New champ Usyk heads for simple life, Joshua eyes rematch
LONDON (AP) — Anthony Joshua was walking back to his dressing room, dazed, bedraggled — he could barely see out of his right eye — with sympathetic shouts coming from the crowd of 66,000 who’d just seen British boxing’s national treasure lose his world heavyweight titles again. Joshua was trying hard not to feel sorry […]
Usyk ends Joshua’s reign as heavyweight champ
LONDON (AP) — Oleksandr Usyk ended Anthony Joshua’s second reign as world heavyweight champion Saturday with a unanimous points win in just his third fight since stepping up from the cruiserweight division. Usyk became the third man, after Evander Holyfield and David Haye, to win world titles at cruiserweight then heavyweight. Six years after Wladimir […]
Dominican boxer hospitalized, ‘responsive’ after brutal KO
LONDON (AP) — Dominican boxer Lenin Castillo was taken to the hospital after being carried out of the ring on a stretcher following a devastating knockout by British opponent Callum Smith on Saturday. Event promoter Eddie Hearn said the 33-year-old Castillo was “responsive” after needing treatment by medical staff in the ring at Tottenham Hotspur […]
Joshua weighs in much heavier than Usyk ahead of title fight
LONDON (AP) — Oleksandr Usyk is giving up 19 pounds (9 kilograms) on world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua for their fight on Saturday. Usyk, the challenger from Ukraine, tipped the scales at 221 pounds (100kg) at the weigh-in in London on Friday. That’s heavier than the former cruiserweight was for his two fights since moving […]
Hamilton, Verstappen renew bruising F1 title fight in Russia
SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen traded verbal blows at the Russian Grand Prix on Thursday, less than two weeks after a crash which knocked both of the Formula One title rivals out of the last race. Seven-time champion Hamilton suggested Verstappen was feeling the pressure of fighting for what would be […]
Heavyweight champ Joshua back in ring and has plenty to lose
Anthony Joshua’s seemingly inexorable journey to being undisputed heavyweight champion of the world has gotten a little bumpy over the last two years. First there was the loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. that no one saw coming at Madison Square Garden in June 2019, least of all Joshua after 22 straight wins to open his […]
Eccentric and hard to hit, Usyk a tricky opponent for Joshua
Anthony Joshua has never fought a challenger like Oleksandr Usyk. The unbeaten, unconventional Ukrainian matches slick footwork with a quirky sense of humor, and he is notoriously hard to hit. In their title fight in London on Saturday, Usyk can become the first heavyweight champion from Ukraine since 2015, when Wladimir Klitschko lost on points […]
Once-amateur boxing world championships to offer prize money
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The boundary between amateur and professional boxing blurred further Thursday with the International Boxing Association offering prize money of up to $100,000 for the first time at the historically amateur men’s world championships. AIBA said a total prize fund of $2.6 million was in place to award medalists in each category, […]
Joshua: I need to fight Tyson Fury
LONDON (AP) — Anthony Joshua has admitted he must fight Tyson Fury, believing boxing needs at least one bout between the British rivals. “Do I need Tyson Fury on my record? I need it,” Joshua said on the BBC 5 Live Boxing podcast. ”We need it for boxing. It’s what we all need, I need […]
Yoka beats Milas for an 11th win, pays tribute to Belmondo
PARIS (AP) — Unbeaten French heavyweight boxer Tony Yoka secured an 11th straight win when he stopped Croatian Petar Milas at the end of the seventh round on Friday. Moments after his victory, Yoka held up a photo of late French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, who died on Monday and who was a huge boxing fan. […]