Heavyweight boxing

CANELO ALVAREZ has ruled out moving up to heavyweight – despite his imminent cruiserweight debut.The Mexican will bid to become a five-weight world champion next year against WBC 200lb king Ilunga Makabu.
Canelo Alvarez will bid to become a five-weight world champion next yearCredit: Getty
The Mexican will bid to dethrone WBC champ Ilungu MakabuCredit: WBC Boxing
But the pound-for-pound king has ruled out a jump up to heavyweightCredit: AFP
The undisputed super-middleweight champion’s shock move up in weight has boxing fans thinking he could potentially jump up to heavyweight.
But the pound-for-pound king has no intention of mixing it with boxing’s big boys.
He said: “I am very happy to keep making history, to keep looking for challenges, it is a dangerous challenge but I love that kind of challenge.
“A year ago I said no cruiserweight and here we are, so I don’t think so (to reach heavyweight) but with Eddy I don’t know sometimes.
“I don’t think so. It’s not a possibility, my body is not up to it.”
Canelo, 31, is relishing the opportunity to further cement himself as one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time, but he’s doubtful he’ll reach the 200lb cruiserweight limit.

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He said: “For many people there are limits, but not for me.
“I want to thank (Makabu) for the opportunity to fight for this title and to continue making history, to put one more star in my career.
“But I can’t (reach 200 pounds), maybe 180, that would be fine.”
Canelo created history earlier this month by becoming the first undisputed 168lb champion with an 11th-round KO victory over Caleb Plant.
He said his historic victory: “2021 was special, to unify this division, something that no one had achieved.
“To be among the six in the history of boxing (undisputed championship), to be the first Latino.
Pound-for-pound king Canelo became undisputed 168lb earlier this monthCredit: GETTY
“For me, it has been the best year.
” I’m happy and proud to represent all Mexicans and now it’s my turn to do what I want.
“Now the truth is that I faced all the world champions at 168 and I took the title from all of them and now I can do whatever I want.”
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Eddie Hearn says Canelo Alvarez could move up to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight division More

TYSON FURY doesn’t have a mandatory challenger for his heavyweight title due to Dillian Whyte’s legal proceedings against the WBC.Whyte was expected to be mandated to fight the Gypsy King last week but will have to wait for the result of arbitration to find out if he’ll get his hands on his former sparring partner.
Tyson Fury is planning to defend his WBC heavyweight title in the springCredit: Reuters
Brit Dillian Whyte is currently the mandatory challenger for Fury’s WBC strapCredit: Matchroom Boxing
But promoter Frank Warren insists Fury has no mandatory challenge to answerCredit: Rex
And Team Fury have no plan to wait for the outcome of the Brixton banger’s legal proceedings before deciding their next move.
Promoter Frank Warren said told talkSPORT: “Tyson Fury will be back in the ring by late February or early March.
“Due to the legal wranglings involving Dillian Whyte, Tyson does not have a mandatory call to answer and is free to proceed with a defence of his belt and it’s a fight I’d like to stage in the UK.”
Queensbury Promotions chief Warren insists Fury’s next move won’t be affected by Whyte’s legal issues with the WBC.
He added: “It won’t impact on Tyson.
“Tyson’s made it very clear he wants to fight in late February/early March and that’s what we’re moving forward to do.

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“Tyson just wants to keep active, he’s had just one fight in 22 months. Whatever happens with Dillian Whyte will take its course.
“Tyson’s got to make a decision on who he’s going to fight, the decision will be his.
“We’re not going to be hampered by his problems. They’re his to sort out.
“Tyson is the world champion, not Dillian Whyte.
“He’s not setting the ground rules here, that’s the champion that does that.”
Fan favourite Fury is hellbent on making his second defence of the WBC strap early next year and is happy to face whoever is put in front of him.
He said: “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**t 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.
Tyson Fury plans to defend his WBC heavyweight title in the springCredit: Getty
“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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Tyson Fury angered at missing out on ‘easy’ Dillian Whyte fight and sets Brit rival three-month deadline to secure bout More

OLEKSANDR USYK was an easier opponent for Anthony Joshua to beat than former heavyweight champ Andy Ruiz.Slick southpaw Usyk ended Joshua’s second reign as unified heavyweight champion with a boxing masterclass at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September.
Oleksandr Usyk ended Anthony Joshua’s second reign as unified heavyweight champ in SeptemberCredit: GETTY
The defeat, however, wasn’t as emphatic as his 2019 loss to Andy Ruiz JrCredit: AP
But former Usyk foe Chazz Witherspoon reckons AJ should’ve got the better of the Ukrainian
AJ failed to effectively make use of his height, reach and power advantages over the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
And former Usyk foe Chazz Witherspoon reckons the Tottenham tussle was stylistically an easier fight for the Brit than his ill-fated meeting with Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019.
He told SunSport: “I think the Ruiz fight was the harder fight, the Usyk fight was [an] easier fight for Joshua to win.
“He may have felt fighting against Usyk was going to be easy.
“Usyk gave him more of a fight than he had anticipated.”
Witherspoon believes Joshua would be gearing up for a Battle of Britain with Tyson Fury had he utilised more defensive footwork and set-ups for his big right hand.
He said: “The fight was so easy to win all he needed was somebody to show him some basic defence.

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“He should have drilled the right hand, it’s kind of hard for me to explain, but I could show him. I could show him practically.”
Witherspoon, who welcomed Usyk to the heavyweight division in October 2019, also believes Joshua wasn’t his usual confident self before the dust-up.
The American added: “He lacked confidence for some reason or he felt it was going to be an easier fight for him. Usyk came to fight!
“He was prepared to fight a southpaw and using the right hand.
“But there’s much more to this than just throwing the right hand.
“He needs to also get on the outside of his lead jab, southpaw’s right hand.
“Get outside and go in. I can tell you that not a lot of boxers do that.”
Anthony Joshua has vowed to exact revenge on Oleksandr Usyk in brutal fashionCredit: Getty
Joshua, 32, will bid to rip the unified titles from Usyk’s clutches in a potentially do-or-die rematch early next year.
A date for the pair’s second dance hasn’t been finalised, but promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed the bout is in the works for the spring.
The Matchroom Boxing chief said: “I think it will be realistically end of March, early April.
“Both guys are probably resting, although AJ will be doing a bit more preparation because he wants to get it right.
“There was a well-documented trip to America, just to look really, look, learn and see.
“I think he will go back out there towards the end of the year.
“We will start talking to Team Usyk over the next couple of weeks and pin down the venue.”

Joshua is hellbent on exacting revenge on his fellow London 2012 Olympian, telling iFL TV: “For me, I have one thing in my mind – that’s war, that’s murder, that’s to go out there and hurt the guy and take his soul to the point where he wants to give up.
“I’m done with f***ing losing. I’m done with trying to learn the sweet science. He 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.”
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Eddie Hearn says that Joshua vs Usyk 2 will likely be at the end of March of April More

DAVID HAYE has once again declared he would only come out of retirement to face Tyson Fury as the pair have ‘unfinished business’.The 41-year-old’s last professional fight came in May 2018 where he was stopped by Tony Bellew in their rematch.
David Haye has stated he would only come out of retirement to face WBC heavyweight champion Tyson FuryCredit: Getty
Haye and Fury twice had a fight to face each fall through due to the Londoner picking up injuriesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But the two-weight world champion made a victorious return on his comeback in September in his exhibition contest against friend Joe Fournier.
Haye subsequently called out the Gypsy King for a dust-up, who he was scheduled to fight in 2012 and 2013 only for the Londoner to pull out through injury.
Fury’s dad John then called out Haye himself, but the Millwall fan has insisted he only has eyes for Tyson as he spoke of the four attributes needed to beat him.
Speaking iFL TV about John Fury’s offer, Haye said: “No as I said I am retired, the only person I would come back for is the No1.
“If all of a sudden Tyson Fury suddenly came out and said I want to fight David Haye and we have some unfinished business from 2013.
“Yeah I would definitely consider it for sure, but it gets to a point where it is now about the money.

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“Fury has earned good money from big fights with [Deontay] Wilder and everyone still wants the fight with [Anthony] Joshua even though he has lost.
“I like John Fury but maybe he is trying to get in the way, I saw an interview where he was very vocal about me not fighting Tyson.
“Maybe he sees something in me that he doesn’t want in the ring with his son. Maybe that’s why he is trying to distract me from fighting his son.
“The only attributes that are required, I believe, to beat Tyson Fury is quick feet, overhand right, in and out of range and someone who can see the shots as quick as he can.
“The version of me fighting Tony Bellew wasn’t that guy by any stretch, but if there was a way to fatten myself up, maybe this new diet of mine.”
He then joked: “I can feel some of the Fury magic around my stomach at the moment from eating all those pizzas, so maybe I’ll go to the gym and maybe I’ll start feeling a bit Fury-like.”

WBC heavyweight champion Fury has also been called out by Joe Joyce after Dillian Whyte failed to be named as his mandatory opponent.
Posting a picture of the duo posing together, he wrote on Instagram: “I have got lots of respect for Tyson Fury as a friend and as a fighter, but my schedule is free in February.”
His promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports of the potential bout: “I was talking to Tyson about him. Tyson said that he’s the best one out there.
“That’s what Tyson’s opinion was. Can he go all the way? Yes he can. He’s got a good ticker, a big heart.
“He’s strong, he walks forwards, he is the ‘Juggernaut’. Whoever he’s in there with, you know they will have a problem getting rid of him.
“He’s a tough guy. He can fight a bit. He can punch.”
Tyson Fury angered at missing out on ‘easy’ Dillian Whyte fight and sets Brit rival three-month deadline to secure bout More

TYSON FURY and Dillian Whyte’s relationship has turned sour in recent years with a fight between the heavyweight pair edging closer.But it wasn’t always this way.
Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte used to be former sparring partners back in the dayCredit: Instagram
Heavyweight duo Whyte and Fury are now rivals instead of the friends they used to be
The Gypsy King shared old photos of himself alongside the Body Snatcher on Sunday with the duo former sparring partners.
Captioning the snaps, the 33-year-old said: “Funny how people treat you when you are good to them.”
Earlier in the day, Whyte, 33, had called out the WBC champion in a post he shared to his 447,000 Instagram followers.
He remarked: “The coward really doesn’t want any smoke. I can’t wait for my moment, it will be a special night.”
Interim WBC champ Whyte is desperate to land his first heavyweight world title shot, and believes he will be the first person to inflict a defeat on Fury’s professional record.
But unbeaten Mancunian Fury is confident it will be an easy night’s work against his British compatriot.

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Here SunSport takes a look at how the ex-pals have turned rivals in recent years…
CONFLICTING SPARRING CLAIMS
Whyte was twice drafted in to be Fury’s sparring partner – first in Manchester in 2012 ahead of the latter’s bout against Martin Rogan.
And again in the middle of 2013 on the Belgian-Dutch border for Fury’s domestic dust-up against David Haye, which failed to materialise.
Both men have different views on how the sparring went, with the pair insisting that they got the better of one another.
Speaking to Michelle Joy Phelps in 2019, Fury said: “Dillian Whyte is a heavy bag on legs, I punched his head in for him plenty of times in the gym and hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to do it in the ring.”
Both men insist they got the better of each other during their sparring wars in 2012 and 2013
Whyte is chasing a bout to face WBC heavyweight champion Fury in 2022
Meanwhile White told Sky Sports: “Tyson’s awkward, he’s long, he’s rangy, some days he may outbox you here and there, but I definitely laid him out before.
“I definitely put him on his bottom before.”
Before adding: “He’s the one that came out and said he beat me up in the gym. I can tell you now, that didn’t happen.
“I don’t like telling sparring stories, but people in the game know. They know about me. Well, me and Tyson Fury sparred and I bashed him about and dropped him on multiple occasions. Simple as that.”
WBC CONTROVERSY
Despite Whyte being the No1 challenger to face Deontay Wilder for the WBC strap in 2018, the Bronze Bomber instead chose to face Fury inside the squared circle.
The American, who drew and then lost twice against Fury in their next epic trilogy, labelled Whyte as the ‘s*** on his toilet paper’ earlier this year as he stated he means nothing to him.
After failing to secure a fight against the Alabama native, it was expected that Whyte would be granted a shot at Fury’s belt next.
But the WBC sensationally failed to name him as Fury’s mandatory challenger, much to Whyte’s anger, who had already spent over 1,000 days as Wilder’s mandatory.
Unbeaten Mancunian Fury knocked out Deontay Wilder in their epic trilogy bout in OctoberCredit: AP
Whyte avenged his KO defeat at the hands of Alexander Povetkin earlier this yearCredit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
Fury then spoke of his dismay at the ruling, as he declared: “I am due for an easy fight so Dillian Whyte would have been ideal, a big punch bag on legs is what I am after and he would have been the ideal candidate.
“But he has his own legal situations going on that he has to sort out first.
“I don’t care who I fight but I am definitely fighting at the end of February or early March, 100 per cent guaranteed.
“And I don’t give a damn who it is because the outcome is always the same, I will win.”
FIGHT REJECTION
The WBC ruling only added to Whyte’s frustration at not being able to fight Fury after claiming in September that the Gypsy King has twice rejected the chance to pit his wits against him.
In an X-rated Twitter exchange between the pair, Fury said: “Dillian Whyte is a chinless piece of s**t, who is a massive s**thouse and was offered £5million to fight AJ and declined.
“I’m putting you on notice, you bum. Try not to lose again before I smash you to bits in a keep busy fight for me before I smash Anthony Joshua.”

Whyte responded by referencing Fury’s failed VADA tests for cocaine back in 2016.
He tweeted: “Coke head, don’t talk about what you don’t know, talk about the two times you got ordered to fight me and p*****d, you gypsy coward.
“You know where I’m at, coke head. Hit me up baby, I got you covered.”
Fury replied: “I got a real fight to do first! Then I take you as a keep busy fight. Bum. 
“I can beat you with one hand behind my back.”
COOL HAND LUKE
In another claim, Whyte has declared that Fury’s real name is Luke, and he changed it to Tyson to make him sound harder.
The former British and European champ lists his full name as Tyson Luke Fury.
Whyte told SunSport last year: “My real name is Dillian. I know his real name is Luke.
“He changed it to Tyson to make himself sound harder. People can have a little look around on the internet and see for themselves. In boxing, the name Tyson is a lot more sellable than Luke.
“A lot of what Tyson does and says is a game, you can never take anything he says seriously or at face value.
“He might say he wants to fight me sometimes but how can you trust a man who doesn’t even use his own name?”
And earlier this year, Anthony Joshua joined Whyte in calling Fury ‘Luke’ after his fight to face him fell through. More