Boxing
ANTHONY JOSHUA VOWS TO DOWN PULEV IN 11TH ROUND
Anthony Joshua has promised to beat Kubrat Pulev in the 11th round of their heavyweight clash in June.
The British champion will take on the Bulgarian at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before a potential fight with Tyson Fury later in the year.
A defeat against Wladimir Klitschko in 2014 is the only loss on Pulev’s record but Joshua is confident of beating the 38-year-old.
‘He’s been in the game for a while, he went to the top level and then he got defeated,’ Joshua told William Hill.
‘So he knows his way around the ring. He’s had his chance at the top level and now he’s coming back again, so he’s probably going to try and get it right.
‘I’ll be expecting a more polished, smarter Pulev, and he can bang a bit as well. He’s had a few knockouts on his record as well, he can bang and he can box so he’s a boxer-puncher.
‘It’s kind of like what my style is as well so it will be a good match up for sure. We’re going to box, people are going to see some skills, and they’re probably going to see a knockout as well because you’ve got two boxer-punchers.’
When asked to give a prediction on the fight the 30-year-old said: ‘Round 11.’
The fight between Joshua and Pulev on June 20 means any potential clash with Fury would come after the summer.
Promoter Eddie Hearn is desperate for Joshua to fight the Gypsy King in either November or December after the 31-year-old completes his re-match with Deontay Wilder in July.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Hearn said: ‘The great thing is that [Fury vs Wilder 3) is in July and we box in June.
‘Now our intention, and conversations are ongoing, is to finalise the Fury vs Joshua fight for December of this year.’
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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