SPORTS
Nottingham Forest signed Nigeria defender Ola Aina on a free transfer on Saturday after his departure from Torino.
Aina agreed a one-year contract with Forest as he returns to the Premier League after his spell in Italy.
Aina spent nearly five years with Torino after initially moving there on loan from Chelsea in 2018.
The 26-year-old right-back graduated from Chelsea’s youth academy and made three appearances for the Blues.
During his time with Torino, London-born Aina returned to the English capital for a loan spell with Fulham in the 2020-21 season.
He is the first signing by Forest boss Steve Cooper since the end of last season.
“I’m very excited to be here and I can’t wait to get started. I wanted to be back on English soil again and Forest is a club which has an exciting project and team,” Aina said.
“The manager as well, what he wants from the team is something which I want to buy into. He’s told me it’s a family club, he’s told me we have a great bunch of players and he’s told me I’ll enjoy it here.”
Aina, who has 17 caps for Nigeria, helped Torino to a 10th place finish in Serie A last season.
“He’s a versatile player who has good experience of the Premier League and Serie A,” Cooper said.
“He’s a really good player, but a good athlete as well. He’ll definitely make the team stronger.”
Liverpool legend, Graeme Souness has predicted the position Chelsea will finish next season on the Premier League table under their new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea finished in the second half of the Premier League table last season.
The Blues will not play European competition this 2023/24 season.
However, Souness, who believes the 2023/24 season will be difficult for Pochettino, expects Chelsea to maintain the same position this season like last term.
“It’s a very difficult job for the manager at Chelsea this year,” Souness told the Sky Bet Fan Hope Survey.
“I look at that club, and the direction they’ve gone – it just seems to be a mismatch of players that were available and very expensive.
“Chelsea was paying a premium, because of their reputation and standards. I don’t see them doing any different than they did last year.”
[DailyPost]
Hinata Miyazawa scored twice as former champions Japan smashed Women’s World Cup newcomers Zambia 5-0 in a rampant start to their campaign on Saturday.
Japan were a class above the 77th-ranked Africans, creating a slew of chances with their sharp movement and passing in a performance that will have the tournament heavyweights on alert.
Three of the goals came through sweeping upfield movements as Japan scored more than twice in a World Cup game for the first time since the 2011 tournament in Germany, when they lifted the title.
Midfielder Miyazawa bagged her first midway through the first half from an Aoba Fujino assist to put the Nadeshiko a goal up at the break.
Mina Tanaka doubled the lead from Jun Endo’s cross, bringing some relief to the forward, who found the net twice earlier in the match, only to have both strikes ruled out by belated offside rulings.
Tanaka turned provider for Miyazawa’s second goal and Endo drilled home the fourth in front of a crowd of 16,111 in Hamilton.
Substitute Riko Ueki scored the final goal from the penalty spot after she was brought down by goalkeeper Catherine Musonda in the final minute of stoppage time.
It resulted in a second yellow card for Musonda, whose replacement Eunice Sakala made a spectacular save from the spot but was ruled to have moved too early.
Ueki made no mistake with her second attempt as Japan moved to the top of Group C ahead of Spain, who beat Costa Rica 3-0 in Wellington on Friday.
A youthful Zambian side entered the tournament with high hopes after beating Germany in their final warmup game.
However, the lowest-ranked side at the 32-team tournament didn’t create a single clear chance, capping a miserable week in which key attacking midfielder Grace Chanda was ruled out of the tournament with illness.
[Vanguard]
Kylian Mbappe is 'left out of PSG's pre-season tour of Japan' with the French club - who want to sell him this summer rather than lose him for free - 'believe he's already agreed to join Real Madrid'
AdminKylian Mbappe has been left out of PSG's pre-season squad to tour Japan, according to a report.
Mbappe has caused controversy over the last few years with the French side, regularly expressing his frustrations with the club about various topics.
His latest complaint came when he said he would be leaving the club when his contract expires next year if he is not sold in this transfer window.
PSG have since pleaded with him for a decision that suits both parties to be reached, but little progress has been made on a call that is important to both club and player.
According to L'Equipe, the French champions have left Mbappe off of their squad list for their pre-season tour, making the decision on Friday evening.
Kylian Mbappe has reportedly been let out of PSG's squad for their pre-season tour of Japan
[dailymail]
FIFA has claimed it has sold out of partnership packages for the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with its programme featuring 30 companies following a series of late deals.
Hublot as official timekeeper for the third consecutive edition of the tournament, and Itaú as bank supporter in Brazil were the last two commercial affiliates to join the partnership programme, taking the number of FIFA Women's World Cup supporters up to 14.
They are joined by FIFA partners Adidas, Coca-Cola, Wanda Group, Hyundai and Qatar Airways, women's football partners Visa and Xero, and nine global FIFA Women's World Cup sponsors.
FIFA has not provided a monetary value for its partnership programme, but it represents an increase from the 12 companies which held sponsorship or supporter status for the last Women's World Cup in France four years ago.
Its chief business officer Romy Gai thanked the partners for their support.
"Together, we all share a commitment to developing women’s football at every level, and everyone involved has built extensive plans to spread the word, develop the game and shine a light on the beautiful game," he said.
"This promises to be a special tournament, and I thank all of our supporters, sponsors and partners for joining us on this journey."
Chief women's football officer Sarai Bareman said "at every level, they will help us grow the game and give more women and girls the opportunity to play".
In the days leading up to the tournament, FIFA finalised deals with Mengniu Group and Booking.com as Women's World Cup sponsors and the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) as a Women's World Cup supporter.
Chinese dairy product manufacturer Mengniu previously sponsored the men's FIFA World Cups in Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, and was already a partner of China's team which is making its eighth appearance from nine editions of the women's tournament.
The Booking.com deal is expected to provide easier access to accommodation for supporters in the tournament's nine host cities, with 60,000 listed on the travel agency's platform in Australia and New Zealand.
Insurance company GEICO is set to serve as a supporter of the tournament in North America, which includes a commercial campaign with the legendary Carli Lloyd, who won two Olympic gold medals and back-to-back Women's World Cups for the United States before retiring in 2021.
FIFA has also revealed details of its plans with Visa to make the tournament in Australia and New Zealand the first-ever cashless World Cup.
It claimed this will allow fans to "benefit from the speed, convenience and security of digital payments", and Visa cardholders will receive offers including a 10 per cent discount on FIFA retail and fan festival purchases when they use Visa to pay.
Critics argue cashless retailers penalise people without access to bank accounts or debit or credit cards and fear there are risks related to privacy and cybersecurity.
Fans carrying cash at the FIFA Women's World Cup can exchange local currencies to AUD$25 (£13/$17/€15) or NZD$25 (£12/$15/€14) and AUD$100 (£52/$67/€61) or NZD$100 (£48/$62/€56) pre-paid Visa cards.
The FIFA Women's World Cup is featuring 32 teams for the first time, and is set to run until August 20.
Record-breaking ticket sales have been reported, although FIFA is believed to have fallen around $100 million (£78 million/€90 million) short of its target for broadcast rights fees.
[insidethegames]
Managers don't matter. Just ask the best manager in the world.
"I will tell you a secret," Pep Guardiola said in October. "The main thing is the quality of the players." He went on: "I try to figure out things, but at the end the players ... the success we had is because we have top players. This is the secret, no more than that."
Now, "managers don't matter" is a bit of a rhetorical overstatement. Manchester City wouldn't have won as many points last season if you were managing the team. Meanwhile, Chelsea probably wouldn't have finished higher in the table had they given you the reins rather than Frank Lampard after firing Graham Potter. Rather, what Guardiola is suggesting is that talent is the main driver of team success. Framed another way, player skill overwhelmingly decides what wins games. In fact, the authors of the book "The Numbers Game" found that player skill (as represented by wages paid) accounts for 70% of team performance. Somewhere in that remaining 30% sits the effect of the manager, along with other factors like, say, the random, and flummoxing bounce of the ball.
Managers do matter -- just way less than we think. And the limited impact makes that impact even harder to measure. In a league without a salary cap, and with massive team-to-team financial inequality and vastly differing team-building ideals, we can't just look at where a team finished and say, "The best manager finished first, the worst manager finished 20th."
Instead, we have to try to control for all of the other factors that influence winning. We can't do that with anything resembling precision because of all of the unknown factors that influence winning -- for example, is a player great because he's inherently great or because the manager deployed him in a way that made him great? -- so we're going to try a slightly different exercise.
And so, I've ranked and tiered all 20 Premier League managers by how confident I'd be that they would improve the 10th-richest team in the Premier League.
No-doubt improvers
Among the 20 managers in the Premier League, there are only two who I'm sure would improve the 10th-best team in the Premier League beyond their talent level. And those are the two best managers in the world: Pep Guardiola (Man City) and Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool). This exercise requires a ton of projection, and I really only have a small degree of confidence in all of the other tiers, but there's really no argument that anyone else belongs in this tier.
That said, such is the shape-shifting nature of managerial influence that there are some arguments against both of these coaches being in this tier.
With Pep, it's simply that we've never seen him do it. He's by far the most successful and most influential modern manager in the world. The ClubElo coach ratings also rank him as the best coach -- by a combination of how good his teams were and how much they improved after he arrived -- in the history of the sport. It's just that, well, he first had maybe the greatest player and the greatest midfield in the history of the sport at the same time, at Barcelona. At Bayern Munich, well, they have so much more money than everyone else, and they've won every league title since he left. And at Manchester City, he has the near-unlimited funding of a sovereign wealth fund.
I raised this idea to a former Premier League manager a few months ago, and he ... completely rejected it. Guardiola is easily the best coach we've ever seen at maximizing top-level talent, but as he suggested, so many other teams farther down the table have adopted some of his principles, too. If Brighton can play possession soccer and succeed with it, you can't really say that Pep Guardiola wouldn't do a great job at Brighton.
Klopp, meanwhile, has never coached the richest team in his own league. He's the last manager to beat Bayern Munich and Manchester City across a full domestic season. And he did a fantastic job at Mainz before Borussia Dortmund, too. Last season was probably his "worst" season as a manager -- he didn't really seem to figure out how Liverpool should play until the last couple of months -- but on the whole, he's just fantastic. One of the all-time greats. He's probably the best culture-builder in the sport, too.
These guys both now have decade-plus track records of success across multiple leagues, multiple countries and multiple tactical eras. No one else on this list comes close to that.
Failed at PSG -- but succeeded (almost) everywhere else
Mauricio Pochettino (Chelsea) and Unai Emery (Aston Villa) are sort of the anti-Guardiolas. Like every other manager in Paris since Qatar took over, they both flamed out at PSG. But the rest of their careers have mostly seen steady improvements at lesser-resourced clubs.
Pochettino was fine with Espanyol; then he seemed to transform Southampton into one of the most exciting teams in the Premier League, and then he seemed to transform Tottenham into one of the most exciting teams in the Premier League. We've already seen him succeed with two teams right around the realm of resources we'd be restricting him to in this exercise.
Mauricio Pochettino reveals all on the challenges he's facing in his new role as Chelsea manager.
So why am I not more confident? Well, Ronald Koeman was quite successful for Southampton right after Poch, and this was during the club's golden age of recruiting. Then: How much credit should he get for coming in at Tottenham right when homegrown Harry Kane was blossoming into a superstar?
Emery, meanwhile, failed at Arsenal, but it's not like Mikel Arteta immediately did much better; they were awful the following season, too. Plus, taking over for Arsene Wenger was a near-impossible job, given that he was the last remaining capital-M manager, the kind who had a say in everything major that happened at the club. Outside of that, Emery has overseen improvements at Almeria, Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal, and now Aston Villa. The latter featured an incredible in-season turnaround last year -- but how much credit should he get for it?
I'm pretty confident that neither Emery nor Pochettino would make our hypothetical team worse. I'm less confident in just how much they'll improve the performance.
Bruno Fernandes' first outing as Manchester United may have raised some eyebrows but he was the obvious choice to replace Harry Maguire and is revelling in the 'big honour' of leading Erik ten Hag's team
AdminBruno Fernandes’ first outing as Manchester United captain may have come as a shock, but the Portugal star says he is honoured to be given the job on a permanent basis.
Fernandes’ raised eyebrows said it all when manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed that he would stand in for skipper Harry Maguire during a press conference video call before United played Paris Saint-Germain in 2020.
The 28-year-old captained United 45 times last season in Maguire’s prolonged absences, and was the obvious choice when Erik ten Hag decided to take the armband off the England defender this summer.
Fernandes said: ‘The first time was in the Champions League against PSG. I was a little bit surprised by Ole, but obviously I said to him at the time it's just such an honour for me.
‘I still have the armband and the shirt from that game, because I wanted to keep it for me, because this is something that is not for everyone.
‘And it's something that has to make you proud, has to make you understand that you are in a place where everyone would like to be: playing for Manchester United. Having the chance to have the armband and having that responsibility is such a big honour.’
Fernandes’ first game as United’s official permanent captain will be Saturday’s opening tour game against Arsenal in New Jersey. He added: ‘Yeah, it will be (special) because officially it will be the first time that I'm a club captain for the club.
‘And obviously I want to keep that one because I want to frame it both together to understand how long the (time between them) was.
‘But it was really good to achieve this now because it means a lot for everything that you have done through your career to understand that you made a big thing to be a club captain of one of the biggest clubs in the world.’
[dailymail]
Chiamaka Nnadozie is making headlines in the ongoing Women’s World Cup after her save from the penalty spot earned the Super Falcons a point against Canada at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
Super Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum has heaped praises on Chiamaka Nnadozie following her crucial role in Nigeria’s goalless draw against Canada on Friday morning, Soccernet.ng reports
Nnadozie was awarded the Man of the Match after her starring role in the clash against the Olympic Champions, earning the Super Falcons a point.
Waldrum’s Falcons put up a spirited display against the CONCACAF nation in their first game of the 2023 Women’s World Cup at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
The game’s key moment came in the 50th minute when the Paris FC goalkeeper denied Canada’s all-time scorer Christine Sinclair from the penalty spot.
Nnadozie also made other vital saves to keep the Super Falcons in the game. Following this, Waldrum was full of praise for his goalkeeper after the game.
“Chiamaka has done this before, and I will say this, and I will embarrass her in front of you all, but I think she’s one of the best young goalkeepers in the World right now,” Randy said
The draw result now has both Canada and Nigeria trailing Australia with two points. The co-hosts had earlier beaten the Republic of Ireland in the group’s other game.
Randy Waldrum’s side will play Australia in their next game on Thursday, July 31, at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
[soccernet]
FC Barcelona have an obvious weakness in their squad, as they do not have a natural right-back capable of performing at the level that Xavi wants. Sergino Dest and Julian Araujo will be available to Xavi for the next season, but the club is looking for a more impactful player in this position.
In fact, according to SPORT, the Catalan club hierarchy is clear that the next signing for Barcelona should be a right-back, and an attacker or attacking midfielder can be obtained later if time and money allow it.
More precisely, the Catalans are looking for an option that would not cost too much, specializes in playing at the right-back position, and, if possible, also has room for further growth. One such option that meets this criteria and has been identified by the club is Real Valladolid’s Ivan Fresneda.
Xavi and his coaching staff are planning to go into the next season by moving Kounde into the center of the backline. The club is already taking steps in this regard, but the key here is the transfer of Clement Lenglet to Tottenham. The negotiations for his sale are getting increasingly complicated because the two clubs are unable to come to an economic agreement.
Meanwhile, Deco has a list of fullbacks and is of the opinion that the club should go for a player keeping both the present and the future in mind. Joao Cancelo is still an option, but the finances involved in his transfer make an approach for him difficult for the club.
Thus, Ivan Fresneda remains the favorite target of the club in this regard. However, there are a number of Premier League clubs already interested in the youngster, and Valladolid may have to make a decision about him soon.
[barcanewsnetwork]
Erik ten Hag has just made big Man Utd mistake and Stefan Bajčetić moment vs Liverpool proves it
AdminWith the start of the Premier League season now just three weeks away, Liverpool may have to appoint a new club captain.
The current skipper, Jordan Henderson, appears set to leave the club after the Reds agreed a $15m (£12m/€14m) deal with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq (as per the ECHO).
Virgil van Dijk, who was previously third in line behind Henderson and the now-departed James Milner, looks like the natural successor.
It just so happens that Manchester United, the Reds' arch-rival, has made a change too, but this one wasn't enforced.
Erik ten Hag has opted to take the armband off center-back Harry Maguire, who slipped well down the pecking order last season, and award it instead to Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes is used to leading the team out — he did so on 42 occasions last season — but this is a momentous step nonetheless, one that left Maguire 'extremely disappointed' (via Eurosport).
The Portuguese is doubtless a magnificent player, scoring 64 goals and providing 54 assists in 185 games for the club since his $89m (£68m/€80m) move from Sporting in January 2020. He featured in the PFA Team of the Year in 2020/21 and has twice been voted player of the year by United's fanbase.
But still, his attitude, and consequently the decision to award him the captaincy, have to be called into question.
There was no better reflection of this than his conduct on United's trip to Anfield in March for what was arguably the biggest game of their season.
As United came apart in the second half, conceding six times to fall to a historic 7-0 drubbing, Fernandes unraveled.
He went down holding his face in an attempt to get Ibrahima Konaté punished even though the Frenchman didn't make contact, he appeared to push the linesman as he grew frustrated at a delay and he stopped in his tracks after Stefan Bajčetić went past him, which pundit Ian Wright called the 'last straw' (via Mirror).
Sky Sports' Gary Neville even claimed while on commentary duty that Fernandes asked the coaching staff to bring him off, though the player himself insisted this wasn't the case.
"I think some of his behavior in the second half has been a disgrace," Neville, one of Fernandes' predecessors as captain, said.
In a scathing attack on the attacking midfielder, Neville also dubbed him 'embarrassing' and 'a shambles'.
Another United legend in Roy Keane offered a similarly damning verdict, suggesting he'd let his teammates down.
"Fernandes' body language was nothing short of disgraceful," the Irishman said. "He's a really talented boy but he's your captain. So much talent but his body language of waving his arms about and not running back? You wouldn't be happy with him in your dressing room."
The United players needed leadership more than ever in this scenario, but instead, Fernandes' behavior was nothing short of petulant.
It seemed that he almost gave up, regardless of whether or not he requested a substitution, and you wonder how the squad can be expected to rally behind someone who may desert them when the going gets tough.
Ultimately, Erik ten Hag has made a mistake in his appointment, and Liverpool has seen the evidence first-hand.
[Liverpool]
More...
Man United are on track to earn £17million from their pre-season tour this summer, Football Insider has learned.
The Red Devils began their pre-season schedule in Norway last Wednesday (12 July), where they beat rivals Leeds United 2-0.
Erik ten Hag’s side then travelled to Scotland and secured a 1-0 win over Lyon at Murrayfield Stadium a week later.
The Manchester club are now in the United States ahead of games against Arsenal, Wrexham, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.
Their tour is then rounded up with two matches in two days in August against Lens and Athletic Club at Old Trafford and Aviva Stadium.
United’s summer plans will see them travel over 16,000 miles, playing eight games in five countries.
While the air miles may negatively impact the squad, playing in multiple countries and stadiums means the Red Devils are set to reap commercial benefits from their tour having signed multiple sponsorship agreements.
The tour is sponsored by Snapdragon – a technology company that signed a global partnership deal with United last summer.
They have agreed to sponsor United’s 2023 tour and are also the match sponsors for the clash with Wrexham in San Diego on Tuesday (25 July).
On top of fees from Snapdragon’s sponsorship, United are set to earn a participation fee for competing in the Soccer Champions Tour exhibition series in the United States.
Combined with a cut of matchday revenues and ticket sales, Football Insider has learned that United are set to earn between £17-18million for their tour this summer.
Eight days after finishing their pre-season schedule in the Republic of Ireland, United are set to open their Premier League campaign with a home match against Wolves.
[footballinsider247]
Paris Saint-Germain are ready to hijack Manchester United's move for Rasmus Hojlund after indicating their willingness to pay £55million for the 20-year-old Atalanta frontman during private discussions with his agents. The Red Devils have already agreed personal terms with the Denmark international forward but the club are yet to submit a formal bid despite initial discussions with the Italian club.
United are thought to have floated the idea of including players within a swap deal proposal but Atalanta had no interest in signing Fred, Donny van de Beek or Mason Greenwood on loan.
Instead, the Serie A outfit will command a huge fee for one of the hottest commodities in European football meaning United's financial muscle will be seriously put to the test following the signings of Mason Mount and Andre Onana.
PSG are in continuous dialogue with Hojlund's representatives and sporting director Luis Campos is ready to sanction a big-money transfer this summer.
[express.co.uk]
The FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is currently underway with 32 participating nations. Africa has four representatives in the tournament: Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Morocco.
Let’s take a closer look at each team’s profile.
Nigeria
Nigeria was the first African team to take the field at the 2023 FIFA World Cup, following the tournament’s opening games on Thursday, which saw co-hosts Australia and New Zealand triumph over the Republic of Ireland and Norway with identical 1-0 wins.
Nigeria boasts the most seasoned squad among Africa’s four representatives, having participated in the previous eight World Cup editions in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019.
The Super Falcons, as they are commonly referred to, are Africa’s most successful team at the World Cup, with their quarterfinal performance in 1999 still unmatched by any other team from the continent. Of the eight tournaments, they managed the quarterfinal 24 years ago and the Round of 16 in 2019, while the other six tournaments saw them exit at the group stage.
The team’s coach, Randy Waldrum, who took charge in October 2020, is facing pressure to achieve good results after Nigeria’s disappointing performance in the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, where they failed to defend their title and came fourth.
The Super Falcons were in Group B, alongside Australia, Canada, and the Republic of Ireland as co-hosts. Their campaign began with a goalless draw against Canada on Friday morning.
South Africa
One of the teams to watch in the upcoming tournament is South Africa, which claimed the title of African champion.
Banyana Banyana, or “The Girls,” are making their second consecutive World Cup appearance, having previously debuted four years ago in France, where they did not secure a single win.
As reigning African champions, South Africa is under pressure to improve their dismal performance in 2019, where they conceded eight goals while only scoring one. They have been working hard to strengthen their defence for the 2023 tournament, where they are competing in Group G against Argentina, Italy, and Sweden.
Banyana Banyana plays under experienced coach Desiree Ellis, a former midfielder who managed 32 caps for South Africa and has been in charge since February 2018. Ellis has been named Africa Women’s Coach of the Year three times (in 2018; 2019; and 2022).
Zambia
The 2023 tournament is Zambia’s debut Women’s World Cup event. In their last three friendly matches, the Zambian team, known as the Copa Queens, proved they were not to be underestimated.
They lost a close game 3-2 against the Republic of Ireland, drew 3-3 with Switzerland, and then shocked two-time world champions Germany with a 3-2 victory in early July.
Zambia’s success has been on a steady rise, starting with their win against Cameroon to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They then showed great resilience to secure third place in the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup by defeating the highly respected Nigeria in the playoff, ultimately earning themselves the bronze medal.
The third-place finish was their best at a continental championship while reaching the tournament’s semi-final earned them a ticket to the World Cup for the first time.
Former Zambia international Bruce Mwape has been their coach since 2018, and the Coppa Queens seem to be reaping the fruits of his extended stay. Zambia is in Group C alongside Spain, Costa Rica, and Japan, with their first match against the Japanese on July 22.
Morocco
Morocco also made their debut appearance at a World Cup, having earned their ticket by reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, which they hosted and finishing in second place.
Despite being relatively new to this stage, the Atlas Lionesses have several experienced players who play for some of the top teams in Europe. They possess one of the strongest defences in the tournament, as demonstrated by keeping three clean sheets against Italy, Switzerland, and Jamaica during their final friendly matches before the World Cup.
Reynald Pedros, a two-time UEFA Champions League winner with Lyon, leads the team to navigate a tough group that includes two-time world champions Germany, Colombia, and South Korea.
North Africa hopes Morocco succeeds where Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia had forgettable World Cup outings in the past.
Story Credit: Joel Omotto, bird story agency
George Kambosos Jr. vs Maxi Hughes fight breakdown
‘Ferocious’ Kambosos vs ‘Maximus’ Hughes
Exceptionally strong relations have existed between the Commonwealth realms of Australia and the United Kingdom for 250 years, but none of that will matter this weekend as Aussie George Kambosos Jr. and Briton Maxi Hughes clash in an IBF Eliminator in Oklahoma on Saturday, July 21.
The 12-round lightweight contest will be shown live on Sky Sports at 2:30am on Sunday morning for UK fight fans and the rest of the world can watch on ESPN.
Despite their enduring alliance, Australia and England have a fierce sporting rivalry existing in cricket, and now it turns to boxing this weekend in the States, but who will win this intriguing matchup between an aggressive Aussie and a skilled Englishman? Read on the find out…
‘Ferocious’
George Kambosos’ career-best split decision win over Teofimo Lopez in 2021 was voted as ESPN Upset of the Year. With that shock win, he scooped up three world titles including the Ring Magazine belt. He began 2022 as king of the lightweights, a division that includes the likes of Devin Haney, the aforementioned Lopez, Vasily Lomachencko, Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia and Isaac Cruz.
‘Ferocious’ is aggressive and vicious. He holds his hands down low and his punches are explosive as he leaps into them when throwing. The overhand right he put Lopez down with is his favourite shot and landed it multiple times in their fight.
He utilises his quick jab a lot and doubles and triples it up. It’s an effective tool for him to set up bigger shots, he follows his jabs up with straight and overhand rights, uppercuts and even left hooks. Everything comes off that jab at high speed. He distracts you with that lead hand to land the bigger backhand, all in the same move.
He is light on his feet, because he has to be, as he doesn’t have a high guard to protect himself. He has a glimpse of that Mayweather style of holding the left arm in a sling and the right tucked in the chest in that kind of Philly Shell stance. He moves his head quickly and often employs the pull back-counter.
Against Devin Haney, who he was decisioned twice by last year, he was bettered by the skill, speed and accuracy of the undisputed lightweight champion. The first fight was competitive, GK managed to win at least four rounds, but the rematch saw Haney almost play with the Aussie, having already downloaded all the data he needed during the first fight to only give away one or two rounds.
He fought three unified world championship contests within 11 months, but now he’s back in the ring after a bit of a break, nine months on.
‘Maximus’
Hughes has fought at least twice per year for the last four years. He routinely fought every six months, with fights in March and September in 2021 and 2022. This time though, he has been out the ring for 10 months, but he has had 15 months away before and managed to come straight back with a win.
The southpaw is a tricky, schooled boxer, with a tight guard, good movement, and all-round neat and tidy boxing skills.
He doesn’t possess a great deal of power, with only one knockout from his last seven wins. Those seven victories were all very respectable, including Jono Carroll, Viktor Kotochigov, Ryan Walsh and Kid Galahad. He collected WBC International, British and IBO World titles over the course of his previous five fights.
He is ranked in the top 15 with the WBC and IBF, and holds the IBO World lightweight title, but he hasn’t been a lineal and unified WBA ‘Super’, IBF, WBO World champion like Kambosos has.
However, the 33-year-old is enjoying an Indian summer in his career after all seemed lost after his British title knockout defeat to Sam Bowen in 2018. But the determined contender didn’t give up, instead he teamed up with trainer Sean O’Hagan and got back to winning ways, which has led him right here to the biggest fight of his career.
Betting Odds
Hughes is the underdog at 11/4 and Kambosos is favourite to win with odds of 3/10. A draw at 16/1 odds is fairly low, so it appears some are left unsure as to who comes out on top in this intriguing contest.
For more odds and betting tips visit these top bettings sites in Australia.
Predictions
Kambosos has had that experience at the very top of the world stage. He has gone up against elite fighters in Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney.
Hughes cannot claim to have experienced that highest echelon and will be up against the hardest opponent of his career so far.
Well-rounded Hughes will make life difficult for Kambosos, I have no doubt, but I envisage the Australian being better in nearly every department, maybe not in defence though.
Kambosos will be on the front foot while Hughes will be moving his upper trunk, holding his guard high and pot shotting back, pivoting to his right constantly.
I just feel that the speed and aggression of Kambosos will be the key factor in getting the win. He should be able to land those shots, not all the time, but enough to be able to wear Hughes down and catch him cleanly at times.
Hughes has been stopped twice before, a long time ago now, but I think the speed of the Aussie will create the same result.
Verdict
Kambosos to win via stoppage in rounds 5-8
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