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James Toney Makes Anthony Joshua-Deontay Wilder Prediction: “He’s Shot”

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Deontay Wilder And Anthony Joshua's

Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder are edging closer to finally facing off.

The two former champions have announced they will fight on the same card on December 23 in Saudi Arabia, with wins setting their own contest up nicely.

Joshua takes on tricky southpaw Otto Wallin, a man whose sole defeat came via decision against Tyson Fury. In the launch press conference, Wallin said Joshua was ‘past his peak’ and was confident he could spring the upset.

As the co-main event, Wilder will challenge Joseph Parker, himself a former WBO World Champion with losses to ‘AJ’, Dillian Whyte and, most recently, Joe Joyce.

Parker has activity in his favour. This will be his fourth fight of the year against Wilder’s first since October 2022.

Anthony Deontay

Promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that the Saudis plan is to match his man up with Wilder should they both win next month. What happens then remains to be seen, but James Toney – a three-weight world champion and two-time heavyweight belt challenger – believes it’s an easy night for the American.

In an interview filmed earlier this year, Toney told ES News that Joshua ‘is shot.’

‘AJ’ has come in for some criticism for being ‘tentative’ or ‘gun-shy’ – something he attributes to simply being a smarter and more considered fighter.

Wilder – if the fight is made and neither man loses or moves in a different direction – will be the acid test for this new style.

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BOXING

The Ryan Garcia journey continues: Can KingRy bounce back from Tank Davis defeat?

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Ryan Garcia

With one perfectly placed left hand to the liver, Gervonta Davis sucked the air from Ryan Garcia’s lungs and simultaneously burst the young fighter’s bubble. The unbeaten record was gone, as was the notion that Garcia’s rise to the top was somehow pre-destined. There’s nothing quite like a body-shot knockout defeat to bring a fighter back to reality.

The good news is that “KingRy” returns to action against Oscar Duarte at the Toyota Centre in Houston on December 2. Garcia is heavily favoured to win the 12-round super lightweight non-title affair before moving on to bigger things. However, the 25-year-old Californian must up his game if he plans on punch-swapping with the likes of Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney, Regis Prograis, and Subriel Matias.

As a lightweight, Garcia had a quick rise, securing his position within the top 5 without even winning a world title. Shuddering first-round knockouts over fringe contenders Romero Duno and Francisco Fonseca went viral, and then Garcia proved there was substance behind the flash when he got off the floor to stop former Olympic champion Luke Campbell in January 2021. The latter was a career-best triumph, but the young contender lost a little momentum when he took time out to focus on his mental health. When he returned to the ring, routine victories over Emmanuel Tagoe and Javier Fortuna preceded the Davis defeat.

Can Garcia get back and win some defining fights? It takes character to overcome a loss, so we’ll need to see how he responds in the future. Having outgrown the lightweight limit, it’s realistic to assume that Garcia will be a lot more robust and durable in the new weight class. He’ll need to be because the elite-level opponents that await him will not be easily discouraged.

Garcia’s hand speed and reflexes are astonishing. We’ve all seen the Instagram videos displaying his mastery of the cobra bag and the shoe-shine flurries. That is fast-twitch muscle fibres at their optimum. But while these little exhibitions are good for securing more teenage followers on social media, one must question their usefulness when it comes to combat.

Against Davis, Garcia completely blew it. Similar to Evander Holyfield’s pre-ordained prediction that he would knock out Lennox Lewis in the third round of their first fight in March 1999, “KingRy” boldly stated that “Tank” would get crushed inside two rounds. Well, Holyfield couldn’t fulfil the prophecy and neither could Garcia.

Following a fairly even first round, Garcia came out blazing in the second. He roughed Davis up on the inside and made him uncomfortable, but quickly resorted to leading with wild power shots from the outside. Now, regardless of Garcia’s hand speed, this reckless aggression was an insult to an elite-level sharpshooter. You don’t attack Gervonta Davis like he’s a novice. Tank remained composed, avoided the incoming fire, and then floored his man with an armour-piercing left hand to the jaw.

While Garcia found his feet and remained competitive, he was now very leery of his opponent’s punching power and opted for caution. Davis stayed a step ahead for the remainder of the bout and closed out with the aforementioned knockout in Round 7. It was an excellent event, both fighters were paid handsomely, but it was back to the drawing board for a humbled “KingRy”.

One of the first things Garcia did was split from acclaimed trainer Joe Goossen, who, incidentally, is one of the best boxing minds in the world. If we take Goossen at his word, Garcia wasn’t listening to him anyway. Former Ring Magazine Trainer of the Year Derrick James has been brought in to fill the void, and while James has had mixed results over the past year, his knowledge is beyond reproach. Garcia would do well to listen this time.

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BOXING

Gervonta Davis Recalls the Promise He Made 9 Years Back When He Had Nothing

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Gervonta Davis

Gervonta Davis stands as a formidable force in the lightweight division, establishing his dominance through a string of consecutive knockout victories. As the WBA lightweight champion, his prowess is characterized by explosive power and a fierce fighting style that has allowed him to assert control over the division for a long period of time. Approaching nearly a decade in professional boxing, Davis has not only demonstrated his skill in the ring but has also amassed considerable wealth.

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His financial success is attributed to various revenue streams, including lucrative PPV shares, participation in high-profile money fights, lucrative brand endorsements, and other income-generating avenues. He held titles in three different weight classes, however, there was a time when he manifested himself as the world champion, only a year after he had turned professional.

Gervonta Davis shares a throwback message with his fans

In his recent Instagram Story, Gervonta Davis shared an earlier tweet of his where he predicted his dominance over the sport of boxing. In the tweet, Davis wrote, “I will be a world champ by 21, mark my words!!“However, there is an interesting backstory behind the tweet, since it was done after a man managed to go the distance against ‘Tank’ for the first time in his career.

Gervonta Davis

It was someone named German Ivan Meraz, who lost to Davis by a decision in 2014. Before this fight, Davis managed to knock out every single opponent. After 20 days of this fight, Davis wrote the renowned tweet.  However, in the later years, Davis admitted that he took things a bit lightly at that time. He told Boxing Junkie at the final news conference of his fight against Isaac Cruz, “I ate too much after the weigh-in. I drank a lot of soda, ate a bunch of stuff. That messed me up.”

Later in the same interview, Davis also stated that it didn’t bother him much, that he couldn’t knock out Ivan Meraz. He felt winning the fight is what matters in the end.

Davis knew he couldn’t knock out every one of his opponents

Many thought that the tweet was done due to the remorse that sat inside Gervonta Davis, for not being able to knock his opponent out for the first time in his professional career. But, later Davis stated that he was always at peace with the fact that he could not knock every one of his opponents.

In the same presser, Davis also said, “Does it bother me that I couldn’t knock him out? Nah. I don’t think I’m going to knockout every opponent my whole career.”

While acknowledging landing “perfect” punches for maximum impact, Davis confessed that he remains uncertain about the specific reasons as to why his shots inflict a lot of damage. He stated, “When I catch them with a perfect shot, they either fall or they’re really tough. And they felt it for sure.

Gervonta Davis has always been aware of the things that could happen inside the boxing ring, and it might not always go according to plan. What are your thoughts about this? Let us know in the comments section.

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BOXING

“He Not”: Claressa Shields Responds to Dr. Umar Johnson’s Controversial Take On Hip-Hop Doing More Harm Than Good to Black Community

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Claressa Shield

Making history once again, the undisputed middleweight champion, Claressa Shields, achieved a remarkable milestone by becoming the first woman to secure a seven-figure payday in her last two fights. Her latest triumph, a victory over top-ranked contender Maricela Cornejo, added another $1 million to her already mammoth earnings. The significant win took place at the home of the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons.

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Shields, hailing from humble beginnings in Flint, Michigan, has transcended her past to become an accomplished boxer who commands such substantial purses. Besides boxing, she uses her fame and reach to raise concerns about ongoing problems in American society, and recently she has talked about the harm Hip-hop has done to the Black community.

Claressa Shields agrees with the views of Dr. Umar Johnson

Claressa Shields has never held herself back from voicing her opinion and this time, she had something to teach to her fellow African Americans. In her recent post on X, Shields shared a post of Dr. Umar Johnson who was talking about how  Hip-hop music did more harm than good to the Black community. He stated that rappers have not been good role models, brainwashing the young generation with “toxic content”.

Claressa Shields
On top of that, he stated that even though the European  Jews are controlling this music industry, Hip-hop artists still earn a lot of money. And not one of them has tried to do good things for their community. He said, “With the type of money Hip-hop has generated around the world, there should be at least 25 Black Wall-Streets in America right now.” Now, this video caught Shields’ attention who instantly shared it on her handle, and wrote, “He not lying.”

Moreover, a few months ago, she raised her voice for gender equality in boxing and demanded equal pay for her fellow female boxers.

Shields protests against gender inequality in boxing

Disparities in earnings between male and female boxers are starkly evident, with streaming deals proving to be 10 to 20 times more lucrative for men, as highlighted by Dmitriy Salita, Shields’ promoter. While male boxers typically command around $3 million per fight, female fighters have only recently begun to break into the seven-figure earnings for a night in the ring, with variations in pay among them.

Women boxers have already demonstrated the ability to fill sizable arenas, exemplified by Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano‘s sold-out event at Madison Square Garden. In an interview with The Associated Press, Shields remarked, “We don’t get the equal TV time, the equal promotion, equal pay. That’s what I’ve been trying to do with my platform, make sure I get all of that.”

Safe to say, Claressa Shields has done a lot to raise social awareness and send out positive messages for her fans. What are your thoughts about this

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BOXING

Tyson Fury has received a strong warning as Oleksandr Usyk fight creeps closer

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Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury’s immediate focus is his upcoming fight with Oleksandr Usyk.

Yet Zhilei Zhang has warned the Gypsy King he’ll endure a ‘disaster’ if he ever gets the chance to go up against the Gypsy King.

Fury and Usyk recently confirmed a new date for their showdown in Saudi Arabia, having originally been due to face each other in December.

The fight was delayed, however, with Fury needing more time to recover from his recent victory over Francis Ngannou.

Zhang has spoken of his desire to face the Briton in the past.

And he’s now expressed a belief he’d knock Fury down if they ever fought, warning his fellow boxer that his punches ‘are not a joke’.

“I think Tyson Fury probably never trained for the Ngannou fight,” Zhang told Bizznizz Sports.

Oleksandr Tyson

“It was not the Fury we know, it was a totally different person.

“If you look at his career, he’s got hit, he’s got dropped, and my punches are not a joke.

“When my punches land, it’s going to be a disaster for him.”

Zhang also claimed that Fury, along with Usyk, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, are running scared of him as well.

“I always wanted to get the big four names – Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder,” he added.

“But they don’t want to fight me.

“They are running away from me.”

Right now there’s no sign of Fury and Zhang meeting in the ring any time soon.

The Briton’s priority is defeating Usyk and his promoter, Frank Warren, has suggested a rematch with Ngannou is on the cards.

“I think there’s a good chance of that happening. I do,” he said on the MMA hour.

“I don’t know [if it’ll be next for Fury].

“It’s like jumping too far forward. Let’s get the big one [with Oleksandr Usyk] out of the way first, and then we’ll see where we go.

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BOXING

John Fury admits fears over son Tyson’s undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk

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Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury

John Fury ferars his son Tyson needs more time to prepare for his undisputed heavyweight world title fight with Oleksandr Usyk.

Fury will fight bitter rival Usyk on February 17 in Saudi Arabia following his nervy split decision win against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou last month. ‘The Gypsy King’ had to pick himself up off the canvas to beat Ngannou by just a point on the judges’ scorecards, with the damage he sustained in the fight pushing back his fight with Usyk from their originally planned December 23 date.

Usyk was ringside for Fury’s fight with Ngannou and was shouting instructions for his rival in the hopes of keeping their undisputed fight alive. Fury refused to make any excuses and praised Ngannou for being his toughest opponent in the last decade whilst boasting a black eye and grazed forehead.

“February 17 is the date they have got to work towards. In my opinion, Tyson needs a bit more time to get his conditioning right and his weight right. He is taking more punches now than he has taken in his whole career and that could have shortened his career. That is the worry we have got here. Tyson is a remarkable man but sometimes he needs to listen to a bit of common sense,” John told Metro.

tyson fury and oleksandr usyk

Usyk and his team were goaded by Fury at the first press conference for their undisputed fight earlier this month. John is confident in his son’s abilities to talk the talk, but he admitted that Tyson has looked like a shell of his former self in recent fights. Fury has been told that he should implement the old style that saw him beat the likes of Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.

“For my money, his last three fights, I have seen a bit of decline. Not a decline in ability but a decline in strength, power and physical condition. I don’t know what they are doing up there, you have to address it. He didn’t look himself out in Saudi. He would have been better boxing off the back foot, slipping and sliding,” John said.

“Against the old Tyson, Ngannou wouldn’t have landed a glove on him. The style I am seeing is no good, it won’t be any use boxing Usyk like that, just stood in front of him. You have to be clever and agile, as much as Usyk is. But unless you are trained to do that, what can you say?

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BOXING

“These Fights Are Expensive”: Floyd Mayweather and Terence Crawford Roped in as David Benavidez Makes His Case for Being an Exciting Fighter While Chasing Greatness at the Same Time

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Terence Crawford

In a highly anticipated clash, undefeated two-time super middleweight world champion David Benavidez, boasting a pristine record of 27-0 with 3 KOs, stepped into the ring against the equally undefeated Demetrius Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs). The showdown unfolded at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada as Andrade’s team had to stop the fight and Benavidez won by a TKO.

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While Benavidez put his heart and soul into training for the fight, being just a great fighter is not enough for him. What he aspires to be is someone who can entertain as well. In an interview with FightHype.com, he explained why it is important to him.

David Benavidez explains his priorities in a fight

In the interview, the interviewer asks David Benavidez about the balance between being an exciting fighter and a great one. Benavidez emphasized the importance of both. Putting himself in the shoes of a fan, he said “Me as a fan, I don’t wanna spend my money and see something I don’t like to see at the end of the day, these fights are expensive to the regular person” highlighting that as a fan himself, he wouldn’t want to spend money on a fight that’s not enjoyable.

Terence Crawford

He expresses the desire for fans to find value in purchasing his fights. When asked about the approach of fighters like Terence Crawford and Floyd Mayweather, who ease into the early rounds to assess their opponents, Benavidez reveals that he’s followed a similar strategy throughout his career, recognizing the significance of pacing in a 12-round bout. This insight into Benavidez’s mindset reflects his commitment to delivering not only great performances but also an engaging experience for the audience. What are Benavidez’s plans moving forward?

If not Canelo Alvarez, who is the ‘Mexican Monster’ eyeing next?

In the aftermath of his recent victory, Benavidez has thrown down the gauntlet, suggesting he could step up to a higher weight class for a showdown if Canelo Alvarez hesitates to face him. The combat sports community is abuzz with anticipation for a clash between the two boxing titans. Benavidez, eyeing a super middleweight bout against the undisputed champion Alvarez, voiced his eagerness during the post-fight press conference.

However, he also entertained the possibility of a leap to the light heavyweight division, setting the stage for a potential face-off with WBA champion Dmitry Bivol. The intrigue deepens as Benavidez explores multiple avenues for his next formidable challenge, leaving fans eager to see which path unfolds in this gripping narrative.

Much of a boxer’s career depends on how well the fans receive them. Pleasing the fans ensures a good bag after the fight. However, it becomes important to strike an equilibrium between putting up a good show and putting the win on the line. Benavidez plans to strike the right balance between the two. Who would you like to see the fighter brawl with next?

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BOXING

Terence Crawford Clear On Who Canelo Should Fight Next Between Himself And Benavidez

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Terence Crawford

Terence Crawford has reacted to David Benavidez’ dominant performance over Demetrius Andrade in Las Vegas.

After a quick start from Andrade, Benavidez quickly grew into the fight and put a systematic beat down on the 35-year-old, who retired on his stool after six rounds.

The fight most fans want to see now is Benavidez take on super-middleweight undisputed champion, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Canelo has been accused of ducking ‘The Mexican Monster’ in the past and will find it hard now to ignore further pressure to make the fight.

Terence Bud Crawford

In attendance on Saturday night was former two-weight undisputed champion, Crawford. ‘Bud’ has made it clear that he also wants the Canelo fight for a chance to make history by becoming the only man to ever hold all the belts in three divisions.

Although Crawford has his sights firmly set on Canelo, he admitted to KO Artist Sports that Benavidez now ‘deserved’ his shot next.

On what’s next for himself, Crawford says they are just waiting for ‘the right moment’ to announce the Errol Spence rematch.

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BOXING

Tyson Fury calls out Ryan Reynolds for Deadpool revenge fight

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Tyson Fury

TYSON FURY has challenged Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds to a fight after his Morecambe side were thrashed by the Hollywood A-lister’s Wrexham.

Paul Mullin scored a hat-trick as the Welsh club battered fellow League Two outfit Morecambe 6-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Fury, 35, is the most high-profile resident of the town of Morecambe.

And he took to social media to seek revenge following his local side’s defeat.

The WBC Heavyweight Champion shared a picture created by those who run the account for his Furocity drink.

It consisted of mocked up images of Fury and Reynolds’ famous character, Deadpool.

t also included Morecambe and Wrexham’s badges, along with the question: “Who would win in a fight?”

The options were Fury and Deadpool.

Tyson Fury

Wrexham’s win moves them up to second place in the fourth tier, although they are still five points adrift of table toppers Stockport.

Morecambe sit 12th, two points below the play-offs but 12 clear of the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, Fury is preparing for an undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia on February 17.

The Gypsy King was thoroughly unconvincing in his split-decision win over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou last month.

And he will have to perform far better if he is to beat Usyk as both men eye making history by becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.

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BOXING

“Do you think Claressa Shields plays tennis” – Fans give Ariel Helwani flak for declaring Katie Taylor the best female boxer, ‘GWOAT’ reacts

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Claressa Shield

Katie Taylor claimed Chantelle Cameron’s undisputed junior welterweight titles in their rematch on Saturday at the 3Arena in Dublin. With the win, the Irishwoman joined Claressa Shields as the only female boxer with undisputed titles in two-weight classes.

Reacting to Taylor’s monumental achievement, Ariel Helwani dubbed the 37-year-old the greatest female boxer of all time. In an Instagram post, the veteran MMA reporter wrote:

Helwai’s bold proclamation didn’t go down without contention. Fight fans flooded his comments section, arguing that Claressa Shields was ahead of the Irishwoman in the greatest of all-time discussion, even prompting a reaction from the ‘GWOAT’ herself.

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