Boxing
Ngannou Will Struggle To Derail In-form Joshua, Says Swede Boxer, Wallin –
Heavyweight Otto Wallin was just as shocked as the rest of the boxing world when Francis Ngannou floored Tyson Fury but the Swede says it’s unlikely there will be a repeat against Anthony Joshua when the two meet in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou lost to Fury in his first professional boxing match in Riyadh last October in what many expected would be an easy win for the giant British boxer.
However, the mixed martial artist managed to down Fury in the third round, sending shockwaves through the boxing world.
“A guy like Ngannou, who is that big and who hits that hard, always has a chance, but I’m having a hard time seeing him beating Joshua,” Wallin told Reuters from his home in New York where he is back in training.
The 33-year-old Wallin, who rose to prominence by going the distance before losing a world title fight to Fury in 2019, suffered only the second loss and first KO defeat of his pro career last December as Joshua out-boxed him over five rounds.
“Since boxing against Joshua, I have a lot of respect for him,” Wallin said.
The career of Joshua, 34, had hit a rocky patch as he lost his world titles to Andy Ruiz in 2019 before winning them back and then lost them again to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 before another defeat in a rematch with the Ukrainian the next year.
Against Wallin, however, the Briton was back to his imperious best, a stinging jab and lightning left hook doing the damage before the Swede’s corner called it quits after the fifth round.
“Joshua was good – big, strong, long reach, he countered well,” Wallin explained.
“There were some concrete things that he did well that I don’t want to talk about, I want to keep them to myself, but there’s other concrete things that I need to practise and do better, and that’s what I’m working on now.”
SPLIT DECISION
Ngannou’s knockdown of Fury made little difference to the end result as he lost a split decision but the Cameroon-born French mixed martial artist won the respect of the boxing world.
“I was very surprised that Ngannou did as well as he did against Fury,” Wallin said.
“I thought he wouldn’t be able to do anything at all. He did very well, but at the same time I think Fury underestimated him a lot as everyone else did, including me.”
Ngannou’s rags-to-riches story saw him leave Cameroon for Europe to pursue his dream of being a professional boxer before pivoting to MMA and eventually becoming UFC heavyweight champion. The 37-year-old has worked hard to get to this point.
“I don’t think you can say that Ngannou was lucky, it was probably good timing for him against Fury,” Wallin said.
“No-one knew how good he was, no-one knew he was going to do as well as he did. Even if Fury didn’t underestimate him intentionally, it can easily happen – boxing is very psychological.”
Ngannou now faces an arguably bigger challenge against in-form Joshua on Friday and, even if Wallin was somewhat won over by the performance against Fury, the Swede says it’s unlikely he can derail Joshua’s attempt to get back to the very top.
“If Joshua wins I’d say they’ll aim for the winner of Fury-Usyk, but that can take time if there’s a rematch – in that case Joshua will meet someone else in the meantime, he’s been very active the last while,” Wallin added.
“But it’s going to be exciting to see what happens on Friday – we’re going to see how good Ngannou really is.”
–Reuters
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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