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Terence Crawford ‘teases’ and offends Canelo Alvarez with his choice of best current boxer

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Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez

Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford is one of the most anticipated possible fights, becoming a dream for fans and promoters alike.

However, Saudi Sheikh Turki Al-Sheikh, who is in charge of the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk fight, is looking to organize the fight between the Mexican and the American, with a view to it taking place in early 2025.

Canelo Alvarez is still looking for an opponent after his convincing victory over Jaime Munguia. There are many suitors as the Mexican looks to get back in the ring in September, but only a few are among the realistic candidates to land a fight against him.

One of the realistic options who qualifies by name, trajectory and prestige, is Terence Crawford.

A fight between the two would generate a huge expectation among fans, and it’s no secret that Canelo will want to get the maximum economic benefit from a possible duel against the American fighter and welterweight champion.

Reaction to Usyk vs Fury

The American fighter posted a tweet after the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury fight, a bout that he followed on TV.

“Everyone better give Usyk some respect, man,” Crawford posted on X minutes after the fight concluded.

“He’s definitely a contender to be the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world. I don’t hate anyone. He beat the man who beat the man in a bigger division, on top of everything he’s already done.”

Usyk‘s victory over Tyson Fury made him the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing today, surpassing Naoya Inoue, Terence Crawford.

He also distanced himself from Canelo Alvarez, with the tapatío having long since exited the debate.

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BOXING

Gervonta Davis goes against the odds and predicts a nine-round KO of Frank Martin

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Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin will step into the ring on June 15 and in the bookmakers the top favorite is The Tank, but it was the American himself who raised his standards by pointing out in his social networks that he will finish the fight by KO and even dared to say that it will be in nine rounds,

Gervonta Davis gives his prediction of the fight with Martin

It is not that Gervonta Davis is a very quiet boxer in his comments, he is always looking for controversy, and even in the past face to face with Frank Martin, they came close to coming to blows.

But with just a few days to go before the fight, he raised the stakes with a prediction of a cloud KO to his next opponent

Gervonta‘s record is 29 fights, all wins, 27 of them by knockout, and he even had the luxury of knocking Ryan Garcia to the canvas with a tremendous hook to the liver, and now he is being compared to Muhammad Ali, who predicted the end of his fights and was right in most of them.

In the last few hours Davis took to X and simply wrote: “9!!!”. Boxing fans quickly understood that the fighter had mentioned the round in which he would send Martin to the canvas.

During several pre-fight day interviews, both contenders claimed they would finish the fight by knockout. Not long ago, Martin was questioned if he still stands by his words and he didn’t back down, “Yeah, you know, Tank can end up getting knocked out. You know, he’s not exempt from getting knocked out. So, if he gets there and he acts bad, he’s going to run into something. Or he could go looking for it.”

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BOXING

Paulie Malignaggi Has No Doubt Who Wins Gervonta Davis-Shakur Stevenson: “Way Too Good”

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Gervonta Davis against Shakur Stevenson is one of the most sought after bouts in the sport of boxing, particularly now that it’s a lightweight unification.

‘Tank’ Davis was upgraded to full WBA Champion when the belt was vacated by Devin Haney, and Stevenson won the WBC strap against Edwin De Los Santos, which was vacant for the same reason.

With an intriguing clash of styles, a brewing war of words and some of the best attributes in the sport today, a Davis-Stevenson bout has Fight of the Year potential written all over it.

Whilst ‘Tank’ certainly isn’t lacking in the skills department, his most notable weapon is equalising power, proven by 27 knockouts from his 29 wins. Stevenson is perhaps the best defensive boxer fighting today, and focuses on neutralising his opponents through movement and timing, rarely letting them plant their feet to through anything with real intent.

Should the fight materialise, many think it would be a close affair. Not Paulie Malignaggi. The former world champion turned analyst told ProBox TV that Stevenson wins with ease.

Davis return on June 15 in a title defence against fellow undefeated southpaw Frank Martin. Stevenson puts his belt on the line on July 7 versus Artem Harutyunyan, whose one loss came at the hands of Martin.

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BOXING

‘Grow a pair’ – Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn receive defiant message from Daniel Dubois’ trainer ahead of potential fight

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Don Charles has told Anthony Joshua to ‘grow a pair and step up’ to face Daniel Dubois next.

Joshua sat in the front row when Dubois beat Filip Hrgovic and became the ‘interim’ IBF heavyweight world champion last weekend in Saudi Arabia.

Dubois may soon be upgraded to the full IBF heavyweight world champion if Oleksandr Usyk’s request for an exception to rematch Tyson Fury on December 21 is denied.

Joshua is expected to headline a massive card at Wembley Stadium on September 21, and talks are currently ongoing about ‘DDD’ being his opponent.

“It’s very unclear at the moment,” Charles told talkSPORT.

“Daniel being the [IBF] mandatory now in that position. AJ wants to become a three-time world champion. What better time for him [to face Dubois], they shouldn’t even consider the other options.”

As one of the biggest stars in boxing, Joshua is not short of willing opponents, but Charles insists nationality and the potential of a world title being on the line make his boxer the ideal option.

He added: “AJ has beaten Joseph Parker. Zhilei Zhang doesn’t bring anything to the audience, in terms of this is a British fight between two British fighters.

“It’s a no-brainer to make this happen. This is going out to AJ and Eddie Hearn. It’s not complicated. Do not deny the British public what will be a massive, massive fight for Britain.

“Wembley, come on, it’s got to be two British fighters.

“Come on AJ. Come on Eddie. Stop playing silly buggers. Get on with it. The most obvious thing to do is bring that fight to Wembley for the British audience. They deserve it.

“If you want to become a three-time world champion, this is a great opportunity. Usyk has beaten you twice, Fury has lost, [Deontay] Wilder is out of the picture.”

Charles signed off his message to Joshua and his long-time promoter by imploring them to ‘grow a pair’ and sign to fight Dubois later this year.

“Don’t kid us and cheat the British public,” he said.

“Hopefully, the IBF will do the right thing and make the title vacant for AJ to contest my guy, Daniel Dubois.

“We haven’t got any God-given right that we are going to beat him, nor has he.

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BOXING

Anthony Joshua still has a chink in his armour – and Daniel Dubois has the power to exploit it

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Daniel Dubois was given a bruising examination by Oleksandr Usyk last year but has fought back and now has a real chance to stop Anthony Joshua but there are still problems to overcome

Daniel Dubois did not look destined for heavyweight glory when counted out in the ninth round against Oleksandr Usyk in Poland last year.

Ten months and two wins later he is once more looking to etch his name amongst the elite. As we know Dubois has the power to trouble any, but now he is adding experience to the mix.

The truth is there aren’t many super stars in the heavyweight division in terms of pure talent, that’s why Oleksandr Usyk is at the top of the pile.

Usyk is clearly very special, but in this era he is really a blown-up cruiserweight. He acknowledged this himself by expressing a desire to return to the division after the Tyson Fury rematch.

Take Usyk out of the equation and anyone can beat anyone, it seems to me. Filip Hrgovic was winning the fight in Saudi Arabia last week until he got cut.

But Dubois took his shots well and never looked hurt. He beat the guy without being spectacular, which showed a certain degree of improvement.

Boxing is more than brute force. It’s a chess game played with fists. Dubois always had a tendency to be too eager. He throws bombs like he’s on a mission. Effective against lesser opponents, but against the top guys that can be a recipe for disaster.

We saw this against Joe Joyce, a fight Dubois was expected to win. He went in all guns blazing, leaving himself wide open to Joyce’s relentless forward movement. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and it served as a stark reminder that Dubois needed to refine his approach.

Though he was stopped against Usyk he will have learned something, and that helped in the Hrgovic fight. He took some blows but was never downhearted and worked out a way to win.

Now he is in line for a shot at Anthony Joshua. And if he gets through to Joshua’s chin then its game on. Joshua is the more complete fighter, marginally quicker. And he has rebuilt impressively since he lost for the second time to Usyk.

There is, however, still a chink in his armour first exposed by Andy Ruiz that makes him vulnerable to the kind of power packed by Dubois.

Should the IBF strip Usyk for not making a mandatory defence, the proposed September date between the two becomes far more significant with the vacant IBF belt be on the line.

Most would still take Joshua to win. But nothing is a given if Dubois can back up his Hrgovic victory with another mature performance.

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BOXING

Terence Crawford advised not to fight Canelo Alvarez for important reason

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There has been much speculation about a potential matchup between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford, a bout that has been discussed for nearly a year. However, Amir Khan, who has faced both Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford in the ring, believes Crawford should consider alternative opponents instead of clashing with the Mexican superstar, as he understands the daunting challenges each fighter presents.

Khan, who was defeated by Crawford in 2019 and by Alvarez in 2016, has voiced his opinion against the proposed fight between Crawford and Alvarez.

Khan explains why Crawford should not face Alvarez

Drawing from his own experiences, Khan feels that Crawford might benefit more from exploring other opportunities rather than facing Alvarez.

He believes the fight might not be in Crawford‘s best interest and suggests that Crawford focus on other challenges in his boxing career.

“I don’t think Crawford should take that fight because he doesn’t need it,” Khan told talkSPORT.

“There are other fights out there he could take and make big money from. You can always get hurt, when you’re fighting a big puncher like that you can get hurt and I don’t think it’s worth it.

“I’d advise fighters not to jump up too much weight and fight, unless the money is ridiculous.

“I got paid like $10million when I fought him, it’s a lot of money.

“Normally I’d get paid like $3million, I was like, ‘What’s the point when I can just take this one fight and get paid for three fights?’

“It’s not only that, it’s all the training sessions and everything.

“Really I went there for the big purse, but I started believing I was gonna win the fight.

“That’s why I was up on points, but he caught me with the big shot and he put me away.”

Crawford is scheduled to move up to 154 pounds this August to fight Israil Madrimov. Should he succeed, there is potential for an even greater jump to the super-middleweight division.

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BOXING

Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk Reported PPV Buys Revealed

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In the heavyweight division’s most important fight for a quarter of a decade, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk travelled to Riyadh and put their respective world titles on the line to crown a first undisputed four-belt champion of the division. Now, we have a gauge on how well the historic event performed, as the number of pay-per-view buys have been revealed.

It was Oleksandr Usyk who fought through the fire to achieve the coveted goal and etch his name into the history books with a legendary win over ‘The Gypsy King’ despite a near 40lb weight differential, dropping and almost stopping Fury in the ninth-round before pressing the proverbial accelerator and banking the late rounds to edge out a famous split-decision win.

Of all of the recent blockbuster events brought to us by Turki Al-Alshikh and staged in Saudi Arabia, Fury-Usyk was undeniably the largest, eclipsing the hype that surrounded the ‘The Battle of the Baddest’, ‘Day of Reckoning’ and ‘Knockout Chaos’ cards.

ESPN has now reported the number of pay-per-view buys that were racked up from the legendary clash, that also featured a stacked undercard with two further world title bouts taking place before the main-event.

“According to sources, Usyk-Fury generated upward of $50 million in pay-per-view revenue with 1.5-million-plus PPV buys (the vast majority from the U.K., where Fury is a megastar). The event also made $40 million in sponsorship and another $3 million-plus in ticket sales. All in — production, fighter purses, entertainment, travel, etc. — the event cost in the neighbourhood of $120 million.”

With over 1.5 million pay-per-view buys, the Fury-Usyk or ‘Ring of Fire’ show generated the second highest number of purchases of any card headlined by a Brit, being trumped only by Lennox Lewis’ victory over Mike Tyson in 2002. Additionally, the undisputed title showdown was the most purchased pay-per-view bill to not involved either Floyd Mayweather or Mike Tyson, outperforming the trilogy fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, according to Statista.

Overall, Fury-Usyk achieved the ninth highest pay-per-view purchases of any boxing event, whilst Tyson Fury supposedly netted the fifth highest purse of all-time as he banked around £85 million – the highest a fighter has ever been paid aside from fights involving Mayweather and therefore the biggest payday in heavyweight history.

After a thrilling first encounter, it will be interesting to see how well their rematch performs in comparison, although the attraction of a first undisputed heavyweight title match-up of the millennium will not add to the allure. That meeting will take place on December 21st in Riyadh once again, where pay-per-view sales may also be impacted by the Christmas period.

Once their rematch has been concluded, either Anthony Joshua or Daniel Dubois may well be waiting for the winner, but Oleksandr Usyk has revealed that he has other plans and that he does not intend on sticking around to defend the belts after he has faced Fury for a second time.

 

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BOXING

Anthony Joshua could be left out in cold by Oleksandr Usyk decision

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Anthony Joshua’s hopes of becoming an undisputed champion could be ruined by Oleksandr Usyk’s plan to move back to cruiserweight.

Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight world champion in 25 years when he beat Tyson Fury in their historic fight last month. Joshua’s plan of facing Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight belts next year could now be in jeopardy as the Ukrainian wants to move back down to cruiserweight after facing Fury again in December.

“I think maybe after rematch, I want to go down to my weight at cruiserweight. We have spoken about that, go back down to cruiserweight and get undisputed for the second time in that division,” Usyk told Three Knockdown Rule. The Ukrainian has spent most of his career at cruiserweight and has only fought at heavyweight six times.

Usyk admitted he doesn’t enjoy the process of bulking up in size to compete with the likes of Fury and Joshua. “For me, I don’t like it. Three times, cocktail and water. Protein, banana,” he added. Usyk’s manager Egis Klimas then joked his fighter didn’t eat for two days after his win against Fury.

‘AJ’ has won four consecutive fights since losing his unified heavyweight world titles against Usyk and coming up short in their rematch. The Brit’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed Joshua’s undisputed plans whilst speaking about a potential retirement date for the former two-time world champion.

“I think maybe the end of 2026,” Hearn told PA when asked about Joshua’s retirement. “If he wins in September and beats Fury or Usyk to become undisputed then what else do you do? It could even be next year, who knows? He’ll want to continue while he’s performing and right now he’s the best ever. He wants legacy, greatness.”

‘AJ’ is expected to fight Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September for his UK return. Joshua’s longtime rival Deontay Wilder could have revived his chances of facing the Brit if he would have beaten Zhilei Zhang last weekend, but the American was KO’d in another poor performance.

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BOXING

Deontay Wilder replaced by ‘most avoided heavyweight’ on Terence Crawford undercard

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Deontay Wilder will no longer be competing on the Israil Madrimov vs Terence Crawford undercard on August 3.

Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh was lining up a fight between Wilder and Jared Anderson in Los Angeles provided he defeated Zhilei Zhang.

However, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ was knocked out in the fifth round by Zhang last weekend, spelling an end to Alalshikh’s plans.

It now seems highly likely that Wilder will hang up his gloves after admitting before the fight that defeat could spell the end of his career.

But one man’s loss is another man’s gain – and Martin Bakole has now been given the call to face Anderson instead.

The Congolese boxer has been steadily climbing up the heavyweight rankings after falling to defeat for the first and only time in his 21-fight (20-1) career against Michael Hunter in 2018.

Bakole recently recorded a career-best win against former world title challenger Carlos Takam in October.

However, he has struggled to land a big fight since.

He was in negotiations to face Joe Joyce next but according to his trainer and manager Billy Nelson, ‘The Juggernaut’ pulled out of the fight to pursue a domestic dust-up with Derek Chisora on July 27.

The difficulty of finding a fight for Bakole has led to his promoter Ben Shalom branding him ‘the most avoided heavyweight’ on the planet.

Martin Bakole is the most avoided man in the glamour division and can beat every heavyweight on the planet on his day,” he wrote in his exclusive talkSPORT column.

“The Congolese puncher is an incredibly dangerous fight for anyone at his weight.

“He has all of the physical attributes needed to reach the top of the sport.

“His stamina is excellent, he’s extremely strong and on top of all of that, he is a very good boxer.

“It’s only a matter of time before he will be dining at the top table with the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.”

His next outing against Anderson will prove whether Bakole is really as good as Shalom suggests.

Anderson (17-0) is one of the most exciting young up-and-coming heavyweights in the world right now.

A number of media outlets have branded him ‘a heavyweight world champion in waiting’ while Tyson Fury – who has sparred with Anderson several times – is tipping him as the ‘heir to his throne’.

If Bakole can derail the hype train then he will find himself in a very strong position to challenge for world titles down the line.

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BOXING

Joaquin Niemann Wins Over the Shackles That Killed Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson & Co’s Dreams

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If anyone can defy the odds at LIV Golf, Joaquin Niemann can be one of them. The Saudi-backed league features top golfers such as Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm. However, what often hinders these talented players? Yes, you guessed it right—it’s the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). It impacts not only a professional golfer’s eligibility for majors and the Ryder Cup but also plays a vital role in their participation in the Olympics.

The Summer Olympics will take place from July 26, 2024, to August 11, 2024. Consequently, golfers raced to qualify for their country’s men’s golf team. While some LIV golfers, like Bryson Dechambeau, failed to earn a spot, Joaquin Niemann has already made the list. After Nosferatu, sources shared a post on X, which confirmed that the Chilean professional golfer Joaquin Niemann had qualified. Considering the current challenges with the Saudi-backed league and the OWGR, LIV golfers already find it difficult to qualify for the majors, let alone the Olympics.

Greg Norman’s 2023 OWGR accreditation request was denied due to the circuit’s 54-hole format with no cuts, cited by OWGR chairman Peter Dawson for issues including limited access for new players to join the venture. Following this decision, Norman withdrew the application. The challenge extends beyond majors, where OWGR rankings are crucial; the Olympics also takes them into account.

The top 15 men in the OWGR at the end of the qualifying period automatically qualify, but others rely on the Olympic Golf Ranking. This system is based on strength-of-field ratings accumulated over two years, incorporating tournaments sanctioned by the OWGR. It seems Niemann has secured a spot through this system considering his T22 finish at Masters. But that’s not the only time Joaquin Niemann has surprised the community with his unexpected qualification.

Joaquin Niemann’s past unexpected appearances

While Talor Gooch, a three-time LIV golfer winner, stirred the golf community after not receiving an invite, Niemann’s name brought an unexpected twist. His past performances earned him an invitation to the Masters, where he finished T22. Additionally, during that time, Niemann also confirmed that he had already received an invitation for the 2024 PGA Championship.

Following his second major appearance, there was considerable anticipation that Joaquín Niemann might also compete in the US Open. However, it has been confirmed that he will miss out on the tournament this year after the results of the final qualifiers.

What are your thoughts on Niemann’s accomplishments? Do you think he has the potential to surprise the golf world with his performance at the Olympics this year? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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