Word: bout
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...looking for something that explains the origins of Boxing Day, well, you're not going to find it here. The day-after-Christmas holiday is celebrated by most countries in the Commonwealth, but in a what-were-we-doing-again? bout of amnesia, none of them are really sure what they're celebrating, when it started...
Pacquiao, the world's best pound-for-pound boxer, has a reputation for leaving his opponents in a bloody pulp, but his refusal to provide a blood sample before the bout - as demanded by the Mayweather camp - has led to an abrupt end to planning for the mega-matchup. The Filipino boxer, who has become an international sports icon, doesn't want his blood drawn within 30 days of the contest. Mayweather's team says the test is standard for Olympic athletes. However, Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach believe any blood test close to the opening bell will weaken...
...that seemed to gain mainstream momentum this year, mostly because of charismatic Pacquiao's rags-to-riches story. His November fight in Las Vegas against Miguel Cotto brought worldwide, and more importantly American, attention back to the fight game. After Pacquiao defeated Cotto there was immediate talk of a bout with Mayweather. The crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas chanted, "We want Floyd! We want Floyd!" (See the rise of mixed martial arts: the new rules of fight club...
...sanctions. The captain and his crew were promptly arrested and charged with illegally transporting arms. But according to experts, they were only tiny cogs in a global network for arms trafficking that feeds off the castaway pilots and planes of the former Soviet Union. Suspected smugglers like Russian Viktor Bout have used the system to transport weapons, as have huge U.S. military contractors like Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), though not for illegal purposes. And while the flight crews like the one stopped in Thailand face the prospect of long prison terms, the people behind this global arms-shipping service...
...However, there are clear connections between the seized plane and smuggling networks in Russia and Eastern Europe. Griffiths says the plane was previously registered to a company that has links to self-professed Serbian gunrunner Tomislav Damnjanovic and to three companies controlled by Bout, who has been dubbed the "Merchant of Death" by Russian media. Last year, Bout was arrested in Bangkok after allegedly offering to sell weapons to U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officers posing as members of the Colombian rebel group FARC. While the U.S. seeks his extradition, Bout is being held at Klong Prem prison in Thailand...