Boxing

KUBRAT PULEV returned to action with a brutal first round standing knockout over former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Somehow the referee didn’t wave the fight off after a crunching overhand right from Pulev had Mir stunned.

Mir was sent stumbling backwards by a vicious blow from Pulev
Shannon Briggs joined Pulev in the ring after the fightCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Pulev has touted a potential bout against Brit Joe Joyce for his next fightCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Pulev, 40, then missed with a fierce uppercut but connected with a brutal left hook that had Mir careering backwards and onto the ropes.
Still referee Dan Miragliotta did nothing, and it took Pulev showing mercy not to pile in with more follow-up punches for Miragliotta to finally wave off the fight.
Pulev and Mir were facing off in Texas in a Triad Combat Rules fight.
Both fighters wore the lighter MMA gloves, and were allowed to hit and hold in a triangular shaped ring.
It was Bulgarian Pulev’s first fight since being stopped by Anthony Joshua in December last year.
And fans were left stunned that the referee had not spared the 42-year-old Mir sooner.

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One fumed: “Disgraceful refereeing. That kind of thing will get boxing stopped.”
Meanwhile another said: “That ref need to have a look in the mirror. If Pulev had have gone back in and launched him again Mir could have been seriously injured.”
Pulev himself was also praised for spotting Mir was not fit to continue and held back before the fight was eventually waved off.
A fan lauded him by saying: “Credit to Pulev, showed mercy.”
The Bulgarian will now reportedly turn his attention back to conventional boxing, and could find himself facing off against 36-year-old Brit Joe Joyce.
Pulev’s promoter Ivaylo Gotzev told Sky Sports: “We’ve been getting a lot of offers. Joe Joyce is looking for us.
“Kubrat is definitely not a stepping stone for no-one, so we’re going to pick and choose our battles, and get him back to where he feels great.
“It’s all about how he wants to enter the ring and how long he wants to keep going for.”
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MANUEL CHARR’S name has flown so far under the heavyweight boxing radar he’s been able to change it without anyone noticing.The Germany-based, Lebanon-born Syrian was a huge success story at the start of his career.
Mahmoud Charr is the forgotten heavyweight trying to make a comebackCredit: Getty Images – Getty
He fled the civil war that claimed his father’s life, overcame a crippling hip condition – and a near-fatal shooting – to clinch a world honour, albeit a second-rate version.
But, since outpointing Alexander Ustinov for the World Boxing Association’s trinket title in November 2017, he has not had a single fight while the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Andy Ruiz Jr and Deontay Wilder have won and lost titles and made millions.
In April 2019, in the middle of his hiatus, Charr reverted to his childhood name of Mahmoud, stating: “Manuel is a name given to me by German marketers. I didn’t choose it, and I didn’t want it.
“I am Mahmoud, the name my parents chose for me, it means beloved of God.”
And that is sadly the closest the 37-year-old has got to making headlines in four long years, as boxing has been able to bypass him during a booming time for his division.
It started off so well, too, Charr was a prodigious young muay thai and Thai boxing fighter before turning pro in 2005 and his 18th consecutive win came against Britain’s infamous journeyman Danny Williams.
Seven years into his career he dived in too deep and was brutalised by WBC champ Vitali Klitschko over four one-sided 2012 rounds.
The elder Klitschko brother thumped him to the floor at the end of the second round and then clipped him with a left hook that opened a relentless gash that squirted blood all over his torso.
Charr was well beaten by Vitali Klitschko in 2012Credit: AFP – Getty
Charr beat Brit journeyman Danny Williams – his 18th consecutive winCredit: Getty Images – Getty

When the ringside doctor waved the fight off over fears for Charr’s right eye, he went on an angry rampage, kicking and punching the Moscow ropes and offering Dr Ironfist the chance to decide the fight outside of the rules and regulations.
Little brother Wladimir even jumped into the ring to keep things cool.
After four rebuilding bouts, Charr relocated his career to Russia where he lost three out of six when he stepped up against Alexander Povetkin, Johann Duhaupas and Mairis Briedis.
Then, in September 2015, Charr’s life was almost snuffed out by a cowardly trigger-happy Facebook troll.
After repeated insults, Charr dared the critic to meet him face-to-face.
Instead, while eating a late night kebab in Essen, he had four bullets pumped into his stomach instead of a chicken shish with extra chilli sauce.
Incredibly Charr was only out of the ring a total of nine months, proving his current lack of action is not the result of a lack of courage.
But after two tune-ups he was informed the chronic pain in his pelvis was congenital hip dysplasia and he needed a double replacement, at the age of just 32.
Charr was shot in 2015Credit: Instagram / @mahmoudcharr
The incident came after an argument with a Facebook trollCredit: Instagram / @mahmoudcharr
Charr had a double hip replacement at just 32-years-oldCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Revitalised by the surgery, Charr faced a fading Ustinov and earned a unanimous decision after dropping him in the eighth.
His first defence was set to follow a year later after against Fres Oquendo but VADA found steroids epitrenbolone and drostanolone in his system and he served a six month-ban.
In the summer of 2020, Charr chased a fight with Andy Ruiz Jr but was repeatedly rebuffed by the little Mexican who dethroned Joshua for the last six months of 2019.
And now, after four long years out the ring, he returns to face unbeaten American Christopher Lovejoy in Cologne.
Charr still sleeps with his beltCredit: Instagram / @mahmoudcharr
Charr does not look like a man who is finished with the sport, he was still parading his black and gold belt proudly and visits schools in Germany to discuss his inspirational story until he was stripped for inactivity.
But any momentum the 32-4 fighter once had, in and out of the ring, is long gone.
Of course, a win against Christopher Lovejoy back in May recaptured the attention of fight fans around the world.
And the Arabic community, taking a growing interest in boxing, would go wild for a heavyweight boxing champion to call their own.
With Saudi Arabia now providing the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Al-Turaif, Riyadh, how the locals would love to cheer Charr on to victory.
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ANTHONY JOSHUA has dropped to FIFTH place in the WBA rankings following his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.The Watford warrior had the unified heavyweight titles ripped from his clutches in his September showdown with the slick southpaw.
Anthony Joshua suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in the September showdownCredit: Reuters
Defeat to the Ukrainian has seen Joshua fall to fifth spot in the WBA rankingsCredit: Reuters
AJ is now ranked behind Tyson Fury’s cousin, Hughie, in the WBA’s rankingsCredit: PA
And AJ’s second professional defeat has seen his stock with the World Boxing Association plummet.
The Olympian is now behind fellow Brit Daniel Dubois, Michael Hunter, Robert Helenius and Hughie Fury – the cousin of WBC champ Tyson – in the WBA’s heavyweight pecking order.
Newly-crowned WBA champ Usyk sits atop of the organisation’s rankings.
Joshua, 32, will bid to exact revenge on the undefeated Ukrainian in a potentially do-or-die rematch early next year.
A date for the pair’s second encounter hasn’t been finalised, although SunSport understands the fight is in the works for the spring.

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Defeat to his fellow Olympic gold medallist has lit a fire under AJ, who told iFL TV: “I’m done with f***ing losing.
“I’m done with trying to learn the sweet science.
“The referee might get thrown on the floor in the next fight because this is war.
“It’s just straight war, I’m annoyed.
“I’m boiling up even speaking about it – it’s that passion to win.”
He added: “I have one thing in my mind, that’s war, that’s murder, that’s war, let’s go out there and hurt the guy.
“Take his soul to the point where he wants to give up.
Anthony Joshua is hellbent on exacting revenge on Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch next yearCredit: Getty
“That’s what boxing’s about, I’ve learned that.
“You hit people constantly, keep on applying a certain amount of pressure, before they know it they’ll realise you aren’t going anywhere, you’re here to stay.
“With the game plan, that’s all I have in my mind at the minute, that one track, stay on course, take this guy to places he doesn’t want to go.”
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Eddie Hearn says that Anthony Joshua had a lack of confidence in gameplan before fight against Usyk More

EDDIE HEARN reckons Tyson Fury’s plans for a February homecoming won’t come to fruition.The Gypsy King is planning to make the second defence of his heavyweight title in a little over two months’ time but is currently without an opponent.
Tyson Fury plans to defend his WBC heavyweight title by the end of FebruaryCredit: Reuters
But promoter Eddie Hearn has doubts over the timeline for the Gypsy King’s returnCredit: Reuters
Hearn is optimistic fellow Brit Dillian Whyte will get the next crack at FuryCredit: Getty
Fellow Brit Dillian Whyte was expected to face the WBC king but has found himself embroiled in an arbitration case with the governing body.
And Matchroom Boxing chief Hearn believes that’ll scupper Fury’s plans, telling iFL TV: “I don’t believe he fights in February.
“Because he’s coming off a bit of man flu, as he says, and we’re [in] December next week.
“I think realistically March and hopefully, it’ll be Dillian Whyte.”
Despite being Fury’s mandatory, Brixton banger Whyte has taken legal action against the WBC to ensure he gets his long-awaited crack at the coveted green belt.
Hearn explained: “That’s why he’s done it. Becuase if he left it to the WBC, which he has done, he wasn’t able to get what he deserves, in his opinion.

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“So that’s why he’s gone down this route.
“And when this ruling is made, it’ll be a lot more solid and clear and, yeah, favourable as well, we expect.
“So that’s the reason behind the process.”
Hearn doesn’t expect the ongoing legal proceedings to have any effect on Whyte’s bid to fight for a world title.
He said: “No, I don’t believe so. It’s just a timing issue and hopefully, there’s a ruling on that in due course.”
Fury is paying no attention to Whyte’s battle with the WBC and is focused solely on getting back in the ring.
I will destroy them all like I have done all my lifeTyson FuryOn heavyweight rivals
He told iFL TV: “I thought I was going to be fighting Dillian Whyte but I don’t know what he has going on in his private life with the WBC.
“He has a court case going on and it’s kind of s***** because I know how long arbitrations can take because my own one with Deontay Wilder took 18 months.
“I hope he does not get caught in the long grass and I hope I don’t get forced into another fight like a voluntary defence.
“But I don’t care because they are all just work-outs for me, I will destroy them all like I have done all my life.
“It does not matter if it is Dillian Whyte, Dillian Blue or Dillian Grey.
“I am not interested in waiting around for other people, I will be fighting again in February, early March latest, defending my WBC heavyweight world title.”

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