Boxing
Final drug test results in Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk released
Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk have both passed their final drug tests following their heavyweight title clash last month.
Joshua was comfortably outboxed in front of over 63,000 fans at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium last month, losing his heavyweight titles to the unbeaten Usyk in his hometown.
And the Voluntary Anti-Doping Ageny (VADA) has confirmed both fighters’ final samples came back clean.
Joshua has insisted that his opponents enrol with VADA for a 10-12 week period before they meet in the ring, which all have obliged to date.
That process saw Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller miss out on a shot at the heavyweight world champion in the summer of 2019 when he failed multiple drugs tests.
Joshua would instead go on to fight Andy Ruiz jr, who took his belts in a thrilling encounter at Madison Square Garden before losing them in an immediate rematch.
The drug testing process has assured that Joshua’s fights with the likes of Ruiz, Kubrat Pulev and Usyk were clean of any illegal substances.
He was a favourite heading into the clash with Usyk, having comfortably beaten Pulev and Ruiz in his two outings after the shock defeat in New York.
He handily outboxed Ruiz for 12 rounds in Saudi Arabia just months after being stopped in their first meeting, before brutally knocking out Pulev in December 2020.
And he was preparing to face Tyson Fury for the undisputed title in the summer of this year, with an August 14 date back in Saudi planned before the fight was pulled.
Fury was ordered in arbitration to face Deontay Wilder for a third time, which he did last weekend, and the WBO ordered Joshua to fight Usyk.
The mandatory challenger was an undefeated, undisputed cruiserweight champion and pound-for-pound great prior to facing Joshua.
But in his two outings at heavyweight, he had looked decidedly unremarkable against Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora in winning efforts.
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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