Mac Pozzo
The 2019 Castle Lager PSL awards took place in Harare on Friday night. CAPS United midfielder Joel Ngodzo won the biggest award on the 2019 Soccer Star of the Year, beating Triangle United’s Ralph Kawondera and PrinceDube of Highlanders to the gong.
This is the first time the 30-year old has won the award. Kawondera finished as the first runner-up while Dube was the third best. Bosso duo of
Ariel Sibanda and Andrew Mbeba were named as Goalkeeper of the year and Rookie of the year respectively. Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas emerged as the winner in the best coach category.
The gaffer’s triumph was an obvious one after his closest rivals , Lizwe Sweswe (FC Platinum) and Darlington Dodo (CAPS United) only took over on the midway point of the season. I am told it was one of the best
awards evening, however yours truly, never got the nod.
Unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua said a health issue left him “tired” and “drained” in the build-up to his June defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr. Joshua, 30, reclaimed his world titles in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, dominating the Mexican over 12 rounds.
Conspiracy theories had circulated after his initial defeat, one of the biggest shocks in heavyweight history. Listening to a podcast a days ago he said “I had some issue with my health which I was going through for a long time,” The Briton added: “I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I felt so tired and drained and thought it must be down to training.
“In the changing room before the fight I got a bucket of ice and was putting my head in it thinking ‘why do I feel so tired?’ Joshua refused to say what the operation was but it is understood the procedure he had was linked to the issue diagnosed after his defeat by Ruiz.
Joshua, returned to the UK in the early hours of Monday morning with the
IBF, WBA and WBO belts, was on the front of Sunday’s Saudi newspapers, alongside Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, who attended his fight.
Despite widespread criticism of staging the bout in a country criticised for its human rights record, Joshua said he would “100%” be hap-
py to return to the kingdom on holiday or to perform.
Joshua is now expected to face either the WBO’s mandatory challenger, currently Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, or the man in the same position with the IBF, Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev. He said he was no longer interested in
calling out WBC champion Deontay Wilder for a historic bout with all four world heavyweight titles on the line.
Joshua said to defend his belts “on home soil would be big news” after promoter Eddie Hearn revealed he had been in discussions over a fight at Tottenham’s new 60,000-capacity stadium, most likely against Pulev. We await the update with great anticipation. Read more on BTOnline
