Sports
After surprise defeat: Anthony Joshua opens up
Anthony Joshua says he has no plans to quit the ring following a shock defeat to Anthony Dubois in their IBF heavyweight title fight on Saturday night.
The British boxer of Nigerian heritage and two-time former world heavyweight champion was knocked down four times by fellow Briton Dubois before his eventual fifth-round knockout at Wembley Stadium in front of 96,000 fans.
The defeat was Joshua’s fourth in his professional career, and first after putting together a four-match win sequence following his double loss to Oleksandr Usyk — when he lost his WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles and failed to reclaim them.
Despite the latest debilitating defeat to hitherto less-fancied Dubois, the 34-year-old has insisted that he will not “run away” and quit boxing.
Speaking to reporters in his post-fight press conference, Joshua said: “And you’re probably asking, ‘Do I want to continue fighting?’ Of course, I want to continue fighting.
“That’s why I said we took a shot at success and came up short, and what does that mean now? We gonna [sic] run away. We gonna [sic] live to fight another day. And that’s what I am, I’m a warrior.
“We have to give credit to our opponent. I say well done to him and his team.”
Joshua has fought 32 professional fights with 28 wins and four losses. Two of his defeats have been
Sports
Police nab serial rapist who lures victims through dating app
A father of four girls who allegedly lures young women through online dating sites to hotels where he sexually abuses them has been arrested by the Rivers State Police Command.
The suspect, Belema Ibama, 38, an ex-pupil of Seashell Model Primary School and native of Buguma, was alleged to have registered into the sites as Mr. Anderson, a British engineer working in an offshore oil rig.
The Nation gathered that he lures his victims with relationship promise only to drug, rape and steal from them.
He was arrested after more than 20 of his victims across Rivers State filed different reports at the police station about a certain Mr/Engineer Anderson who allegedly raped them after inviting them over for a date.
Police investigation, it was gathered, revealed that the suspect had been in the business of drugging, raping and robbing women since 2019 and was even remanded in prison as an awaiting trial inmate for six months in 2021 only to be discharged as the case against him was quashed due to absence of witnesses.
It was gathered that the suspect was also arrested by the Delta State Police Command in 2020 for allegedly raping a woman through the same tactic.However, he jumped bail and fled to Port Harcourt, abandoning his Lexus SUV in Delta State.
After his return from prison in 2022, he went into a hiatus but resumed his life of crime in November 2023. From that time till his arrest on May 5, he had lured, drugged, raped and robbed more than 20 women, it was learnt.
Detectives who investigated the case told our correspondent that his victims recounted that once they arrived at the agreed location and had exchanged pleasantries, he would offer them a drink, and moments after drinking it, they would pass out.
They all woke up noticing their valuables were missing, and money withdrawn from their bank accounts.
One of the complainants narrated how she met him on Tinder, an online site on January 7, and they met for the first time on January 13 at Pacific Suites, a hotel along Abuloma Road.
She described how he offered her a drink that made her fuzzy after a few minutes of drinking it. She fell asleep and awoke to find that her iPhone valued at N180,000, her handbag containing N28,000, her ATM, and her ID card were all missing.
She proceeded to report the matter to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Rivers State Command and a hunt for the suspect began. He was eventually arrested at 56 Okilton Road, Ada George, in May.
The suspect was found with pills suspected to be Tramadol and Rohypnol, 15 mobile phones, four female watches and two female handbags at the point of arrest.
He confessed to the police that he primarily operated on Bumble and Tinder apps with the usernames Engineer Val Anderson, Mr Anderson or Val.
He also revealed how he obtained the ATM pins of victims through a trickery he had perfected: he would order a drink or food while they were in the hotel and transfer money to the victims, asking them to pay using their ATM cards. As they punched in their pins on the POS machines, he would peek and memorise them.
He would then spike their drinks, and when they were unconscious, he would have carnal knowledge of them before robbing them of their phones, ATM cards and other valuables.
His next stop would be at an ATM where he would withdraw from their accounts, using the pin he had memorised.
He also confessed that he usually sold the stolen items on mobile stores.
Contacted for reaction, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, said the suspect also took his victims to other hotels in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.
He advised residents seeking relationships through dating apps to be cautious and avoid meeting strangers in places they don’t have control over certain situations.
The CP also admonished residents to be mindful of drinks and other edible things offered to them by strangers as people with criminal intentions would have laced them with drugs.
He warned all those involved in such heinous crimes to desist or they would face the wrath of the law, adding that there is no hiding place for criminals anywhere in the state.
Sports
A comprehensive 3-0 win for Chelsea move them to second on the table
By Ojomah Austin.
Dubbed as a match with competitive London derby, but it ended up being a masterclass from the visitors Chelsea as Enzo Maresca’s side claimed a very comprehensive 3-0 victory over West Ham in their Premier League encounter at London Stadium. Nicolas Jackson was particularly impressive early on as he recorded a first-half double and England’s Cole Palmer then later added a third.
Nicolas Jackson fired a slick Chelsea side second top of the Premier League table with a double in a 3-0 derby rout of an outclassed West Ham United at the London Stadium.
The lively visiting forward bounded into the home area from Jadon Sancho’s pass to slip home the home opener on four minutes before adding a fine second from a run and finish on 14 minutes later after being set up by Moises Caicedo’s probing pass.
Julen Lopetegui’s struggling side briefly threatened a response before the break, but Cole Palmer finished the match as a contest when he prodded the third in off a post on 47 minutes after being superbly played in by Jackson on the counter.
Enzo Maresca’s men have picked up 10 points from four games since losing to champions Manchester City on the opening day. They move above Arsenal on goal difference, two points behind City having played one more game.
West Ham are 14th in the table with one win from five, but have other matters on their minds as they seek to arrest a form slump that has seen them lose their first three home matches of a league campaign for the first time.
Sports
Champions League: Monaco shock Barcelona, Atalanta hold Arsenal
Monaco marked their return to the Champions League with a shock 2-1 win over Barcelona on Thursday night.
The Ligue 1 side have not played in the competition in five years, but they took the lead in front of their fans.
Maghnes Akilouche fired in for 1-0 after Barca were reduced to 10 men thanks to Eric Garcia’s red card.
And although Lamine Yamal equalized for the Catalans, George Ilenikhena found the winner for Monaco.
In Bergamo, Atalanta played out a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, with David Raya producing a remarkable double save from a penalty.
Atletico Madrid beat RB Leipzig 2-1 and Bayer Leverkusen thrashed Feyernood 4-0 in the Netherlands.
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