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      ‘It could be the end’ – Anthony Joshua could RETIRE if he suffers ‘heavy KO’ in Oleksandr Usyk rematch, says Carl Froch

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      CARL FROCH has claimed Anthony Joshua could retire if he is beaten by Oleksandr Usyk.Joshua, 32, is seeking to reclaim his WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO titles from Usyk having lost to the Ukrainian last September.
      Anthony Joshua is aiming to reclaim his heavyweight world titles against Oleksandr UsykCredit: Getty
      Carl Froch believes Joshua could retire if he losesCredit: Getty – Contributor

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      But another loss would be Joshua’s third in five fights, after being knocked out by Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019.
      And Froch believes another defeat could be on the cards for AJ, possibly via knockout.
      The former fighter told the BBC: “If Anthony Joshua loses his rematch to Oleksandr Usyk and it’s a bad defeat – a conclusive points loss or a heavy knockout – it could be the end for AJ.
      “I just don’t see where he can go after back-to-back defeats.
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      “I wholeheartedly want him to win and I am not totally writing him off. He has all the physical attributes, he’s big enough and strong enough, but I have to be brutally honest and say I don’t think he will win.
      “If Usyk can land with the same power and accuracy as he did last time, I don’t think Joshua will hear the final bell.”
      Froch is not alone in his view, with former cruiserweight Johnny Nelson echoing the idea that Joshua will have nowhere to turn if he loses again.
      Nelson claims Joshua’s “fighter mentality” means he would not want to linger in the heavyweight division, so could instead hang up his gloves if he is beaten.
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      Nelson told Sky Sports: “It’s not in his DNA to want to hang around the heavyweight division knowing there’s a guy that’s in that division that can beat you. It’s a fighter’s mentality.
      “He doesn’t want to hang about to be a backing dancer he wants to be the best guy, so if Usyk beats him I reckon he’ll walk away.
      “So therefore this fight is so important for his career because he knows this might be the last big fight he’s in. It’s not in his DNA to stand back and be a gatekeeper for anybody.” More

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      Meet Ramla Ali, the first woman ever to box in Saudi Arabia on Anthony Joshua undercard who is refugee and model

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      RAMLA ALI is the history-making boxer whose story began after fleeing war-torn Somalia as a baby. Ali is an Olympian, model, activist and author, who is also set to become the first women fighter to compete in Saudi Arabia on the Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk undercard.
      Ramla Ali will become the first women to box in Saudi ArabiaCredit: PA
      Ramla Ali has modelled for DiorCredit: Getty
      The featherweight is 6-0 as a professionalCredit: https://www.instagram.com/ramlaali/
      But the 32-year-old’s journey started before she was even a year old when her family made the brave call to flee Somalia for the UK.
      Her elder brother had been killed by a bomb, aged just 12, during the civil war in the early 1990s.
      And Ali’s family escaped the capital Mogadishu following a nine-day boat journey to Kenya.
      Some died of starvation on the way although Ali’s family eventually found refuge in London.
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      They settled in Whitechapel, East London, but in her teens Ali was bullied for being overweight.
      She took it upon herself to join a boxercise class at a local gym.
      But she did not tell her family, fearing they would disapprove of the sport for a Muslim girl.
      Ali would go on to win novice and elite titles, but her success meant her boxing secret was exposed.
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      She told Stylist in 2020: “I sort of knew they wouldn’t agree with it.
      “I told my younger brother because he was one of the cool ones – I think I needed an ally.
      “The rest of the family found out when my older brother saw me fighting on TV.
      “It was quite annoying, because I had specifically asked for that fight not to be shown.
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      “When I got home, the whole family was gathered in the living room – I guess you could call it an intervention.
      “Obviously they didn’t think a woman should be boxing, so they asked me to stop.”
      A defiant Ali, perhaps inspired by her own families journey to freedom, eventually won them over, including her mum.
      Ramla Ali only started boxing to lose weightCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
      She did not even tell her family she started boxingCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
      Ramla Ali won novice and elite amateur titlesCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
      She said to BBC Sport: “A couple years ago we had a sort of turning point.
      “I got a phone call from her to wish me good luck in the tournament that I was going to in Denmark.
      “It was honestly the best feeling in the world, knowing that somebody that I love so much has taken an interest in something that I love so much.
      “She’s so supportive now. She hasn’t watched me compete live – she will wait until the next day to watch it on YouTube.”
      Ali initially boxed for England at international amateur level but changed to represent Somalia.
      And despite turning professional in 2020, a year later at the delayed Tokyo Olympics, she represented Somalia but lost in her opening bout.
      Despite Ali’s impressive boxing portfolio, she is equally as successful outside of the ring.

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      Ramla Ali boxed in the Tokyo OlympicsCredit: Getty
      The boxer modelling for CartierCredit: Getty
      Ramla Ali has a charity of her ownCredit: https://www.instagram.com/ramlaali/
      The super-bantamweight has modelled for Dior, Cartier and Nike, while featuring on several magazine covers.
      In 2019, she was one of 15 picked by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to star on the front of the September issue of British Vogue.
      Ali is a UK Unicef ambassador and three years ago taught boxing to young girls at a refugee camp in Jordan.
      The humanitarian also runs her own non-profit all-women self-defence group called Sisters Club, which has the backing of Nike.
      To top if off, last year Ali released her own book, Ten Steps to Becoming Your Own Champion.
      Her popularity and personality has shone in the pro ranks and she stole the show in July at the O2 Arena.
      Derek Chisora, 38, beat Kubrat Pulev, 41, in the main-event but Ali’s win over Agustina Rojas drew the most fanfare.
      Ramla Ali’s non-profit organisation Sisters ClubCredit: https://www.instagram.com/ramlaali/
      Ramla Ali beat Marisa Belen Rojas in her last fightCredit: Getty
      She said: “I only had to put out the flyer and within 72 hours I’d sold 500 tickets. It was insane.”
      Ali now takes her talents to Saudi Arabia this Saturday, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
      She faces Crystal Garcia in what will be the first sanctioned women’s boxing bout in Saudi.
      Ali said: “It’s a huge honour. This is a one-time thing.
      “No-one else will be the first, and for myself and for my opponent, both our names will be cemented in history. It’s an incredible feeling.”
      Joshua’s world title rematch in the Middle East nation has drawn criticism due to Saudi’s poor human rights records and treatment of women.
      But Ali responded: “You can’t fault a country who are trying to make change. This isn’t just a gimmick of ‘let’s stick on women’ and whatever.
      “If I am trying to fight for women’s rights, why wouldn’t I support a country who is trying to make change, who is trying to change women’s rights.”
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      The only thing missing from Ali’s sensational lists of achievements is a world title in the pro ranks – another piece of history she eyes.
      She said:  “I want to become a world champion. I hope in doing so people will develop a better view of Somalia.”
      Ramla Ali ahead of her fight in Saudi ArabiaCredit: PA More

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      Usyk has been holding breath underwater for almost five minutes until he PASSES OUT to prepare for Anthony Joshua

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      OLEKSANDR USYK has been holding his breath underwater for nearly five minutes until he nearly PASSES OUT.The Ukrainian has taken preparation for his rematch with Anthony Joshua to ridiculous extremes as he looks to defend his heavyweight titles.
      Oleksandr Usyk attended today’s pre-fight press conferenceCredit: AFP
      Egis Kilmas made incredible claims about his client’s training methodsCredit: PA
      In today’s pre-fight press conference, Usyk’s manager Egis Klimas lifted the lid about the crazy lengths that the 35-year-old is going to.
      Klimas said: “I’m so proud to represent him.
      “I can tell you, I’ve never seen anybody, I’ve never seen anybody at 45 degrees heat ride a bicycle for 100 kilometres.
      “I’ve never seen anybody swimming the day before press conference in London for 10 kilometres in the pool for five hours.
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      “I’ve never seen anybody holding his breath underwater for four minutes and 40 seconds – almost passing away, shaking himself.
      “And then I ask him ‘What’s wrong with you?’ he said ‘I know I have a trainer behind me, he’s not going to let me drown, he’s going to pull me out.’
      “And I hope all of this is going to be helping him on Saturday night.”
      Usyk himself claimed: “We were born to compete for life, for belts, for everything. The one who does not compete does not live.
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      “All our lives are competition, for anything, for something, for somebody. That’s why we are competing.”
      Joshua admitted that he has to win this fight.
      The Brit, 32, said: “That’s it. Must win.
      “I like the pressure. It’s been tough. [Now] just get the job done. Instinct, stay focused, get the job done, God willing, victorious.
      “I’ve got goals I want to achieve in the ring on the night. That’s competition with myself.
      “You’ve got to have a competitive spirit.”
      Usyk and Anthony Joshua faced off in Saudi ArabiaCredit: Reuters More

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      Deontay Wilder poses with Joe Joyce as ex-heavyweight champ watches UFC fights while training for comeback

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      DEONTAY WILDER bumped into Joe Joyce while training in Las Vegas and made another trip to watch the UFC. The American heavyweight star is set to return to the ring on October 15 in New York against Robert Helenius.
      Deontay Wilder watching a UFC event
      And he has been training in Vegas ahead of his first bout since losing to Tyson Fury in their October trilogy classic.
      Wilder has been using the UFC’s facility and even bumped into heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, 35.
      At the UFC’s Performance Institute, the ex-WBC king ran into British contender Joyce, who returns against Joseph Parker on September 24.
      Wilder was later seen at the UFC’s Apex Center watching another round of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.
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      It was the third event he watched in two weeks.
      Wilder, 36, was knocked out in round 11 against Fury, 33, after being floored three times but scoring two knockdowns of his own.
      The ex-WBC champion then went radio silent, leaving his boxing future in doubt.
      But talk of a return soon surfaced as Wilder was seen publicly again and has recently ramped up his training.
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      Former sparring partner Helenius, 38, is in talks to be the Bronze Bomber’s return opponent.
      And the fight is eyed for the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which would be on pay-per-view in the UK.
      Meanwhile Joyce, 36, and Parker, 30, fight in Manchester as they continue their pursuit of world honours.
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      Tyson Fury had argument with ‘bully’ Anthony Joshua over the phone and says ‘it didn’t fare too well for AJ’

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      TYSON FURY claims that he encountered the ‘true Anthony Joshua’ during a heated phone call with his rival, labelling the two-time world heavyweight champion a ‘bully’. Fury, 34, told The Lowdown that he once received an angry phone call from Joshua telling him what he was going to do to him when the pair eventually meet in the ring.
      Tyson Fury claims to have held a phone call with AJ where things got heatedCredit: Getty
      Fury said AJ was ‘a bully’Credit: PA
      Fury said: “He phoned me up one day in a mood to say he was gonna do this and do that to me. It didn’t fare too well for him, let’s say that… I just told him the truth. The truth always hurts.”
      The pair had a seemingly amicable relationship until quite recently, having sparred together as youngsters, talked on FaceTime and even bumped into each other on holiday in Marbella.
      Fury even said in an interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap that he respects AJ and reckons his biggest rival would ‘love him’ if they got to know each other.
      He also went on to say: “I respect him not only because of a boxing side of things, I respect him because he’s come from a very rough council estate.
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      “He was a drug dealer and all that sort of stuff in his early life – and he’s changed it all around to become a champion.”
      Despite this, when speaking on The Lowdown about their bust up, Fury elaborated: “Just out of the blue. He decided to give me a call, a telling off call.
      “I don’t think he liked what he heard on the end of it. There’s no telling me off anyway.
      “I just told him the truth and the truth always hurts. I have definitely encountered the true Anthony Joshua. Not a nice person, sort of a bully.
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      “Someone who thought he was gonna put the bluff on me. That’s what type of person he is.”
      The two have often come to blows on social media, with Joshua claiming Fury would never be able to sell out Wembley Stadium without him.
      The 32-year-old said: “If Fury could have sold out 90,000-capacity stadiums, then he would have done. But he never has had the ability to attract those large numbers, not until he fights me.”
      Fury and AJ had previously agreed to go head to head in an undisputed world heavyweight title fight, only for the fight collapse as Fury was ordered by an arbitration judge to face Deontay Wilder first.
      The fight was reportedly due to take place on 14th August in Saudi Arabia, but Fury took on Deontay Wilder in the third chapter of their trilogy fight last year in Nevada, USA.
      Meanwhile, Joshua faced off against Ukrainian heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and lost his titles.
      Joshua called Fury out on social media after their fight collapsed, claiming that the WBC champion never really intended to fight him in the first place.
      He said: “Tyson Fury the world now sees you for the fraud you are. You’ve let boxing down! You lied to the fans and led them on. Used my name for clout not a fight.”
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      Joshua will attempt to reclaim his belts from Usyk on Saturday in Saudi.
      However, Fury and Joshua may never meet inside the squared circle following the Gypsy King’s retirement.

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      Anthony Joshua ‘more than capable’ of winning Usyk rematch after working on secret technique, says sparring partner

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      ANTHONY JOSHUA is “more than capable” of avenging his loss to Oleksandr Usyk if he implements the “adjustments” he’s made in preparation for their rematch.The Watford warrior will bid to reclaim the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles from the Ukrainian in a pivotal Saudi showdown on Saturday night.
      Anthony Joshua will rematch Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia on SaturdayCredit: GETTY
      AJ was turned over by the slick southpaw in their Tottenham tussle last SeptemberCredit: REUTERS
      AJ has vowed to be more aggressive in their desert dust-upCredit: GETTY
      Training partner Lawrence Okolie believes AJ can get the job done second time aroundCredit: INSTAGRAM@LAWRENCEOKOLIE
      AJ tried to outbox the slick southpaw in their Tottenham tussle last September and ended up suffering a lopsided points defeat.
      But training partner and good pal Lawrence Okolie reckons he can become a three-time heavyweight champion if he sticks to the game plan he’s been honing for the last eight months.
      The WBO cruiserweight champion told SunSport: “Some of those adjustments, which I don’t want to go too much into, are showing a bit in the little techniques that he’s been working on in training with me.
      “I’m obviously an almost opposite style to Usyk, so it’s hard to deal with when he would try those techniques with me.
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      “But it [his most recent training with AJ] was good and I look forward to them clashing again and that’s it.”
      Joshua, 32, has cooked up an aggressive game plan with new trainer Robert Garcia for the desert dust-up.
      And Okolie believes calculated aggression will see AJ detonate one of his trademark right hands flush on the chin of the twinkle-toed Usyk.
      Okolie said of the two-time heavyweight champion: “He’s more than capable of avenging the loss.
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      “He’s a professional, two-time heavyweight world champion and Olympic gold medallist.
      “And he’s a 17-stone man. He hits hard enough to end the fight.
      “So if he can land the shots and set it up properly, he can end the fight.
      “He’s more than capable of doing it. Obviously, it’s a good, hard fight but it’s more than doable.”
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      Joshua doesn’t plan on outpointing his way to revenge against Usyk as he did in his 2019 rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr.
      The Olympic gold medallist said: “I will do my best and win by knockout.”
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      Watch rare moment Anthony Joshua rival Olekasandr Usyk is DROPPED from vicious body shot in amateurs

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      ANTHONY JOSHUA can look to Artur Beterbiev for inspiration ahead of his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.AJ was beaten by the Ukrainian boxing master in September but they fight once more on Saturday, in Saudi Arabia.
      Artur Beterbiev, floored Oleksandr Usyk with a body shot in the amateursCredit: https://twitter.com/TheOneTwoBoxing/status/1385982780396425219
      The bout took place in 2007Credit: https://twitter.com/TheOneTwoBoxing/status/1385982780396425219
      Usyk has looked near flawless in his 19 bouts in the professional ranks – winning all of them.
      But he did not have it all his own way in the amateurs, where he boxed 350 times, winning two Olympic golds.
      In one particular bout, against current unified light-heavyweight champion Beterbiev, Usyk was knocked down by the Russian.
      He was floored by a sneaky right hook to the ribs and later lost on points.
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      Usyk, now 35, did emerge the victor in his series with Beterbiev, 37, in the unpaid ranks, winning two of their three bouts.
      That included wins in the 2011 World Championship quarter-finals and a year later in the same stages of the London Olympics.
      As a professional, Beterbiev has won all 18 of his fights by knockout, boxing’s only champ with a 100 per cent stoppage ratio.
      And like Usyk, he holds three of the four world belts.

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      Usyk meanwhile is a two-division title holder and reigned as undisputed king at cruiserweight.
      After beating Joshua, he became unified boss at heavyweight.
      Tyson Fury, linked with facing Usyk or AJ, referenced the pound-for-pound star’s body shot knockdown in an Instagram video.
      Fury posted: “This is how Anthony Joshua needs to attack Oleksandr Usyk’s body. I know the blown-up middleweight can’t take body shots.”
      Oleksander Usyk and Anthony Joshua rematch in Saudi ArabiaCredit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing More

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      ‘We lost a fight but not the war’ – Anthony Joshua’s secret dressing room speech after Oleksandr Usyk defeat revealed

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      ANTHONY JOSHUA revealed he told his team “we lost a fight but not the war” following defeat to Oleksandr Usyk. AJ was stunned last September on points by the Ukrainian great, setting up an immediate rematch this Saturday in Saudi Arabia.
      Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua after their first fightCredit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
      But Joshua refused to give up and was the one picking up the pieces after the crushing loss.
      He said: “Right after, in the changing room, I knew I would fight again.
      “I was telling everyone, ‘Come on, what the f***? We are warriors, we lost a fight but not the war. This is an ongoing battle. It’s not over ’til it’s over.’
      “That’s how I re-motivated my team. Nothing should dishearten you.
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      “I have to keep that mentality for the rest of my life even if I stumble privately or publicly.”
      Joshua, 32, invoked his right to a rematch right away but amid Ukraine’s war with Russia the fight faced delays.
      It provided AJ with more time to train under new coach Robert Garcia having left Rob McCracken and his Sheffield training base.
      But it leaves Joshua with only one fight in the last year and plenty of thinking time.

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      He said: “It has been a nightmare just sitting on this loss for so many months.
      “The time-frame does change every day, I have dedicated a lot of my life to a very tough sport.
      “I will do this for as long as I can but I think I’m quite smart at business now, I will be 33 shortly and a lot will come down to how long my body can hang on.”
      Anthony Joshua ahead of his rematchCredit: Getty More