Boxing

Stephen Fulton is one of the many who credits boxing with saving his life. Now that he's a champion at 122-pounds, he wants to be the undisputed bantamweight champ.

Joshua beat Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev last month to retain his IBF, WBO and WBA titles to set up the prospect of a mouth-watering clash with fellow Briton Fury who holds the WBC belt. "The deal is done, really - without being signed," Hearn was quoted as saying by The Times. Hearn said Joshua and Fury would face off in two fights - with the first likely to be in the Middle East later this year - and he hoped to bring the rematch back to Britain.

Imagine a time more than 50 years ago when four of the biggest Black American celebrities in the world met up and spent hours discussing race, religion and politics? That's the premise of the film "One Night in Miami," out on Amazon Prime on Friday, which recounts a 1964 meeting between boxer Cassius Clay, soul singer Sam Cooke, civil rights activist Malcolm X and football player Jim Brown. The meeting really took place, says screenwriter Kemp Powers, who came across a throwaway mention of it years ago and became obsessed with finding out more.

Tyson was gleeful as Garcia and Davis went back-and-forth.

They are in one of the sport’s hottest divisions, and they’re eager to take on the biggest challenges.

Tyson Fury said on Monday he can knock out fellow British world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua inside two rounds due to his recent form.

Ryan Garcia says he had never been knocked down before when an early blow sent the rising star to the canvas in his biggest test yet against Luke Campbell. The 22-year-old Californian had an impressive response, staggering Campbell with a body blow to win a WBC lightweight title fight on a seventh-round knockout Saturday night. Garcia was in control when his left hand crushed Campbell's right side and sent the English fighter to one knee at 1:58 of the seventh.

Nicaragua's Felix Alvarado stopped South Africa's DeeJay Kriel after 99 seconds of the 10th round on Saturday to retain his International Boxing Federation light flyweight title.

Umar Kremlev, the new president of the International Boxing Association (AIBA), plans to implement reforms over the next six months that could help restore its status with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he told Reuters in an interview. Elected to head amateur boxing's governing body earlier this month, Kremlev has the task of implementing sweeping reforms in order for it to be recognised by the IOC in time for the Paris Olympics in 2024. The IOC suspended AIBA last year, stripping it of any involvement in Olympic qualifiers and the tournament at the Tokyo Games over a string of governance, finance and ethical issues.

In a year unlike any other in recent memory, the 2020 Yahoo Sports Fighter of the Year in boxing is a man unlike any other.

When lawyer Shadrack Wambui was growing up in one of Nairobi's slums, he vented his frustration at abusive police through boxing, cultivating discipline that helped him avoid confrontations that could have derailed his studies. Now the 29-year-old is turning to the sport again to help young people in poor Nairobi neighbourhoods, combining his passion for the sport with informal lessons on the law and legal clinics to resolve marital disputes. Wambui says he hopes his boxing sessions will help young people believe in themselves despite the challenges they face.

Canelo Alvarez had a simple explanation for his ability to dominate a previously undefeated champion and emerge unscathed against an opponent that physically towered over him. ''I am better,'' Alvarez said. Alvarez unanimously outpointed Callum Smith to win the WBA & Ring super-middleweight championships and vacant WBC super-middleweight title Saturday night at the Alamodome.

If Alvarez doesn’t want to fight Golovkin again, there are plenty of options for him.

Alvarez showed why he’s the best fighter in the world and running away from Smith to capture the WBA and WBC titles by scores of 119-109 twice and 117-111.

Golovkin, who made a record 21st successful middleweight title defense, was never challenged.

Gennady Golovkin made his record 21st defensive of his middleweight titles Friday night, knocking down previously unbeaten Kamil Szeremeta four times before their fight was stopped after the seventh round. Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) surpassed Bernard Hopkins' division record for title defenses and retained his IBF and IBO 160-pound belts with a one-sided victory in his first fight in 14 months. The Kazakh star ended the longest ring absence of his 14-year professional career with a systematic dismantling of Poland's Szeremeta (21-1) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Fight week for Saul ''Canelo'' Alvarez usually involves a glitzy public arrival at a Las Vegas casino with fans screaming for his attention. Not much about 2020 is normal in the sports world, and Alvarez's only fight of the pandemic year is no exception. After an uneventful fight week spent quarantined in a hotel in San Antonio, followed by a quiet weigh-in, the Mexican pound-for-pound champion takes the ring Saturday night against England's Callum Smith with a deliberately sparse crowd in the cavernous Alamodome.

Smith is 6-3 and will have a 7-inch height advantage on the heavy favorite Alvarez, who is 5-8.

UFC's final event of 2020 has been altered again by a positive test for COVID-19. Bantamweight Aiemann Zahabi is off the UFC Fight Night 183 card due to a positive test that he announced on social media on Thursday. Zahabi was scheduled to fight Drako Rodriguez, but tested positive for the virus in a pre-flight test before leaving for Las Vegas and is symptomatic.

Britain's Callum Smith will be out to prove that size does matter on Saturday when he defends his World Boxing Association super-middleweight crown against pound-for-pound king Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in Texas.

“I want to be a multi-division unified world champion in about four or five, maybe six, weight classes,� Ennis said.

Manny Pacquiao’s contributions to boxing are vast, but they’re dwarfed by his contributions to society at large.

Australia's Tim Tszyu has targeted a world title shot on home soil after retaining his WBO Global and IBF Australasian super-welterweight belts with a first-round knockout of Bowyn Morgan in front of 11,820 fans at Western Sydney Stadium. Tszyu's brutal demolition of New Zealander Morgan inside two minutes late on Wednesday took his record to 17-0 with 13 knockouts and the fighter a step closer to matching his Russian-born father Kostya as a world champion. Complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic mean Tszyu could be fighting for the WBO world title early next year against Argentinian Brian Castano and the Sydneysider was clear in his ambitions.

Gennady Golovkin can claim a slice of middleweight boxing history on Friday as he chases a record 21st successful defence against mandatory Polish challenger Kamil Szeremeta in Florida.

Whether it’s the business of boxing that finally got to him or the bad outcomes in the Alvarez fight, it’s not the same happy-go-lucky Golovkin who vaulted to stardom in the U.S. after debuting on HBO in 2012.

Floyd Mayweather, who captured 11 world titles in five weight divisions and retired unbeaten, former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, and Laila Ali have been elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum. The Class of 2021 announced Tuesday also includes former Olympic champion Andre Ward, Ann Wolfe, Marian Trimiar, and Dr. Margaret Goodman.

Whoever makes the most sense, he’s gotten himself the most flexibility to get the fights.

Gennady Golovkin issued a deadly warning to Oscar De La Hoya on Tuesday after the US boxing legend said he wanted to fight the middleweight world champion when he makes his improbable return to boxing.

Also elected in the men’s modern category was former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who thus joins his older brother, Vitali, in the Hall of Fame.

Callum Smith had a front row seat to see his brother dismantled by Canelo Alvarez in a bruising light-middleweight title fight in 2016. Ringside at a raucous AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Smith can recall in particular the accuracy of Alvarez's punches, the way he maneuvered his big brother, Liam, into a position to drop him on three occasions - the final time with a brutal body shot. ''He finds gaps and holes that you don't know you're leaving,'' Smith said of the Mexican boxer.

Paul, fresh off a brutal knockout of former NBA point guard Nate Robinson, offered McGregor $50 million to step into the ring. "My team sent you a $50 million offer this morning -- 50 million cash, proof of funds, the biggest fight offer you've ever been offered," Paul said while performing his best impersonation of McGregor, holding a cigar in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.

Anthony Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn says a deal for his man to fight Tyson Fury in an all-British world heavyweight unification bout in 2021 could take as little as two days to complete.

With a big right hand that sent Kubrat Pulev, a durable but one-dimensional Bulgarian, to the canvas for a third and final time, Joshua secured a dominant ninth-round win in his U.K. homecoming on Saturday to retain the WBA, WBO and IBF belts. It wasn't long before the inevitable question was thrown at him: is WBC champion Tyson Fury next in what would be an all-British blockbuster to unify the four titles in boxing's marquee division? ''Whoever has got the belt, I'd love to compete with them,'' Joshua said.

Joshua made clear it’s the championship he’s chasing, not any man, but he didn’t shy away from mentioning Fury’s name.

World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua produced a devastating finish to knock out Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev near the end of the ninth round to retain his IBF, WBO and WBA belts at Wembley Arena on Saturday. The 31-year-old Briton had looked close to winning when he floored Pulev in the third round but the challenger recovered to test the home favourite in front of a limited crowd of 1,000. But there was no escape for the challenger in the ninth round as Joshua landed a clubbing right upper-cut which sent Pulev to the canvas.

Anthony Joshua said he wants to unify all four world heavyweight boxing titles in an all-British clash with Tyson Fury after a dominant ninth round knockout of Bulgaria's Kubrat Pulev at London's Wembley Arena on Saturday.

Umar Kremlev of Russia was elected president of the troubled International Boxing Association on Saturday despite concerns of Olympic officials about his candidacy. The governing body, known as AIBA, said Kremlev won more than 57% of the vote in a five-candidate contest involving 155 national federations. The International Olympic Committee last year stripped the AIBA of its responsibility to organize boxing at the Summer Games amid concerns over the integrity of Olympic bouts, governance and finance.

The congress, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had 155 national federations taking part and Kremlev beat his fellow candidates to win the election with 57.33% of the vote. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year suspended the AIBA over issues surrounding its finances and governance and Kremlev said he hopes to reinstate the body before the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Joshua is a massive -1200 favorite at the MGM Grand sportsbook to defeat Pulev on Saturday, while Pulev is +650.

Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and challenger Kubrat Pulev jawed at each other through black face masks Friday on the eve of their title fight at Wembley Arena. During the exchange, Pulev twice readjusted his mask after it slipped below his nose, and Joshua's mask also drooped low at one point. The 31-year-old Joshua will be lean as well after weighing in at 240 3/4 pounds (109 kilograms).

World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua said he is prepared to go to the final bell when he puts his WBA, IBF and WBO belts on the line against Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev on Saturday. Britain's Joshua will start as clear favourite in front of 1,000 fans at Wembley Arena for the fight that was postponed in June because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pulev, 39, was prevented from fighting Joshua in 2017 because of injury but says he is ready to cause an upset.

Anthony Joshua has never been so close to a shot at being the undisputed world heavyweight champion. An agreement in principle has been reached with Tyson Fury, the WBC champion, for a two-fight deal in 2021 to unify the titles in an all-British blockbuster. Nothing is ever straightforward in boxing - especially when arranging what would be one of the biggest fights in a generation, perhaps the biggest ever in Britain - but it appears there's one major obstacle in the way of an eagerly awaited Joshua-Fury bout next year.

“You have to take care of what’s in front of you before you worry about what’s down the line,� he said.

When the coronavirus forced postponement of his planned June bout with Kubrat Pulev, it was a blessing for Joshua.

Mayweather and Paul are showing yet again that boxing is no longer about talent, training, conditioning and winning one’s fights.

Floyd Mayweather announced Sunday he is set for an exhibition boxing match against popular YouTube personality Logan Paul at an undetermined venue early next year.