Boxing
DILLIAN WHYTE COULD BE ANTHONY JOSHUA’S NEXT OPPONENT
Unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua could face fellow British fighter Dillian Whyte next, say the BBC Radio 5 Live Boxing team.
Joshua reclaimed his three world titles by beating Andy Ruiz Jr on points in a rematch in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
The 30-year-old previously beat Whyte, 31, in 2015.
The WBO said Joshua must now face mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk while IBF equivalent Kubrat Pulev is another potential next opponent.
But BBC boxing correspondent Mike Costello, boxing expert Steve Bunce and former super-middleweight champion Richie Woodhall all said on the 5 Live Boxing podcast that a rematch against Whyte might be Joshua’s first fight in 2020.
Whyte beat Joshua as an amateur in 2009 and his only professional defeat in 28 bouts was a seventh-round knockout by his fellow Briton at the O2 Arena in London.
After having a charge for a doping violation dropped by UK Anti-Doping on Friday, Whyte beat Poland’s Mariusz Wach on a unanimous points decision on the undercard of the Joshua-Ruiz bout in Riyadh.
“Dillian Whyte at Wembley next year makes all the sense in the world,” said Bunce after Woodhall and Costello both suggested the all-British fight.
“Ukad have cleared him, Whyte and Joshua have got an old beef – that’s perfect.”
WBC champion Deontay Wilder is set to face Britain’s Tyson Fury in a rematch on 22 February.
Joshua said he is no longer interested in calling out American Wilder for a fight with all four world titles on the line but will fight Wilder and Fury “if the opportunity presents itself”.
“Once their rematch is out of the way they can start mentioning my name,” he said.
“I can’t keep on fighting all the champions, the best in the division and then other people who say they want to step up don’t step up.
“All challengers are welcome to take on this current unified champion.”
Costello said Joshua’s win over Ruiz and the fact many bookmakers were offering near even odds in any contest against Wilder or Fury showed he was “back on the top table” after his shock defeat by Ruiz in June.
“We are on the cusp, possibly, of having this great heavyweight era that we’ve been talking about for so long over the next two years,” he added.
Joshua was meant to face Pulev in Cardiff in October 2017 but the Bulgarian withdrew through injury and was replaced by Carlos Takam, who Joshua stopped in round 10.
Bunce also said Joshua could well “fight a guy like Pulev next” before possibly facing the winner of a bout between Usyk and Britain’s Dereck Chisora in the summer and then a third fight in November or December.
Joshua said on Sunday that defending his belts “on home soil would be big news” after promoter Eddie Hearn revealed he had been in discussions over a fight at Tottenham’s new 60,000-capacity stadium, most likely against Pulev.
“It would be mega,” Joshua added. “Looking at how many people came out here shows there is still a big interest in the heavyweight division, especially now we are taking the belts back.
“Sometimes it would be better against a Brit, but if not I follow the mandatories and defend them that way.”
Regardless of the opponent, Woodhall said Joshua’s next fight “will not be too far away” because he has a “feel-good factor” after beating Ruiz.
“He’s got that hunger back and he wants to keep boxing because he knows that if he’s boxing regularly, he’s boxing at his best.”
U.S. immigration authorities have arrested Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Los Angeles and plan to deport him, they said on Thursday, just days after he lost a high-profile bout to American rival Jake Paul.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Chavez was determined to be in the country illegally last week after he made fraudulent statements on a 2024 application for permanent residence. He is married to a U.S. citizen, it said.
Michael Goldstein, a lawyer for Chavez, said more than two dozen immigration agents arrested the boxer at his home in the Studio City area of Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“The current allegations are outrageous and appear to be designed as a headline to terrorize the community,” Goldstein said.
Homeland Security said that the 39-year-old boxer, son of Mexican world champion fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, is suspected of ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, which Washington has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. speaks at press conference in anticipation of his fight against Jake Paul at Avalon Hollywood Theater. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images/File Photo
His wife, Frida Munoz Chavez, was previously married to the son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. The son, Edgar, was assassinated in 2008.
Chavez is the target of a Mexican arrest warrant on allegations of involvement in organized crime and firearms trafficking, DHS said.
In Mexico, Chavez’ family said in a statement they “fully trust in his innocence.”
Chavez lost to influencer-turned-boxer Paul, 28, last weekend before a sold-out crowd in Anaheim, California, in a unanimous decision after 10 rounds.
He was allowed to enter the United States temporarily in early January under former President Joe Biden, DHS said. He had previously overstayed a tourist visa, it said.
The agency said Chavez was convicted in Los Angeles in 2024 on weapons charges. Goldstein denied he was convicted, saying he pleaded not guilty and was granted mental health diversion which will result in dismissal of the charges.
Chavez won the WBC middleweight championship in 2011, but lost the title the next year.
His career has been overshadowed by controversies including a suspension after testing positive for a banned substance in 2009 and a fine and suspension after testing positive for marijuana in 2013.
His record stands at 54 wins, six losses and one draw, with 34 knockouts.
Reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Bhargav Acharya, Lizbeth Diaz, Angelica Medina, Diego Ore and Kylie Madry in Mexico City, Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot
-Reuters
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Manny Pacquiao will come out of retirement to face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship on July 19 in Las Vegas, the 46-year-old Filipino boxer said on Wednesday.
Pacquiao is the only boxer to win world championships in a record eight weight divisions while he was also the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40 in 2019.
A Filipino senator from 2016 to 2022, Pacquiao had retired from boxing in 2021 while he also ran for president in 2022.
“I’m back. On July 19, I return to the ring to face WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Let’s make history,” Pacquiao wrote on Instagram.
The southpaw, who has 62 wins, eight losses and two draws in a 72-fight career, was also elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025.
Barrios, a Mexican-American boxer, has 29 wins in 32 bouts, winning 18 by knockout and losing twice.
-Reuters
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The body of Segun Olanrewaju, the Nigerian boxer who slumped and died in the ring in Ghana on Saturday is still in a mortuary in Ghana. The President of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C), Dr Rafiu Oladipo, informed Sports Village Square that an autopsy will be conducted on Wednesday.
He said that the NBB of C is closely monitoring the events in Ghana, even as the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade has asked for updates on the sad incident.
On Monday, a delegation of the NBB of C visited the family of the late boxer in Sango Otta in Ogun State. Oladipo said he was still in shock at the death of the boxer who he considered fit having fought last December 29.
He revealed that one of the members of the Nigerian delegation to Ghana stayed behind to follow up on the autopsy.
He narrated that the late boxer took part on Thursday in the mandatory weigh-in which is normally conducted 24 hours before a fight. Additionally, a medical check-up is also to be conducted.
“But in this instance, there was no medical check. On this ground, Oladipo blamed the Ghana Boxing Authority.
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