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      Conor McGregor called out for ‘homecoming’ fight by IBO champ Dennis Hogan as he offers first title defence to UFC star

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      NEWLY crowned IBO light-middleweight champion Denis Hogan has offered Conor McGregor his first title defence and the chance of a spectacular ‘homecoming’.Hogan won the IBO belt on Saturday versus Sam Eggington in Australia, his fourth attempt at a world title.
      Dennis Hogan celebrates his win over Sam Eggington to claim the International Boxing Organization (IBO) Super Welterweight World Title.
      Conor McGregor believes he has the boxing skills to cause a whole lot of problems for Floyd MayweatherCredit: Getty Images
      The 37-year-old fought for the WBA interim strap at 154lb, the WBO title at the same weight and the WBC up at 160lb.
      None of those contests ended with his hand being raised at the end of the contest.
      The WBO defeat in 2019 — to Jaime Munguia — was especially painful, given fans and pundits around the world felt the Kildare native did more than enough to earn the victory in Mexico.
      Speaking before his win, Hogan said he was already eyeing a homecoming bout against MMA superstar Conor McGregor as the crescendo to his real life Rocky story.
      Hogan said: If I win, the first thing I will do is get in touch with [Coach Kavanagh] and say ‘Is there any chance Conor may want this?’
      “I would love to go back to Ireland and have a title defence there.”
      Hogan has been based in Australia for his entire professional career and has fought the majority of his bouts Down Under, as well as the US and Mexico.
      The Kildare native last fought in Europe in 2015, where he lost the WBA interim-title bout.
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      Hogan says he is due a fight on home soil and says his first title defence is the perfect opportunity for a spectacular homecoming.
      “I am due a homecoming, I haven’t fought in Ireland since my amateur days, so it would be great to go back there and defend my title.”
      Prior to his win, Hogan’s management claimed to have already discussed the sensational homecoming with McGregor’s team.
      Despite being out of action since his gruesome leg last year, McGregor has no shortage of suitors for his return to fighting.
      The Crumlin native is currently on set for the upcoming film Road House with Jake Gyllenhaal and looks most likely to return to the octagon.
      However, the opportunity to fight for a boxing world title may pique the interest of the former two-weight UFC champion. More

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      Floyd Mayweather in shock talks to fight Conor McGregor TWICE – in MMA and boxing – in world record £1.3BILLION deal

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      FLOYD MAYWEATHER could take on Conor McGregor in the Octagon – as well as in a much-anticipated boxing rematch – for a world-record $1.5billion (£1.3bn) payday.Money’s team is in talks with the UFC star’s team for a two-fight contract which will see the pair meet again in the boxing ring – followed by a second MMA fight, a source has claimed.
      Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor are in talks to meet againCredit: AFP or licensors
      McGregor, 34, could welcome Mayweather to the octagonCredit: Getty
      It would be the first time Mayweather, 45, has ever fought under MMA rules.
      Both matches will be for official record and the undefeated champ is even willing to put his trademark TBE – The Best Ever – up for grabs, according to the insider.
      The matches will take place in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia in 2023 if the contracts are drawn up, they added.
      Money’s protege Gervonta Davis, 27, and rival Ryan Garcia, 24, are set to be the undercard for the boxing event – with the source saying that Mayweather Promotions has already sent out a contract.
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      It comes after Floyd confirmed he was in talks to fight the Dubliner, 34, again last month.
      “Floyd is now in talks to step over into Octagon if the money is right,” a source in Money’s camp told SunSport.
      “They are now looking to sign a two-fight contract worth $1.5bn (£1.3bn).
      “The plan is that one fight will take place in Abu Dhabi and the other in Saudi Arabia.
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      “So there will be a boxing fight and also an MMA fight under MMA rules.
      “Floyd and Conor’s teams are in talks all this week.
      “Davis has also sent Garcia a contract for a fight to take place before Conor and Floyd’s boxing match.
      “If the deal is struck Floyd will remove the trademark TBE – The Best Ever – if he fails to beat Conor in both fights. That will be added to the contract.
      “The boxing will be for official record. And the MMA match will also be for MMA official record.
      “Right now they are looking for both fights to be carried out in 2023.”
      Mayweather confirmed ongoing discussions with McGregor for a sequel next year in an interview with the Mail.
      Then I have another exhibition Dubai in November and me and Conor McGregor in 2023Floyd Mayweather
      Ahead of his latest exhibition bout last weekend, in which he knocked out Japanese MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura, he said: “I want to go out there this weekend and have fun.
      “Then I have another exhibition Dubai in November and me and Conor McGregor in 2023.
      “We don’t know if it’s going to be an exhibition of a real fight. But there’s been talks of both. I would prefer an exhibition.”
      SunSport first revealed talks for a blockbuster rematch with McGregor and how the rivals were negotiating the terms of a deal.
      The boxing legend officially hung up his gloves in 2017 after beating McGregor in ten rounds in Las Vegas, in a bout that generated $500m (£450m).
      Things got heated in the build-up to the pair’s first fightCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      The Notorious put on a show as he goaded Mayweather before the boutCredit: AP:Associated Press
      Since then, Mayweather has had four exhibition bouts, not officially sanctioned or affecting his historic 50-0 record.
      Next month he heads back to the Middle East to face YouTube boxing star Deji, 25, brother to social media sensation KSI, 29.
      Mayweather first returned in December 2018, beating featherweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, 24, in one round.
      He then faced YouTuber Logan Paul, 27, in June 2021 and was surprisingly taken the distance.
      Mayweather also fought ex-sparring partner Don Moore, which he dominated over eight rounds.
      Mayweather defeated McGregor via tenth-round knockoutCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      Both fighters were winners when it came to the enormous purseCredit: AP:Associated Press
      Talk of a rematch with McGregor has persisted ever since the pair sold 4.3million pay-per-views and generated over £500m.
      McGregor was allowed out of his contract by the UFC to face Mayweather – but has not boxed since.
      UFC president Dana White recently spoke out against the rematch, saying he hoped it wouldn’t happen.
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      McGregor, who has not fought since he broke his leg during a fight with Dustin Poirier in July 2021, has two fights left on his current UFC contract, meaning he would be free to fight Mayweather once his deal is up.
      He is set to return next year but is currently filming a Roadhouse reboot alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, 41.
      Mayweather and McGregor’s first bout generated £500mCredit: Getty
      Floyd Mayweather defeated Mikuru Asakura in an exhibition last weekendCredit: Rex More

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      Tommy Fury could ‘easily’ beat Jake Paul says Ahmed Elbiali, who sparred YouTuber but says it’s ‘still a great fight’

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      TOMMY FURY has been tipped to beat Jake Paul ‘easily’ by Ahmed Elbiali, who sparred the YouTuber. Fury, the younger half-brother of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson, has seen two fights cancelled at the final hour.
      Tommy Fury will finally fight Jake Paul in February, according to repotsCredit: Instagram
      YouTuber Jake Paul is unbeaten in his boxing career
      The Brit – who pulled out of their December showdown due to illness and injury – was then scheduled to have another bout in August, but that too got called off.
      However, now it appears they will finally get in the ring in February, as per Paul.
      On his BS w/ Jake Paul podcast, the 25-year-old social media star told said: ‘Had a call with Tommy Fury. Yeah, they’re saying we’re going to fight in February.
      “I think he actually can’t come into the United States. So if I fight him in the UK, I think parts of it are shady, I don’t think we’re getting the full truth on everything, but regardless, it’s a great matchup and I really want to knock him out.”
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      Now, light-heavyweight contender Elbiali predicts Fury would be a sound winner when they come to blows.
      Elbiali, 32, told SunSport: “Fury, I think would beat him, hands down, easily.
      “But at the same time it’s still a great fight for Jake, because Tommy hasn’t fought anybody.
      “Tommy is still new to the game, and you also tend to lower yourself to your opponent. Knowing he’s fighting Jake Paul, he might lower his standards slightly.”
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      Elbiali, who has 18 knockouts in his 22 wins, sparred Paul, 25, once before the social media sensation left ex-NBA player Nate Robinson, 38, out cold.
      He got a phone call from a friend just after he had finished a morning workout, and while he was in a Nike store shopping.
      The Egyptian-born boxer admitted to pulling his punches against Paul, who only made his pro debut last year off the back of a scrappy white collar bout in England in 2018.
      But still Elbiali sees the passion and potential in Paul, which came as he ignored calls from his pals to needlessly wipe out the internet phenomenon.
      Elbiali said: “He’s a hardworking dude, he seems passionate about boxing and he carries some power. Is he green? Yeah, he’s very green.
      “I did hold back because I had to, and I’m not that type of guy. I had friends telling me, ‘You should have lit him the f*** up’ but it’s like bro, it’s all good.
      “I lit him up in different ways. I lit him up without punching him, I tried to exhaust him, made him miss, hit him to the body.
      “Jake’s a smart dude, he’s pretty smart in the boxing ring too.”
      Elbiali did not receive a call back to spar with Paul again in the build up to his third pro fight – his win over retired UFC welterweight Ben Askren.
      Ahmed Elbiali pictured with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather More

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      ‘If KSI wants to volunteer for his own death, I won’t say no’ – Jake Paul open to fight against YouTube rival

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      JAKE PAUL has opened the door to fighting KSI… as long as his boxing rival wants to “volunteer for his own death”. Paul is desperate to avenge the win KSI recorded over his brother Logan in their 2019 rematch.
      KSI was called out by YouTube rival Jake PaulCredit: Getty
      Jake Paul wants to avenge his brother’s loss to KSICredit: @mostvaluablepromotions
      But first he returns against UFC legend Anderson Silva on October 29 in his biggest test to date.
      Paul believes is sets up even greater nights ahead, but is happy to go over old ground with his greatest of enemies.
      He told MMA Fighting: “This opens the floodgates to a lot of competition, a lot of call outs, a lot bigger fights. It’s exciting.
      “However, if someone’s talking s***, at the end of the day, and I can step in there and knock them out and make a ton of money, like you said it’s prize fighting, so if KSI wants to volunteer for his own death, I’m not going to be the one to tell him no.”
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      KSI, 29, drew with Paul’s brother Logan, 27, in 2018 but won their rematch in the professional ranks a year later.
      The British YouTube, rap and crossover boxing star then returned after three years out in August.
      And he made up for lost time by farcically beating rapper Swarmz, 25, and so-called pro boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda, 23, on the same night.
      Paul, 25, said: “He fought ‘two guys in one night.’ It was the cheesiest, stupidest thing. It was such a waste of everyone’s time and money.
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      “I have a responsibility to my fans to put on really big fights that are wars with really good matchups and that’s what I’m going to continue to do.”
      KSI revealed he plans to return in January, continuing to build on a future grudge match with Paul.
      The American himself has had a period of time on the sidelines after Tommy Fury, 23, and Hasim Rahman Jr, 31, pulled out of fighting in August.
      Paul faces his first opponent with prior boxing experience in UFC legend Silva, 47, who also has a 4-1 record in the ring.
      It follows from wins over KSI’s friend “AnEsonGib”, ex-NBA player Nate Robinson, 38, as well as former UFC pair Ben Askren, 38, and Tyron Woodley, 40.
      Paul said: “My level of opposition will just continue to raise.
      “That’s what I’ve done throughout my career, in each fight it gets harder and harder and harder and I encounter a new test and that’s what I have to do.
      “No one’s going to tune into my fights if I’m fighting someone they think I’m just going to beat. I don’t want to put on fights like that.”
      Jake Paul and Anderson SIlva ahead of their October 29 fightCredit: Getty Images – Getty More

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      Conor McGregor laughs off Floyd Mayweather’s fight with YouTuber Deji after holding talks over rematch with boxing icon

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      CONOR MCGREGOR could only laugh when he was asked to pick a winner of Floyd Mayweather’s upcoming exhibition bout with Deji.Boxing legend Mayweather, 45, returns to the ring on November 13 in a shock fight against Deji, 25, commonly known as KSI’s brother.
      Conor McGregor could only laugh when asked to pick a winner out of Floyd Mayweather and DejiCredit: Reuters
      Money recently boxed in his fourth exhibition bout since retiring from the professional game in 2017, where he beat McGregor in ten rounds in Las Vegas.
      He knocked out Japanese MMA star Mikuru Asakura, 30, in two rounds after receiving some punishment himself.
      Prior to that, Mayweather has had three exhibition bouts, not officially sanctioned or affecting his historic 50-0 record.
      SunSport first revealed talks for a blockbuster rematch with McGregor and how the rivals were negotiating the terms of a deal.
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      Mayweather has confirmed that talks are ongoing, however, he is now concentrating on Deji.
      But McGregor does not seem impressed by it in the slightest after he was asked to predict the outcome.
      A fan tweeted him to ask: “Floyd or Deji?”
      And he replied with a simple: “Hahaa”
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      Deji, 25, most recently beat American Fousey, 32, which followed on a run of THREE losses for the YouTube boxer.
      McGregor is currently overseas on the Caribbean island of Dominican Republic filming Jake Gyllenhaal’s remake of ‘Road House’.
      The former UFC double champion hasn’t fought since breaking his leg in the trilogy loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in 2021.
      UFC’s Pay-Per-View king McGregor suffered a broken tibia in his lower left leg and was taken out of T-Mobile Arena on a stretcher in a second-straight defeat to the American and had extensive surgery the next day.
      McGregor has constantly posted videos and sparring sessions of his leg kicking during his rehabilitation as he prepares for a 2023 return. More

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      Eddie Hearn calls YouTuber Jake Paul ‘average’ while rating YouTuber as a boxer – but insists he is ‘complimenting’ him

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      BOXING promoter Eddie Hearn gave a brutally honest assessment of the skills of YouTube personality Jake Paul.Hearn labelled Paul’s ability as “average” during a Q&A – but insisted he was complimenting him.
      Jake Paul (left) and Eddie Hearn (right) during a Q&A sessionCredit: Getty
      The pair sat down for an interview with DAZN back in May amid the Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano fight and straight away it descended into chaos as Paul took offence to Hearn’s jab.
      Hearn started the interview by saying: “He fought AnEsonGib who was terrible on the night and Jake looked pretty average cause Gib was terrible as well.”
      Paul rebuked this, suggesting his ability could not be properly judged due to the fight lasting such a short amount of time.
      After a swift back and forth the promoter responded once again: “That’s true, that’s true. I don’t know where you might go. I just give you where I think you’re at which I’m entitled to, which is average.”

      He then delivered the killer line: “average is very complimentary.”
      This follows on from Hearn declaring Paul would never win a world title in boxing.
      Paul’s YouTube channel currently sits at 20.4 million subscribers, but switched the YouTube scene in favour of boxing in 2018.
      His first fight was on the undercard of the KSI vs Logan Paul bout, which attracted over 2.25 million live views.
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      This fight was only a white-collar match, but a fifth round TKO gave Paul the green light to go pro in his next fight.
      His next fight saw him fight the aforementioned AnEsonGib – another YouTuber – and win via a first-round TKO.
      Since then he has won each of his pro fights, beating former MMA welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley in a rematch in December after Tyson Fury’s brother Tommy Fury pulled out. More

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      Jake Paul shares photos from gruelling training camp and promises world will see ‘new fighter’ vs Anderson Silva

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      JAKE PAUL has promised the world will see a “new fighter” when he faces off against UFC legend Anderson Silva. YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul is due to fight Silva on October 29 in Arizona, US.
      Jake Paul shared some pics of his brutal training regimeCredit: Instagram @jakepaul
      The 25-year-old has a 100 per cent record with five wins from five so farCredit: Instagram @jakepaul
      Paul is training for the toughest fight of his pro careerCredit: Instagram @jakepaul
      Paul was due to fight in July before it was cancelled at the last minuteCredit: Instagram @jakepaul
      And as he gears up for the bout, the 25-year-old shared pictures of his gruelling training camp from Dorado, Puerto Rico.
      The pictures were accompanied by the caption: “Locked in. Camps been fun.
      “You will see a new fighter in the ring October 29th.”
      Paul previously declared he would “exterminate” the MMA icon, who will be the most accomplished boxer he has faced in pro boxing so far.
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      Silva beat former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in June of 2021 before knocking out ex-UFC champ Tito Ortiz in September.
      It means he has a 3-1 record in pro boxing to pair with his remarkable MMA record.
      And Paul has nothing but respect for his opponent, who he idolised when he was younger.
      One of Paul’s tweets from 2012 resurfaced recently, with him tweeting the Brazilian: “do u remember coming to Ohio at Quaker steak and lube?
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      “I got your autograph haha ur the man I’ll never forget that stuff !!”
      The fight will be Paul’s sixth pro bout after his scheduled fight against Hasim Rahman Jr was cancelled at the 11th hour due to Rahman weighing in too heavy.
      Paul alongside Anderson Silva, middle, and brother Logan Paul, rightCredit: AP
      Paul also shared some images of him outside of the ring relaxingCredit: Instagram @jakepaul
      Paul has been rather tempered ahead of the fight against one of idolsCredit: Instagram @jakepaul More

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      Floyd Mayweather’s bodyguard wants rematch with kickboxing star who knocked him out despite FIVE STONE disadvantage

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      FLOYD MAYWEATHER’S bodyguard wants a rematch with the kickboxer who knocked him out. Security man Ray Sadeghi – known as Jizzy Mack – faced Koji ‘Kouzi’ Tanaka on Mayweather’s recent undercard.
      Floyd Mayweather’s bodyguard was knocked out on his undercard
      Jizzy Mack pictured with Floyd Mayweather
      Tanaka fights in the 9st 9lb lightweight division, whereas Sadeghi usually weighs over 14 STONE.
      That means he had a FIVE STONE weight disadvantage, but it mattered little.
      Tanaka knocked out Sadeghi in the third round with a brutal left hook, but Mayweather’s right hand man now wants a rematch.
      Sadeghi  told World Boxing News: “I want to thank RIZIN and my boss Floyd Mayweather for giving me this opportunity to be in [an event of] this kind of magnitude and to fight.
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      “It was a great match. I want to run it back. Because I felt like I had him. But I got tired in the third round, and my hands dropped.
      “He caught me with a good shot, and we can run it back.”
      Later that night, Mayweather, 45, knocked out Japanese MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura, 30, in two rounds of his latest exhibition.
      Days later he announced another exhibition with YouTuber Deji, 25, on November 13 in Dubai.
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      Mayweather has had four non-sanctioned bouts since retiring in 2017 after beating UFC superstar Conor McGregor, 34.
      He first returned in 2018, against featherweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, 24, in Tokyo.
      Mayweather then went eight-round with both YouTuber Logan Paul, 27, and ex-sparring partner Don Moore.
      Floyd Mayweather knocked out Mikuru AsakuraCredit: AFP More