29092020 - Anger as labour leaders abort strike, mass protest

38 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
Adesanya urges UFC to fine
fighters for missing weight
Israel Adesanya dispatched of
Paulo Costa in style at UFC 253
but he wasn’t happy with
everything that unfolded on
Saturday night.
The middleweight champion
defended his title with a second
round TKO and went on to
dedicate a portion his post-fight
interview to addressing a problem
he sees in the sport today.
That was the issue of fighters
missing weight, Adesanya clearly
unhappy that two fighters had
done so on the card.
One of those was Ludovit Klein,
who weighed five pounds over for
his featherweight victory against
Shane Young, who is a teammate
of Adesanya at City Kickboxing in
New Zealand.
Zubaira Tukhugov missed
weight by the same margin for his
fight and both men were docked
30 per cent of their pay but
Adesanya believes that amount
isn’t enough.
‘I told Dana, 30% is not enough.
F*** that,’ the 31-year-old said to
Jon Anik in the octagon following
his win.
‘Some of these guys are
gangsters they’re making money
outside the UFC. 30 per cent ain’t
shit to them.
‘So don’t give up that to not
make the weight and have 90
Carabao Cup
Tottenham v Chelsea
Mendy set to make
Chelsea debut in
Carabao Cup
Edouard Mendy will be in the
Chelsea squad for the first time
at Tottenham today.
But Frank Lampard has hit out
at some of the ‘unfair’ criticism of
the man Mendy has been bought
to challenge, Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Goalkeeper Mendy joined for
£22m from Rennes last week
though Saturday’s trip to West
Brom was considered too soon for
his first involvement.
That will be at the Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium tonight where
Chelsea head for their Carabao
Cup fourth round tie.
Lampard said: ‘Mendy and [Ben]
Chilwell are in the squad so they
are fit, so we will see if they start or
not. Very positive, the early signs
and interactions [with Mendy], just
as a man and also on the training
pitch.
‘He has settled in very well in
those few days and we’ve made him
very welcome, as always so it is
competition. He is a good
goalkeeper. We know that. We
know a lot about him and we will
see how we go.’
Mendy’s arrival came just a few
days after Kepa suffered another
setback when a poor attempted
pass out gifted Liverpool a second
goal in their 2-0 win at Stamford
Bridge, increasing the scrutiny of
the Spaniard.
•Edouard Mendy
•Isreal Adesanya pounding Paulo Coasta
minutes to keep on making the
weight. And they’re just ‘Ah, f***
it’. They just drink their waters and
whatnot.’
’30 per cent is not enough. Make
Player runs out of racket during French Open match
Katarina Zavatska suffered a
nightmare on Day 2 of the
French Open as she ran out of
rackets midway through the third
set and proceeded to get bagelled.
Fifth seed Kiki Bertens won the
match 2-6 6-2 6-0, but it was
absolute heartbreak for Zavatska
as broken strings saw her have to
resort to a racket that was not even
hers.
Having run out of rackets, the
Ukrainian’s coach had to rush over
and give her a back-up one that
was very different to her normal
on-court weapon.
It was a disaster for poor
Zavatska, and she could not
contain her emotions as she
realised her problem at 0-3 in the
final set having won the first.
She could not muster another
game as Bertens raced to victory,
and it was a very sad sight as
•Joshua & Joe
it 90 per cent and that way I
guarantee you they will spend
every second in that 90 minutes
trying to make the weight and not
just bi**h out.’’
Zavatska suffered the bad luck at
such a crucial moment in the
match.
The 20-year-old from Lutsk had
Joshua to spar with Joyce for
crunch heavyweight fights
Anthony Joshua and Joe Joyce
will link up as sparring
partners to prime each other for
their high-stakes heavyweight
clashes.
Joshua is expected to defend his
IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight
titles against mandatory
challenger Kubrat Pulev on
December 12, and Joyce will meet
his fellow unbeaten British
contender Daniel Dubois.
Representatives of Joshua and
Joyce confirmed to Sky Sports that
they would share a ring again to
aid each other preparations.
“There’ve been many bruising
sessions over the years,” promoter
Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports about
Joshua and Joyce’s history.
“Joe has been around for many
years on the amateur scene. When
AJ was coming through, Joe was
one of the experienced guys and
some of their spars have been
fantastic.
•Katarina
“Obviously AJ went to another
level, but Joe is still an
outstanding heavyweight.”
Joshua won the superheavyweight
gold medal at the
London 2012 Olympics. Joyce
represented Team GB four years
later in Rio and took home silver
after controversially losing the
final to France’s Tony Yoka.
“I think the research will be in
place to identify probably half a
dozen sparring partners that will
be the right style for Pulev,” said
Hearn.
“The sparring for Andy Ruiz,
first time around, was so difficult
because we had five weeks to find
a short - sorry Andy - tubby, fast
heavyweight with great
movement. It’s very, very difficult
to find.
“We got it perfectly right for the
rematch. We really brought in five
or six guys that had the speed, had
the movement, and replicated the
style.”
Troost-Ekong set to sign for Watford
Super Eagles defender, William
Troost-Ekong has arrived in
London and he is expected to sign
for Watford this week after passing
a medical.
The Hornets have been
monitoring the Udinese of Italy
player and according to Watford
Observer, the deal will finally go
ahead as soon as he passes his
medicals. He has said goodbye to
his teammates and is set to
complete a permanent move from
the fellow Pozzo-owned club.
Head coach Vladimir Ivic has
previously described the 27-yearold
as a “quality player” and said
after the goalless draw at Sheffield
Wednesday: “I know him as a
quality player and he will be one
of the players who will help us in
the future, if he will come, if he
will join us.”
to settle for the defeat on Court
Suzanne Lenglen with Bertens to
next take on Sara Errani of Italy
in the second round.
•Troost-Ekong
Van Gaal is one of the worst people I
have ever met — Silva
Rafael Da Silva did not mince
words when it came to talking
about Louis Van Gaal , against
whom he charged hard after
having coincided at Manchester
United .
The Dutchman arrived as a
replacement for David Moyes and
quickly stopped having the
Brazilian side. “ I speak ill of some
people, like Van Gaal. I don’t like
Van Gaal, “he explained to
Athleltic, clarifying that” when
they told me I was going to be the
coach, many friends called me. I
couldn’t believe it, since they told
me they didn’t like Brazilians.
They told me: ‘the first thing he
will do is get you out.’
And so it happened, says the
Olympique de Lyon player . “It
was actually the second because
the first day he didn’t speak to me.
On the second day he told me I
could go. He hadn’t even trained
and he already told me that. I
couldn’t believe it “ .
Rafael didn’t give up just like
that. “I tried to fight for my place.
I was with him for a year. It was
so, so difficult. He is one of the
worst people I have ever worked
with “, said the Brazilian.
•Van Gaal
Costa teases Suarez:’I’ll do the
fighting, he can do the biting’
DIEGO COSTA has teased new Atletico Madrid strike partner Luis
Suarez by joking: “I’ll do the fighting, he can do the biting.”
Barcelona discard Suarez netted twice on his Atletico debut after coming
on for ex-Chelsea bad-boy Costa in Sunday’s 6-1 LaLiga win over Granada.
And having been banned three times for biting, the Uruguay legend is
one of the few superstar with a record as controversial, combative and
confrontational as Costa’s.
But Spain hardman Costa, 31, is amazed Barca let the 33-year-old go.
Incoming Nou Camp boss Ronaldo Koeman made it clear Suarez was
no longer wanted when he took over following the 8-2 Champions League
humiliation against Bayern Munich last month.
Costa said: “We are very lucky to have Luis, I don’t understand how
Barca could have let him leave.
“He is very good, one of us can do the fighting and the other can do the
biting.
“He’s going to help us with lots of goals as well as his warrior spirit and
his hunger to win trophies.”
Costa netted against Granada before Suarez replaced him on 70 minutes
to score twice and add an assist. But while Atleti hope Suarez can fire
them to their first title since 2014, Costa’s future in his third spell at the
club is under threat following patchy form.
•Diego Costa
•Luiz Suarez