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Kelechi Iheanacho is possibly looking forward to Sunday’s FA Cup semifinal against Southampton even more than his Leicester City teammates.

Usually, the FA Cup provides some level of distraction for wobbling sides who tend to welcome the interruption to their league malaise, but this is not just any game for the Foxes.

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Ask any local fan and you’re likely to hear the same thing: the supporters being delighted at the prospect of making it to their first final at the sport’s oldest cup competition in a couple of generations.

Having failed to play in the last four since 1982, Iheanacho’s heroics in the last stage against Manchester United meant Brendan Rodgers got more joy at this round after suffering defeat at the hands of Chelsea last year.

The Nigeria front man netted twice and set up another in the Foxes’ deserved 3-1 victory over a pitiful Red Devils side, carrying the 2016 Premier League champions into the final four.

Their last appearance in a final was in 1969, and the gap of 52 years is truly staggering.

They are the only PL champions to never win the FA Cup, and Iheanacho’s form means Leicester is now two wins away from glory. While nothing will ever beat their 2016 league success, supporters will cherish victory in the competition and the club’s return to Wembley this year has to elicit excitement in the fan base.

While it leaves no room for complacency, the Foxes were probably pleased by their semifinal draw which pits them with a Southampton side that hasn’t been itself since the turn of the year. Compared to Manchester or Chelsea, this was the last-four encounter Leicester would have have desired after beating United . . . and the same could be said for Saints.

“[Southampton] are a strong side; they have quality individual players and they play as a team as well,” Iheanacho told LCFC TV in the build-up to Sunday’s match. “We need to do more than them, we need to fight and hurt them first in the first half, so we don’t need to go behind.

“We always have that hunger and desire to win trophies, of course, other teams are preparing as well. We need to sacrifice so many things and give our best shot.

“That’s what we need to do. In training and on the game, we need to do what we can, work extra and give extra than what we do, I think we are getting ready to do that.”

Given the dramatic decline of Jamie Vardy since the turn of the year, a counterargument is unlikely to be presented if anyone earmarks the West African as the Foxes’ key man going into the game.

It was the ex-Man City player who thrived against West Ham United last time out when the Englishman toiled without success at the London Stadium as Rodgers’ men rallied late on but lost 3-2 to put next year’s Champions League participation in jeopardy.

Frankly, it’s been that way for a few months now with Leicester’s top striker a shadow of his usual self in the attacking third, scoring only once and assisting three in 16 games in 2021. In his opening 17 appearances in all competitions this term, Vardy was involved in 17 goals. The drop-off since January is jarring.

Even though CL qualification is still in the club’s hand, this weekend isn’t for worrying over its place among Europe’s elite in 2021-22. Rather, the East Midlands club ought to be focused on being back at the Home of Football, featuring in its first FA Cup semi in 39 years and looking to take part in its first final in a half-century.

Iheanacho’s three goals in the competition this season makes him Leicester’s top scorer and the in-form front man who overtook Chelsea’s Didier Drogba for FA Cup goals after his quarterfinal brace wasn’t keen to dwell on supplanting the Blues legend’s 12 strikes.

“Personally, I’m proud of it but I don’t want to think about it, I don’t want to lose my focus on the game,” the Nigerian stated. “After the season, I will start thinking about it because we have big weeks in the FA Cup and the Premier League. We need that concentration and determination to win games and get to where we want.

“I’m in a good place at the moment, I just need to keep helping my team. I need to put in the hard work every day, the form is coming now and I just need to keep going.”

Drogba, who by and large made Wembley his playground, was the West London side’s man for the big occasions, a responsibility which made him feared in the competition’s closing stages. Usurping the Ivory Coast icon is no mean feat, but the job is far from done.

Despite making history and ending nearly four decades of pain for Leicester fans, Iheanacho now has to carry the can to take Rodgers’ side into their first FA Cup decider in over 50 years. Given his current form, you wouldn’t bet against him.  

Posted on 04/17/2021

In what many were expecting, former cruiserweight titlist Steve Cunningham easily outboxed former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

The two squared off at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on the undercard of Jake Paul vs Ben Askren. No matter how hard he tried, Mir’s lack of experience was glaring as he was simply outclassed. With that said, he managed to make it to the final bell, something he considered a moral victory.

Demetrius Andrade defeats Liam Williams but the numbers don’t do justice to the Welshman

IN the end, Demetrius Andrade did what was expected. He was quicker, he was cleverer, he was more accurate and he won a unanimous decision after 12 rounds of keeping his challenger at bay. Liam Williams, the tigerish and willing Welshman, also followed the script. He made the WBO middleweight titlist work hard to retain his belt, concocted the odd scare but in the end walked away with nothing but a few cuts, scrapes and concrete proof that he belongs at the top level.

Williams was on a seven-fight win streak since losing twice to domestic rival Liam Smith in two rough and tough battles at 154lbs. Andrade, though, had won 29 fights without defeat, barely a murmur of losing along the way, since turning professional in 2008 when he reached the quarter-finals of the Olympics. A first class graduate from the hit-and-not-get-hit school, Andrade was still striving for respect.

His challenger, inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, gained that respect after pushing Andrade but never really threatening to win. Williams hit the deck in the second round when a left hooked round his guard, quick and unsighted, to take his legs away.

“He’s a very good fighter,” Williams said after being declared the loser via two scores of 118-109 and 116-111. “He’s better than I thought to be honest. He’s very slippery and I couldn’t really get going. I hurt him a couple of times but then he was gone before I knew it.”

Andrade did what he does best. He worked hard to make things look easy, he spoiled because he could and deep down in the heart of battle he controlled the action when there was no real action at all. He made his opponent pay for the slightest mistake but Williams kept roaring forward, his jab was disciplined and at times he made Andrade’s toolkit look like it was missing the crucial pieces.

Andrade’s uppercut, from both his left and right hand, often clattered into Williams. There was a point in the eighth when it looked like the challenger might be there for the taking as a left uppercut soared into Williams’ jaw and left him bedraggled.

But Williams hauled Andrade back into the trenches. In the ninth round the Welshman sent a right cross onto the champion’s skull. The belt-holder stumbled into the ropes and instinctively held on. His legs were unsteady and, just briefly, the upset was a possibility.

The class – or experience, depending on your viewpoint – of the American showed during his times of trouble. Though unable to fight his way out of the mire, he slowed the action masterfully to ride out the storm. He was a worthy winner in the end.

“Liam Williams is hell of fighter,” the victor said. “He’s tough, strong and he gave me a hell of a fight. He got up and kept coming. That’s what happens in a dogfight.”

He wants to fight the best. He’s always wanted that and he deserves that.

“At the end of the day,” Andrade said, “I’m the champion and undefeated. Come and get it!”