Joshua Clottey: Agbeko can be World Champ again

Former Welterweight Champion of the World, Joshua Clottey, has thrown his support behind Joseph ‘King Kong’ Agbeko in his upcoming championship fight.

Agbeko will be fighting Columbian Luis Melendez on March 8 at the Accra Sports stadium for an IBO Bantamweight title.

And Joshua ‘Grand Master’ Clottey says that the home support will help spur Agbeko on to victory.

“No matter what the opponent will do, the Ghanaian has to win this fight. Because this is a title fight in Ghana,” Joshua said, speaking to Joy FM.

“Fans have to go to the stadium to support him because it’s been a very long time since a title fight has been fought in Ghana.

“There are very positive signs that he’s going to win the title. I’m very sure that he’s ready for the fight. I’m 100% sure that Agbeko is going to win.”

Agbeko has an impressive fight record of 28 wins but has been inactive since failing to snatch the IBF and WBC Silver Bantamweight titles from Mexican-American Abner Mares in December 2011.

Joshua, who became champion about a year after Agbeko in 2008, believes that Agbeko can get back to the top of the pack.

“He already has powerful punch ability. Because if you watch Agbeko’s fights, he always throws good shots. He just has to add more punches. When you throw about four combinations, it’s going to be very effective,” he said.

 

Posted on February 20, 2013

 

Boateng and Muntari score to sink Barca

The names of the two Ghanaian internationals who ply their trade for AC Milan will be on the lips of many Milan and football fans alike after their performances against Barcelona on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League.

Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari scored a goal each in the second half to hand Milan a very healthy 2-0 aggregate advantage going into the second leg.

Fans gathered at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza witnessed a game that they would remember for years to come, in which favourites Barcelona were played out of the depths.

After a first half of both sides cancelling out each other, Milan were easily the team which threatened more. This seemed to have boosted their confidence as they came out in the second half firing on all cylinders. And it didn’t take long for the first goal to come.

From a freekick, Riccardo Montolivo’s shot was blocked but ricocheted off Muntari and fell for Boateng who made no mistake to plant the ball in the bottom left corner of Valdes’ net (57’).

In fairness, the ball hit Muntari’s hand but the referee missed it and the goal stood.

Barcelona huffed and puffed but on a night where Messi could not exert his influence on the game, the Barcelona side seemed out of sorts. And their predicament was worsened in the 81^st minute, yet at the hand of another Ghanaian.

Mbaye Niang started the move when he surged into the Barcelona box and drew three players to him. He passed the ball to Stephan El Shaarawy who lobbed the ball over a defender for Muntari to shoot again into the bottom left corner of Valdes’ net.

The other AC Milan player with a link to Ghana is the ‘bad boy’ Mario Barwuah Balotelli. But he could not feature because he is ‘cup-tied’ due to playing for Manchester City earlier in the competition. But he did not miss any of the fun as he was pictured laughing and jumping around with his friends in the stands.

The 2-0 home win means that for Barcelona to knock AC Milan out, they would have to score three unanswered goals at the Camp Nou in a fortnight’s time. Is that an impossible task, even for the ‘mighty’ Barcelona team?

@OptaJose on Twitter gave an interesting statistic from the game. “Barça have only attempted one shot on target against AC Milan, their worst figure in Champion League since 2009 vs Chelsea.” That sums it all.

 

Posted on February 20, 2013