British challenger David Haye launched a war of words with WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev on Wednesday by insulting the Russian giant and branding him “ugly.”
The pair are due to meet in Nuremberg on Nov. 7, but Haye, who is no stranger to controversy, has attempted to antagonize the 2.18m tall Russian by describing his opponent in far from glowing terms.
“He is the ugliest person I have ever seen,” Haye told German tabloid Bild. “I have seen the Lord of the Rings films and there are some characters in those movies who look quite strange. But for a human being to look like him [Valuev] is really shocking.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
And just to make sure his verbal assault irked the champion, Haye also launched an attack on the champions personal hygiene.
“Valuev is the ‘Beast from the East,’ he has a very hairy body,” said the 28-year-old brash Brit. “If I am to fight him in the ring, he must shave himself before, otherwise he could really stink during close combat.”
But the 36-year-old Russian was taking the British fighter’s comments in his stride.
PHOTO: EPA
“It would be stupid to inform you of my opinion of his comments,” Valuev told Bild.
Haye has made a habit of annoying world champions: He famously insulted IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko by calling him “Bitchko” before their fight in June was canceled after Haye withdrew with a back injury.
Haye also appeared at a press conference in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, wearing a T-shirt showing an image of Haye holding aloft the severed heads of both Klitschko brothers.
The former undisputed cruiserweight champion then looked set to fight Klitschko’s brother Vitali, the WBC champion, only to walk away from negotiations at the 11th hour to fight Valuev instead.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in