It’s a quiet Mike Tyson as 58-year-old nears fight with Jake Paul, 31 years his junior

It’s a quiet Mike Tyson as 58-year-old nears fight with Jake Paul, 31 years his junior
US boxer Mike Tyson (L) and US boxer-actor Jake Paul (R) face each other during a press conference ahead of their heavyweight bout at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas on Nov. 13, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 14 November 2024
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It’s a quiet Mike Tyson as 58-year-old nears fight with Jake Paul, 31 years his junior

It’s a quiet Mike Tyson as 58-year-old nears fight with Jake Paul, 31 years his junior
  • The issue of Tyson’s health didn’t come up in a small concert venue about 20 miles from AT&T Stadium
  • Tyson had terse answers for all the questions Wednesday night, two nights before the fight against Paul
  • The fight is the first combat sports event to be streamed on Netflix

IRVING: Mike Tyson wasn’t in the mood for talking in the final news conference before the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion faces YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

Tyson had terse answers for all the questions Wednesday night, two nights before the fight against Paul, who is 31 years younger, at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

The issue of Tyson’s health didn’t come up in a small concert venue about 20 miles from AT&T Stadium. A bout originally scheduled for July 20 was postponed to Friday night after Tyson had to be treated for a stomach ulcer when he fell ill on a flight.

Tyson said in a documentary promoting the fight that he lost 26 pounds while recovering, but Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder with Paul of Most Valuable Promotions, said Tyson had been cleared medically for weeks.

Bidarian also said Tyson was going through the same regular medical checkups of any sanctioned pro fight in Texas.

Several states wouldn’t sanction the bout. Texas agreed to a fight that was eight rounds instead of 10 or 12, with two-minute rounds instead of three, and heavier gloves designed to lessen the power of punches.

“I’ve said everything I had to say,” Tyson said in one of several attempts to get him to say more. “I’m just looking forward to fighting.”

“It’s cute,” Paul said of the terse Tyson. “I fear no man, so I want him to be that old savage Mike.”

Paul couldn’t even get Tyson to respond by wearing what the 27-year-old said was a “diamond-spiked ear cover.” It was Paul’s jab at Tyson over the Hall of Famer infamously biting the ear of Evander Holyfield in a 1997 fight.

Tyson did get briefly riled up when somebody asked twice what he would do if he lost. His last sanctioned bout was in 2005. Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition four years ago.

“I am not going to lose,” Tyson said, his voice rising the second time it was asked. “Did you hear what I said?”

Tyson was 50-6 with 44 knockouts before retiring 19 years ago. Paul is 10-1 with seven knockouts in less than five years as a pro, facing mostly mixed martial artists and journeymen boxers.

The fight is the first combat sports event to be streamed on Netflix. It will be available at no additional cost to the more than 280 million Netflix subscribers globally.

Paul is a minus-200 betting favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. That means the payout for a Paul victory would be about half the amount of any bet.

The co-main event is a rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano for the undisputed super welterweight title.

Taylor won a split decision that many questioned in a slugfest at sold-out Madison Square Garden in 2022 in the first women’s fight to headline at the famous venue.

Taylor and Serrano sat behind Tyson and Paul on the stage, with the 10 fighters from the undercards on either side of Tyson and Paul.


Gabriel Bortoleto clinches 2024 Formula 2 crown in Abu Dhabi

Gabriel Bortoleto clinches 2024 Formula 2 crown in Abu Dhabi
Updated 09 December 2024
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Gabriel Bortoleto clinches 2024 Formula 2 crown in Abu Dhabi

Gabriel Bortoleto clinches 2024 Formula 2 crown in Abu Dhabi
  • Joshua Durksen triumphs in feature race as title challenger Isack Hadjar struggles

ABU DHABI: Just over 12 months after his impressive rookie title win in Formula 3, Gabriel Bortoleto signed off his maiden Formula 2 season by being crowned the world champion.

Bortoleto’s victory came after a pulsating charge through the pack to finish second behind Joshua Durksen in the feature race at the Yas Marina Circuit.

The Brazilian Invicta Racing driver went into the title-deciding race with a 4.5-point advantage. His victory hopes were boosted within a few seconds of the lights going out when his nearest title challenger, Isack Hadjar, had a frustrating stall on the starting grid.

While the Campos Racing driver continued the race from the pit lane and finished 19th, Bortoleto, who will race in Formula 1 for Sauber in 2025, delivered an impressive performance to finish 1.791 seconds behind AIX Racing’s Durksen.

Richard Verschoor of MP Motorsport took the third podium place.


Footballco opens Middle East headquarters in Riyadh

Footballco opens Middle East headquarters in Riyadh
Updated 09 December 2024
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Footballco opens Middle East headquarters in Riyadh

Footballco opens Middle East headquarters in Riyadh
  • One of the world’s leading football media companies will provide a content-creating platform for fans, brands and rights holders across Mideast, North Africa

RIYADH: Global football content and media company, Footballco, has opened a new regional headquarters in Riyadh to help serve fans, brands and rights holders across the Middle East and North Africa.

Footballco will retain its previous MENA headquarters, located in Dubai, but will now build a full-service offering from Riyadh, including local creative- and client-services teams.

Footballco is majority-owned by Integrated Media Company, an affiliate of US private equity giant TPG. The IMC is the publisher behind several football media brands that serve the region, including GOAL, KOOORA, and an Arabic edition of its women’s football brand, INDIVISA.

Andy Jackson, recently appointed as Footballco’s senior vice president for the Middle East, is leading the company’s growth in the region. “The Middle East is seeing a surge of interest in its football, both domestically and globally,” said Jackson.

“By locating our new regional office in Riyadh, we’re positioning Footballco at the center of this growth and ensuring we can better understand the growing fandom in the region and serve the brands and rights holders helping to drive this growth.”

Footballco has several domestic brands and rights holders across the Middle East as clients, and is working with global brands to help them activate in the region.

While Jackson is relocating to run the Riyadh office, Footballco aims to focus its recruitment on local talent. This has included the hiring of creative director Amjad Murad, who has joined Footballco from the Jeddah-based agency Social Clinic.

Footballco reaches an audience of 192 million fans across the MENA region, including over half of the adult population of Saudi Arabia each month. This is through GOAL, KOOORA and brands focused on specific audience segments.

Jackson said: “While GOAL and KOOORA are our largest brands by scale, we recognize that the fan groups in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, engage with football in different ways to each other.

“For this, we operate a number of brands that resonate with these fan groups. These include the social video brands Yalla GOAL (and) the recently launched Yalla Girl, which appeal to Gen-Z fans looking for fun and personality in their football content.

“Fans in the Kingdom are younger than other markets we operate in, reflecting the younger skew of the country's population, and they’re the only group surveyed globally by Footballco where gaming is the most common route into the sport. They’re the most likely to get their football news from social media.

“Young fans in the Kingdom are also significantly more interested in players over clubs — which is why we believe our editorial ethos of bringing fans closer to the players they love makes them choose our brands over others.”

Footballco also serves fans of women’s football in the Kingdom, reaching 4 million Saudi Arabia females each month.

Jackson added: “As well as covering the growing women’s game in the region through GOAL and KOOORA, we operate two social-first brands geared towards how young women want to consume football content.

“These include Yalla GIRL, which takes the same personality-driven and fun-first approach to football content to football as YALLA GOAL, and INDIVISA.

“INDIVISA’s approach is to support the rise of women’s football through the championing of grassroots football and providing a home to the growing women’s football community.”

Footballco’s Riyadh office will be supported by its global teams, with the aim of raising the local employee number to 20 by the end of 2025.


Andersson takes speedboat world title with victory in Sharjah

Andersson takes speedboat world title with victory in Sharjah
Updated 09 December 2024
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Andersson takes speedboat world title with victory in Sharjah

Andersson takes speedboat world title with victory in Sharjah
  • Thani Al-Qemzi produces big fightback for Team Abu Dhabi as Wyatt signs off debut season in style on Khalid Lagoon

ABU DHABI: Sweden’s Jonas Andersson clinched his third UIM F1H2O World Championship title with a commanding victory in the Grand Prix of Sharjah on Sunday.

Andersson shrugged off the challenge of compatriot Erik Stark, whose second-place finish gave him third position in the championship on his final appearance for Victory Team before joining Team Abu Dhabi next season.

Stark’s new teammate for the 2025 season, Thani Al-Qemzi, produced an outstanding drive to finish fourth, storming through the field after being forced to start 15th because of an engine change following the previous day’s sprint races.

Sharjah Team’s Rusty Wyatt also signed off in style at the end of a superb debut season, climbing from 10th to take the other podium place, and clinching the runner-up spot in the championship.

Andersson’s second Grand Prix victory of the season was also enough to crown Team Vietnam as F1H2O world team champions in their maiden campaign.

That team title will be the first target for Al-Qemzi when he is reunited with Stark next season, having helped Team Abu Dhabi win it for the fifth time in a row two years ago.

Stark will take over from Rashed Al-Qemzi, the five-time F2 world champion, who finished 14th.

Ahead of his 158th F1H2O Grand Prix on Khalid Lagoon, 24 years after making his first championship appearance there, veteran Emirati driver Thani had high hopes of rounding off the season with a podium finish.

While his fine third place in qualifying was undermined by the engine issue, his achievement in clawing back 11 places over 32 laps showed he still has the fighting spirit, and skill, to be a serious challenger next season.

After Wyatt’s elimination from qualifying for dangerous driving, Andersson knew only a major mistake on his part, or a mechanical error, could surrender the world title to the Canadian rookie.

While he was never allowed to relax, as Stark kept up the pressure in the hope of a sixth career F1H2O Grand Prix victory, the Swede kept his composure as he added to his world title triumphs in 2021 and 2023.

 


Pakistan’s Rayyan Zaman wins Under-9 title at Redtone International Junior Squash Championship

Pakistan’s Rayyan Zaman wins Under-9 title at Redtone International Junior Squash Championship
Updated 09 December 2024
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Pakistan’s Rayyan Zaman wins Under-9 title at Redtone International Junior Squash Championship

Pakistan’s Rayyan Zaman wins Under-9 title at Redtone International Junior Squash Championship
  • Zaman defeated Malaysia’s Sai Nideesh 3-0 to secure the win
  • The tournament was held in Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia on Dec. 3-8

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani squash player Muhammad Rayyan Zaman has clinched the Under-9 title at the 16th Redtone International Junior Squash Championship 2024 held in Malaysia, Pakistani state-run media reported on Monday.

This year’s tournament was held in Kaula Lampur from Dec. 3-8. The Asian Squash Federation organizes the annual junior squash tournament featuring players from different countries.

Zaman, grandson of squash legend Qamar Zaman and son of Mansoor Zaman, defeated Malaysia’s Nideesh 11/7, 11/5, 11/7 in the final, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency reported.

“Zaman’s victory in the Under-9 category is a significant achievement and it highlights his potential to become a top-ranked squash player in the future,” the report read.

The tournament brought together some of the best squash players from Asia, the report said, adding that Zaman’s win reflected the hard work and dedication of his coaches, trainers and family members.

In September, Pakistani squash veteran Group Captain (retired) Irfan Asghar won the 6th Asian Master Squash Championship 2024 in Macau, China by defeating Ryun Hoe Koo 3-0. The victory marked Asghar’s second triumph in the Asian Master Squash Championship after his previous title win in 2010.


Mbappé speaks to French TV station for first time about reports of a rape investigation in Sweden

Mbappé speaks to French TV station for first time about reports of a rape investigation in Sweden
Updated 09 December 2024
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Mbappé speaks to French TV station for first time about reports of a rape investigation in Sweden

Mbappé speaks to French TV station for first time about reports of a rape investigation in Sweden
  • The Real Madrid star spoke about the case publicly for the first time in an interview that aired Sunday on French TV station Canal Plus

PARIS: Kylian Mbappé says he reacted with disbelief when he saw media reports from Sweden two months ago that he was the subject of a rape investigation.
The Real Madrid star spoke about the case publicly for the first time in an interview that aired Sunday on French TV station Canal Plus.
Several Swedish media reported in October that Mbappé was the subject of a rape investigation following a visit to Stockholm during time off from playing for Madrid and France. At the time Mbappé’s legal team dismissed those reports as false.
“I was surprised and I still am surprised, by the way. These are things that come into your life like that, you can’t see them coming,” Mbappé told Canal Plus. “It’s just incomprehension. I don’t think it weighed on me in the sense that I have never considered myself involved.”
Mbappé added that he “would go” to Sweden if ever he were summoned but that he has not been contacted by authorities.
“Listen, I haven’t received anything, no summons, nothing,” he told Canal Plus. “The Swedish government has not said anything, so I’m not concerned (involved).”
When the reports emerged in October, Swedish authorities confirmed that they were investigating a suspected rape at a Stockholm hotel but didn’t name any suspect.
A prosecutor told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet late last month that the investigation was still ongoing but didn’t give other details.