Martin's Charity Choice

Sportsvibe has teamed up with online betting exchange Betdaq www.betdaq.com to give the nation’s celebrities and sports stars the chance to put their money where their mouth is with a �20 charity bet each fortnight. First up� for our Celebrity Punt series is Rugby League Legend Martin Offiah - who� predicts a Haye victory over Valuev.

Betdaq
Sportsvibe has teamed up with online betting exchange Betdaq (www.betdaq.com) to give the nation’s celebrities and sports stars the chance to put their money where their mouth is with a �20 charity bet each fortnight.

Martin's Charity
Martin’s chosen charity that he will donate his �20 Bet Daq winnings to will be ‘The Prostate Cancer Foundation’ www.prostatecancerfoundation.org The charity aims to provide finance for Prostate Cancer research and provide support to those directly and indirectly affected by the illness.

This November the charity has teamed up with www.movember.com. Movember have been active since 2003 and have raised more than �30 million for Prostate Cancer as well as being formidable in raising awareness for Prostate Cancer around the world.


Martin Offiah
First to stick their neck on the line is rugby league legend Martin Offiah. As a man who needs no introduction, Martin played alongside and against the great and the good of the game. His record-breaking career tally of 501 tries means he’s also well judged to select some of the best ever – as he has done in his new book Martin Offiah’s Fifty of the Greatest Rugby League Tires of All Time.

We caught up with ‘Chariots’ and asked the big man for his views on this weekend’s heavyweight boxing showdown between Britain’s David Haye and the Russian Nikolay Valuev. Here’s what he had to say:

“I’m hoping that after all the build-up, the action in the ring is going to live-up to the hype. I’m a fan of David’s and really want to see him do well.

“I reckon he’s the real deal and has the ability to counter the huge Russian’s size. His extra speed around the ring will be key and too much for Valuev – Haye to win late on.”

Mr Betdaq
So, finally, we’ve got a heavyweight contest that’s given fight fans something to get excited about. Since Lennox Lewis went out at the top, we’ve been waiting for a real star to come along in this division and, after a few poor auditions from a number of contenders, David Haye looks like he could finally be the man.�

He’s an entertainer both inside and outside of the ring and has certainly been talking the talk over the last few weeks. It’s now time to walk the walk – something he did during and after his hugely impressive demolition of Enzo Macaranelli at the O2 last year when he decked the Welshman inside the second round and then strolled the 5-mile journey home to Bermondsey.

Since then the Hayemaker has stepped up from the cruiserweight division he unified to the ranks of the most powerful pugilists and did well against American Monte Barrett before his meeting with Wladimir Klitschko was aborted. Going toe-to-toe with the seven-foot Nikolay Valuev will be nothing like he’s experienced before and if he does half as well as he’s been promising then we’re in for a treat.

Much has been made of the fact – mostly by Haye’s camp – that Valuev is bigger, heavier, taller, hairier and even smellier but, he’s certainly an awful lot slower. Haye won’t out-muscle the ‘Beast from the East’, but if he can use his speed wisely, then he stands a good chance of claiming the WBA belt. Martin’s lumped his �20 on the south Londoner to win at 3/4 and if Haye can keep landing punches and avoiding Valuev’s he should become only the second man ever to beat him – even if it is on points.

Let’s get ready to rumble!

Latest odds on Betdaq:
Haye:��� �3/4
Valuev:��� 15/11
Draw: ��� 42/1

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