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Anthony Joshua Knocks Out Pulev to retain titles

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Anthony Oluwafemi Joshua brutally knocked Kubrat Pulev out in the ninth round of their world heavyweight championship fight at The SSE Arena, Wembley, on Saturday night.

Joshua floored Pulev heavily on three occasions, twice in the final round, and ended the fight with a vicious right hand to retain his IBF, WBA and WBO titles.

The explosive performance from Joshua would have demanded the attention of Tyson Fury – they remain on a collision course to decide an undisputed champion in 2021.

Undefeated WBC champion Fury holds the only major belt outside of Joshua’s grip and a meeting between them would be the biggest match in world boxing – after delivering this thrilling knockout in front of a crowd of 1,000 people plus boxing great Floyd Mayweather, Joshua moved a step closer to making it a reality.

His first fight since avenging a shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr a year ago would have ended explosively in the third round had his challenger Pulev not possessed a warrior-like determination to continue when he was felled, but there was no escaping the eventual knockout.

Joshua barely broke eye contact with his challenger from the moment he strode over the top rope and into the ring, then their pre-fight fist bump was aggressive and intense.

When the punches began flying, Joshua landed a series of jabs and Pulev clipped him back with a left hook.

When Joshua let his hands go for the first time with a four-punch salvo in the second round, Pulev smiled sarcastically back at him.

Joshua smashed Pulev with a perfectly-timed right hand in the third round that badly hurt his challenger.

Joshua hunted him, desperate for the knockout, and landed a brutal barrage of uppercuts and hooks which eventually toppled Pulev to the canvas.

It seemed likely to be all over but Pulev, whose only previous loss in 29 fights was against Wladimir Klitschko, survived to the bell after which he threw an illegal shot that fizzed past the champion’s face.

Joshua, eyes bulging and tongue out, stared a hole through Pulev and spoke to him as the next round was set to begin.

He regained his composure and, in the fifth, cracked home a big right hand which didn’t budge Pulev, who ended the round strongly after some feisty back-and-forth trash talk.

A spiteful fight became gritty and rugged in the sixth when Pulev began winging wild swings that didn’t hit their target, but did force ugly exchanges.

Three consecutive uppercuts from Joshua hurt Pulev in the seventh but still the tough Bulgarian would not cede ground.

Pulev then landed his best punch, a straight right hand, in the eighth.

But Joshua closed the show in the ninth with another colossal uppercut which crumpled Pulev to the floor for the second time.

Still Pulev rose but a right hand from Joshua sent him flying backwards and split his lip bloodily, ending the fight in a flash.

The fight that the boxing world now craves is Joshua vs Fury – they each have other challengers circling, Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder respectively – but the two Brits putting every heavyweight belt on the line would be an historic occasion.

The Fight In Pictures:





(Sky Sports)

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Mohamed Salah: Liverpool forward commits future to club by signing new deal to stay at Anfield

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Mohamed Salah has committed his future to Liverpool by signing a new contract at Anfield; Salah was set to be out of contract in the summer, amid speculation linking him with a move away from the Reds; New deal keeps him with club until 2027

Mohamed Salah has ended speculation regarding his future by signing a new deal with Liverpool.

The 32-year-old has now put pen to paper on a new deal which Sky Sports News understands will keep him at Anfield until 2027.

It’s a major boost for Liverpool with Salah in scintillating form this season, helping power the club to the cusp of their 20th league title.

The Egypt international has helped fire Liverpool to the top of the Premier League with 27 goals and 17 assists.

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For the 4th Time, NFF appoints German Coach for Super Eagles

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The Nigeria Football Federation has announced that it has reached an agreement with German tactician, Bruno Labbadia, to become the Head Coach of Nigeria’s Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles.

NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, said in the early hours of Tuesday: “The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Mr. Bruno Labbadia as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment is with immediate effect.”

Born in Darmstadt, Germany on 8th February 1966, Labbadia, who won two caps for Die Mannschaft in his playing career that took him through clubs such as home-town team Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, Werder Bremen, Armenia Bielefeld and Karlsruher SC, triumphed in the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich as a player in 1994.

He coached famous names Hertha Berlin and VfB Stuttgart this decade, and previously, VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen, among others, and holds a UEFA Pro License.

He is only the sixth German, after Karl-Heinz Marotzke (who had two stints between 1970 and 1974), Gottlieb Göller (1981), Manfred Höner (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008) and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021) to lead the Super Eagles.

Höner led the Eagles to runner-up position at the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations, while Rohr qualified and led Nigeria to the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

Labbadi’s immediate challenge is to take charge of the three-time African champions for two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic (Saturday 7th Septemberin Uyo) and Rwanda (Tuesday, 10th Septemberin Kigali), with four other matches to conclude the qualifying race following in the months of October and November.

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UFC: Dricus de Plessis Defeats Adesanya in Title Defence

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* Victory came in fourth round of highly-anticipated clash

* du Plessis has defended his middleweight world title

Dricus du Plessis on Sunday submitted Israel Adesanya in the fourth round at UFC 305 to defend his middleweight title and add a decisive new chapter to their intense rivalry.

The South African executed a rear naked choke to take the win after rocking the ‘Style Bender’ with a left hook and a series of rights before taking him down.

The victory in Perth, Western Australia on Sunday (local time) came after du Plessis played a part in driving Adesanya to break down in tears and storm off the stage when he was asked about his family during their pre-fight press conference on Friday.

Du Plessis’s long rivalry with Nigerian-born Adesanya has seen them take shots at each other for years.

Both fighters have been battling each other for the ‘real African’ title for some time, after du Plessis claimed to be the first champion from the continent.

The statement infuriated Adesanya – who now represents New Zealand in the octagon – as well as Kamaru Usman, the former UFC welterweight champion.

However, the rivals were full of praise for each other after the fight was decided.

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