Anthony Joshua v Eric Molina Fight Night: Review
Embed from Getty ImagesLast night the highly anticipated fight took place between British former Olympic Champion Anthony Joshua (AJ) and Mexican-American heavyweight Eric Molina in Manchester Arena. Joshua showed his class as he won by knockout in the third round to take his record to 18 wins by knockouts out of 18 fights. After the fight, his promoter Eddie Hearn took to the ring to announce that Joshua’s next fight will be against former World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium on April 29th.
Joshua looked dominant from the first bell as Mexican-American heavyweight did his best to stay out of reach of AJ’s big shots and frustrated him. However, he stayed calm and picked his shots until the third round where he won on the knockout in brutal fashion.
Before Joshua took to the ring though the final undercard of the night featured Dereck Chisora and Dillian Whyte, two heavyweights with a past and conflicting stories of why they dislike each other so much. Both talk of a sparring session as the start of their bitter relationship. However, while Whyte claims Chisora threw an illegal punch to the back of the head, Chisora claims that he beat Whyte so much, that he had to pay for a taxi for him to a hospital.
It was a heated week for the two boxers with the press conference ending in madness after Chisora threw a table at his opponent, sending the room into disarray. On the night though it was a slugfest with both boxers giving their all and both seemingly going for a knockout. The two Londoners traded blows for the full 12 rounds before Whyte was crowned King of the ring on points after the judges scored it 115-113 and 115-114, while the third judge scored it 115-144 to Chisora. After the result was confirmed both boxers hugged out of respect for each other as the crowd applauded the fighters.
Elsewhere in the undercard fights Irish boxer, Katie Taylor made it two out of two wins as she beat Viviane Obenauf by a 60-53 margin. She impressed throughout as she dominated the fight knocking down her Brazilian opponent in the second round and outclassing her with a fine performance.
Scott Quigg also won on the night following a ninth-round knockout against Jose Cayetano, with Callum Smith, Frank Buglioni, Luis Ortiz and Kal Yafai also coming out on top in their fights last night.
Cardiff City v Wolves- Relegation Battle Preview
On Tuesday night a massive game takes place in the English Sky Bet Championship with strugglers Cardiff City and Wolverhampton Wanderers facing each other at the Cardiff City Stadium with just three points separating the sides.
Cardiff will be without their standout performer of this season Sol Bamba after he saw red against Ipswich in his last game. The defender has will be out for at least two games as well as being fined by the club for violent conduct after attacking manager Neil Warnock following his dismissal. He also knocked over the physio and fourth official in a rampage that has left him feeling ‘devastated’.
Both teams have replaced the managers who started the season in charge following poor results which leave both clubs lingering near the foot of the table, however, fans can be positive with the new managers displaying positive signs they can turn their fortunes around.
Form Guide
In Cardiff City’s last six games they have won one, drawn two and lost three. Among those results, however, was a hard fought loss against Newcastle, a loss to rejuvenated Aston Villa and a draw with high-flying Seagulls Brighton and hove Albion.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have a marginally better record going into the game than the bluebirds with one win, three draws and two losses. Their latest result was a 4-4 thriller against Fulham at home with Wolves pulling back two goals in the dying minutes of the game.
Previous meetings
Cardiff City came out on top in both meetings between the two clubs with the welsh side winning 2-0 at home thanks to goals by Kenwyne Jones and Sammy Ameobi. When the game was played at Wolves’ Molineux stadium the bluebirds nicked the three points thanks to a 3-1 win with Craig Noone bagging a brace on the day and Joe Ralls adding to their misery. Polish midfielder Michal Zyro scored for the home team but it wasn’t enough on the day.
Key Players
Cardiff have scored the majority of their goals this season from set pieces. Midfielder and veteran of the Welsh club, Peter Whittingham is best known for his wicked deliveries, as a result of this he has three assists and three goals to his name in 17 appearances this season with three coming from the bench.
Embed from Getty ImagesWolves’ danger man is Portuguese winger Ivan Cavaleiro, a 23 year old winger who is believed to be destined for big things according to those around the club. The winger won man of the man in the draw with Fulham and has recently signed a new five year deal with the midlands club. Cavaleiro has scored two goals in his last 15 games for Wolves and also got two assists for the club. His pace could cause Cardiff’s defence some problems and will be Wolves most dangerous player on the day.
Embed from Getty ImagesWho are the favourites going into the game?
Cardiff head into the game as favourites with Sky Bet, however, it is close, Cardiff edge it at 13/10 to win while Wolves have odds of 21/10, a draw Is 9/4.
Jamie Vardy: From Non-League to Ballon d’Or
Embed from Getty ImagesLeicester City’s goal scoring hero Jamie Vardy, voted as the eighth best player in the world in the Ballon d’Or votes on Monday night. The English striker finished one place behind team mate Riyhad Mahrez as Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his fourth Ballon d’Or title.
This completes Jamie Vardy’s rise from playing at the Non-League level for Fleetwood town just four years ago, to lining up for Leicester City in the Champions League. He became non-league’s most expensive player when he made the move, costing the now English champions one million pounds.
The 29-year-old striker was named as one of the top ten players in world football in 2016 and was joined on the list by Gareth Bale, Neymar and Saurez, who finished from sixth to fourth respectively. The top three being made up of Antione Greizman in third with Lionel Messi being beaten to the title by Real Madrid’s Ronaldo.
This comes just months after Jamie Vardy made his international debut for England in France, his first time at a major European tournament with the national side. Vardy made his first appearance for England in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland on 7th June 2015 coming on as a substitute. He has since gone on to score five goals for his country in 15 appearances.
The Sheffield-born striker has gone from strength to strength since breaking the record for most goals scored in consecutive English Premier League matches when he scored 11 in 11 last season, beating Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record of ten goals in ten consecutive games.
Jamie Vardy also picked up awards during Leicester’s record breaking season last year as he was voted the Premier League player of the season and the Footballer Writers Associations player of the year.
Jamie Vardy started his career as a youngster at Sheffield Wednesday’s academy before being released and playing non-league for Stocksbridge Park Steelers who compete in the Northern Premier League, the eighth tier of English football. He then was signed up by Halifax town where he played during the 2010/2011 season and scored 27 goals in 37 appearances for the club. This goal scoring record brought him to the attention of Fleetwood Town who signed him up for the 2011/2012 season where he had an impressive record of 31 goals in 36 appearances.
It was this impressive goal to games played ratio that had clubs fighting over him with Cardiff City and Leicester City said to be battling it out. The midlands club landed the striker for one million pounds and he has since proved his worth with 54 goals in 149 games since signing for the Foxes in 2012.
Football’s Top 5 bad boy returns
Embed from Getty ImagesFollowing Ched Evans retrial he was found not guilty of rape and is now an innocent man in the eyes of the law. He is now back playing football for league two strugglers Chesterfield United. He has hit form since signing for the Spireites and this weekend could make it 3 goals in as many games, Chesterfield take on Bolton on Saturday with Ched Evans in fine goal scoring form bagging 5 goals in his 15 appearances for the club. We will now take a look at 4 other footballers who have been to jail during their careers, been released from jail and continued playing football.
Joey Barton
Embed from Getty ImagesControversial figure Joey Barton is well known as a bad-boy of modern football for his bad temper and often outrageous outbursts on the pitch. As a result of this he has served 100 days in jail on different occasions throughout his career. He is also remembered for his days as a QPR player on the last day of the season being sent off against Manchester city for elbowing City striker Carlos Tevez, after being shown the red card he then kneed Sergio Aguero before attempting to headbut Vincent Kompany. Since his latest release from prison he has gone on to play for clubs such as Marseille and Rangers before being released from the later for his involvement in a training ground bust up. He is now a free agent while also doing occasional punditry work on television.
Troy Deeney
Embed from Getty ImagesIn June 2012 the Watford striker was jailed for 10 months following an attack on a group of students. The incident took place in Birmingham following a night out and Deeney can be seen in CCTV footage kicking a defenceless victim on the floor. Since serving his sentence he has gone on to become a hero among Watford fans and has gained promotion to the premier league where they have cemented their place thanks to his important goals. The striker has claimed going to jail was ‘the best thing to ever happen to him’ and has gone from strength to strength after being released 2 months into his sentence for good behaviour. Since his release he has gone on to score 88 goals for Watford as is currently captain of the Premier League club.
Marlon king
The Ex- Birmingham striker has served three jail sentences during his career and has other convictions such as criminal damage, speeding and drink driving. In between the sentences, he returned to play football for various club’s including Coventry City and Birmingham before hanging up his boots in 2013 following a brief stint with Sheffield United where he scored once in eight appearances.
Luke McCormick
The goalkeeper started his career at Plymouth argyle after coming through the academy there before signing a professional contract in 2000. In 2008 however, the keeper was arrested for causing death by dangerous driving following a crash on his way home from a former team mates wedding. The following day he was charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol in his blood and driving with no insurance. Plymouth Argyle suspended the player on 2nd July and his contract was terminated on the 22nd. He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison and a four-year driving ban on 6th October 2008. On 6th June 2012, McCormick was released from prison and went on to play for Conference south team Truro City and Oxford United before returning to Plymouth Argyle in 2013. The season of 2014/15 was a success for the goalkeeper resulting in him being named the club’s player of the season, he is still with the club, however, has not made an appearance yet this season.
Blast from the past…
Graham French
Graham French was best known as a winger for Luton town between 1965 and 1973, however, he was also known for the wrong reasons as his temperament spoke for him a lot of the time as he was known for starting games worse for wear after sessions at local pubs. In 1970 though French was jailed for 3 years following a shooting incident. He came out of jail and was offered a return to Luton Town however he struggled to regain his place and ended his career with a short spell at Reading before appearing 3 times for American team Boston Minutemen. He then had 2 years out before finishing his career at Southport in 1976 under the new name of Gary Lafite.
England Sign new 400m kit deal with Nike
The English Football association has signed a new Kit deal with sportswear giants Nike worth more than £400 million which will run from August 2018 until 2030.
Nike has supplied Englands kits for the past 3 years, however, the new deal is worth slightly more than previous deals however the deal has not grown substantially due to poor performances at the European Championships earlier this year. England exited the competition in the quarter-finals at the hands of Iceland.
This new deal comes just a few months after it was reported that the deal was in serious doubt as a result of England’s poor display in France in the summer.
Nike is arguably the most well-known sports manufacturer with them making kits for clubs such as Manchester City, FC Barcelona as well as French champions PSG.
The following article will look at what I think are Nike’s top 5 nicest football kits from the past and some more recent. The kits are rated in the form of a top 5.
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France Euro 2016 Home and Away kits
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Brazil Kit 2012
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Barcelona Home kit 2005/2006
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Portugal Away kit 2010
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Manchester United third kit 2008
These 5 kits give an insight as to what England supporters could potentially look forward to between now and 2030 during the kit deal with Nike.
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