Boxing
Heavyweight champions Fury, Usyk agree unification bout
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have agreed to fight each other next in a world heavyweight title unification bout, according to veteran boxing promoter Bob Arum.
Fury defeated his British rival Derek Chisora for the third time in his career to retain his World Boxing Council (WBC) title earlier in December.
He then called out Ukrainian hero Usyk, the IBF (International Boxing Federation), IBO (International Boxing Organisation), WBO (World Boxing Organisation) and WBA (World Boxing Association) belt-holder, who was ringside at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Following that fight, the 34-year-old Fury forecast a clash with Usyk, either in Saudi Arabia or Britain, sometime in February or March.
“The two fighters have agreed to fight each other next,” the 91-year-old Arum told Sky Sports on Tuesday.
“With Fury and Usyk we’re dealing with two adults, not a lot of (rubbish) back and forth. Usyk is a good friend of mine, he’s very intelligent and Tyson is Superman, both as an athlete and as an intellect.”
The American, involved in some of Muhammad Ali’s celebrated contests of the 1970s, added: “So they want the fight. Both of them want the fight and so there’ll be very little, if any, (messing) around.
“Now the question is what’s the date and what’s the site. But that fight is definitely going to happen and it will happen in the first four months of next year.
“It shouldn’t be too long before a final decision is made. We’ll have it all sorted out, I hope maybe by the end of the year.”
Usyk, 35, has twice defeated Anthony Joshua, firstly depriving the Briton of his world titles at Tottenham in September 2021 before defeating him again in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this July.
In September, he said of a possible contest with Fury: “I would really like to see this fight happen next year.
“We do not know what is on his mind. This is Tyson Fury, everyone knows that he is a very crazy kid.”
If the fight were to take place in the UK, Wembley is a very likely venue, while a fight in the Middle East could see a much larger purse available for both fighters.
“We are balancing a couple of significant offers from the Middle East and also there’s the possibility of doing the fight in the UK at Wembley (stadium) with a massive 95,000 crowd in attendance,” added Arum.
“Fighters have a relatively short life and money is important. So if the money which has been proposed to us is real that has to be taken into consideration.
“But to go back to Wembley and do a fight before 95,000 people for me really stirs up the blood.”
–AFP/Reuters
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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