Author: Shekari Philemon

A Nigerian boxing promoter is working toward an all-British heavyweight contest in Lagos that would pair Anthony Joshua against rising contender Moses Itauma, expressing certainty that Joshua will eventually fight in the country and describing a potential matchup between the two as a landmark event for African boxing. The promoter, working under Balmoral Promotions, is already building the infrastructure for major boxing events in Nigeria, having staged successful shows in 2025 and with another card planned for Lagos on July 31. The long-term ambition extends to positioning Africa as a significant destination for combat sports, with the combination of Joshua’s…

Stefon Diggs is still a free agent with approximately two weeks before NFL training camps open, and the veteran wide receiver is making his pitch directly and publicly, arguing in a video posted to his YouTube channel that no team in the league has a number two receiver better than what he can offer. Diggs, 32, acknowledged in the video that he may no longer occupy the tier of elite number one receivers in the NFL, a concession about age and competitive positioning that showed self-awareness. But he followed that acknowledgment immediately with a challenge: he believes every team can…

Jannik Sinner defended his Wimbledon title on Sunday, defeating Alexander Zverev 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a final where the match’s momentum shifted decisively in the third set when Zverev slipped while chasing a drop shot and appeared to injure his right knee, changing the dynamic of what had been an evenly contested match to that point. The victory gave Sinner his fifth Grand Slam title and his second in a row at the All England Club, completing a fortnight that he entered under different circumstances than any ordinary champion defense. His collapse at the French Open in late May,…

Karolina Muchova ended Coco Gauff’s most successful Wimbledon campaign with a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 victory on Thursday in a semifinal whose final-set tiebreaker produced the kind of swings and moments that made the outcome feel uncertain until the very last shot landed in the net. Gauff held a match point at 9-8 in the tiebreaker and failed to convert, sending a forehand into the net on what she later described as a momentary loss of composure. Muchova then produced a lob winner to create her own match point, only to lose it when she slipped on the grass and a…

NFL players die from neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s at four times the rate of the general population, according to a major study released Wednesday by researchers at Mass General Brigham, Boston University, and the Concussion and CTE Foundation, representing the most comprehensive population-level evidence yet linking professional football careers to elevated brain disease mortality. The study examined 19,824 athletes who played in the NFL between 1960 and 2019, including the 1,994 who have died, making it the largest retrospective cohort study of this kind conducted to date. The researchers described the findings as tragic but not surprising…

AJ Dybantsa scored 27 points and pulled down seven rebounds in 26 minutes to lead the Washington Wizards to a 92-88 summer league victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night in Las Vegas, winning the first professional meeting between the top two picks of the 2026 NBA draft in a game that drew a notable courtside audience of established NBA stars who had come specifically to watch. Darryn Peterson finished with 24 points for Utah in a competitive duel that featured both players missing shots at a higher rate than either is accustomed to, combining for just two made…

Stephen Curry described the prospect of playing alongside LeBron James in the twilight of both players’ extraordinary careers as a story without precedent in basketball history, speaking with media Thursday at a celebrity golf event in Nevada while acknowledging that the Warriors’ pursuit is real and the outcome is entirely in James’s hands. The Warriors have been actively working to recruit James since the opening of free agency, maintaining communication at multiple levels while the superstar takes his time evaluating destinations that reportedly include Cleveland, Miami, and Philadelphia alongside Golden State. Curry, heading into his 18th season, and James, entering…

Ayyoub Bouaddi insisted he harbors no regret about his decision to commit his international career to Morocco rather than France after the Atlas Lions were eliminated from the World Cup in a 2-0 quarterfinal defeat to the country of his birth on Thursday, with goals from two of France’s most prominent forwards ending Morocco’s tournament run in a rematch of the 2022 semifinal they also lost. The 18-year-old Lille midfielder, born and raised in northern France, formally committed to Morocco in May after representing France at various youth levels and as recently as March captaining the under-21 squad. His decision…

Adrian Newey, who departed Red Bull in 2024 after 19 years at the head of the team’s technical department to take on a leadership role at rival Aston Martin, will make a brief return to his former team this weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to drive the RB17 hypercar, the final major project he completed before leaving. The RB17 will make its first public appearance on the famous Goodwood hill climb, where Newey will share driving duties with a current Red Bull Formula 1 driver and the team’s test driver. The event represents the culmination of a project…

Arthur Fery, a British wild card ranked 114th in the world who grew up approximately a mile from the All England Club, reached the Wimbledon semifinals on Wednesday with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-0 victory over ninth-seeded Flavio Cobolli on Centre Court, delivering one of the most improbable runs in the tournament’s recent history with Queen Camilla watching from the royal box. The 23-year-old former Stanford All-American becomes only the fourth wild card to reach the semifinals at any Grand Slam in the open era, joining three men whose names appear in tennis history for similarly unlikely achievements. He is the…