Boxing
‘I’m fat, bald and out of shape… but I always win’ – Tyson Fury slams sports science in boxing
Analytics in sport has been on the rise over the last 20 years. However, Tyson Fury does not believe in its place in boxing.
The popularisation of analytics in sports first grew in Baseball, when Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane was able to break league records with, by far, the smallest budget in the league. Beane used a form of analytics called sabermetrics to evaluate and identify undervalued players to bring in to the team in order to create a winning formula amongst a team.
Beane also became co-owner of Barnsley FC in 2018, just two years later, using sabermetrics, he helped put together the youngest squad and one of the smallest budgets in the Championship, finishing in fifth place and making it to the play-offs for the first-time in 24 years.
The Oakland Athletics were the only known team to use analytics to make on-field decisions at the time. Fast-forward to today, almost every team in world sport is heavily reliant on using forms of data.
In recent years, analytical metrics are said to have been available to boxing coaches, with Anthony Joshua said to be a proponent of using the available data to improve his overall performance level.
WBC heavyweight champion of the world Fury, however, is not convinced.
Speaking on Instagram live, Fury was open in his dismissal of analytics in boxing, as he made the point that numbers on a screen can’t help you win in the ring.
Fury explained: “In boxing, computer science and technology – I personally do not think works.
“You take me for instance, I am far, bald, people say I am out of shape – I do not do any of that b******* with computers, numbers on a screen and all that stuff.
“But yet, I always win. So it obviously means f*** all.”
Fury even cited a fight which he believes show that analytics would be useless in determining the outcome of.
He added: “You look at Anthony Joshua who follows all of those numbers on a screen and whatnot, and then you look at Andy Ruiz who eat nothing but Snickers for two weeks – Ruiz went in there and knocked him out.
“There’s a lot of stuff to say that all those numbers don’t work.”
Whilst Fury and Ruiz’ respective fighting weights may suggest that they could be in better shape, which ultimately may have put them both in better positions to win certain fights, it’s fair to say that anything can happen in heavyweight boxing.
Fury’s intangible boxing skills have undoubtedly allowed him to dominate his opponents throughout his career – whilst arguably fighting at a larger than optimal weight for his size.
Fury has certainly implemented a more laid back approach to his off-season, and even pre-camp training sessions.
Whilst he does seemingly continue to train in the gym with no fight in the works, the Gypsy King is happy to put on a few pounds before getting back down to a comfortable fight weight – which last saw him fight at his heaviest of 277lbs.
Fury’s ability to remain that athletic at 277 lbs clearly demonstrate how unique of a boxer, and athlete, that he truly is.
However, whether this would be his optimal fighting weight could be debated.
-MEN
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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