Ademola Lookman has been listed among the final five nominees for the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year award.

The African football governing body announced the top echelon of candidates for the coveted award in a tweet on Monday.

Only Lookman is the Nigerian named among the five finalists. William Troost-Ekong did not make the final cut despite being named in the initial 10-player list.

Other footballers in the top five are Achraf Hakimi, Simon Adingra, Ronwen Williams and Serhou Guirassy.

Lookman had an impressive 2023/24 season for both club and country. The winger scored 17 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions last season for Atalanta, which retained its status as one of the best in Serie A.

He scored a hattrick in the Europa League final against Bayer Leverkusen, winning Atalanta’s first-ever European title.

Lookman was one of Nigeria’s best players at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire. He scored three goals as the Eagles won silver at the tournament. He was also named in the competition’s best XI alongside captain Willian Troost-Ekong.

The 27-year-old ranked 14th best player in the world at the 2024 men’s Ballon d’Or ceremony — the only African to make the top 30.

Lookman has been tipped to be the next award winner, following the footsteps of Victor Osimhen, who won the prize in 2023.

In the other award categories, Stanley Nwabali was nominated for the goalkeeper of the year prize, while Nigeria will vie for the national team of the year category alongside Ivory Coast, Morocco, South Africa, and six others.

Mike Tyson’s controversial return to boxing ended in a one-sided defeat on Friday, with Youtuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul cruising to victory by unanimous decision against the heavyweight icon in Texas.

Tyson, 58, barely landed a punch during the eight-round bout at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, with Paul winning by big margins on all three cards — 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73.

Paul, 27, used his superior speed and movement to dominate the ageing Tyson with ease, and had the former undisputed heavyweight champion in trouble after landing a flurry of punches in the third round.

Yet the younger fighter was unable to land the knockout blow he had promised to deliver during Thursday’s ill-tempered weigh-in, where Tyson slapped him across the face.

Tyson, however, looked every bit of his 58 years, managing to land only a handful of meaningful punches during the fight.

Final statistics showed Tyson connected with just 18 of 97 punches thrown while Paul threw some 278 punches and landed 78 of them.

As the final seconds of the eighth round counted down, Paul could even afford to bow in respect to Tyson before the bell sounded.

The tension reached a boiling point at the weigh-in for Friday’s highly anticipated heavyweight showdown in Texas, as boxing legend Mike Tyson slapped social media star and novice boxer Jake Paul during a heated face-off.

The incident unfolded at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, where the 58-year-old Mike Tyson and the 27-year-old Jake Paul are set to clash in a bout that has stirred debate across the boxing world.

Following the weigh-in, which saw Tyson tip the scales at 16st 4lb and Paul just a pound lighter, the two fighters came face-to-face.

Jake Paul crawled theatrically across the stage before rising to Tyson’s eye level, engaging in a tense staredown.

Tyson, who had largely dismissed Paul’s provocations throughout the week, finally snapped, delivering a slap to Paul’s face.

The sudden act prompted security personnel and team members to intervene and separate the fighters.

“Talking’s over,” Tyson declared before storming off the stage.

Paul, unfazed, responded with a grin and proceeded to sit down, appearing to meditate. “I didn’t even feel it. He’s angry. He’s an angry little elf,” Paul quipped.

He went on to taunt the former two-time world champion: “Mike Tyson, I thought that was a cute slap, buddy, but tomorrow you’re getting knocked out.”

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