Boxing
A UFC champion’s title is not enough; Nigeria’s Usman wants to fight a boxer next
Kamaru Usman scrunched his face in a playful manner and tilted his head. He had just defended his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title in a five-round brawl with Colby Covington at Madison Square Garden at UFC 268.
The belt for the 170-pound class rested next to him on a table, the leather-encased gold plate shining as brightly as Usman’s metallic suit lapels and his diamond necklace.
Earlier in the week, Usman solicited to fight Saul Alvarez, the best pound-for-pound boxer who – also Saturday night – delivered a masterful 11th-round knockout of Caleb Plant in Las Vegas.
Usman’s boss, UFC President Dana White, downplayed the feasibility of a crossover megafight to reporters minutes before Usman’s news conference. Usman disagreed.
“Dana doesn’t know that,” Usman said. “I want something that scares me.”
The prospect of matching Usman with the best boxer on the planet may not frighten Usman, but White and UFC officials are right to be hesitant about the hypothetical bonanza.
In this era of blurred lines within combat sports, organisers have forfeited competitive logic to appease a new crop of paying fans. With Usman and Alvarez, the reward may not generate the success of similar recent experiments.
Alvarez commands an audience, and he produced an unquestioned result, knocking out Plant precisely to unify the 168-pound belts. Most of the audience at the MGM Grand Garden Arena supported Alvarez, a Mexican who goes by the nickname Canelo, and Showtime built the event solely around him. People from across the country bought the pay-per-view broadcast, too, including White. A picture circulated on Twitter of him watching it on a monitor octagon-side as Rose Namajunas and Zhang Weili fought for the 115-pound title in the UFC’s co-main event. White later said he had bet US $100,000 (S$134,900) on Alvarez to win by knockout.
“I watched the Canelo fight tonight,” White said when asked if Usman should box Alvarez. “He don’t want to fight Canelo. Come on, man, let’s stop this.”
This is not the first time White has dealt with crossover fights. He allowed brash Irish UFC fighter Conor McGregor to box Floyd Mayweather in 2017, a spectacle that profited McGregor at least US$30 million. That sum is rare for mixed martial arts competitions, and while Usman most likely would receive far less for a bout with Alvarez, the amount would still be a pay raise from what he gets facing opponents in mixed martial arts.
Two brothers with popular YouTube channels, Jake Paul and Logan Paul, have led a shift in combat sports in the past year. Logan Paul fought Mayweather this summer in an exhibition while Jake Paul has beaten relatively safe opponents: a retired basketball player and two MMA fighters past their primes. The specifics seemed outrageous to pure boxing fans, but the brothers’ large social media following allowed the fights to be a success.
Usman does not have stardom like the Pauls or McGregor, and he has said he does not want to pursue it. But more eyes on his fights would lead to more dollars. When asked if he would box Alvarez for charity, he laughed.
“Of course we want the money,” Usman said.
The challenge of facing Alvarez also intrigues Usman because he has beaten most of the top contenders in his division.
“Don’t get me wrong, he is a master at what he does,” Usman said. “I love it and I respect it, which is why I want to challenge myself.”
Usman is highly respected in mixed martial arts circles. After he beat Covington, White and others spoke about how he might end up comparing to the greatest welterweights of all time, like Georges St-Pierre.
Still, it is clear that he does not have the same fan following as Alvarez. Usman’s support at Madison Square Garden was mixed, and the crowd at times chanted for Covington, a fervent supporter of the former president, Donald Trump, who has made conservative politics a central part of his persona.
The cheers for Covington grew in the later stages of the bout, as he came back from two knockdowns in Round 2 and challenged Usman down the stretch.
Had Usman not gotten the knockdowns, the judges easily could have scored the decision differently, leaving room for debate and an easy avenue for a third fight between Usman and Covington.
And beyond Usman-Covington, other fighters also commanded attention on the UFC 268 card. Lightweights Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler offered the best clash of the night, a high-paced showdown that Gaethje won, though both men left bloody and needed hospital examinations. Namajunas also defended her strawweight championship against Zhang in a split decision.
If Usman were to box Alvarez, the differences between mixed martial arts and boxing, including the sports themselves and the pay gap between the UFC and the top tier of boxing, would complicate promoting the event.
Alvarez has said he is not interested in fighting Usman, and fan desire has not reached the point yet to say otherwise. If it happens, though, Usman said he would be ready to compete in Alvarez’s preferred discipline. Usman would fight him in mixed martial arts, too, he said, though he doubts Álvarez would attempt that.
“We’re the ones that are willing to go over there and take that risk,” Usman said. “They wouldn’t dare come over here and take that risk.”
-New York Times
Daniel Dubois came back from two knockdowns to deal Fabio Wardley a brutal and bloody first defeat as a professional and take the WBO heavyweight title in a thunderous all-British clash on Saturday.
Referee Howard Foster finally stepped in at the start of the 11th round to signal the end of the fight, with Wardley bleeding heavily from the bridge of the nose and with his right eye almost closed.
Dubois rose twice from the canvas, including being dropped by a right hook in the first 10 seconds of the fight, to pulverise Wardley and become a world heavyweight champion for the second time in his career.
“It was a war. We came through the sticky moments. Thank you, Fabio, for that,” said Dubois, who was previously IBF champion after the belt was vacated by Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, with the Ukrainian winning it back in July 2025.
“What a great fight. What a great battle, man”.
The win was Dubois’s 23rd as a professional in 26 fights, while Wardley now has a 20-1-1 record.
Veteran promoter Frank Warren, who manages both men, said it was the best heavyweight fight he had ever put on and confirmed there was a rematch clause in the contract.
For some viewers, however, it was also an uncomfortable watch that could have been stopped earlier.
The 31-year-old Wardley, who was promoted to WBO champion last November after Usyk vacated the title, was making his first defence and showed immense heart as he took a tremendous beating yet refused to capitulate.
He had his opponent on the floor, a blow Dubois, 28, later dismissed as a ‘flash knockdown’, almost with the opening bell still sounding.
Dubois was back on one knee in round three but came close to a stoppage in the sixth with the reigning champion bleeding heavily and on the ropes.
The Londoner continued to land blow after blow on Wardley, who wobbled but refused to give up.
His corner inspected the facial wounds after the eighth, and doctors and the referee took a look in rounds nine and 10, but still the fight continued, with Wardley increasingly struggling to stay on his feet and fighting on instinct.
“You witnessed something special tonight,” Warren told the BBC. “Two men baring their hearts and souls in the ring gave everything, didn’t leave one bit outside the ring.
“They were getting hit with bombs that would take people out, and they stood it.”
-Reuters
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World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has backed Anthony Joshua to defeat Tyson Fury in their long‑anticipated clash later this year and has been helping him with his game plan.
Usyk, who holds the IBF, WBA and WBC belts, has been working with former opponent Joshua in recent months and said he has been impressed by the Briton’s development.
He added that 36-year-old Joshua deserves to beat compatriot and fellow ex-champion Fury, 37, after changing his approach.
“Fury is an unbelievable fighter, and Fury is a very dangerous guy, but I look at how Anthony works and how he has changed,” Usyk told the BBC.
“I like Fury, he is my greedy belly’s best friend, he’s an amazing fighter, but I want Anthony to win – he deserves it.”
Joshua, a former two‑time world heavyweight champion, is scheduled to return to the ring against Kristian Prenga in Riyadh on July 25. The bout will be his first since a car accident last December in which two close friends were killed.
Usyk said his recent work with Joshua has focused on technical and mental preparation.
“We speak about strategy, boxing skills and psychology. We speak about fights, our fights, and I say ‘champ, come on, don’t stop’,” he said.
The Ukrainian is set to defend his world titles against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23 in Egypt.
-Reuters
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- Summary
- *Joshua to face Kristian Prenga in Riyadh after car accident hiatus
- *Fight marks start of Joshua’s multi-fight deal in Saudi Arabia, announced by Turki Alalshikh
- *Promoter Hearn says Joshua vs Fury is signed for later in the year
Former world heavyweight boxing champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have signed up for a long-awaited clash later this year, promoter Eddie Hearn said on Monday.
“Signed, sealed, delivered! AJ v Fury is on!,” Hearn posted on Instagram.
The announcement came after confirmation that Joshua will return to the ring against Kristian Prenga in Riyadh on July 25 in the Briton’s first fight since he was in a car accident last December that killed two close friends.
U.S.-based Albanian Prenga, 35, is a former kickboxer with a ring record of 20 wins and one defeat since he turned professional in 2016.
The fight, billed as “The Comeback”, was announced by Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh and will be broadcast live worldwide on DAZN.
Turki also posted on X a message “to my friends in Great Britain – it’s happening. It’s signed” while his Ring Magazine said the fight would happen in Q4 2026 on Netflix.
SIXTH-ROUND KNOCKOUT
Joshua, 36, has a record of 28 wins and four losses with his most recent fight a sixth-round knockout of American Jake Paul on December 19 in Miami.
“It’s no secret I’ve taken some time to consolidate and rebuild to be ready for stepping back into the ring, and today is the next step on that journey,” said Joshua.
“I’m delighted to have agreed a multi-fight deal starting with July 25th in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I’m looking forward to competing and picking up where I left off. The landlord will collect his rent. That is certain.”
Hearn told Sky Sports television he wanted a “tune-up bout” in July before facing Fury potentially in November.
“July and November are the two dates that have been presented to us now and we expect to move forward,” he said. “Fury has just had his tune-up fight with 12 really vital rounds to get him sharp for the next one and I expect us to do the same.”
Fury called for a showdown with Joshua after he outclassed Russia’s Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11.
“Next, I want to give you the fight you’ve all been waiting for. I want you AJ, Anthony Joshua, let’s give the fight fans what they want, the Battle of Britain,” he said then.
-Reuters
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