Boxing
Anthony Joshua trains with Mike Tyson’s former coach in America
Anthony Joshua has met with several American-based trainers as he considers a shake-up to his coaching set-up following his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk.
According to BBC sports reports, the former heavyweight champion has faced calls to part ways with long-time coach Rob McCracken since losing his WBA (Super), WBO and IBF titles to Usyk last month.
Joshua has met Virgil Hunter, Eddy Reynoso and Ronnie Shields in the US.
“I guess he didn’t feel it was the right [gameplan against Usyk] so he wanted to make a change,” said Shields.
Hunter is based in Oakland, California and trained the likes of multiple-weight world champion Andre Ward and Amir Khan.
Joshua has close ties within Hunter’s camp with British fighter Joshua Buatsi also training under the veteran coach.
Reynoso is famous for guiding boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez to the top of the sport and the 44-year-old also trains WBC super featherweight champion Oscar Valdez and Joshua’s former opponent Andy Ruiz Jr.
Shields, who is based in Texas, confirmed rumours Joshua was on the hunt for a new trainer after welcoming him into his gym this week.
“They reached out to me and they asked if I would be interested in taking a look at AJ and that he wanted to come down to Texas and see if things would work out between him and I,” Shields told ThaBoxingVoice. “I said, ‘No problem, I would love to see if we had a connection together’.
“He said, ‘European boxing is different from boxing in the US’. He realised he had to come to the US to get something different.
“He told me, ‘Listen, I know people don’t think I’m a dog. I’ve got to be a dog in this next fight’. And that’s his words. He told me, ‘I just need you to show me how to be the best dog you can teach me to be’.”
Shields has worked with a slew of heavyweight champions including Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.
Jermall Charlo works under Shields and posted several videos on his Instagram of Joshua speaking with his coach and doing some light training.
Joshua has not made a final decision on his coaching staff, which also includes assistant trainers Angel Hernandez and Joby Clayton.
After his defeat by Ruiz Jr, Joshua added Hernandez to his team and the 32-year-old could yet stay with McCracken as his head coach.
A switch to the US would see Joshua have to move his training headquarters away from Sheffield where he has spent his entire professional and amateur career.
McCracken has trained Joshua since his amateur days, but was heavily criticised for the gameplan against Usyk.
Joshua was completely outclassed by Usyk and convincingly beaten after deciding to try and outbox the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
-BBC
U.S. immigration authorities have arrested Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in Los Angeles and plan to deport him, they said on Thursday, just days after he lost a high-profile bout to American rival Jake Paul.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Chavez was determined to be in the country illegally last week after he made fraudulent statements on a 2024 application for permanent residence. He is married to a U.S. citizen, it said.
Michael Goldstein, a lawyer for Chavez, said more than two dozen immigration agents arrested the boxer at his home in the Studio City area of Los Angeles on Wednesday.
“The current allegations are outrageous and appear to be designed as a headline to terrorize the community,” Goldstein said.
Homeland Security said that the 39-year-old boxer, son of Mexican world champion fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, is suspected of ties to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, which Washington has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. speaks at press conference in anticipation of his fight against Jake Paul at Avalon Hollywood Theater. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images/File Photo
His wife, Frida Munoz Chavez, was previously married to the son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. The son, Edgar, was assassinated in 2008.
Chavez is the target of a Mexican arrest warrant on allegations of involvement in organized crime and firearms trafficking, DHS said.
In Mexico, Chavez’ family said in a statement they “fully trust in his innocence.”
Chavez lost to influencer-turned-boxer Paul, 28, last weekend before a sold-out crowd in Anaheim, California, in a unanimous decision after 10 rounds.
He was allowed to enter the United States temporarily in early January under former President Joe Biden, DHS said. He had previously overstayed a tourist visa, it said.
The agency said Chavez was convicted in Los Angeles in 2024 on weapons charges. Goldstein denied he was convicted, saying he pleaded not guilty and was granted mental health diversion which will result in dismissal of the charges.
Chavez won the WBC middleweight championship in 2011, but lost the title the next year.
His career has been overshadowed by controversies including a suspension after testing positive for a banned substance in 2009 and a fine and suspension after testing positive for marijuana in 2013.
His record stands at 54 wins, six losses and one draw, with 34 knockouts.
Reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Bhargav Acharya, Lizbeth Diaz, Angelica Medina, Diego Ore and Kylie Madry in Mexico City, Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot
-Reuters
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Manny Pacquiao will come out of retirement to face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship on July 19 in Las Vegas, the 46-year-old Filipino boxer said on Wednesday.
Pacquiao is the only boxer to win world championships in a record eight weight divisions while he was also the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40 in 2019.
A Filipino senator from 2016 to 2022, Pacquiao had retired from boxing in 2021 while he also ran for president in 2022.
“I’m back. On July 19, I return to the ring to face WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Let’s make history,” Pacquiao wrote on Instagram.
The southpaw, who has 62 wins, eight losses and two draws in a 72-fight career, was also elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025.
Barrios, a Mexican-American boxer, has 29 wins in 32 bouts, winning 18 by knockout and losing twice.
-Reuters
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The body of Segun Olanrewaju, the Nigerian boxer who slumped and died in the ring in Ghana on Saturday is still in a mortuary in Ghana. The President of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C), Dr Rafiu Oladipo, informed Sports Village Square that an autopsy will be conducted on Wednesday.
He said that the NBB of C is closely monitoring the events in Ghana, even as the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade has asked for updates on the sad incident.
On Monday, a delegation of the NBB of C visited the family of the late boxer in Sango Otta in Ogun State. Oladipo said he was still in shock at the death of the boxer who he considered fit having fought last December 29.
He revealed that one of the members of the Nigerian delegation to Ghana stayed behind to follow up on the autopsy.
He narrated that the late boxer took part on Thursday in the mandatory weigh-in which is normally conducted 24 hours before a fight. Additionally, a medical check-up is also to be conducted.
“But in this instance, there was no medical check. On this ground, Oladipo blamed the Ghana Boxing Authority.
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