Heavyweight boxing

ANTHONY JOSHUA returned to his old boxing gym on Monday – just nine days after his emotional loss to Oleksandr Usyk.Fans feared the Brit, 32, would retire after he endured his second consecutive defeat in the huge heavyweight split decision thriller on August 20.
Anthony Joshua returned to his old boxing gymCredit: Twitter
Oleksandr Usyk has flown back to Ukraine after his Jeddah blockbusterCredit: Twitter
However, he recently took to Instagram to insist that he will continue in the sport.
And AJ posted a picture of himself at Finchley boxing club in Barnet – where he used to train as a teenager.
In the caption, he wrote: “Back to where it started, far from where it ends, I love this game.”
Meanwhile, Usyk, 35, returned to his hometown in Ukraine over the weekend with his WBA, WBO and IBF championship belts.
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The heavyweight champion is currently in talks over a blockbuster undisputed bout with Tyson Fury which has been dubbed the “World Cup final” of boxing.
Fury has agreed to come out of retirement for the highly-anticipated fight – due to take place in early 2023 – as long as he is paid a whopping £500MILLION.
Usyk called out The Gypsy King after beating Joshua on points.
He said: “I’m sure that Tyson Fury is not retired yet. I’m sure, I’m convinced he wants to fight me.
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“I want to fight him and if I’m not fighting Tyson Fury, I’m not fighting at all.”
Negotiations for the bout are now underway with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Las Vegas being considered as potential locations. More

TYSON FURY’S highly anticipated heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk WILL HAPPEN but is “highly unlikely” to take place in December.Fury and Usyk are set to participate in an undisputed heavyweight title fight which will unify the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles.
Tyson Fury smiles during his WBC heavyweight championship fight with Dillian WhyteCredit: Getty
Oleksandr Usyk reacts after defeating Anthony Joshua for a second timeCredit: EPA
However, while there has been ground made from both parties in terms of the pay-out from the fight, the location and timing of it is yet to be decided.
Mark Kriegal told EPSN Ringside: “It’s gonna happen.
“How do I know this? What’s the source of contention in the lead-up to every big fight? The purse split. Is it 70-30, 60-40? This one is going to be 50-50.
“I spoke to Bob Arum earlier today, he said that is a given, my other sources agree.
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“So we have one point of contention completely out of the way or supposedly. That’s welcome news, proof to me that the fight’s going to happen.
“Now as to when you may have seen reports this past week the Saudi’s want to host it in December – don’t hold your breathe on that. Quote ‘highly unlikely’ according to Arum and others I spoke to.
“Likely date now; February Super Bowl weekend or maybe the week after.”
Kriegal went on to add the fight would most likely occur in the middle east, with Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar all vying for it.
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He even admitted the UK was an outside shout, but declared it would be Cardiff and not Wembley if the UK were to host.
Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua for a second time last week in a split-decision victory, which has allowed him to set up an undisputed heavyweight clash with Fury, who will come out of retirement to face the Ukrainian.
Brit Joshua did not take the defeat well in the immediate aftermath, going on an extraordinary rant following the fight. More

TYSON FURY’S promoter Frank Warren believes a fight between his client and Oleksandr Usyk would be the equivalent of the football World Cup Final.Fury is ready to come out of retirement and face Usyk in an undisputed title showdown for his WBC belt as well as the Ukrainian’s WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles.
Tyson Fury is ready to come out of retirement to face Oleksandr UsykCredit: Getty
A fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk would be like the World Cup FinalCredit: PA
Saudi Arabia are preparing a mega offer in the region of £127million to host the dream match, which would see each fighter pocket almost £60m.
And Warren is confident the bout will happen as both fighters are keen to lock horns in the near future.
He told the Daily Star: “This fight is boxing’s World Cup final. It’s the flagship division and it is for the four belts so these guys want to be paid a hell of a lot of money.
“Tyson will go straight into it, if and when he’s ready. As will Usyk, he said after the fight it is the only fight he wants.”
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Warren admits that Usyk would be the “best boxer” Fury has ever fought if the two undefeated heavyweights collide.
However, the promoter is confident the Gypsy King will ultimately prevail if the match is put together.
Warren added: “I think technically it will be, he will be the best boxer he has fought.
“But I think Tyson will be far too big for him, Tyson is also fast whereas [Anthony] Joshua landed a couple of significant shots but he didn’t follow them up.
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“Tyson has got fast hands, he’s got good footwork and I can’t see Usyk putting Tyson on the back foot and, even if he did, Tyson can fight on the back foot.
“Tyson is a million times better as a boxer than Joshua and he’s a powerful puncher.” More

ANTHONY JOSHUA has been urged to fight old rival and drug cheat Jarrell Miller three years after their fight was cancelled.Joshua, 32, was scheduled to face unbeaten heavyweight Jarrell Miller, 34, at Madison Square Garden on June 1, 2019.
Joshua was due to face Miller in 2019 but the American was refused a license by the New York State’s Athletic Commission due to a failed drugs testCredit: Getty
But the fight was called off when Miller was refused a license by the New York State’s Athletic Commission due to a failed drugs test.
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency said there were irregularities in the test.
Miller protested his innocence – but saw a later fight against Jerry Forrest fall through after testing positive once again for a performance-enhancing substance.
Matchroom were left desperately searching for a last-minute opponent to replace Miller and eventually settled on Andy Ruiz Jr – who went on to shock the world.
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Mexican Ruiz Jr knocked out Joshua in the seventh round to become the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion.
Despite this, Miller’s promoter Dmitriy Salita says the American would travel to England to face Joshua following the Brit’s split decision rematch loss to Oleksandr Usyk earlier this month, with the pair havingc some “unfinished business”.
Salita told i: “If Anthony Joshua loses, he said he wants to fight in December whatever happens.
“If he wins he’s going to fight Tyson Fury, that’s a huge fight as a boxing fan that has to happen.
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“But if he doesn’t win, he has some unfinished business with Jarrell Miller.”
Joshua’s boxing career is in limbo following the loss, but has a number of potential fights he could take on to help fire him back into title contention.
Names such as Deontay Wilder and a rematch with childhood rival Dillian Whyte have been mentioned.
However, Salita insists Miller should be in contention to face Joshua.
Salita continued: “Jarrell’s had two wins, he’s going to fight again.
“That’s a fight I would love to happen, I know [Joshua’s promoter] Eddie [Hearn] said he doesn’t want it to happen but I do believe it makes a lot of sense.
“It would get a lot of interest certainly and Jarrell will come to the UK for sure to avenge that mishap that happened in June 2019.” More

TYSON FURY has vowed to “smash Oleksandr Usyk in FOUR rounds” in a cheeky Instagram post.That’s after setting a deadline of September 1 for a fight to be agreed.
Tyson Fury predicts he will KO Oleksandr Usyk in just four roundsCredit: PA
Fury wants an agreement with Usyk to be reached by September 1 – and wants £500MILLIONCredit: Reuters
Fury, 34, is ready to come out of retirement and unify the heavyweight division after being called out by Usyk.
The Ukrainian is flying high after defending his belts in last weekend’s rematch against Anthony Joshua.
And Fury is now set to accept another bout after beating Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in April.
The Gypsy King is set to tell the WBC he WILL fight again, with a clash being touted for December.
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However, Fury insists he wants a major payday for the bout, calling on promoters to pay him a record £500MILLION.
And he appears confident an agreement is close after declaring he will make light work of Usyk in just four rounds.
Fury wrote on Instagram: “I’m sure I’ll smash him in four rounds, because the Gypsy King said so.”
One man who has fought both Fury and Usyk is American heavyweight Michael Hunter.
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And he reckons Usyk is more than capable of putting an end to Fury’s dominance of the division.
He told Sky Sports: “I think Usyk would need to make a couple of adjustments, but I don’t think the weight will make as much of a difference as people think.
“He’s an endurance athlete, he’s going to move a lot. It’s a styles-make-fights thing, a little different tactics to Usyk-Joshua.
“I think it would be an interesting fight. I’m pretty sure that Usyk would do very well.” More

EDDIE HEARN insists a “riot” would have broken out if he tried to stop Anthony Joshua’s fiery post-fight speech after his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.A furious and heartbroken Joshua went on an x-rated rant following his split-decision defeat to the unified heavyweight champion in Jeddah last weekend.
Anthony Joshua suffered a lopsided points defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last weekendCredit: GETTY
Joshua was enraged during his post-fight chat with UsykCredit: MATCHROOM BOXING
A fired-up AJ went on an x-rated rant following the loss
Promoter Eddie Hearn believes taking the mic away from AJ would’ve sparked a ‘riot’Credit: PA
Joshua’s team have since been criticised for not cutting him off and allowing Usyk to have his moment, an act Hearn believes would’ve done more harm than good.
He told DAZN: ”There are so many idiots out there who have got an opinion and go, ‘Oh I can’t believe no one went over to him and grabbed the microphone.’
“When he’s in that mood, someone going over to him and taking the microphone off him would have been the worst thing [that could have happened].
“There would have been a riot in that ring and it would have escalated terribly.”
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Hearn admits Joshua’s post-fight antics weren’t on but understands why he blew his lid.
He continued: “It’s all very well, people being smart after the fact, saying this and that but the truth is, he reacted badly in the ring.
“He was frustrated, he’s worked 11 months to try and win this fight, he wanted to win more than anything in the world and he behaved in a way that he knew he shouldn’t have.”
An emotional Joshua apologised for his behaviour in the post-fight press conference, where he broke down in tears.
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He said: “When you’re trying to do things from the heart and everyone is just not understanding. It was just from the heart. I was mad at myself. Not anyone else, just myself.
“So I thought, I’ve got to get out of here because I’m mad. Like anyone, when you’re angry, you might do stupid things.
“I was mad and then I realised, ‘Oh s***, this is sport. Let me do the right thing and come back.’
“I just spoke from my heart. It’s been so tough.
“You see AJ holding it together, yeah, and I’m a hustler so I try to put things together.
“Try to work hard and put things together and make sure my team’s good.
An emotional Joshua apologised for his actions in the post-fight press conferenceCredit: PA
“But it comes at a cost, a big cost. It’ll never break me, but it takes real strength for it not to break me. And tonight, there’s a little crack in the armour when I took a loss.
“And I think you just saw me just upset. And with the speech, I was just speaking about where I come from. I was on the roads, really.
“And I made a transition to boxing that really changed my life and brought me closer to God and brought me closer to meeting so many people.
“And I just kind of laid it all on the line with my speech. But let’s not forget the champ Oleksandr Usyk. He put on a phenomenal performance as well. So credit to him.
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“I can’t remember what I said in the ring because it was just so passionate.
” But I just want to say thank you to him for taking part in a great historical fight as well. It takes two to tango. I was just so upset.”
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BOXING continues to embarrass itself.No matter how disappointed and frustrated he was, it was embarrassing to see Anthony Joshua asking this cash-strapped country to feel desperately sorry for him after he had just made £32.5million for 36 minutes of boxing.
Joshua made £32.5m from his second bout with UsykCredit: Getty
The Brit suffered another defeatCredit: Getty
It was equally embarrassing to hear Tyson Fury’s witless trash talk about “Ukrainian dossers” Oleksandr Usyk and Wladimir Klitschko when Ukrainian men, women and children are being raped, murdered and bombed.
I admire AJ and Fury. They have transformed and invigorated the sport I love.
Tyson spoke incredibly movingly about knife crime when his cousin was murdered.
But please show a little imagination, will you?
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Don’t ask us to feel sorry for you when you have more money than you will ever know what to do with, AJ.
Not when 22million people in your own country will not be able to pay their energy bills this winter.
And please dial down the trash talk about “Ukrainian dossers”, Tyson, at least for the duration of a war that is destroying the lives of millions of Ukrainians.
There is a real world beyond the boxing ring and people are suffering.
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And the boxing industry should not meekly allow Saudi Arabia to replace Las Vegas and London as the venue of choice for big fights.
How many millions do the greedy b******s who run the fight game need? More