Author: Alan Wass

  • Heavyweight Boxing Champ Anthony Joshua Flexing It up in Jamaica

    Heavyweight Boxing Champ Anthony Joshua Flexing It up in Jamaica

    When heavyweight boxing champ Anthony Joshua faced drug dealing charges in 2009, who would’ve thought nearly a decade later he would pack out 80,000 seater stadiums and be spending $3,000 per night on luxury accommodation in Jamaica?

    The UK boxing star has reportedly earned over $50 million from boxing since turning pro in 2013, although Forbes reports that the chiseled pugilist has a net worth of $38 million.

    Anthony Joshua Relaxing in the Sun

    Over the past week or so, Anthony Joshua has been recuperating from his last fight against Russian Alexander Povetkin, by chilling in Jamaica and spending almost $3,000 per night on a luxury villa. Long gone are the days of shifting weed to punters in dark alleyways.

    The 29-year-old boxing sensation has been staying in a state-of-the-art luxury 5-bed villa with majestic elevated sea-views overlooking the Caribbean. The villa comes equipped with an on-site gymnasium–because anyone who knows Joshua will tell you he’s always in training, even when relaxing.

    And by his own admission, he’s at the top of the world and having the time of his life:

    Can Anthony Joshua Conquer America?

    Anthony Joshua, more commonly known by his adoring fans in the UK as ‘AJ’, is a household name across Britain, Europe, and many parts of Africa. In his last four fights, his combined attendances are over 300,000 people.

    His PPV figures in the UK are apparently over 1 million buys every time he fights. He actually holds the PPV record for a single boxing match in the UK with over 1.5 million buys against former champ Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017.

    When you take into consideration that Joshua has only had 22 fights (all wins) and is still a relative novice in a professional boxing sense, he is already one of the highest paid sports stars in the world, and one of the most decorated.

    At this moment, Anthony Joshua is the second-highest paid active boxer in the world behind Canelo Alvarez, and he hasn’t even cracked America yet. When he does, he will become not only the highest paid boxer in the world but maybe even the highest paid person in the sports world.

    His marketability is truly sensational. He always stays humble, has legions of fans young and old, and crosses racial barriers. His transition from a rogue weed seller to Olympic gold medalist in 2012, to now being the holder of three heavyweight belts is truly inspirational to disenfranchised youth across the planet.

    Anthony Joshua deserves his well-earned break and will be back to fight in April, hopefully against either Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder to claim the fourth and final belt to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the world since Lennox Lewis.

    Featured image from Sporting News.

  • To Infinity and Beyond! Toy Story 4 to Be Released in June 2019

    To Infinity and Beyond! Toy Story 4 to Be Released in June 2019

    Toy Story 4 is finally going to happen, almost 20-years after the original Toy Story hit the screens and wowed big and small kids alike. Everyone remembers Woody, Jesse, Buzz, the wimpy dinosaur and that potato thing with the bushy mustache. It looks like we’re about to hook up with old friends for one last adventure.

    Toy Story 4 will be released across movie theaters in the US in June 2019. Those who watched the original back in 1995 and the late-90s when they were 12 years old are now well over 30 and probably have kids of their own.

    New Toy Story 4 Teaser

    When you think about the list of names who did the voices for Toy Story back in the day, they were big names at the time. We had Tom Hanks doing Woody’s voice, Tim Allen bringing Buzz Lightyear alive and Joan Cusack as Jessie.

    The animation movie’s original creators, Pixar, with Disney are set to bring you Toy Story 4, which has been a long time coming.

    Do you remember the last time we saw the toys? They were passed on by their former owner Andy to a young girl playing in the yard called Bonnie. Although she inherited the toys, there are new additions to the team.

    New Characters for Toy Story 4

    There will be a new character for the fourth installment of Toy Story who is called Forky. He is set to cause chaos for the team as expected. Forky, whose voice is played by Tony Hale of Arrested Development fame, doesn’t see himself as a toy and is hellbent on causing trouble for the other toys.

    Tony Hale’s performances as Buster Bluth in Arrested Development are hilarious. Anyone who knows Hale’s style will tell you he’s a perfect fit for a quirky animation character.

    Obviously, at this stage, we’ve just received a small teaser from Pixar, but what we do know is that Toy Story 4 will be directed by Josh Cooley, who previously worked in a storyboard and screenwriter capacity for another Pixar classic, Inside Out.

    Toy Story 4 will be released in theaters in June 2019. It will be interesting to see if the franchise can keep it’s now more mature audience with a younger generation of kids who have pretty much seen it all when it comes to animation movies.

    Featured image from Pixabay.

  • Should Conor McGregor Sign with DAZN for Hundreds of Millions?

    Should Conor McGregor Sign with DAZN for Hundreds of Millions?

    Former boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya believes that UFC superstar Conor McGregor should seek out a new deal worth hundreds of millions with streaming service DAZN.

    De La Hoya’s boxing promotion company, Golden Boy, manages the career of Mexican boxing star Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, who recently signed a ground-breaking five-year deal with DAZN worth a reported $365 million.

    De La Hoya has hinted that Conor McGregor is in a similar position and should make the most of his fame and brand in the twilight years of his career.

    Will Conor McGregor Leave the UFC?

    Although UFC fans far and wide will probably get their panties in a twist at the thought of McGregor leaving the octagon-based MMA fighting franchise, the world of televised sports is rapidly evolving.

    When both Canelo Alvarez and British boxing superstar and heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua signed with the streaming service DAZN, it immediately changed the landscape of televised boxing in the US markets.

    Since then, HBO has opted out of boxing for the first time in over 40 years. Some might say that DAZN’s deep pockets are responsible for that.

    Oscar believes that Conor McGregor can easily command “Canelo-like money” as a free-agent and hinted that UFC contracts with their fighters are quite restrictive. Which is true. Boxers are not forced to fight who their networks want them to fight. The boxers generally make those choices.

    Fighters Taking Control of Their Own Careers

    UFC owner Dana White can pretty much force any of his fighters to fight whoever he wants. This might be great for the UFC head-honcho and the fans, but doesn’t necessarily have the fighter’s best interests at heart. And let’s face it, it’s the fighters who put their lives on the line, not us.

    When talking about the issue with Luke Thomas on The MMA Boxing Hour, De La Hoya said:

    “Imagine if Conor McGregor was an independent contractor. He can easily get a deal like that on a DAZN or an ESPN+. But obviously they’re with UFC and UFC just works differently.”

    Oscar went on to say that a new streaming platform such as DAZN is great for massive household names such as Canelo Alvarez and Conor McGregor because their profiles are already at megastar levels.

    He also cited that until the likes of DAZN gain more traction and viewers, it could be a dangerous move for lesser-known fighters.

    Featured image from CBS Sports.

  • 5 Steps to Make Money Writing Online

    5 Steps to Make Money Writing Online

    If you are working just meters away from where you sleep, you are either in prison or a freelance writer. The two can be entirely interchangeable. Just me? I am constantly asked how it’s possible to make money writing online. The main answer is by putting in the work and knowing which route to take.

    I have been a freelance writer for over 10-years and have seen the industry evolve and move away from magazine and newspaper writing to a brave new world of online content creation.

    Does it sound attractive to wake up in the comfort of your own home, or in some exotic location, make a coffee and start work? If so, here are some tips and 5 steps to make money writing online

    Step #1 – Making a Start and Finding a Niche

    It obviously helps if you have a firm grasp of language and have at least a rudimentary level of writing skills. What kind of writer do you want to be? What are you interested in? Is it just about making money or are you looking to become an expert in a certain area while making money at the same time? Finding a niche is important, especially to begin with.

    Writing about what you are interested in could be a good starting point. I figured out early in my online writing career that writing marketing pieces for businesses is a good earner. To begin with, write about something you are familiar with and the rest will soon work itself out.

    Step #2 – Getting Your Writing Out There

    The vast majority of online writing jobs you will apply for request writing samples or links to previous articles posted online. A good way to initially get your name and writing out there is to create your own blog site. In this day and age, it is an easy process. You could also volunteer to write for free for some websites as well in the beginning.

    Creating your own blog is a great strategy to post a variety of articles live on the internet with links you can send to potential clients, but it is also the ideal platform to practice, hone and streamline your writing skills. You can easily use your pre-existing Facebook account to promote the articles to get some views and feedback.

    Step #3 – Building a Reputation on Freelance Sites

    How can you go from a few blog articles to actually make money writing online? A good way to start is by joining several online freelance jobs sites. Some of the most popular ones are Upwork, Freelance.com, and Problogger.

    These kinds of sites require you to bid with other writers for jobs posted by potential clients.

    You will have to compete with other writers for the jobs, but if you are realistic with your starting prices and are willing to sacrifice and underbid other writers, you will find jobs. The more jobs you do on these sites, the more your reputation grows, which will result in better-paid jobs. You can then increase your rates accordingly.

    Step #4 – Job Hunting to Make Money Online

    Make yourself a quality resume, a quality cover letter, gather your links to articles you have already posted online and get started applying for jobs. The ‘Writing Jobs’ section on Craigslist is a good place to start.

    I also use other online job platforms such as Indeed jobs. You can search for “content writers needed” on Google and refine the search to the past month or week to find the most recent opportunities.

    If you are for example looking to write cryptocurrency news articles, then bombard the main crypto news sites with your CV and application. That goes for any writing sector you are interested in. It’s a numbers game. The more you apply for, the greater the chance you will find something.

    Step #5 – Creating an Affiliate Marketing Website

    Did you know that writers and marketers are making money by selling other people’s products without physically keeping any stock?

    Websites such as Amazon and eBay offer affiliate marketing programs where you can create websites and write reviews about products and make a commission on the sales. Some writers own several sites selling all manner of products. It’s something that you need to look into.

    To make money writing online, you will first need to find a niche and voice, get your work out there, apply for loads of jobs and work hard. There is no magic formula to success other than hard work, persistence, and self-belief.

    Featured image from Pixabay.

  • Snitching to US Government is a $100 Million Industry

    Snitching to US Government is a $100 Million Industry

    Do you know the term ‘snitches get stitches’? It seems that if you snitch to the US government, you don’t need surgery to repair your face. You actually get paid a bundle. It has been reported that the US government has paid out over $100 million to snitches since the mid-1980s.

    Are you a snitch, a grass, rat, turncoat, telltale, betrayer, blabbermouth, informant, nark, a stool pigeon, a double-crosser or even a modern-day Judas? If so, maybe you can monetize your snide ways by making a deal with the US government to rat out your friends who just happen to be drug kingpins. It works even better if they are Mexican or some other ‘foreigner’.

    US Government Paid Bounties to Apprehend Drug-Lords

    In an interesting article in the South China Post, the newspaper discusses the US government’s reward programs for snitches, which is believed to have offered massive bounties for information that lead to the arrest of drug kingpins and the like.

    The article went onto say that the US government had paid informants $108 million since the 1980s. The wide scope of the US government and DEA is truly astounding. The multi-billion-dollar war on plants, I mean drugs, is well and truly alive and kicking.

    The Narcotics Reward Program (NRP), as it is succinctly named, has paid out $32 million to 33 people in past five years alone. It is believed that some snitches received single payments for as much as $5 million. They say that loose lips sink ships, but it seems they can also buy them.

    The information comes directly from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

    The Wide Scope of the DEA and US Government

    The ‘program’ is said to have netted the arrest of nearly 70 foreign major violators since 1985. The program was put back in the spotlight last month when the US government announced that the ‘snitch’ bounty on the infamous cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes had now risen to $10 million.

    The wide scope that the US government has, even outside its own borders with the DEA, is pretty remarkable when you think about it.

    In the autobiography of international cannabis smuggler Howard Marks, entitled ‘Mr. Nice’, he once told of a bizarre case involving his RICO predicate. As part of the case to arrest Marks in the 1980s, a non-American was caught on non-American soil, selling a non-American passport to another non-American person and was actually indicted to the US to face charges as part of Marks’ RICO case. This is how the US government, and more precisely the DEA gets down.

    If you have any information on your drug lord family and friends, make sure you contact the US government for your prize. You’ll be the envy of communist Soviet Union supporters from the 1980s.

    Featured image from Pixabay.

  • Did You Check Your EuroMillions Lottery Ticket? You Could Own $100m

    Did You Check Your EuroMillions Lottery Ticket? You Could Own $100m

    Have you checked your EuroMillions lottery ticket from November 2? If not, you could be the owner of approximately $100 million. The EuroMillions lottery jackpot has gone unclaimed, so go and check your laundry basket fast, because you could be sitting on a fortune.

    It’s been over a week since the EuroMillions $100m draw was made and the search is on to find its winners.

    It Could Be You

    The unclaimed EuroMillions ticket was bought from a National Lottery retailer in the United Kingdom. Players of the popular lottery game are being urged to rustle through their laundry and to check under their beds to find the estranged ticket.

    The lucky winner, or should we say unlucky at this moment in time, matched all five numbers and the two Lucky Stars numbers in the draw that took place on November 2. The winning numbers were 5, 15, 17, 37, 44 and the Lucky Star numbers were 7 and 11.

    Although it’s a big figure, it pales in comparison to the recent MegaMillions $1.5 billion-prize that was scooped by one ticket in America earlier this month. America is known for being bigger and bolder than everyone else, and this is definitely true when it comes to fast-food consumption and lottery jackpot prizes.

    EuroMillions Jackpot Is 4th Largest this Year

    The company that runs the EuroMillions lottery, Camelot, are currently waiting to hear from the holders of the winning ticket, which is the 12th largest lottery prize pot in UK history and the 4th largest this year in Europe.

    The largest ever EuroMillions jackpot prize was in April his year and was a massive $190 million. The jackpot was won by two tickets and both winners remained anonymous.

    It’s been a big month for lottery winners across the world. Not only did one ticket scoop the Mega Millions prize, but also 2 people shared the $687 million Powerball jackpot in the US in late-October.

    If you played the EuroMillions lottery on November 2 and haven’t checked your ticket yet, what are you doing sat here watching me rant on? You could be a millionaire!

    Featured image from Pixabay.

  • Want to Buy a British Football Club? Liverpool FC Might Be For Sale

    Want to Buy a British Football Club? Liverpool FC Might Be For Sale

    Remember when rich people used to buy small dogs they could perch in their handbags as fashion accessories? In this day and age, the ultra-rich buy football clubs, not pet rats. If you are looking to buy a football club, Liverpool is apparently for sale.

    The word is in the British and American media that Liverpool is up for sale, although no official statements have been released by the club or its owners at this time.

    Liverpool For Sale at the Right Price

    If you’re a billionaire looking to buy a British football club, not many are more prestigious than Liverpool. According to reports in The Sun newspaper and the NY Post, Liverpool’s billionaire owner John Henry is seriously considering selling the club and the word is the club is “quietly up for sale.” It’s not quiet anymore since The Sun found out.

    John Henry is also the owner of the prestigious Boston Red Sox and is apparently looking for in the region of $2 billion for the Merseyside football club.

    Henry initially bought Liverpool for a cool $470m back in 2010, so if a sale did go through for $2 billion, it would be a massive piece of business.

    Sources apparently close to Henry told the NY Post that the billionaire was in the “passive sale process” and “It’s for sale if he can get the right price.”

    The Trend of Buying a British Football Club

    The trend of buying a British football club has been rife over the past decade or more. Liverpool was recently valued at approximately $2 billion by Forbes, so is a solid starting point for potential buyers.

    Back in August, Sheik Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nahayan, along with a Chinese bidding consortium, supposedly made an offer for Liverpool of around $2.3 billion, which was unsuccessful because the Chinese could not find the sufficient funding.

    The Sheik’s cousin owns Man City, which shows that buying a British football club is a growing trend amongst the filthiest rich people on the planet.

    We will have to see how things pan out in regards to the sale of Liverpool. But no doubt the fans would be happy to accept a billionaire owner who is willing to throw the cash around on the transfer market to help the club win a league title for the first time in over 30-years.

    Featured image from Pixabay.

  • Floyd Mayweather Ambushed as Japanese Fight Deal was a Set-Up

    Floyd Mayweather Ambushed as Japanese Fight Deal was a Set-Up

    When news broke earlier this week about Floyd Mayweather fighting Japanese kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa in Japan, it was met with much skepticism. Apparently, Floyd was ambushed by Japanese fight company Rizen and the whole press conference was a set-up to give Rizen some exposure in Western markets.

    I originally wrote two days ago that something was fishy in regards to the Tokyo press conference to announce the fight. It seems I was right. But to be fair, even a broken clock is right two times per day.

    Almost predictably, 50-Cent came out on social media to pour scorn on the fight and surmise Floyd was going broke.

    The Truth about Floyd Mayweather and Rizen

    Floyd released a 300-word statement on his Instagram page on Wednesday to clear up the issues pertaining to the supposed New Year’s Eve bout against the Japanese kickboxer. He basically called the fight off and said he was scammed by Rizen.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp49AUphcLu/

    Floyd took to Instagram to claim that he was supposedly in Japan discussing a private behind-doors 9-minute exhibition fight for a small group of wealthy people.

    But by the time he got to a pre-arranged press conference, the Japanese MMA company Rizen Fighting Federation flipped the script and announced a real fight on New Year’s Eve in Japan. Here is Floyd’s take on the press conference:

    “This exhibition was previously arranged as a ‘Special Bout’ purely for entertainment purposes with no intentions of being represented as an official fight card nor televised worldwide. Once I arrived at the press conference, my team and I were completely derailed by the new direction this event was going and we should have put a stop to it immediately.”

    Is Floyd Telling the Truth?

    Mayweather claims he went along with the press conference so as not to cause any disturbance, but in reality, this is exactly what it has caused. The myriad of YouTube boxing channels who have been reporting on this story since the press conference are still not sure that Floyd is telling the whole truth.

    Some of the channels are covering these three possibilities:

    Option 1: Floyd was completely blindsided by Rizen and what he said in the statement was the truth.

    Option 2: Floyd kind of knew what was happening, but by the time he got back home he was talked out of the fight by his advisers and friends and then released the statement.

    Option 3: Floyd completely knew what he was getting himself into, but had cold feet as and called a halt to the proceedings before it went any further.

    One thing is for sure. Wherever Floyd Mayweather goes, intrigue and controversy go along for the ride. He should hurry up and fight Manny Pacquiao for a second time while his name can still write 9-figure checks.

    Featured image from SportingNews.

  • $17.8m for the World’s Most Expensive Rolex Watch

    $17.8m for the World’s Most Expensive Rolex Watch

    Time is money, or so they say. This is literally true when we talk about the world’s most expensive Rolex watch which was sold last year for $17.8 million.

    Even most billionaires would think it’s obscene to spend so much money on an item so small. But perhaps it is the ultimate show of decadence that you can strap so much cash around your wrist while flipping the bird at the playa-haters.

    World’s Most Expensive Watch Belonged to Paul Newman

    In a recent article detailing the 10 most expensive Rolex watches ever sold, former acting megastar Paul Newman’s 1968 Cosmograph Daytona Rolex came in at number-1.

    Although Newman’s Rolex might not have the same sentimental value as ‘the watch’ belonging to Butch in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, it does have the monetary value to kick-start a military coup in a backward banana republic.

    Paul Newman’s watch became the world’s most expensive Rolex to ever be sold back in 2017 when it was bought for an unprecedented $17.8 million by an anonymous bidder at a New York auction.

    The watch was originally a present from Newman’s wife, Joanne Woodward, and was purchased back in 1968 from Tiffany & Co in New York for an undisclosed fee. She engraved the watch with “drive carefully” as Newman was getting into motor racing at the time.

    The actor went onto wear the watch for the next 15-years before giving it to his daughter’s boyfriend at the time, James Cox, as a present.

    Although details are sketchy about the watch’s story since and why it was for sale, I would guess it’s because someone would pay in the region $17.8 million for it. At the end of the day, it’s just a watch!

    Has the World Gone Money Mad?

    Yesterday I wrote about the world’s most expensive car, which is the $13 million Sweptail by Rolls Royce. It seems that the limitless wealth and spend-ability of some people know no bounds.

    Although it is still an extraordinary show of wealth to buy a car that costs upwards of $10 mil, rocking a $17.8 million Rolex is taking it to the next level.

    Has the world gone mad? One would assume it had to be sane in the first place for that statement to be true. If someone is willing to spend so much money to own the world’s most expensive Rolex watch, fair play to them I say.

    Featured image from N Business.

  • $13m for the World’s Most Expensive Car! But It’s Not For Sale

    $13m for the World’s Most Expensive Car! But It’s Not For Sale

    Do you want to own the world’s most expensive car? Well, even if you did, you can’t! It’s not for sale. The earth-shattering Sweptail by Rolls Royce is worth a seizure-inducing $13 million and it doesn’t even have furry dice in the window. And it’s only got two seats.

    Even the world’s keenest luxury automobile flexer, rapper Lil Wayne, doesn’t have something quite this expensive in his car collection. This is a car that someone such as Mike Tyson would’ve bought to take his Siberian tiger to the vets.

    World’s Most Expensive Car Is a Roller

    Lamborghini this, Bugatti that, but when it comes to the world’s most expensive car, the $13 million Sweptail by Rolls Royce has blown them all out of the water in dramatic fashion.

    Did you know that in 2016 there were only 4,000 Rolls Royce’s manufactured? This is why the iconic luxury car brand is continually one of the most sought-after by all car collectors.

    The Sweptail by Rolls Royce is a one-of-kind model, customized and tailor-made for a customer that will remain nameless. The custom coach-work looks similar to what you would find on royal carriages. It’s all about the blue blood luxury lifestyle baby.

    It’s What’s on the Inside That Counts

    The car comes equipped with two seats, a fully panoramic sun-roof, handcrafted wooden and leather interior features, hidden attaches for laptop computers and stashing other things, and has a sleek design that mimics the tapering you might expect to see on a luxury yacht.

    That is quite handy because the owner is apparently a collector of super-yachts and private planes.

    There’s not much information on the world’s most expensive car at this time because it is not a mass-produced piece, so we have no idea how fast it goes.

    The car is said to have been modeled on some Rolls Royce vehicles from the 1920s and 30s and does definitely have a stately yet modern feel to it.

    Although the world’s most expensive car is not for sale, it blows away the previous most expensive, which was the $4.8 million Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita.

    Featured image from Auto MThai.