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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 AUGUST 2014 49 Sport FORMULA 1 BOXING COMMONWEALTH GAMES Häkkinen backs Räikkönen to recover MIKA Häkkinen has backed Kimi Räikkönen to recover from his troubled first half of the 2014 sea- son. Since returning to Ferrari, Räikkönen has been overshadowed by team-mate Fernando Alonso; while Alonso holds fourth after the first 11 races with two podi- ums to his name, Räikkönen sits 12th with a best finish of sixth. But Häkkinen says he has seen enough progress from Räikkönen, who has struggled to find a com- fortable balance with the F14 T chassis, to suggest that his fellow Finn will soon get on terms with Alonso. "It's just a matter of time. Kimi is just as quick as Alonso when he manages to get his car set up properly," said Häkkinen, a two- time World Champion, during his post-Hungarian Grand Prix col- umn for Hermes. Räikkönen's aforementioned sixth place came directly before the summer break in Budapest, but he could have achieved more had it not been for a backfiring tyre gamble that saw him elimi- nated from the opening phase. Häkkinen admitted to shock over the outcome, questioning Ferrari's decision-making on the pit wall. "That was an obvious mistake, one that shouldn't be made by a team at the level of Ferrari," he explained. "Maybe their thoughts were al- ready on the four week break. I struggle to believe that such a se- rious error was made under [Engi- neering Director] Pat Fry. I know Fry very well; he was an engineer at McLaren when I was there. The alarm bells should have gone off for a person like him. One should never take anything for granted." Muhammad Ali gloves worn at Frazier clash sold for close to $400,000 THE gloves that boxing great Mu- hammad Ali wore in his legendary 1971 fight against Joe Frazier in what became known as the Fight of the Century have sold at auc- tion for almost $400,000. An anonymous bidder bought the gloves for $388,375 at the auction run by Texas-based Her- itage Auctions at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland. Heritage previously auctioned a set of gloves Ali wore to claim his first world champion- ship in 1964 for $836,500. The Fight of the Century, in New York 's Madison Square Gar- den, was the first of three fights between Ali and Frazier during the 1970s. In 1971, Frazier officially held the title of heav y weight cham- pion of the world. Ali had been stripped of the title he had held since the 1964 bout against Sonny Liston because of his refusal to participate in the Vietnam War- era draft. The March 8 fight against Frazi- er was Ali 's second after returning to the ring following a 3-1/2 year absence. Ali 's conviction had just been overturned earlier in 1971 by the US Supreme Court and his boxing license was reinstated. "It was a controversial fight at a controversial time in America and the bout took on distinctly politi- cal and cultural overtones," Chris Iv y, director of sports auctions for Heritage, said. Frazier and Ali were each guar- anteed $2.5 million, a record purse for the time. "The fight sold out a month be- fore the event with ringside seats commanding a record $150, with even Frank Sinatra unable to get his hands on one," Iv y said. Si- natra received a press credential and shot ringside photos for Life Magazine. Ali lost to Frazier but prevailed in a re-match at Madison Square Garden in 1974 and a third match- up known as "The Thrilla in Ma- nilla" in 1975. The 'Fight of the Century' in 1971 between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier Muhammad Ali's gloves used during the fight, with the signature of his trainer Angelo Dundee Ebola outbreak leaves Sierra Leone team afraid to return home SIERRA Leone's Commonwelath Games team do not want to go home following the deadly Ebola outbreak which has hit the coun- try. The worrying Ebola outbreak is the biggest to hit the world with three nations - Sierra Leone, Libe- ria and Guinea - all hit by the killer virus. More than 700 people have died across Africa and Sierra Leone cy- clist Moses Sesay, 32, was admit- ted to hospital in Glasgow with doctors testing him for Ebola. He was given the all-clear, but the country's athletes are now re- luctant to return to their home with health organisations warning the virus is spreading quicker than efforts to contain it. Unisa Deen Kargbo, the team's chef de mission, told The Times: "Many people are thinking wheth- er or not to go home now. Every- body is worried and many of them don't want to go home now because of the Ebola. "We have held several meet- ings with them, but they are still worried. This virus is spreading around our country and everyone is at risk of catching it. The prob- lem is, if they want to stay on after the Commonwealth Games end, who will take care of them? "They will have no accommoda- tion, no work. How do they meet their needs? How will they get themselves employed?" A Commonwealth Games spokes- person was quick to clarif y that no traces of the virus had been de- tected in Glasgow. 'No, just to be really clear, there is no Ebola in the athletes' village," Jackie Brock-Doyle said. "There is no Ebola virus in Scotland. I want to be really, really clear about that.'' YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Sierra Leone athletes