Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou gave fans a glimpse of what's to come as both fighters conducted public workouts in Riyadh on Wednesday evening ahead of their blockbuster boxing showdown.
Fury, the WBC's unbeaten heavyweight world champion, faces former UFC heavyweight king Ngannou in a highly lucrative crossover bout in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Ahead of their contest, both fighters went through their paces with a few drills with their trainers inside the ring at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh.
Fighters on the undercard climbed through the ropes for their public workouts, too, including former heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker, who takes on Simon Kean, and rising heavyweight contender Fabian Wardley ahead of his bout with David Adeleye.
Fury, who became a two-time world champion in February 2020 by defeating Deontay Wilder in a rematch after their thrilling first fight ended in a controversial draw, is the overwhelming favourite to extend his unbeaten professional record to 35 fights.
The 35-year-old Briton's WBC title will not be on the line against Ngannou, even though their fight is an official 10-round bout. Instead, Fury and Ngannou will be fighting for the ‘Riyadh Champion’ belt, created specifically for Saturday's fight.
Ngannou, regarded as one of the most ferocious punchers in MMA, will be making his first official boxing appearance. The Cameroonian, 37, won the UFC's heavyweight title in March last year and made one successful defence before leaving the promotion at the end of his contract.
The build-up to the fight continues with a press conference on Thursday and the weigh-in on Friday, before the fighters go toe-to-toe on Saturday night.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
