Kia ora, Talofa, Ma’lelei, Bula and Welcome to Season 08 Episode 66 of Breakfast Bites, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news, on a sunny and bright Sunday morning 10 March 2024.
                                                                  
Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian in the middle of the Blue Continent. 
 
In rugby union: All is well in rugby in Fiji again after the Fijian Drua lit up Churchill Park in Lautoka yesterday with a powerful display by their forwards, matching and then outmuscling the best that Scott Barrett and his Crusaders could throw at them for a solid 20-10 win in front of another full house.
 
In other games: Rebels 29-23 Moana Pasifika, Highlanders 23-21 NSW Waratahs, Brumbies 22-19 Western Force, Hurricanes 29-21 Blues and the Reds 25-19 Chiefs.
 
In football: Sports clashes don’t get much bigger than this - Manchester City versus Liverpool - the last dance between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, two iconic football Managers.
With 11 rounds remaining in the Premier League, one gets the feeling that this weekend’s game could prove crucial to deciding who lifts the trophy.
As Manchester City star Phil Foden put it this week: “It’s massive … It’s games we want to play in, the biggest games and the biggest occasions. We’re ready.”
In SportsBiz: F1 Racing valuations by Forbes last summer had an average team valuation of US$1.88Billion, more than triple the comparable US$500Million mark from 2019.
 
Liberty’s recent earnings confirmed the drive behind the surge in team valuations as F1’s full-year attendance finished up 5% in 2023 to 6 million, revenue grew 25% to US$3.22B and operating income surged 64% to US$392M.
Helping drive those numbers were mushrooming fan interest in the US and the Las Vegas Grand Prix, despite heavy upfront infrastructure costs.
 
In rugby league: It was an encouraging night for the Parramatta Eels who beat the Canterbury Bulldogs 8-26 at CommBank Stadium last night. One of the biggest disappointments last season, the Eels still managed a crowd of 29,171 – their biggest regular season attendance at the venue.
 
Bulldogs fans spent the entire off-season dreaming of a rapid turnaround after their Club recruited heavily over summer, but yesterday was a nightmare for them after the blue and whites went down to the Eels and they could be without the ‘Foxx’ for a while.
 
In Combat sports: Anthony Joshua totally destroyed Francis Ngannou, in their fight in Saudi Arabia yesterday, knocking out the former UFC World Heavyweight Champion in the second round after knocking Ngannou down late in the first round, with the Cameroonian getting back to his feet.
Former Kiwi-Samoan World Heavyweight Champion Joseph Parker claimed a stunning majority decision win over Chinese star Zhilei Zhang to win the WBO Interim heavyweight title.
Parker was knocked down in the third round by a thudding straight left from southpaw Zhang, who again dropped Parker in the eighth with a short right hook that sent Parker down to one knee. But Zhang let Parker off the hook both times, failing to follow up.
Parker outworked his rival – who was considerably bigger; 20kg heavier at 132.3kg and much taller at 1.98M.
In the end, Parker’s fitness and greater work rate saw him earn a 113-113, 114-112, 115-111 unanimous points win.
Talofa lava Joseph Parker!
 
And that’s a wrap!
 
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Mahalo, Ka kite and tank you all too mass for all your love and support.
 
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