Heavyweight boxing

TYSON FURY has officially vacated Ring Magazine’s heavyweight title following his latest retirement U-turn.And the prestigious strap will be on the line as Anthony Joshua seeks revenge in his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday.
Tyson Fury has vacated the prestigious Ring Magazine titleCredit: THE SUN
The Gypsy King claimed the title in February 2020 with a TKO win over Deontay WilderCredit: PA
Fury defended the belt twiceCredit: Reuters
The Gypsy King announced on Friday that he’d decided against making a sensational return to the ring – a mere TWO DAYS after announcing plans to come out of retirement to face Derek Chisora.
And the Wythenshawe warrior appears to mean business as he’s relinquished the prestigious Ring heavyweight strap.
He told them: “The Ring Magazine championship has always been the holy grail of boxing.
“They’ve been fantastic with me and I’ve always carried that title with pride.”
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Fury, 34, twice defended the famed Ring Magazine heavyweight strap – which he first claimed in February 2020 with a stunning win over the then-undefeated Deontay Wilder.
The Brit went on to defend it in a trilogy with Wilder and a Wembley war with Dillian Whyte.
Fury’s intentions for the WBC heavyweight title, however, remain unclear, although he has held talks with the Mexican sanctioning body’s president Mauricio Sulaiman.
Sulaiman said: “Just finished a touching video conference with Tyson Fury who has confirmed his official retirement from boxing.
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“We fully support his decision which is a dream for anyone to retire undefeated and as WBC champion of the world. WBC boxing will prepare a special farewell event soon.”
Reflecting on his career, Fury: “The greatest moment of my career was winning the world championship back in 2015.
“There’s the great comeback after that with the three [Deontay] Wilder fights.
“There’s been a lot of great highlights in my career – even the Dillian Whyte fight in front of 94,000 at Wembley.
“It doesn’t get much bigger than that. And I went out with a bang.”
With fighting seemingly in the rearview mirror, Fury is looking forward to moving on to pastures new.
He said: “It was fun while it lasted. I had a good 14-year career.
“I actually boxed for 20 years, from 14 to 34 years old. I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed the ups and the downs.
“My career was an Indian summer that just kept giving.
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“I’ve done well out of boxing. The world is open to so many things now. I’m doing a Netflix documentary at the moment.
“I’m going to be recording an album soon. Who knows, you might even see me on the silver screen.”
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EDDIE HEARN has been left stunned by Oleksandr Usyk’s insane body transformation – but he’s still backing Anthony Joshua to do a number on him in their Saudi showdown.The unified heavyweight champion has put on several pounds of muscle since teaching AJ a boxing lesson in their Tottenham tussle last September.
Oleksandr Usyk will renew his rivalry with Anthony Joshua in Saudi next weekCredit: GETTY
Usyk has put on a considerable amount of size since his first clash with AJCredit: MATCHROOM BOXING
Usyk has reportedly put on 15 kilosCredit: INSTAGRAM
Eddie Hearn has been left stunned by the champ’s body transformationCredit: REUTERS
And the 35-year-old’s new hulking physique – which no longer looks like that of a puffed-up cruiserweight – has astounded Hearn.
When asked about the Ukrainian’s new frame, the Matchroom Boxing chief told Boxing Social: “He looks really big!”
Usyk put on a boxing masterclass in his first clash with Joshua to claim the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles.
The slick southpaw effortlessly danced around the Watford warrior and picked his shots beautifully under the bright lights of Spurs stadium.
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But Hearn is expecting a more aggressive approach from the beefed-up defending champion next weekend, saying: “I expect him [Usyk] to try and walk AJ down.”
Joshua, 32, has teamed up with multiple world champion coach Robert Garcia to exact revenge on the undefeated Usyk.
And Hearn believes the golden boy of British boxing will get the job done before the fight goes over the halfway point.
He said: “I think this fight will be over in six rounds. I think it’s going to be a war.”
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“I don’t think Usyk wants to be walked down by AJ, to box off the back foot against an aggressive Anthony Joshua.
“I expect him to be aggressive, and I think he’s going to get knocked out.”
Two-time unified champion Joshua paid the price for timidly trying to outbox his fellow London 2012 Olympian but insists he won’t make the same mistake again.
He said: “The goal now is to go back to basics and go for the knockout.
“I always feel, when I’m sparring or fighting people, I actually see their spirit get dampened.
“Honestly, when you’re looking at this person directly in their eyes and watching their body, you can read the body and punch after punch this person is slowly fading.
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“Now when you’re boxing, the art of boxing is to hit and not get hit. So you’re kind of boxing to stay away. That’s not really my style.
“My style is to be up close and personal and make it difficult for the person. So that’s the game plan.”
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ANTHONY JOSHUA’s “mentality” won’t be changed by new coach Robert Garcia.AJ appointed the multiple-time world champion coach as his lead trainer following his brutal axing of mentor Robert McCracken after his lopsided points defeat to Usyk last September.
Anthony Joshua has handed the coachings reigns to American Robert GarciaCredit: PA
Joshua axed coach Robert McCracken after his wide points defeat to Oleksandr UsykCredit: REUTERS
Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassuyk doesn’t believe Garcia will be able to change Joshua’s mentalityCredit: INSTAGRAM@ALEXKRASSYUK
The pair have been cooking up an aggressive game plan for AJ’s Saudi showdown with the unified heavyweight champion on Saturday week for the best part of a year.
But Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk believes Garcia won’t be able to instil a new mindset in the Brit, saying: “Robert Garcia is a very well known, very determined and professional trainer.

“And he has great experience in bringing guys to success, but he does not have experience with heavyweights.
“But that does not matter much because you cannot teach AJ anything new because he’s more than 30 years old.
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“It’s more about bringing out his advantages, pushing down his weaknesses. Mentality cannot be changed by a trainer.
“Your mentality is something you receive when you’re born and is formed in your family, in your childhood, at school and at college.
“This is what forms your mentality; your teachers, your friends, your relatives. When you’re 30-years-old, like AJ, you have a completely formed mentality.”
Although Krassyuk doesn’t foresee AJ significantly changing his mentality, he’s refusing to rule out the Watford warrior’s chances of reclaiming the belts.
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He continued: “So I don’t think this is a big chance he can change much in mentality, but it does not mean Joshua has no chance.”
Joshua, 32, tried to outbox Usyk in their sold-out Tottenham tussle but plans to get back to his old aggressive ways in their desert dust-up.
He said: “The goal now is to go back to basics and go for the knockout.
“I always feel, when I’m sparring or fighting people, I actually see their spirit get dampened.
“Honestly, when you’re looking at this person directly in their eyes and watching their body, you can read the body and punch after punch this person is slowly fading.
“Now when you’re boxing, the art of boxing is to hit and not get hit. So you’re kind of boxing to stay away. That’s not really my style.
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“My style is to be up close and personal and make it difficult for the person. So that’s the game plan.”
This story is in association with Vegas Insider.
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OLEKSANDR USYK has left no stone unturned ahead of his rematch with Anthony Joshua – but he recently left his team stunned with an insane swimming session.The unified heavyweight champion has been working out THREE TIMES a day during his Dubai training camp for his maiden title defence.
Oleksandr Usyk will face Anthony Joshua in a rematch in Saudi next SaturdayCredit: PA
The Ukrainian has beefed up ahead of the Saudi showdownCredit: MATCHROOM BOXING
But the defending champion’s swimming antics have left his coaches stunned.Credit:
Swimming has been a staple of Uysk’s training for years, although he astounded former opponent Derek Chisora and his team by performing lengths in the pool for FIVE HOURS during a recent trip to a Russian bathhouse.
Del Boy said: “The owner told me to wait because he had a surprise.
“I sat down and all I heard was, ‘Derek, Deeeerrrrrek.’ Just like he kept saying during the build-up to our fight.
“I started talking and laughing with him and I told him he looked tired. He then told me he had just finished swimming for five hours.
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“I told him he was lying, he couldn’t swim for five hours.
“But his trainer told me it was true and then showed me a video of him in this huge Olympic pool just going up and down for five hours.”
Usyk’s gruelling training sessions over the last year have seen him pack on several pounds of muscle.
The undefeated Ukrainian tipped the scales at a solid 100kg (224.5lbs) for his Tottenham tussle with AJ last September – which he won via unanimous decision.
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🥊 AJ vs Usyk 2 date, live stream and TV channel for blockbuster rematch
But judging from his recent training pictures, he’ll be a few kilos heavier for next Saturday’s Saudi showdown.
Former unified light-welterweight champion Amir Khan recently caught up with Usyk in Dubai and recently claimed the southpaw told him he’s put on a whopping 15 kilos.
Khan told SecondsOut: “He looks a lot bigger.
“I mean he was telling me that he’s put on an extra 15 kilos since he last fought AJ, so, we’re going to see how much strength he’s going to be having.
“He looks like a full-on natural heavyweight. He is big and looks very strong.
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“He nowhere near looked like a cruiserweight he looked like a nice full blown-up heavyweight, he was strong at the weight, when he was hitting the pads and stuff and you can see the definition on his body.
“He’s very thick and you can see it’s solid muscle that he’s got.” More

TYSON FURY has once again retired from boxing – just days after announcing plans to return to the ring.The Gypsy King ended his short-lived retirement – which he announced after knocking out Dillian Whyte last April – earlier this week to pursue a shock trilogy fight with Derek Chisora.
Tyson Fury has performed yet another retirement U-turnCredit: REX
But the WBC heavyweight champion has opted against returning to the ring.
The 34-year-old tweeted: “Massive thanks to everyone who had an input in my career over the years.
“And after long, hard conversations, I’ve finally decided to walk away and on my 34th birthday.
“I say Bon Voyage.”
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After paying tribute to those who have helped him throughout his career, favourite Fury then paid tribute to dotting wife Paris.
He added: “Shoutout to Paris Fury, who helped me more tha anyone.
“And most of all, thank you, God. See you all on the otherside, you big dossers. 2008-2022.”
Fury’s second retirement U-turn came a mere TWO DAYS after he claimed pal and training Issac Lowe would coach him for a third fight with Chisora.
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He said: “I’ve decided to come back to boxing because I can be the first heavyweight champion in history to have two trilogies.
“One with Deontay Wilder and a second one with Derek Chisora. I always said I’d fight Derek Chisora at the end of my career.
“And here we are, breaking all records again, setting precedents.”
Fury’s plans to stay retire could very well have stuck the final nail in the coffin of a blockbuster Battle of Britain with Anthony Joshua.

The Wythenshawe warrior said last month: “It’s all about money, Mr Businessman – he’s not a fighting man.
“I swear to God I hope he wins the fight against [Oleksandr] Usyk so that I can come out of retirement and fight him for free.
“However, the terms are this – I want it at Wembley stadium, I want it free to enter and I want it on free-to-air in television in this country.
“I’ll fight him in England, not abroad in a foreign country for more money, here for free for the people.”
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If Fury is indeed retired, he’ll walk away from the sport on the back of a brutal sixth-round KO victory over Whyte at Wembley.
Victory over his former sparring partner was the Brit’s second defence of the prestigious WBC heavyweight title and stretched his record to a near-perfect 32-0-1.
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