Anthony Joshua calls for Deontay Wilder to ‘play ball’ in talks over 2024 fight August 13, 2023 Anthony Joshua has set his sights on a heavyweight showdown with big-hitting Deontay Wilder early next year after displaying his own explosive punching against Robert Helenius. Joshua stopped last-minute opponent Helenius with a fearsome right hand in the seventh round at London’s O2 on Saturday, achieving his first knockout since 2020. That victory rubber-stamped the [...]
Helenius steps in to fight Joshua despite having bout just last week August 8, 2023 Robert Helenius will step in and fight Anthony Joshua this weekend at the O2 Arena after the British heavyweight’s original opponent Dillian Whyte had “adverse analytical findings” detected in a drugs test. The organisers of the fight, Matchroom, found a new opponent for Joshua within 72 hours of the fight’s initial cancellation but the new [...]
Enhanced Games president likens doping to ‘being gay 50 years ago’ July 3, 2023 Ever thought about watching a 100m race where you knew everyone was using substances to artificially enhance themselves, rather than finding out a couple of years later when a ban is issued? Well the Enhanced Games may be for you. The idea pits competitive sport alongside the world of performance enhancing drugs in an Olympics-style [...]
Ed Warner: Rugby, boxing, netball, Para sport – what should Saudi Arabia buy next? June 22, 2023 Challenge accepted! A reader last week asked what the most investable sports worldwide are from the perspective of a sovereign wealth fund such as Saudi Arabia’s PIF. He had rugby union in mind, but wanted a long train journey to dredge up others. A return trip on Avanti West Coast to the first Ashes Test [...]
London brawling: Why the city has become a combat sports capital again May 15, 2023 Wrestling and MMA have followed boxing in staging huge shows in London this summer, cementing the city’s reputation as a leading destination for combat sports’ biggest events. An earthquake hit the world of professional wrestling earlier this month and its epicentre was London. All Elite Wrestling, formed to compete with the all-conquering World Wrestling Entertainment, [...]
Boxer Amir Khan banned from ALL SPORT for two years after accepting doping charge April 4, 2023 British boxer Amir Khan has received a two-year ban for doping around the time of his farewell fight against Kell Brook last year. Khan, 36, tested positive for the banned steroid ostarine following his defeat against domestic rival Brook in Manchester 14 months ago. The former light-welterweight world champion accepted that he had committed a [...]
Dan Azeez interview: Britain’s next boxing superstar on swapping financial services for the fight game March 7, 2023 Dan Azeez was planning for a career in the City when an encounter with Anthony Joshua in 2011 changed his life. The south Londoner’s parents, first generation Nigerian immigrants, impressed upon him the importance of education and a profession, so Azeez took a degree in accounting and finance at Essex University and set his sights [...]
Why Michael B Jordan’s Creed is the coolest franchise in Hollywood March 2, 2023 The Creed movies are an outlier in modern Hollywood. Their modest success at the box office might undersell the fact that they’ve done what few franchises have achieved convincingly: passed the torch. Yes, they aren’t the cultural landmarks that the Rocky films were, but the character has established himself enough to make this third chapter [...]
Britain to boycott boxing championships over decision to allow Russia athletes to compete under flag February 14, 2023 Great Britain will snub the women’s boxing world championships in India over the decision to allow Russian athletes to compete under their flag. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had advised all governing bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing under their own flags but the International Boxing Association (IBA) has gone against such [...]
Best of 2022: Claressa Shields v Savannah Marshall and the rise of women’s boxing December 30, 2022 Women’s boxing enjoyed unprecedented prominence in 2022, not least when Britain’s Savannah Marshall and American Claressa Shields met in a blockbuster fight at the O2. This preview, originally published in October, set the scene for the biggest night of women’s boxing ever seen in the UK. The last time Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields met [...]