Paddy Barnes hoping to seal deal in Maiquetia

Maiquetia, the city in Venezuela where Paddy Barnes will tonight look to seal his place in next year’s Olympic Games, last made the news in 1999 when mudslides devastated the region and caused tens of thousands of casualties.

The airport the Irish boxer flew into this week is named in honour of Simon Bolivar, the statesman and soldier who transformed South America by freeing Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia from the greedy mitts of the Spanish empire.

It’s doubtful Barnes has taken any of that in.