31/12/2025

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | DEC 31, 2025 28 AJ ‘stable’ after crash Ex-heavyweight champion involved in fatal road accident F ORMER world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua was in a “sta ble condition” in hospital after a car accident in Nigeria that killed two close friends and associates, his promoter announced yesterday. throngs with visitors from across the country and diaspora each December. Police said the accident occurred around 11am local time (6pm Malaysian time) in the town of Makun, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

British boxer Anthony Joshua gets into an emergency responders’ vehicle after being involved in a car crash, in which he sustained minor injuries in Ogun State, Nigeria on Monday. – REUTERSPIC

car was said to have hit being towed off the highway. Police said the two victims died “at the scene”. Sharing a photo of himself with Joshua on social media, President Bola Tinubu wrote: “As a sportsman, you have always shown courage, discipline, and unwavering love for our coun try.” President Tinubu later said on X that he had spoken with “AJ” and the boxer’s mother. “(State) Governor Dapo Abiodun, who was at the hospital with them, assured me he will do everything possible to ensure AJ receives the best attention,” Tinubu added. Earlier this month, Joshua knocked out YouTuber -turned-boxer Jake Paul in a Netflix backed bout in Miami. “Life is much more important than boxing. I am praying for the lost lives, AJ and anyone impacted by today’s unfortunate accident,” Paul said Monday on X . The former Olympic champion Joshua has since been linked with a fight against compa triot and fellow former world champion Tyson Fury. Joshua’s last fight before the match with Paul was a fifth round knockout loss to fellow Briton Daniel Dubois in September last year. – AFP

Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said the Lexus Joshua was in “was suspected to be travelling beyond the legally prescribed speed limit on the corridor, lost control during an overtaking manoeuvre and crashed into a stationary truck … by the side of the road”. However, a witness who gave his name as Kunle told AFP : “The truck was not stationary when the accident happened.” “People rushed to help without even know ing those inside the car,” the 27-year-old said. “It was when we got there we realised it was Anthony Joshua that’s inside.” The FRSC said that Joshua’s car was towed to the police station in nearby Sagamu. Joshua’s family hails from the southwest Nigerian city and he is known to visit there when he is in the country. Photos released by the FRSC showed a totalled black SUV, and what appeared to be blood on the road. An AFP reporter on the scene on Monday evening saw the 18-wheeler truck that Joshua’s

Matchroom confirmed police and media reports that he was involved in the smash, which happened on Monday morning on a main road linking Lagos and Ibadan in the southwest of the country. Pictures circulating online showed a shirt less Joshua – a British national of Nigerian heri tage – surrounded by what appeared to be bro ken window glass on the seats around him. His promoter said the boxer’s “close friends and team members” Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele were killed and Joshua himself was taken to hospital “for checks and treatment”. “He is in a stable condition and will remain there for observation,” a statement read. “Our deepest condolences and prayers are with the families and friends of all those affected – and we ask that their privacy is respected at this incredibly difficult time.” Police in Ogun state, just north of Lagos, said the circumstances around the wreck were “cur rently being investigated”. Lagos, Nigeria’s bustling economic capital, LET’S start with something positive. It is so mewhat of a testament to the strength of Aryna Sabalenka’s character, as a four-time grand slam champion and the dominant world No. 1 in women’s tennis, that immedi ately after losing 6-3 6-3 to a shuffling, clearly unfit Nick Kyrgios, she asked for the opportunity to try again. But no, please no. We do not need to see another rendition of this circus, promoted as a “Battle of the Sexes”. Beyond the ugly court and the TV feed from Dubai that broke down and produced a garbled picture, the spectacle was unwatchable, too. Sabalenka deserved better than Kyrgios, the former Wimbledon finalist who reached a career-high of No. 13, gawping when she blasted a powerful winner down the line. She should have had nothing to prove after an excellent season where she made the finals of three of the four grand slams and won the US Open. But in accepting this match-up, organ ised by the Evolve agency that represents both players, she has opened the door for cynics to diminish the women’s game. Worryingly, she has perhaps set the stage for her fellow professionals to be dragged into future exhibitions of this nature in the name of “entertainment”. That, after all, is what Sabalenka and Kyrgios said they were playing for. Billie Jean King risked the progress of not only women’s sports but the women’s rights movement in the United States when she accepted the challenge of the self-pro claimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs in 1973. The only similarity here, King said 52 years on, was man vs woman. Sabalenka played up to the entertain ment element of it from the start, ring walking onto the court in a glittering sequinned coat to the sound of Eye of the Tiger . She has a rapport with Kyrgios – they did rounds of interviews together to pro mote this contest – and the players laughed and joked throughout the opening set. Kyrgios, who has played just six official matches in the last three years due to inju ries, embraced the character this panto Ű BY JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

Nadal rules out becoming Alcaraz’s coach

We do not need another ‘Battle of the Sexes’

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios (left) and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka share a laugh prior to their Battle of the Sexes match on Monday. – AFPPIC

RAFAEL NADAL has ruled out the prospect of becoming Carlos Alcaraz’s coach following the world No. 1’s split from Juan Carlos Ferrero. Alcaraz and Ferrero went their separate ways earlier this month following a successful seven-year spell together. Ferrero linked up with Alcaraz in 2019 and helped his compa triot win six Grand Slams, including this year’s French Open and US Open titles. But just days after Ferrero had been chosen as the ATP coach of the year alongside Alcaraz’s other coach Samuel Lopez, the 2003 French Open champion had departed the 22-year-old’s set up. Nadal retired from tennis just over a year ago following an incredible tennis career that saw him win 22 Grand Slam titles. And discussing the prospect of taking on a full-time coach ing role, the 39-year-old told Spanish outlet AS : “I’ve always had the utmost respect for what might happen in the future, because what you feel today isn’t necessarily what you’ll feel later. “Life is constantly changing, especially when you have young children. You see life one way, a few years go by, and it changes. “Travelling constantly? I don’t see it happening. Being a coach would require that, and right now it doesn’t fit with my life.” Nadal did insist, however, that he would be happy to lead a Davis Cup team, which would require less of his time. He added: “Being a Davis Cup captain someday? Why not? I might enjoy it… or not. I just retired, it’s too early to think about it. “I respect life’s processes and the need to adapt. Right now, it’s not appropriate to think about that.” Nadal also spoke about Alcaraz as he compared the star to his rival Jannik Sinner. He explained: “I don’t identify with any of them. They are dif ferent players to what I was. I think Carlos is more random. He makes more mistakes, makes more spectacular points. “Sometimes he doesn’t have such a defined pattern of play, which makes him unpredictable and fun for the viewer. “Jannik is a more methodical, focused player, with a more defined pattern of play and who is adding things little by little, that’s why he is so solid and loses very few games. “Sometimes it seems that Carlos is more scattered, but when you see the results … He has had an incredibly regular and solid year in all the major tournaments. “That’s why I find it funny when I hear that it’s scattered – the results say otherwise, that’s my point of view.” – Express Newspapers

also gave the impression that this reimag ined ”Battle of the Sexes” brand will be going on tour beyond Dubai, in the shame less pursuit of more attention and eyeballs. “I feel like next time, when I play him, I already know the tactic, I know his strengths, his weaknesses and it’s going to be a better match for sure,” the Belarusian said. “So we could maybe do this one more time at some point. I love revenge. I love to challenge myself.” It was sad to hear. Sabalenka should be judged on her performances against the best players on the WTA Tour alone. They provide more than enough compelling drama. Instead, after the women’s No. 1 lost to a man described as a “largely irrelevant figure on the men’s tour” in the BBC ’s pre-match broadcast, Sabalenka’s peers may feel that the newfound desire to pitch the world’s best women against average male opposi tion has, worryingly, only just begun. – The Independent

mime demanded, dropping in underarm serves. Midway through the second set, Sabalenka used a timeout called by Kyrgios to dance the Macarena . It all felt unserious, while potentially being so damaging for the sport. A penny for the thoughts on Sabalenka’s rivals on the women’s tour, in the likes of Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek, while she danced like a clown during a defeat that may give ammunition to those who decry equal pay at the grand slams and beyond. Kyrgios said some silly things after wards, calling his match against Sabalenka a “stepping stone forward for the sport of tennis” and something “the world was talk ing about for the last six months”. No one was buying it. There was very lit tle he gained from this, either, apart from working on his fitness as he builds towards a return to the men’s tour in January. Sabalenka, meanwhile, sounded as if she thought she had let herself down. She