Boxing
ANGRY WILDER SACKS TRAINER FOR THROWING IN THE TOWEL
Dethroned Deontay Wilder will sack his trainer Mark Breland after being left angered that he had thrown the towel in in a knockout defeat to Tyson Fury, UK Dail Mail has reported.
Wilder’s corner threw in the towel in the seventh round of the Las Vegas showpiece
and it was viewed as a sensible call after the Alabama fighter had been dropped
twice earlier in the fight.
But Wilder, and head trainer Jay Deas, spoke after the defeat that they did not agree with the move and the heavyweight is now ready to shake-up his team as a consequence.
Wilder has revealed he will activate his rematch clause option for a trilogy fight and he will go into that fight with a new trainer.
Speaking to Yahoo, Wilder said: ‘I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional.
‘It is not an emotional thing, it’s a principle thing. We’ve talked about this situation many, many years before this even happened. I said as a warrior, as a champion, as a leader, as a ruler, I want to go out on my shield. If I’m talking about going in and killing a man, I respect the same way. I abide by the same principal of receiving.
‘So I told my team to never, ever, no matter what it may look like, to never throw the towel in with me because I’m a special kind. I still had five rounds left. No matter what it looked like, I was still in the fight.’
Former US fighter Andre Ward was among those defending Breland’s call to end the fight early.
He tweeted: ‘I respect Mark Breland. We need more trainers like him in the sport of boxing. I stand with you Coach.’
Wilder produced a disappointing display as he was roundly beaten by Fury and he has since blamed the referee and his own ringwalk costume for his lacklustre display.
The American wore a black and red armoured body suit with a matching mask and crown, weighing a total of 40lbs, as he made his way to the squared circle for his second bout with Fury at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday.
While there had been some talk of a unification bout for Fury with Anthony Joshua, it appears the focus will now be a third installment of Wilder-Fury.
‘The rematch is definitely going to happen,’ Wilder added to The Athletic. ‘We’re going to get it on. I want to get right back to it.’
Fury, as the winner of the second bout, would be entitled to a 60/40 percentage split of all the money on the line for the fight, plus the earnings from PPV and ticket sales.
Oleksandr Usyk will put his WBC heavyweight title belt on the line against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, Ring Magazine announced on Friday.
The Ukrainian three-times undisputed champion holds the IBF, WBA and WBC titles after vacating the WBO belt.
The 39-year-old has not boxed since beating Britain’s Daniel Dubois at London’s Wembley Stadium last July.
“I respect his (Verhoeven’s) journey – he’s truly the ‘King of Kickboxing’. But this is boxing – a different game, with its own rules and its own kings,” said Usyk, who has a 24-0 record.
“I’m ready and looking forward to meeting him in the ring. It’s going to be a unique experience for both of us, and I know the fans are excited too. A big night is coming.”
The ‘Glory in Giza’ fight will be streamed live on DAZN.
“I spent 12 years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion and accomplished everything I set out to accomplish,” Verhoeven, 36, told The Ring.
“But staying at the top for that long didn’t take away from the hunger; it strengthened it. Usyk is the undisputed champion in boxing. That’s the kind of challenge that motivated me. Undisputed versus undisputed.”
Verhoeven has sparred in the past with former champion Tyson Fury and had one professional bout in 2014, which he won by a knockout.
-Reuters
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Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will face off in a professional rematch at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September, with the bout streaming globally on Netflix, the fighters and promoters announced on Monday.
The fight marks Mayweather’s return from retirement and will be the first professional boxing match held at the Sphere.
Mayweather, who holds a perfect 50-0 record with 27 knockouts, defeated Pacquiao in their 2015 encounter dubbed the “Fight of the Century.”
That bout generated a record 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and a $72 million live gate at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“I already fought and beat Manny once. This time will be the same result,” Mayweather said in a statement.
Pacquiao, whose record stands at 62-8-3 with 39 knockouts, expressed confidence he would hand Mayweather his first professional loss.
“I want Floyd to live with the one loss on his professional record and always remember who gave it to him,” the Filipino fighter said.
The rematch will stream to Netflix’s more than 325 million subscribers worldwide, continuing the platform’s push into live boxing.
The streaming platform has recently broadcast several high-profile fights, including Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson, which the company said drew 108 million live global viewers
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Former multi-weight world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather will come out of retirement this year for his first official fight in nearly a decade, his new promotion CSI Sports/Fight Sports said on Friday, though his opponent has yet to be decided.
Before his official return, Mayweather is set for an exhibition bout with fellow boxing great Mike Tyson, with the date and venue still to be announced.
“I still have what it takes to set more records in the sport of boxing – from my upcoming Mike Tyson event to my next professional fight afterwards – no one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience and generate more money with each event – than my events,” Mayweather, 48, said in a statement on his new promotion’s website.
It will mark the American’s fourth comeback from retirement, following previous exits in 2007, 2015 and 2017 — the last after beating Conor McGregor to extend his record to 50-0. He has, however, fought several exhibitions since.
Across a three-decade career, Mayweather defeated many of his era’s top fighters and headlined the three highest‑grossing bouts in history, against Manny Pacquiao, McGregor and Canelo Alvarez.
-Reuters
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