The Best Boxers of the Decade

The contact sport called boxing is one of the most entertaining sporting events presently in the universe.

The beauty of boxing is that either win or lose fighters smile to the banks after each bout.

Here is a shortlist of boxers with fantastic  career records in this decade.

Manny Pacquiao 

PAC-man made history in July 2019 with a win over Keith Thurman to become the oldest fighter in history to win a welter weight world title at the age of 41 years.

He had 71 fights, 62 wins (39 KOs), 7 losses and 2 draws. The Boxing Writers Association(BWA) named him fighter of the decade for the year 2000s (2001-2010). He is the only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing and also the first boxer to win the lineal championship in five different weight classes.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The Moneyman holds the record for most world titles held simultaneously - 5 belts ( WBC, WBA, WBO Welterweight titles, and WBA and WBC Super Welterweight titles. Ranked #1 pound for pound by the ring from July 2005, until his first retirement in June 2008, and from December 2012 until his second retirement in September 2015. One of his belts was stripped off him - the WBO 147 pound title, because of his lack of compliance.

He defeated MMA fighter Connor McGregor in 2017 to hold a perfect record 50 wins (27 KOs) in 50 bouts.

Canelo Alvarez

The Mexican super star is a four - division world champion.

He has held the unified WBA(super), WBC, the ring and lineal middleweight titles since 2018, the IBF middleweight title from May to August 2019, and the WBA(regular) super middleweight title since 2018.

He previously held the WBA(unified), WBC and ring light middle weight title between 2011 and 2013. The W.B.C ring and lineal middle weight titles between 2015 and 2018. The WBO light middleweight title from 2016 to 2017 and the WBO light heavyweight title from November to December 2019.

He has had 56 fights so far, 53 wins (36 KOs), 2 draws, 1loss. He  has won awards in each categories.

Wladimir Klitschko 

Himself and his brother held the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles as the undisputed champions from 2011 to 2015. Wladimir lost to Tyson fury in November 2015, which was his first defeat in 23 fights in over 11 years.

In April 2017, the Ukrainian legend lost to Anthony Joshua in London which was his last fight in the ring.

Vitali Klitschko 

The current mayor of Kiev held the WBC heavyweight title between 2003 to 2004 and 2008 to 2012. He had 47 fights, 45 wins and with only 2 losses in his entire boxing career. 

The record books will show him as one of the most dominant champions in boxing history.

Samuel Okon Peter

The Nigerian boxer won the WBC heavyweight title in 2008, after defeating Oleg Maskaev in the 6th round in Germany. His greatest rivals are the Klitschko brothers who defeated him 3 times and he eventually lost his title to Vitali Klitschko in 2008. He had 46 fights, 38 wins and 8 losses to date.

Andy Ruiz

He was an interim IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion after defeating the holder Anthony Joshua in April 2019 but he lost the rematch in December 2019 in Saudi Arabia.

Anthony Joshua

The current IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO inification champion of the world. The Nigerian-born British boxer has fought 25 bouts so far , 24 wins ,21 KOs and 1 loss

Tyson Fury 

In 2015, he won the unified WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles after defeating long reigning world champion Wladimir Klitschko. The victory earned him fighter of the year award and the upset of the year award by the ring. He has 30 fights so far with 29 wins(20 KOs) and 1 draw.

Deontay Wilder

He has been defending the WBC Heavyweight title which he won in 2015. In doing so he became the first USA world heavyweight champion in 9 years, which was the longest in USA boxing history.

The premier boxing champions gave him - knockout of the year award in 2016 /2017.

He has 43 fights so far with 42 wins and 1 draw.

Watch out!

In 2020 Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder might face each other.

Fabiyi Ridwan

Sports Writer and Analyst

The Match that broke the Myth

A Brazilian born Roberto Firmino 99th minute goal broke the jinx for the reds at the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup final in Doha.

For over three decades, South American clubs have been a torn in Liverpool FC flesh when it come to tournament such as this.

In the Intercontinental Cup final that was played in December 1981, Zico led Flamengo side defeated the Liverpool team that had Graeme Souness, Kenny Dalglish and co, and was managed by Bob Paisley.

Zico was the player with the magic in that team as the game was practically sealed after the Brazilian side raced to a 3-nil upfront within 40 minutes of the first-half.

The reason for flamengo's superiority in the game was their quality, as Nunez scored a brace and Adilio's goal put a gloss on the scoreline. 

Liverpool had refused to participate in the Intercontinental Cup after winning the European titles in 1977 & 1978, worried about the potential brutality on the part of the South Americans.

In 1984 an Argentinian side, Independiente beat Liverpool by a lone goal to win the Intercontinental cup. And in 2005, Sao Paulo defeated the merseyside giant in the newly found FIFA Club World Cup.

Now in 2019, the current European club champion got a win that has so far eluded them for decades. After going through 90 minutes of regular football without a goal on either side against the Copa Libertadores champion Flamengo, their Brazilian import scored in the first-half of extra time to claim the title for them. 

The title win is their third trophy in six months and made them the first English club to hold the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup at the same time.

On  the European scene, Liverpool have won 6 UEFA Champions League titles (1977 ,1978, 1981, 1984, 2005, 2019); with only Real Madrid and AC Milan having won more.

Congratulations to the latest World Champion in club football.

Fabiyi Ridwan

Sports Writer and Analyst

The Championship of the Champions

In 2005, the Intercontinental Cup was merged with the FIFA Club World Championship, and it was renamed as FIFA Club World Cup in 2006.

This competition was founded in the year 2000 (19 years ago). 7 teams usually participate in the tournament annually from 6 continents namely - Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and the Oceania region.

Any team that wins her confederation championship is eligible to compete in the FIFA club world cup.

Value of the Competition

The winner of the club world cup receives the trophy, a FIFA world Champions certificate, and 5 million euros while the runner-up receives 4 million euros.

Stats of Competition

Auckland City FC has played the most games - 15 in 9 different editions.

Mohamed Aboutrika, Hossam Ashour and Wael Gomaa (all played for Al-Ahly of Egypt) have the most appearances - 11 games apiece

All-time Top scorer - Cristiano Ronaldo (7 goals)

Most goals scored - 32 goals by Real Madrid

Most Decorated player

Toni kroos has won the the tournament 5 times - 1 title with Bayern Munich (2013) and 4 titles with Real Madrid (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018).

Most Successful club

Real Madrid  with 4 titles and 7 club world championship in total (1960, 1998, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017 & 2018).

Real Madrid won the 2018 edition, to become the first team ever to win it three years in a row and 4 times in the competition history.

The final of this year FIFA club world cup will involve UEFA Champions League Liverpool and Copa Libertadores champion Flamengo .

Which team will win this 2019 edition?

Fabiyi Ridwan

Sports Writer and Analyst 

The League of the Century

The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) 2019/20 season began in a grand style with a lot of surprises.

The League Management Company (LMC) just signed a multi-million Naira agreement with a foreign company for television coverage of matches,but presently the games are not on air.

After 9 rounds of games Plateau united is leading the NPFL table with 18 points - a ratio of 2 points per game by a former champion. Plateau won this title in 2016, can they emerge champions again this season?

The Stats

Games played so far - 70 

Home wins - 41

Away wins -10

Games drawn - 19 

Goals scored -139

Top scorers 

Isreal Abia (Sunshine Stars) - 7 goals

Victor Mbaoma (Enyimba Intl.) - 5 goals

Fabiyi Ridwan

Sports Writer and Analyst

The Transformation and Transition of the Etihad Faithfuls

Manchester City on Wednesday evening breezed past Oxford City to the semi- final of the 2019/2020 EFL Cup - a title they have won back-to-back in the past two seasons - where they will meet local rival Manchester United.

In light of these recent successes that is being recorded by the Cityzens, let's take a quick look at how it all began for the Etihad faithfuls.

In 2008 Manchester City was bought by the mega rich, Abu Dhabi United Group.

Under the Sheik Mansour's leadership, 5 different managers have tutored the team; Mark Hughes (2008 - 2010), Roberto Mancini (2010 - 2013) Brian Kidd ( interim basis 2013), Manuel Pellegrini (2013 - 2016) and Pep Guardiola (2016 till date).

Transfers 

Since 2008, the Blue side of Manchester have spent a whooping amount of over 1.5 billion pounds in the transfer market on players like Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Kun Aguero, Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling, Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez to name but a few.

Stats

In the last one decade, Man City have played 379 games with 250 wins, 65 draws, and 64 losses. Scoring a total of 841 goals and 502 goals difference - 129 goals more than the nearest rival Chelsea.

Trophies

FA Cup - 2 titles

English League Cup - 4  titles

FA Community Shields- 3 titles

English premier league - 4-times champion

Conclusion

Manchester City is the most successful English team of the decade on the domestic scene.  Although in European continental competitions, only one semi- final ( in 2016) and two quarter-final appearances can be shown for their spending spree.

Ridwan Fabiyi

Sports Writer and Analyst 

THINGS FALL APART

Arsenal lost 3-nil at home to champion Manchester City on Sunday in a very embarrassing manner.

It is Arsenal FC worst run in 42 years (since 1977). They are currently 10th on the English Premier League log - 7 points above the relegation zone.

In their next 4 games the die may be cast - with mouthwatering ties like Everton, Bournemouth, Chelsea & Manchester United line-up on the trot. The gunners are sleep walking to relegation.

   

Arsenal has conceded first goal in their last 6 games in the league, which is the longest run in the competition's history.

The causes of the Gunners poor form can be attributed to these factors

    

Absence of owner

Stan kroenke's priorities lies with the L.A Rams and his sofi stadium project in Inglewood, which will be the most expensive stadium ever built.

To Kroenke, Arsenal is a mere cash cow. He has never put any of his own money into the club, yet the worth of his revenue is increasing by hundreds of millions of pounds every season.

When Stan Kroenke joined Arsenal in 2007, the club had just been in the UEFA Champions League final - 12 years after, the team's European ambitions are bleak.

 

Other causes of this dampening in form are;

Lack of leadership in the team

Arsenal's previous captains are rebels.

Contracts mismanagement and a spiralling wage bills

Some great players left the club with lesser transfer fees.

Wasted millions and poor squad management

Some players have yet to live up to expectations, while some didn't at all.

Ridwan Fabiyi

Sports Writer and Analyst