AFP – Is it more painful to see the value of your fund disappear as the global economy crumbles, or for another man to punch you as hard as he can in the face?

For Elliot "The Machine Gun" Odell, a 32-year-old Briton working in the hedge fund industry in Hong Kong, the chance to find out was irresistible.

Odell, whose fierce-looking arms are plastered with tattoos normally hidden under his three-piece bespoke suit, was one of a dozen finance workers who recently bashed their way through "Hedge Fund Fight Nite," a charity boxing match.

After five months of training, he was left in little doubt about how easy it was to escape the whirl of the current market turmoil spooking the world’s financial markets.

"Boxing is pretty much the most stress-relieving thing you can do," said Odell, in his strong Essex accent.

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Boston Globe – A federal judge barred Samuel Israel, the convicted founder of hedge fund firm Bayou Group LLC, from entering a plea to bail jumping, saying his addiction to methadone may have impaired his judgment.

Israel, who sought to plead guilty yesterday in US District Court in White Plains, N.Y., told US District Judge Kenneth Karas that his ability to understand the proceedings was "60 to 70 percent."

Prosecutors said the 49-year-old faked suicide and fled the day he was to begin a 20-year sentence for his conviction in a $400 million fraud.

"I have to be satisfied that you’re competent," Karas said, rejecting the plea to one count of failure to appear. "The fact that there is some doubt about that makes it imprudent to go forward today."

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