mrsouthlondon

I can totally recommend Mick too, he's just fixed a shower screen in my bathroom and repaired my toilet flusher along with some other stuff - lovely guy, quick, good quality of work, cleans up afterwards and reasonably priced. His number is: 07949926823

Seconded - a top night! Superb bunch of people and the awesome Ralph at the centre of it. Sign me up for the next one. Anson

Ditto! Nicely done Javs and good to meet everyone :) Anson

Awesome idea! Can't wait for this to happen and i'll support the hell out of it :)

Jeremy - It's a complicated picture right now because the sport is still relatively young compared to boxing and the studies being conducted lack for a large and diverse enough group of subjects. But it's definitely harder on the body - Muay Thai and Wrestling take their toll on cruciate ligaments as well as bones and muscles absorbing impact. Catch/submission techniques cause a lot of hyper extension of joints as well as compressions - so breaks, fractures and tears are common. Thanks to the advances in brain scanning techniques there's now a huge controversy in the US over chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which they've discovered is rife among players of American Football and is especially damaging for younger kids. They're just beginning with fighters - boxing and MMA. Rugby will shortly follow. Padded gloves allowing for a very specific kind of repetitive blunt force trauma over a longer period of time (12 rounds) and with counts that allow a fighter to 'recover' are currently not considered any safer than 4oz grappling gloves with no counts and fewer rounds etc etc. The general debate is ongoing but the science hasn't yet settled it. Either way, dangerous sports. I remember distinctly losing my appetite for boxing after watching the Eubank Watson fight - missed the Roy Jones era completely.

Great. I'm new to ED and will be there!

Totally agree - I live off Anstey and it's the best of both worlds: you're nice and local for the Bellenden Rd and have LL within striking distance. Personally, i've found the older lady who runs Andersons to be bloody rude (the coffee IS over-priced and mediocre) and much prefer Melange and Petit tou. There's also a new player on Choumert - Cafe Viva - that's really good - great coffee/food and run by really nice people.