Boxing
BULGARIAN BOXER KUBRAT PULEV ACCUSED OF RACIALLY ABUSING ANTHONY JOSHUA
Kubrat Pulev sparked accusations of racism ahead of his world heavyweight title fight with Anthony Joshua by claiming ‘his tan is better than mine’.
The 39-year-old Bulgarian will battle it out it with Joshua for his WBA, IBF and WBO titles, with the fight set to take place on December 12 after it was initially postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
And ahead of the pair’s upcoming title fight, Pulev was asked about his verdict on Joshua – in which he made a controversial comment about his opponent’s skin colour.
And following Pulev’s comments regarding Joshua, many boxing fans let their feelings be known on social media.
After hearing what Pulev said, one fan wrote: ‘That’s a shameful 1970s comment. Awful.’
‘Kubrat Pulev sadly proving why #BlackLivesMatter is needed. Idiot!’, another boxing follower said on Twitter.
And the condemnation of the Bulgarian’s comments kept on coming on social media on Thursday.
Another fan said: ‘I hope Anthony Joshua smashes the living daylight out of Pulev after that “tan” comment.’
Someone else added: ‘I think Joshua will take that Pulev comment and ram it down his throat. Expect him to want to hurt him.’
The Bulgarian’s comments come after the country’s football team were forced to play two matches behind closed doors for their fans’ racist abuse towards England players in a Euro 2020 qualifier last year.
England’s 6-0 victory over Bulgaria was stopped twice and was close to being abandoned, but Gareth Southgate’s side chose to play on in Sofia.
Bulgaria were subsequently fined a mere £65,000 by UEFA.
The Bulgaria supporters’ horrific actions included Nazi salutes and monkey chants towards England’s black players.
President of the Bulgaria Football Union, Borislav Mihaylov, and Bulgaria boss Krasimir Balakov resigned as part of the fall-out from the game.
Twelve arrests were made, with four supporters handed fines and two-year bans.
Meanwhile, it is not the first time that Pulev has landed himself in hot water.
Last year, the Bulgarian kissed a female reporter on the lips following his knockout victory over Bogdan Dinu.
After he was heavily criticised online, the boxer then insisted the pair were actually ‘friends’.
‘You may have seen a clip of me kissing a female reporter following an interview after I won my fight Saturday night,’ Pulev said.
‘The reporter, Jenny, is actually a friend of mine, and after the interview, I was so elated, I gave her a kiss.
‘Later that night, she joined me and my other friends at my post-fight celebration. On the video, after our kiss, we both laughed about it and thanked each other. There really is nothing more to this.’
But the reporter, Jennifer Ravalo, gave a different version of events, claiming she was left ‘immediately shocked and embarrassed.’
Pulev had been due to take on Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June but that was rescheduled due to the pandemic but he has now confirmed it will go ahead on December 12 in London.
‘No turning back, no procrastination! Kubrat Pulev vs Anthony Joshua! The date is December 12th and the place is London!,’ the Bulgarian, known as ‘The Cobra’, said on his Facebook page recently.
Pulev became the mandatory challenger to Joshua’s IBF crown after beating Hughie Fury by unanimous decision back in October 2018.
-Daily Mail
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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