Sports

Super Fight: Ngannou bites the dust with Joshua’s 2nd round stunner

Published

2 months ago

March 9, 2024

The much talked about “Super Fight” between Nigerian-born former world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, and Franco-Cameroonian former UFC mixed martial arts heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, held at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ended before it started as Joshua knocked out Ngannou with a devastating second-round stunner.

The fight was already set to be a one-sided affair right from the first round as Joshua tortured Ngannou with a flurry of body punches, knocking down his challenger in the first round.

With the Cameroonian managing to survive the first round barrage, Joshua delivered the vicious knockout punch at 2:38 of the second round.

The knockout blow, a powerful right hand, left Ngannou out cold and on the canvas for more than a minute and had to be revived with oxygen.

The win moves Joshua to 28-3 in his career while offering another statement of intent before the eyes of Fury in the front-row at ringside following the Gypsy King’s laboured split-decision win over Ngannou towards the end of last year.

The victory was Joshua’s fourth straight win after his back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine, with the victory expected to pave the way to a shot at the winner of Tyson Fury and Usyk’s clash for the undisputed heavyweight championship.

Speaking after the fight, Joshua said:

“For me, I don’t know if I’m coming into my peak. I’m just pushing day by day.”

On Ngannou, Joshua said:

“When I saw the fight with Fury, I thought damn, this guy could fight, I wanted a piece of that.

“He’s an inspiration, a great champion, and this shouldn’t take away from his capabilities. He can come again. I told him he shouldn’t leave boxing. He’s two fights in, and he’s fought the best. He can go a long way if he stays dedicated.”

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Sports

Al Ahly, Esperance to clash in CAF Champions League final

Published

1 min ago

April 27, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Two of Africa’s club giants, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Esperance of Tunisia, will do battle next month over two legs for the right to be crowned champions of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Title-holders Al Ahly and their long-standing rivals Esperance both booked their places in the final with dramatic semi-final victories over DR Congo”s TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa respectively on Friday night.

While Al Ahly, winners of five of the last seven editions of the continent’s top draw tournament, with a record 11 in total, overcame TP Mazembe with a 3-0 aggregate victory in the semi-final second leg after a goalless first leg last Saturday, Esperance surprised Sundowns with a 1-0 victory in Pretoria to wrap up a 2-0 aggregate win.

The two-legged final will mark the third encounter between Ahly and Esperance in the Champions League final, with the Egyptians winning in 2012 and the Tunisians triumphing in 2018.

In 2023, the two clubs clashed in the semi-finals with Ahly emerging victorious home and away, securing a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

Esperance who are aiming for a fifth Champions League title, will host the first leg in Rades on May 18, with the return fixture scheduled in Cairo seven days later.

Sports

Former Zambian captain Rainford Kalaba discharged from hospital after near-fatal accident

Published

1 day ago

April 26, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Former Zambian national team captain, Rainford Kalaba, has been discharged from hospital weeks after he was involved in a near-fatal accident where he sustained serious injuries.

The accident which involved a head-on collision between a Mercedes-Benz car in which Kalaba was in, and a truck, had initially sparked fears for his life and has since been in the Intensive Care Unit of the Zambian University Teaching Hospital (UTH).

The good news on the footballer’s progress was released by the UTH Public Relations Officer, Nzeba Chanda, who informed that the Chipolopolo legend has been discharged after showing positive signs of recovery.

“Mr. Rainford Kalaba has been discharged from the UTH-Adult where he was admitted after being involved in a road traffic accident two weeks ago,” Chanda said, adding that Kalaba will continue his recovery at his family home.

According to local media reports, the 37-year-old was a passenger in a Mercedes Benz when it collided with an oncoming truck in the south-eastern Zambian town of Kafue a week and five days ago.

In his active playing days, Kalaba spent the majority of his club career at TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, winning the CAF Champions League with the club in 2015 and the CAF Confederation Cup in 2016.

He also had a spell with clubsides in Portugal including FC Braga, and was a major part of the Zambian squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 under Frenchman, Herve Renard.