HERALD sports boxing coverage spans the globe. Our man Jim Reynolds in

Atlantic City for the Gary Jacobs fight. Our man Jim Traynor in downtown

Livingston for the world title fight involving Naz Whatsisname, the

Sheffield Asian hopeful in the kilt and leopardskin shorts.

If this were not enough, the Sporting Diary took ourselves to the Time

Capsule, Coatbridge. We travelled to Buckfast County to sample boxing at

its corinthian level, the Scottish Amateur Boxing Association

championships.

The amateur side of the noble art of self defence -- where money is

not at stake but where man meets man in an ultimate test of fitness and

courage.

This was our first opportunity to observe amateur boxing at close hand

and we must report that it looks just as painful and bloody as the

professional code. The event at the Time Capsule was the eliminator

rounds for the Scottish championships. We arrived in time to see a very

large chap from Perth eliminating his opponent in the heavyweight

division with a mighty punch which spread his bloody nose across his

face and his body across the canvas.

We must confess to taking refuge from the punching by slipping off to

other parts of the Time Capsule. Just up from the gym where the boxing

was going on, for instance, we found the Serpent Bar, adjacent to the

jungle-style swimming pool which is a feature of the Coatbridge sport

and fun complex.

Back in the gym, it is shades of the Colisseum in Rome with a

programme of 50 contests held in two rings. So what's the attraction for

the boxers, we ask Walter McGowan, former world champion and here at

Coatbridge in his capacity as a coach with the Phoenix boxing club in

Motherwell.

''When a boxer is at the peak of his mental and physical fitness,

there is no greater high. You feel you can take on anyone,'' says

Walter. ''At the amateur level, we are teaching these boys

self-confidence and discipline. You'll rarely see a boxer getting

involved in a street fight.''

Peter Moore, exective member of the SABA, reminds us that boxing still

performs the important role of keeping boys off the streets. For every

registered boxer, there are three or four other kids in the clubs who

will never make it but are still kept involved.

* FROM boxing we move to Junior football. Not much change there: some

say junior football is the strongest argument for banning boxing.

A Nae Luck Award to Larkhall Royal Albert for setting what must be an

unenviable football record. The official details of the club's last home

game read: Attendance 1; receipts #1.50.'' This apparently brings the

Junior club's turnstile revenue for the season up to #80.

* THE unmistakeable tones of David Francey, legendary sports

commentator of yore, are once again gracing the airwaves. David is to be

heard of a Monday evening on Radio 5 Live's documentary series Voices of

the Old Firm.

Judging by the first episode, Mr Francey is adept as ever for not

letting detail get in the way of a bit of purple prose. ''All roads lead

to Govan,'' he intoned. ''Home of the Rangers and of the famous John

Brown shipyard.'' Close enough. John Brown does play for Rangers, and is

made of steel.

* THE Diary was in conversation with Hugh Adam, supremo of the Rangers

pools and therefore a bit of an expert on games of chance. Hugh had been

pondering the relative statistics for winning the top prize in the

National Lottery compared to your chances of dying in any given week.

''Do you know you are 1500 times more likely to die than you are to

scoop the Lottery?'' he asks. It's being so cheerful that keeps Hugh

going.

* CELTIC fans purchasing tickets for the club's Grand National raffle

will be over the moon, no doubt, to see the briefs were printed by a

company with an address in Prince William Road, Loughborough.

* THE sport of volleyball, like football, can be plagued by abandoned

matches. What, indoors, we hear you ask? Yes, like one of this weekend's

results in the Royal Bank League -- Telford 2, Westerhailes 1 (match

abandoned, hall let ran out).

A volleyball match, being the best of five sets, can last from an hour

to 2[1/2] hours and some games just never go the distance. It's called

not incurring the wrath of the jannie.