Category: Sports

The former unified heavyweight champion, Lennox Lewis, has criticized Nigerian-born British boxer Anthony Joshua for choosing to fight Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 8.

Lennox Lewis, a British legend who gained fame for his achievements in boxing around twenty-five years ago, claimed that Anthony is losing credibility by choosing Ngannou as his opponent.

Lewis argued that Joshua is losing his reputation and that his opponents should be of a higher standard despite the British boxer recording three straight wins in 2023.

He also argued that even if Joshua beat the Cameroonian crossover boxer in March, that wouldn’t give Joshua a shot at the world title.

“If AJ beats Ngannou, which he should, does that elevate him to a shot at undisputed? Beating Wallin and Ngannou?” Lennox Lewis wrote on Twitter. “There’s a much better case for the winner of Parker vs. Zhang and if AJ gets through Ngannou, and Usyk wins undisputed, is the appetite for Usyk vs. Joshua 3 out there?”

He continued, “If Fury becomes undisputed, the man says he’s vacating all belts but the WBC and The Ring so Fury in effect becomes last undisputed [champion] until someone else can ‘Thanos’ them back together. I still want to see AJ fight Fury and Wilder … those are big fights. But like I told Mike Tyson, if you keep fighting guys like Lou Savarese, you will NEVER be ready for me.”

Just like most boxing critics, the British boxing icon believes that Joshua picked Ngannou because the Cameroonian-American boxer is new in boxing.

Note that Ngannou has only engaged in professional boxing once. He almost defeated British heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury but lost to the WBC champion on points after dropping the Englishman once.

After that fight, he felt confident enough for Joshua to join him in the ring. The two boxers are anticipated to win a substantial amount at the Riyadh event on March 8.

Ngannou is a martial arts expert who advanced through the MMA cage category and into the UFC heavyweight class.

He won the UFC title after defeating Stipe Miocic in 2021. After leaving the UFC where he suffered only three losses, he intends to build a new profile in heavyweight boxing.

The post Lennox Lewis Can’t Make Sense Out Of Anthony Joshua Vs Ngannou Bout appeared first on Naija News.

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The Ivorians, who were handed a lifeline after Morocco defeated Zambia, will face favourites Senegal in the knockout round.

The post Ivory Coast Coach Jean-Louis Gasset Fired Despite Team Qualifying For AFCON Last 16 appeared first on Arise News.

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At least six Guinean supporters tragically lost their lives while commemorating their country’s inaugural triumph at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast.

Naija News reports that the Guinean Football Federation, Feguifoot, confirmed the sad incident to BBC on Monday.

Regretting the unfortunate incident which happened during the jubilant festivities in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, Feguifoot media manager, Amadou Makadji, said the exuberant fans expressed their joy by parading through the streets in cars and motorcycles.

Recall that Guinea emerged triumphant with a 1-0 victory over The Gambia in their second group match in Ivory Coast on Friday night, igniting a wave of joyous celebrations across the entire West African nation.

Unfortunately, a joyous event went sour for the country’s football fans after the tragic accident.

Commenting on the incident, Makadji said: “What is important is that our fans and the public celebrate in a very measured fashion,”

“They have to be very careful not to put themselves in danger because the goal of football is to bring joy and not leave families bereaved. We do not want deaths to be mourned, so we call on everyone to celebrate but to take care of themselves so that nothing happens to them.

“Guinea is a country where people are very, very passionate about football, and they experience football like nowhere else in the world,” He added.

Guinea secured the second position in Group C with four points courtesy of a goal scored by Aguibou Camara.

The country is currently two points behind the reigning champions Senegal but three points ahead of Cameroon, who are in third place and have won the tournament five times.

On the other hand, the Gambians are at the bottom of the group with just one point.

However, while commenting on the latest incident, one of the star players in the Guinea side, Pascal Feindouno, said: “I have a message to send to Guinean men and women,” the 42-year-old, who played at four Nations Cups, told the BBC in Yamoussoukro, where the team are based.

“Rest assured that we will do something at the Nations Cup, but we have learned something that will destabilise us. We learned there were deaths after the victory against The Gambia – we want this to stop because we are here to defend the colours of the country.

“Everything is going well for us at the moment, so support the country but don’t do anything to kill each other or oneself. Stay calm – thank you,” Feindouno reportedly told BBC Sports Africa.

The post AFCON: Six Guinea Fans Die While Celebrating Match Victory Against Gambia appeared first on Naija News.