Boxing / UFC / MMA News
19-year-old taken to hospital after loss in California
Knockout happened just 78 seconds into fight
The promoter and family of junior flyweight boxer Isis Sio say she is awake and breathing on her own after initially being placed in a medically induced coma following a knockout loss last weekend.
Sio is still in intensive care, but the 19-year-old is no longer on a ventilator, ProBox TV announced in a news release on Monday.
Continue reading...Usyk condemns Russia’s return to global sport
Ukrainian champion calls Olympic shift “absurd”
Heavyweight star still targeting Fury trilogy
The world of sport appears to be softening the hardline stance it took when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Russian athletes are back competing under their own flag at the Paralympics. Fifa president Gianni Infantino said the international ban on Russian soccer teams “has not achieved anything”. And his counterpart at the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, insists all athletes should be allowed to “compete freely.”
Continue reading...Interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje will be among several UFC fighters who will demonstrate their training techniques to academy students and FBI staff at the FBI Special Agent Academy in Quantico, Virginia, on Saturday and Sunday.
Gaethje also will headline a July 4 card on the south lawn of the White House when he goes against Ilia Topuria for the lightweight championship.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our FBI agents to learn and train with some of the greatest athletes on earth — helping the world’s premier law enforcement agency be even better prepared to protect the American people,” FBI director Kash Patel said in a statement.
Jorge Masvidal, Chris Weidman, Claudia Gadelha, Michael Chandler, Manel Kape and Renzo Gracie are the other mixed-martial arts fighters who will take part.
"It’s an incredible opportunity for our athletes to experience, and we’re proud to support the FBI in strengthening their defense techniques,” Dana White, the UFC CEO and president, said in a statement.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Unbeaten rivals collide at Tokyo Dome on 2 May
Inoue defends undisputed super-bantamweight crown
Nakatani says he must be ‘at my best’ to win
Japan’s Naoya Inoue said Friday that he will need to be at his destructive best when he faces unbeaten countryman Junto Nakatani in their highly anticipated showdown at Tokyo Dome in May.
The two fighters met in Tokyo to formally confirm their 2 May clash, with Inoue set to defend his undisputed super bantamweight world championship against Nakatani, who is moving up in weight in pursuit of a fourth divisional title.
Continue reading...Have you been following the big stories in football, rugby, golf, winter sports, F1, cricket, baseball and boxing?
Continue reading...Champion will face Rico Verhoeven for WBC belt in May
‘I respect people who reach the very top in their sport’
Oleksandr Usyk, who has not fought since a fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois at Wembley in July, will defend his WBC heavyweight title against a kickboxer at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
The bout with Rico Verhoeven on 23 May, dubbed “Glory in Giza”, will be the first title fight held in Egypt, according to The Ring magazine, and will be streamed live on Dazn.
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Continue reading...40-something fighters will meet in Las Vegas
Mayweather won previous encounter in 2015
Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will face each other on 19 September in Las Vegas in a rematch of one of the biggest fights in boxing history.
Their first fight, in 2015, was generally seen as a tame affair with both fighters past their peaks. September’s bout, which will be streamed live on Netflix, is likely to be of a lower quality. Mayweather and Pacquiao will be 49 and 47 respectively when they fight. Mayweather’s last professional fight, which preserved his unbeaten record, came in 2017, although that was a glorified exhibition against UFC star Conor McGregor. Pacquiao fought for the WBC welterweight championship last year, but is far from the force he was in his prime.
Continue reading...Fury set to step back into the ring after 15 months out
Joshua involved in fatal Nigeria car crash in December
Tyson Fury has revealed the deaths of two of long-time rival Anthony Joshua’s friends in a car crash in December was the catalyst for his return to boxing.
Fury will step back into the ring on 11 April after a 15-month absence to face the Russian-born heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov in a bout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which will be broadcast live on Netflix.
Continue reading...Have you been following the big stories in football, tennis, NFL, rugby, cricket, winter sports, snooker and boxing?
Continue reading...Boxer fights back tears in first video since fatal car crash
Joshua: ‘I am going to do what is right by them’
An emotional Anthony Joshua has insisted he knows what he has got to do after the death of close friends Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele last month, adding that their company was akin to “walking with giants”.
The two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua was involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria on 29 December which killed Ghami and Ayodele and shocked the boxing fraternity.
Continue reading...Ahead of his blockbuster Madison Square Garden clash with Shakur Stevenson on Saturday night, boxing’s most mercurial star reflects on pressure, purpose and parenthood
Teófimo López’s boxing career has unfolded in untidy extremes, and few places have captured those contradictions like Madison Square Garden. It’s the building where he boat-raced Richard Commey inside two rounds to win his first world title aged 22, saw his fast track to superstardom abruptly derailed as a heavy favorite, then returned two years later to dismantle Josh Taylor as the underdog and stamp himself as a two-division champion. Now on Saturday night, when he defends his junior welterweight title against Shakur Stevenson in a clash of arguably the two best American fighters active today, the Garden may finally make it clear which version of López is here to stay.
“It’s the magnitude of it all,” says López, one of boxing’s most charismatic and mercurial personalities, filling my screen with warmth and effortless third-person bravado during the final days of his training camp in Hollywood, Florida. “Who’s going to really set the tone for the sport? You’ve got Shakur Stevenson, who wants that baton, and you’ve got Teófimo López who believes he’s the better representation for boxing.”
Continue reading...Davis arrested after US Marshals surveillance operation
Warrant alleges battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping
Arrest follows lawsuit and cancelled Jake Paul bout
Gervonta Davis, a three-division world champion and one of boxing’s biggest stars, was taken into custody in Miami on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after police issued an arrest warrant accusing the fighter of battery, false imprisonment and attempted kidnapping in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident last fall.
Miami Gardens police said Davis was apprehended following a multi-day surveillance operation conducted across three counties in coordination with the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Authorities said he was arrested without incident in Miami’s Design District and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center late Wednesday night.
Continue reading...Former world champion to face Arslanbek Makhmudov
Briton has been training in Thailand
Tyson Fury is to make his comeback against Arslanbek Makhmudov on 11 April in a fight that will be screened on Netflix. Fury announced his retirement a year ago after successive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, but has been training in Thailand for his return to the ring. A venue has yet to be announced for the fight, but it will take place in the UK, making it Fury’s first contest here since he overcame Derek Chisora in 2022.
“Well it’s official I’m back doing what I [heart emoji] to do,” Fury posted on Instagram. “I’ve brought the biggest network along with me. Netflix, this is going to be astronomical. Blessed by God.”
Continue reading...For all the golden moments, rewatching coverage from 40 years ago was a lesson in how much things have improved
Forty years ago this month, the Pet Shop Boys track West End Girls topped the charts. Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea were locked in a four-way battle for the title. And Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on Wogan. Terry: “This new film you’ve made, Commando: it’s very violent isn’t it?” Arnie: “Actually, it’s low-key. I only kill around 100 people.”
How do I know this? Because Facebook’s algorithm serves it to me daily. Terrifyingly, it understands me better than I understand myself. A half-forgotten goal, race or innings? That is my sugar-salt-fat magic. An old Top 40 chart or TV listing? My double‑strength nicotine patch.
Continue reading...