Muslim boxing legend Bernard Hopkins extended his legacy once again by scoring a 12-round unanimous decision over Tavoris Cloud to claim the IBF light heavyweight championship Saturday night. The 48-year-old Hopkins once again became the oldest boxer to win a major title, extending the record he set by beating Jean Pascal for the WBC light heavyweight title on May 21, 2011. This 175-pound title fight, however, was considered by onlookers to be perhaps his most convincing victory in years. Against the 31-year-old Cloud, Hopkins connected on 169 of 417 punches and opened a cut over Cloud's left eye.

It sounds like Hopkins remains hungry for yet another challenge.  He had previously said that he'd like to face WBO light heavyweight champ Nathan Cleverly. But Cleverly has contractual commitments ahead that could make that fight an impossibility. Hopkins will keep looking for one more big fight on HBO or Showtime. If not, it's off he'll go as the oldest champ to quit on top. ''If I'm not motivated, and the competition is not there, if it's a meaningless fight, it's time to roll, man,'' Hopkins said by phone Sunday to the Associated Press. 'I have some history-making moments in me. Not a lot,'' he said, ''but there are more."

Athlete Tag: Bernard Hopkins

Mabrook to all the Hajji's this year! One of them is Australian Rules Football player Bachar Houli, as chronicled in a story below. Another is Pakistani cricketer Shahid "Boom Boom" Afridi. And on his way to Mecca, Shahid ran into a certain Bollywood star who was also making the holy pilgrimage.

Read about it at:

The Muslim Observer.

Athlete Tag: Shahid Afridi

Since we were examining Australian Muslim athletes I thought it would be appropriate to look back on a Rugby Union star who happens to be a part of the Ummah. Hazem El-Masry was one of the greatest rugby players in Australian history.

Read more about him here:

The Muslim Observer.

Athlete Tag: Hazem El-Masri

Highly accomplished Muslim athletes can be found the world over if you look hard enough. Bachar Houli just so happens to be a stud Australian Rules Football player. And, oh by the way, he's a stud Muslim as well, as he was in Mecca this past week performing Hajj. Pictured here with his wife Rouba, Houli is also very active in his charity work, when he's not busy in an Aussie scrum.

Read more about Bachar at:

The Muslim Observer.

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Who is Arsalan Kazemi? Well, he could definitely run you right off the basketball court. And if you live on the West Coast of the United States he's coming to a big time college basketball arena near you this fall and winter.

Read more about Arsalan's journey from Iran to Texas and now to Oregon:

The Muslim Observer.

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Theo Epstein and the Chicago Cubs organization have promoted Shiraz Rehman to the position of Assistant General Manager. Rehman has been with the Cubs baseball organization for a handful of years. Prior to that he worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Here is my full story:

The Muslim Observer.

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Rasheed Wallace now states that he retired from the NBA two years ago for "personal" reasons that have since been resolved. And apparently he's been real bored with retirement life, because all it took was one phone call from Mike Woodson to get him to come out of retirement and come play for his train-wreck of a Knicks team. Now Brother Rasheed can harrass his former team, the Celtics, many times a year.

See my full story at:

The Muslim Observer.

Athlete Tag: Rasheed Wallace

Pakistani-British boxer Amir Khan hasn't had a very good year, at least inside the ring (he did get engaged to lovely young Muslimah this past year). So, in an effort to get a fresh new start, he has not only named a new opponent, but he has named a new trainer, the latter of which is pretty big news because his previous trainer was a pretty big name in the sport.

See my full story on the subject at:

The Muslim Observer.

Athlete Tag: Amir Khan

The Pakistani cricket team had a good run at the 2012 Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. But in the end the could not overcome the home Sri Lankan side and were eliminated in the Semifinals last week. Sri Lanka went on to lose to the West Indies in the finals.

Read my full story in The Muslim Observer:

TheMuslimObserver.com

Athlete Tag: Shahid Afridi

Loaded with as many as seven Muslim starters at times during the Euro 2012 soccer tournament, the French national soccer team was unceremoniously dropped from the tournament in the quarterfinals yesterday by Spain, 2-0. The Spaniards got an early goal from Xabi Alonso, and a late goal from Xabi Alonso, as they dictated the flow of  play against the listless Frenchmen. The French team looked like a shadow of a team that had rattled off a 24 game unbeaten streak in international play before their 2-0 loss to Sweden a round earlier. And what was thought to be a very different team from the disappointing and tumultuous French team of the 2010 World Cup was showing similar signs of discord, with training room shouting matches, and F-bombs from Samir Nasri hurled at reporters. In fact, the level of vitriol could even push French manager Laurent Blanc to accept the manager's job at Tottenham as early as this week.

Meanwhile, at the Euro 2012, the German team takes over the title of Team Ummah, as Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, and Ilkay Gundogan lead their squad against Italy in their semifinal match this coming Thursday.

Athlete Tag: Samir Nasri

Russian winger Nail Yakupov was the first overall selection in the National Hockey League draft yesterday by the Edmonton Oilers. The offensively-gifted winger is a Muslim who originally hails from the Tatarstan region of Russia. He chose to come to North America to further his NHL prospects, rather than take the greater paychecks of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia as many young Russian phenoms do. Yakupov plays for Sarnia in the Ontario Hockey League.

Here is an interview that Yakupov gave to OilersNation.com. As you can see, he may admit to not being super-religious, he does point out his identity as a Muslim. And I think he clearly does the same by wearing this prayer cap in his press photos.

The 5'11", 185 lb Yakupov now joints Nazem Kadri as the most prominent Muslims in professional hockey. And Yakupov joins Hakeem Olajuwon as the only Muslims taken first overall in their respective drafts. Kareem Abdul Jabbar could perhaps be added to that list, but he was still named Lew Alcindor when he was taken first overall by the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks in 1969 and I'm not sure if he had converted to Islam by that time. Well, that's a bit of a technicality. Let's just put the three of them in that group. And perhaps they'll be joined by a fourth Muslim: incoming UCLA freshman basketball star Shabazz Muhammad, who is expected to stay in school no more than a year before taking his impressive talents to the NBA. Mubarak to Nail Yakupov!

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While Saudia Arabia twiddles its thumbs wondering if it should send a contingent of female athletes to the London Olympics (or if they should allow female sports teams at all!), the United Arab Emirates has decided to take London by force. The UAE will be sending some of their strongest women to England this July, as their female weightlifting team has qualified for the 2012 Summer Games. They actually qualified for only one slot, so they will have to decide which of their individual competitors they will send. But how will they decide? An arm wrestling showdown perhaps? An 80's music trivia challenge? A game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos? I guess this is for greater minds to decide. Congrats to the Lady Lifters of the Desert!

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Could it be that "The Executioner" has now been reduced to "Dead Man Walking?!" Say it ain't so BHop! The ageless Bernard Hopkins went down in defeat this past Saturday to Chad Dawson in a celebrated rematch. Hopkins lost a 12 round majority decision. The 47-year-old Hopkins had already set a world record for oldest belt-holder last year, but it was clear to most onlookers on Saturday night that he was hardly a threat to Dawson, who is no spring chicken himself at the age of 29. After the fight, Dawson spouted the usual blah, blah, blah about BHop being a dirty fighter, but he ultimately gave the man his due as a great champion.

But, now, Hopkins needs to see if he has any mojo left in the tank. It seems to me that the age of 50 is just too big and juicy a number for Bernard to ignore. So perhaps he could rest for a bit, and then schedule one or two fights tops before calling it a career after a half century on this earth. At least, that's what I'll tell him if I happen to bump into him anywhere. Either way, a salute, and a salaam, to the pugilistic brother from Philly.

Athlete Tag: Bernard Hopkins

LAHORE: Britain has denied the baby son of Pakistan’s jailed former captain Salman Butt a visa, crushing the family’s hopes of visiting him behind bars, his father said Tuesday..

Story Cited From: http://www.timesofummah.com/2012/03/14/jailed-salman-butts-baby-refused-british-visa/

Athlete Tag: Salman Butt

LONDON: Lamont Peterson has declared himself “ready to die” in the ring to keep his belts when he meets Britain’s Amir Khan in a Las Vegas title rematch on May 19.  \nThe American, who took Khan’s WBA super-lightweight and IBF light-welterweight belts in a controversial split points decision in Washington last December, told a televised news conference on Tuesday that he was training already...

Story Cited From: http://www.timesofummah.com/2012/03/14/peterson-ready-to-die-in-ring-rematch-with-amir-khan/

Athlete Tag: Amir Khan

The World Squash Federation has stepped in to back a Canadian initiative to boost squash development in Africa ...

Story Cited From: www.worldsquash.org

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ISLAMABAD: Bangladesh promised Saturday to work towards bringing international cricket back to Pakistan after a three-year hiatus, kicking off a visit to assess security for a proposed series in April.\n“We will work hand in hand to convince our other colleagues there in the ICC (International Cricket Council) to bring back cricket to Pakistan at the earliest,” said Mustafa Kamal, chairman of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).\nHe spoke to reporters in Islamabad, beginning a visit to assess security for Bangladesh’s proposed tour to Pakistan three years to the day after attacks on Sri Lankan players saw international cricket suspended in the troubled country.\nThe nine-member Bangladesh delegation held talks with Interior Minister Rehman Malik and is to tour facilities in Lahore and Karachi, before returning home on March 5 to submit a report for approval to the government in Dhaka...

Story Cited From: www.TimesofUmmah.com

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Former Australian batsman Dav Whatmore, who guided Sri Lanka to World Cup glory, arrived in Pakistan to sign a contract as the new coach of the national team, an official said Friday.

Story Cited From: www.Vcricket.com

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Former light heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Bernard Hopkins, vows not to retire despite losing his belt in controversial fashion to challenger Chad Dawson on Saturday night. Los Angeles was the setting of this two round debacle in which referee Pat Russell ruled that there was no foul when Dawson dumped Hopkins to the canvas. Dawson claimed that Hopkins was leaning on him and that he was simply moving Hopkins off of him. But Hopkins landed awkwardly on his shoulder and was unable to continue for the first time in his career.

Just ten days after winning the US Open, Egypt's Amr Shabana suffered one of the biggest shocks of his illustrious career when he went down in straight games to unseeded Swiss opponent Nicolas Mueller in the first round of the Qatar Classic ...

Story Cited From: http://www.worldsquash.org/ws/?p=6489

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Junior welterweight boxing champion of the world Amir Khan recently addressed over 700 people at Islamic Help’s charity dinner at the Hilton London Metropole.

Having returned recently from a visit to the White House, Amir was intent on making a difference and to contributing to ease the plight of those caught in the worst drought to have hit the region in over 60 years.

When addressing guests last week he spoke of his passion for the cause and how moved he had been “I wanted to give something back and that is the reason we all got together and joined Islamic Help and thought about having this charity event”.

Over £80,000 was raised during the evening and a pair of Amir’s boxing gloves was auctioned for a staggering £7500; a Team Khan T-shirt and Khan–Judah fight poster raised £825 and £750 respectively. Zaheer Khan, Head of Fundraising at Islamic Help was overwhelmed by the response to the event – “We knew that by bringing in a big name and someone as popular as Amir we would have a great response but we have been taken aback!. Amir’s a great guy and a brilliant ambassador for the sport, the country and Muslims worldwide – we’re honoured to have worked with him to raise money for such a cause.”

The Horn of Africa Crisis is, according to the United Nations, set to worsen over the coming months and as many as 750,000 people may lose their lives. The UN has recently declared a famine in Bay, the sixth area in Somalia to have been declared a famine zone.

Inside the boxing ring, it is looking more and more like Khan will be defending his title belts against Lamont Peterson, likely in December, with an eye towards possibly facing Floyd Mayweather, Jr. after that.

Athlete Tag: Amir Khan

Former world number one women’s tennis player Dinara Safina has “no chance” of making a comeback from her back injury and will soon announce her retirement, according to big brother Marat Safin.

Safina, 25, has not played since early May because of persistent low back pain. She announced in August that she would not play again this year."I don't know how long my time out is going to last because I don't want to torture myself and my body anymore," Dinara announced at that time.

But brother Marat said she had quit for good."If you recall, Dinara first suffered the injury in Beijing two years ago," the former men's world number one was quoted as saying on Saturday by Russian media. "She had tried several times to make a comeback but it only caused her more problems.

"Now she must think of herself, not if she could play again, but just to live a normal life. She must continue with her therapy, but would not be able to play again. She will make an official announcement, but being her brother, I think she has no chance at all of making a comeback."

Athlete Tag: Dinara Safina

Pakistani tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi formed a triumphant pairing with Oliver Marach of Austria to go on to win the Thailand Open men’s doubles tennis tournament this past weekend. Qureshi and Marach defeated the German pair of Michael Coleman and Alexander Waske to clinch the title. The final score was 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5).

Qureshi and Marach were the top seeded team in the tournament, and they gathered enough momentum to lose only one set during the entire tournament. Qureshi said winning in Thailand was a great experience and he expressed solidarity with the flood victims of Pakistan and Thailand.

“I feel very excited and great. Oliver is a great player. He’s been in the Top Ten for so many years. It’s my pleasure playing with him this week. I love coming back to Thailand, where I won Futures and Challengers also,” he told the official website of the Thailand Open.

“On behalf of myself and the Pakistanis at home, we all support the flood victims because Pakistan has been hit by floods as well as Thailand. I wish all the Thai people and the country all the patience and courage to overcome the natural disaster,” he added.

Qureshi is by all accounts still expected to return to playing with his regular doubles partner, India’s Rohan Bopanna, with whom he has formed the celebrated pairing dubbed “The Indo-Pak Express.”

Athlete Tag: Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi

British-Pakistani boxer Haroon Khan has been told by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) that he cannot represent Pakistan in international competition. Khan’s father, Shah Khan, told the BBC that they intend to appeal the decision which, if supported, would prevent Haroon from representing Pakistan at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Khan, age 20, is the younger brother of WBA and IBF light welterweight boxing world champion Amir Khan. Their father told BBC Radio Manchester, “The Pakistan boxing federation got an email that Haroon can't represent them as he represented England as a youth. We sent letters out to AIBA and we're hoping that they'll accept all this."

Haroon Khan was originally scheduled to represent Pakistan in the upcoming World Boxing Championships in Azerbaijan, which act as an Olympic qualifying even. Khan represented England as a youth in 2009. He initially hoped to box for England in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, but after being overlooked, opted instead to fight for Pakistan, and won a bronze medal.

"Their rulings say when a boxer becomes a national in more than one country then he has decided which country he wants to represent," Shah Khan added. “He became a national of Pakistan in 2010, now that was after he'd boxed for England. Then he decided he wanted to box for Pakistan, which he did in the Commonwealth games, where he won a bronze medal. If you go by that rule he did decide to box for Pakistan so he should be entitled to box for Pakistan. There is another qualifier in February and we're keeping our fingers crossed he'll be going there."

Athlete Tag: Haroon Khan

Senegalese footballer Birahim Diop welcomed a new Muslim teammate to Sporting Kansas this season with the arrival of heralded striker Soony Saad. But Diop himself has been in Major League Soccer (MLS) for three seasons now. He originally began his career in Senegal with US Rail de Thiès. In one year at the club he appeared in 25 matches scoring 15 goals. He then went on to ASC Jeanne d'Arc and scored 12 goals and added 7 assists in his one year at the club.

In 2001 Diop moved to the United States and joined the New York/New Jersey MetroStars reserve squad. He then impressed the coaching brass to move up to the senior squad appearing in 4 league matches in 2002. Following his stay in New York, Diop moved to Colombian side Deportivo Pereira, before being re-united once again with his former coach in New York Octavio Zambrano at CS Tiligul-Tiras Tiraspol in Moldova. In his first season with CS Tiligul-Tiras Tiraspol Diop appeared in 15 league matches and scored 3 goals playing as a holding midfielder. In 2008 Diop returned to the U.S. and played for FDR United in New York City's amateur leagues, scoring 19 goals in 25 matches.

On March 17, 2010, Diop joined the Kansas City Wizards, as an addition to their midfield. Diop was reunited with coach Octavio Zambrano once again, as he was now an assistant coach for Kansas City. Diop scored his first two MLS goals on August 21, 2010 in a 4-1 victory over the New England Revolution. Diop than recorded the first hat trick of his career on October 23, 2010 in a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. Diop enjoyed his best year in Major League soccer in 2010 with the Kansas City Wizards appearing in 14 league matches and scoring 5 goals.

This season, the 22 year old midfielder has yet to score a goal in 18 games played with Kansas City. He has, however, started eight games, and has recorded an assist. At 6’3” and 175 pounds, Diop is an imposing figure in the Sporting Kansas City midfield. And as a result of his size he often plays as a striker. But with Soony Saad part of the strikeforce nowadays, he and Diop could have the makings of quite a scoring pair moving forward.

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Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Sachin Tendulkar battle for Cricketer of the Year award

Story Cited From: http://gulfnews.com/cmlink/1.446096

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Diego Maradona discusses Al Wasl club's play prospects for the season

Story Cited From: http://gulfnews.com/cmlink/1.446096

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Al Ahli coach pleased with pre-season preps despite loss to Qatar champions Lekhwiya

Story Cited From: http://gulfnews.com/cmlink/1.446096

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Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat in the second One Day International at Harare Sports Club here on Sunday.

Story Cited From: http://www.vcricket.com/rss/Pakistan/index.xml

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He will face either defending champion Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray in Monday's final

Story Cited From: http://gulfnews.com/cmlink/1.446096

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