed to rust and rot. We can’t afford it.
It feels like a golden age of freedom is coming to an end.
From the Western Front to Normandy, Iraq to Afghanistan, the British have fought alongside our American allies for more than a century.
No longer.
Mr President, your historic break with the past cuts both ways.
The British do not want a Cold War with China.
We never want another Iraq or Afghanistan.
So the next time America wants to wage a war, the Yanks can do it alone.
AS the ceasefire in Gaza looks increasingly fragile, it is clearly to the benefit of the Palestinians, the Israelis and the human race if the tenuous peace can endure.
Not least because there is nothing left of Gaza to bomb.
WHEN Labour MP Stella Creasy coos that the late Queen having tea and marmalade with Paddington Bear was “a beautiful British moment that everyone celebrated”, I agree with every word.
Where Stella and I part company is when she says that our policies on illegal immigration should be shaped by our warm feelings about that little marmalade sarnie munching mammal from Peru.
Slamming the Government’s plans to block illegal migrants from ever becoming British citizens, Stella seethes: “It would deny, frankly, Paddington. He did the same thing! He came by an irregular route – we gave him sanctuary.”
Eagle-eyed readers will have spotted the flaw in Stella’s argument.
Paddington Bear is not real.
Paddington will never need housing.
He will never need health care.
He will never produce lots of little baby bears who will need to be watched over from the cradle to the grave.
I agree with Stella Creasy that, “We have to have strong border controls – but also decency”.
Let’s keep our humanity when discussing immigration.
But last year another 728,000 came here.
They were all flesh and blood, Stella.
Not fur, fantasy and marmalade sandwiches.
THE odds of an asteroid hitting Earth three days before Christmas 2032 just halved.
The space rock is the size of a football pitch, moving at 38,000 miles per hour, and would strike our planet with the force of 100 nuclear bombs.
NASA’s Planetary Defense Team currently has no plan.
Apparently getting out a Bruce Willis in a grubby vest to save the planet is not an option.
We will probably be fine.
Mind you, that is exactly what the dinosaurs said.
TAYLOR SWIFT left the Grammys without a gong, got booed at the Super Bowl and was mocked on social media by Donald Trump – because those same “football” fans in New Orleans cheered for him.
Some say that an era of unpopularity is coming Taylor’s way.
Oh, I don’t know.
Swift’s Eras tour grossed $2BILLION – the highest-grossing concert tour in music history.
The last time I looked, Taylor was young, rich, beautiful – and after all those years of dating skinny British boys, seems blissfully loved up with her lumberjack-looking NFL boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce.
She got booed at the Super Bowl – so what?
Do we expect fans of the Philadelphia Eagles to cheer her?
She left the Grammys without an award – but she already has 14 Grammys on her mantelpiece.
And as for “The Donald” mocking her on social media, that’s the price she pays for supporting Kamala Harris.
Taylor Swift, 35, has her health, those radiant looks, more than $1billion in the bank and she is dating the love of her life.
If this is a bad year for Taylor Swift, then I would love to see what a good one looks like.
A BBC investigation reports that Rachel Reeves and two colleagues were the subject of an expenses probe when the Chancellor was a senior manager at Halifax Bank of Scotland in the late 2000s.
A whistle-blower complained that the three were using company expense accounts to “fund a lifestyle” – something Reeves says she was unaware of.
Allegations include Reeves buying a £152 handbag on expenses as a Christmas present for her boss at HBOS, while her boss reportedly bought her a £55 wine gift that same Yuletide.
Other alleged expenses claims included dinners, gifts and taxis.
Doesn’t HBOS sound like a wonderful place to work?
I was at the NME for three years at the peak of sex and drugs and rock and roll.
But I don’t think I had as much fun as Rachel Reeves did at HBOS.
SAM McKNIGHT, hairdresser to the stars, advises Prince Harry to remove the few remaining tufts of fur on top of his thinning bonce and have a hair transplant.
“You’re in California, where they have the best!” insists Sam, who was Princess Diana’s hairdresser and cut William and Harry’s hair when they were children.
“That fluff on top of his head is like a new-born chick and it is just horrible,” Sam, 69, posted on Instagram.
“If I was his age, I would have a hair transplant because they are so great nowadays.”
Harry will probably never have a hair transplant.
He is too self-consciously English and would recoil at such a brazen act of vanity.
But his former barber is right. Harry lives in the home of the hair transplant.
Which is why you never see a film star with a comb-over like Harry.
DANCING On Ice presenter Holly Willoughby has opened up the doors to her private home life, with a glimpse at one member of her family.
Former This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby shared a sweet video with a pet pooch getting up close and personal as the pair snuggled up on the sofa.
In the video, TV star Holly can be seen laughing as she fights off licks and kisses from the four legged puppy who is desperate to get close to her.
Sharing the clip on Instagram, Holly captioned the video: “Puppy snuggles… ‘not the ears!’”
Fans have commented as one pointed out: “Dogs are just so bloody lush aren’t they.”
Another shared: “This is too cute.”
“Something humbling about seeing this …. for us fans, we are happy your in a happy place…God bless and enjoy,” said a third.
Another asked: “Aww lovely puppy kisses. You really know how a pup will really be when they are affectionate like this. Have you got two dogs now? How is Bailey?”
Replying back, Holly revealed the pup is actually not hers, but belongs to her sister – who can be heard laughing in the background of the video.
The video comes as Holly has been back on TV screens presenting the latest series of Dancing On Ice for ITV, as well as her new show Celebrity Bear Hunt.
Celebrity Bear Hunt sees Holly presenting the show for Netflix, where she was reportedly paid almost £1million to front the show with adventurer Bear Grylls.
The show sees Bear take stars, including Strictly’s Shirley Ballas, Spice Girl Mel B, The Saturdays singer Una Healy and ex-tennis ace Boris Becker, into the Costa Rica jungle.
Once there, he hunts the celebrities through the wilderness, until they are all eliminated from the contest, bar the last person standing, who is declared the winner.
Former This Morning host Holly, who also fronts Dancing on Ice, features in many of the links between scenes.
Holly previously presented ITV daytime show This Morning for 14 years before resigning in October 2023.
The star took a step back, revealing on Instagram: “I have let ITV know today that after 14 years, I will not be returning to This Morning.
“It’s been an honour to just be part of its story and I know this story has many chapters left to go.
“Sadly, however, I now feel I have to make this decision for me and my family. I will miss you all so much.”
She added: “This is such a difficult goodbye, you are incredible and I forever will be proud of what we’ve done together.
“Thank you to everyone at ITV for being supportive. To every guest who has sat on our sofa, thank you.
“Most of all, thank you to the wonderful viewers. You’ve been so loyal, so supportive and the very best company every day.”
The decision to step back came after a difficult time for Holly, after her friendship with co-star Phillip Schofield had fallen apart in the wake of the scandal involving his inappropriate relationship with a younger colleague on the show.
