Tony says defeated opponent through his stomach weakness
Hearts beats Okwawu in a friendly
Accra (Greater Accra) 14 March 2002 - Accra Hearts of Oak on Wednesday beat Okwawu United 3-0 in a friendly encounter at the Accra Sports Stadium. The match, which formed part of Hearts preparation towards their return encounter against Stade Malien in their African Champions League campaign, started on a poor and unexciting note with both sides missing vital chances.
After Don Bortey had missed a clear chance in the 19th minute, pressure from Hearts forced Okwawu's George Tutu to handball in the 18-yard box, earning Hearts a spot kick. Edmund Copson who elected himself for the kick converted beautifully to open the scoring for the Phobians of which they guarded steadily throughout the first half.
After recess, the technical directors of Hearts swiftly made three changes, which brought back the team’s rhythm. Adjah Tetteh was brought in for Massawudu Yahaya, Wisdom Abbey for Awuley Quaye and Joe Ansah for Edmund Copson respectively, which succeeded in reviving Hearts’ attacking machinery.
In one of their numerous raids, Adjah Tetteh was in the 83rd minute brought down in the "18"box after an aerial tussle from Don Bortey's cornerkick resulting in a second penalty for Hearts. Bortey made it two for Hearts by beating Fatau Dauda from the kick and two minutes later, Heats made it three through George Eranio with a follow up kick to Abbey's set up.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 March 2002 - Former Black stars player, Abdul Karim Razak, has warned the big soccer nations in Africa to be on their guard, because countries like Mali and Senegal are coming up strongly. Speaking to GNA Sports, Razak popularly called the "Golden Boy" in his hey days said countries like Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso are gradually picking up and therefore Ghana, Nigeria and other soccer giants must watch out.
He said, "Gone are the days when countries like Ghana, Nigeria and Egypt have total dominance in African football adding that, the era is over." Razak said the recent Cup of Nations is a typical example of the assessment of the so-called minnows of African soccer because all such nations have performed beyond expectation.
Razak who specifically mentioned Ghana and Nigeria said the two countries are experiencing a decline in their soccer while the likes of Mali and Senegal have come of age. He said these countries must find better ways of improving their game, or continue to experience more decline which might not augur well for them.
Razak, the coach of the Malian Champions Stade Malien, led them to hold champion club Accra Hearts of Oak to a one all draw at Accra Spots Stadium last Sunday, said his players are ready to learn whatever is imparted to them hence their impressive performance. The Golden Boy who sounded very confident of the return encounter, said his side hope to have a repeat performance to ensure that they qualify for the next stage of the competition and possibly win it.
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Accra) 14 March 2002 - The Africa and national Middleweight Champion, James Toney, has said that he relied on the stomach weakness of his opponent, Achibe Nutarian, to knock him out in the sixth round of their ten round non-title fight at the Accra Sports Stadium recently.
Tony who had one of his toughest fights since he started his professional career against his Benninoise opponent, told the GNA Sports that even though it was a tough fight, he managed to knock him out because his coach asked him to punch the stomach more which worked to perfection.
He said after several attempts on the face and head of his opponent, he realised Nutarian was tough, and therefore capitalised on the stomach weakness to defeat him adding that his opponent was also a southpaw which also made the fight difficult for him. According to Tony, he was fighting a southpaw for the first time in his professional career and lacked the experience to contend him at the initial stages but managed to fight him, till he was down.
Tony debunked the assertion that he always fights weaker opponents. He said those who make such statements are jealous of his exploits in the sport, but he is not perturbed by such statements. James Tony recently knocked out his Beninoise opponent Achibe Nutarian in the sixth round of their ten round contest.
GRi…/
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