Category: Boxing / UFC / MMA

WBO heavyweight champion targets big paydays against Hrgovic, Kabayel and Itauma after second round win

Thirty minutes after Daniel Dubois had dismantled Fabio Wardley in less than two rounds on Saturday night, his promoter Frank Warren shook his head in slight awe as he described the intensity before the annihilation: “I went in the dressing room beforehand like I normally do and I couldn’t have a conversation with Daniel because he was so zoned in and focused. It showed when he got in the ring. He went out there on a seek-and-destroy mission.”

Dubois resembled a much bigger and heavier version of a young Mike Tyson as, wearing black trunks and a black cape, he walked to the ring with intense purpose. There was not a flicker of emotion as he marched quickly towards Wardley for their WBO world title rematch.

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• Fundora lands decisive blow at 2:59 of final round

• Champion makes fourth successful title defense

• 6ft 5in fighter targets undisputed crown at 154lb

Sebastian Fundora kept his pursuit of an undisputed championship on track with a second to spare.

Fundora stopped Ermal Hadribeaj with a left hand at 2:59 of the 12th round on Saturday night at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas to retain his WBC super welterweight title.

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After losing his WBO heavyweight title in a brutal first bout in May, the Briton insists he can ‘right those wrongs’ on Saturday night

Five months ago, watching a likely Fight of the Year between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley in Manchester, a ringside seat offered an initially thrilling insight into the raw brutality of heavyweight boxing. It was easy to be swept up in the drama as Wardley, defending his WBO title, dropped his more seasoned and favoured rival in the first and third rounds. But Dubois, whose courage had been questioned before, got up both times and fought back with admirable resolve.

Dubois soon took control of the contest and administered a punishing beating, round after round, as concern for Wardley intensified. It was a worrying sight as the reeling champion refused to go down amid the damage being done to him by the bludgeoning power by Dubois. A terrible gash opened up across the bridge of Wardley’s nose and his face looked swollen. The end was finally confirmed in the 11th round, after the referee rescued Wardley from his own bravery, but it was the kind of heavy loss which takes years off a fighter’s career.

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This long-awaited fight is happening exactly as intended: at the sweet spot where commercial potential meets a genuine absence of jeopardy

The 1912 Olympic marathon was held in a brutal Scandinavian heatwave, and before long Shizo Kanakuri of Japan was flagging. His journey to Stockholm had been debilitating; he had barely trained and struggled to sleep. At around the 16-mile mark he finally gave in. Exhausted and disoriented, he stumbled off the road and into a garden party, where – according to his bemused hosts – he sat and drank orange juice for an hour.

The next day, deeply ashamed at his failure to complete the race, he quietly took a boat back to Japan. In Sweden the mystery of the “disappearing runner” took on almost mythical proportions. Kanakuri’s name was on the country’s missing persons list for more than 50 years.

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Fighters have always provided rich material for stories on stage and screen and the appeal to audiences has not wavered

Three of my greatest joys in life are watching sport, going to the theatre and playing violin. So it felt almost embarrassing to discover a classic play that combined all three, yet I’d never heard of it before. To be fair, Golden Boy has not been performed in the UK in more than 40 years and its curious premise may be one of the reasons.

Written in 1937, it’s about a gifted young violinist in Depression-era America who also has a talent for boxing and is lured away from music by the pursuit of fame and money in the ring. In the current London production he is played by Josh O’Connor, who Knives Out fans have seen with his fists up as a boxer turned priest in Wake Up Dead Man. O’Connor is no less convincing on stage than on film, attacking a heavy bag with the kind of power that does indeed make you worry for his precious hands. Nor is that ab definition entirely the work of a makeup artist.

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• Joshua reveals he is speaking to Peter Fury on training

• Fury vows to ‘blast him out’ at London press conference

Anthony Joshua has revealed that he is in contact with Tyson Fury’s uncle Peter, in a surprise twist to the buildup between the two former world champion heavyweights who will finally meet in the ring in Cardiff in December.

Peter Fury trained Tyson when he shocked Wladimir Klitschko to win his first world heavyweight title, in 2015. The uncle and nephew fell out soon afterwards, apparently over a financial dispute, and have not spoken in many years.

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• Tyson Fury says Anthony Joshua is ‘trying to pull out’

• Promotional tension blamed for late jeopardy

Frank Warren believes the proposed fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will still take place in Cardiff in December despite widespread concern on Saturday that the bout could be on the brink of collapse yet again. Warren, who has promoted Fury for years, told the Guardian: “It will still happen because the Saudis will sue the arses off them if it doesn’t. The Saudis are putting up the money. They’re the paymasters and so I think it will happen.”

On Saturday morning, Fury had suggested that the fight was in serious jeopardy: “Breaking news. Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn are trying to pull out of this fight. They’re saying they’re not gonna fight now. It’s mainly to do with Eddie Hearn’s ego. He’s making up a million different things and threatening ‘we’re not gonna fight, we’re not gonna fight, we’re not gonna fight’. He’s cost us the biggest fight in boxing history. Clown.”

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• Fight on 11 December announced by Turki Alalshikh

• Fury v Joshua to be streamed globally on Netflix

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s highly-anticipated heavyweight clash will take place at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on 11 December after a deal was finally agreed.

The details will for the bout, one of the biggest in British boxing history, were announced by Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority and president of the Saudi Boxing Federation, with the tagline: “Years in the making. One night to settle it.”

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• ‘I didn’t celebrate. I went home to rest. It was a hard fight’

• Hrgovic stopped Briton to win the IBF heavyweight title

Filip Hrgovic, the new IBF world heavyweight champion, has offered a candid insight into the ordeal he endured before beating Moses Itauma in a shock stoppage victory last month, revealing he absorbed so many heavy punches in the first eight rounds that he felt headaches for a number of days afterwards.

“I felt fucked up,” said the 34-year-old Croat. “I received a lot of shots and I was bruised. I had a bit of a headache for a few days. On the Wednesday after the fight I was back in the gym, working out already, but for a few days I felt really tired and bruised, with some headaches.”

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• Garcia stops Benn 1min 25sec into second round

• Champion floors challenger with concussive right

• López, Haney, Stevenson among possible fights

Ryan Garcia needed less than four minutes to blow away Conor Benn before turning his sights on the rest of the welterweight division.

The 28-year-old American demolished Benn inside two rounds on Saturday night to retain his World Boxing Council championship at 147lb, dropping the British challenger with a concussive right hand before the referee stepped in moments later at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The sensational finish ignited the mostly pro-Garcia crowd of 18,855 on Mexican Independence Day weekend. Then, with Teófimo López taunting him from ringside and threatening to storm the ring, Garcia made it clear he was ready to take on all comers.

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• Garcia retains 147lb title with second-round TKO

• Teófimo López confronts Garcia afterward in ring

• Opetaia retains cruiserweight title on undercard

Zuffa/Paramount paused for a commercial break with Garcia and Benn in the ring before the fighter announcements. Which is a choice! Anyway, the waiting is over. The final instructions have been given by referee Tom Taylor, the seconds are out and we’ll pick it up with round-by-round coverage from here!

And here comes Ryan Garcia! The champion makes his way through the bowels of T-Mobile Arena and on to the floor as Vicente Fernández’s El Rey plays over the sound system, an obvious hit with a febrile crowd on Mexican Independence Day weekend.

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Fight offers revealing snapshot of boxers once facing uncertain futures after positive drug tests now vying for a welterweight world championship

Four years ago Conor Benn’s career was thrown into limbo after two positive drug tests scuppered his blockbuster fight with Chris Eubank Jr. Two years ago Ryan Garcia was serving a one-year suspension after testing positive for ostarine at the time of his greatest victory.

On Saturday night they will each be rewarded with an eight-figure payday when they meet at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for Garcia’s WBC welterweight championship. The purses have not been disclosed, although reports have put the combined pot at around $30m (£22m) with each fighter expected to haul in roughly $15m.

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• Irish fans dazzled by showcase of skills in huge points win

• Scorecards read 110-90, 110-90 and 98-91 in her favour

Katie Taylor signed off her storied career in style by outclassing Flora Pili on points as an 80,000 crowd at Croke Park celebrated her fairytale farewell.

With the gaze of Ireland upon her, the country’s great became a three-time undisputed world champion by overwhelming the previously unbeaten Frenchwoman 100-90, 100-90, 98-91 on the scorecards.

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