Tag: Boxing

Video: Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2 boxing fight highlights

Watch the video highlights of the championship rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.

[autotag]Oleksandr Usyk[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyson Fury[/autotag] battled it out a second time to determine who’s the “Baddest Man” in boxing.

The two heavyweight stars fought on Saturday night at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a massive championship fight. After 12 rounds of fighting, Usyk defeated Fury in a unanimous decision with 116-112 on all three judges’ scorecards to retain his WBC, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles.

This was the second meet between Usyk and Fury, as they had previously fought to a split decision that favored the Ukrainian fighter.

You can watch the official highlights from Saturday’s heavyweight championship rematch in the video above.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Usyk vs. Fury 2.

Oleksandr Usyk defeats Tyson Fury by unanimous decision in championship rematch

Oleksandr Usyk denied Tyson Fury’s chance at revenge by winning their remach in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

(This story originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports.)

There was no revenge for Tyson Fury.

Fury fell to Oleksandr Usyk yet again, losing their heavyweight boxing rematch Saturday by unanimous decision after suffering a split-decision defeat in their first fight seven months ago.

Usyk again demonstrated his superior technical skill and responded each time Fury went on the attack in their 12-round heavyweight fight at the Kingdom.

All three judges scored it 116-112 for Usyk, who retained his WBC, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles.

Usyk had no interest in discussing the judges’ scorecards.

“I win,’’ he said. “Is good.’’

Usyk, a 37-year-old Ukrainian, improved his record to 23-0.

Fury, a 36-year-old Brit, dropped to 34-2-1, with his only professional losses coming to Usyk.

Next up: Usyk likely will face IBF heavyweight championship Daniel Dubois if Dubois beats Joseph Parker in their heavyweight match set for Feb. 22.

It’s unclear what’s next for Fury, who has previously contemplated retirement.

Days before the rematch, Fury was profane and hostile in the presence of Usyk.

“You ugly, bug-eyed rat bastard,” Fury shouted at Usyk this week.

Fury also roared, “You got a gift decision. I’m the man. I’m the (expletive) champion.”

But it was the 6-3 Usyk who prevailed despite the 6-9 Fury’s six-inch height advantage. Fury also outweighed Usyk by 55 pounds.

At the weigh-in, Fury was 281 pounds and Usyk was 226 pounds.

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Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk, heavyweight title

Round 1: Usyk lands an early right. They’re pawing at each other. Fury looks pudgy, which might be a generous description as he jiggles. Usyk moves forward now and Fury ready for it. Usyk lunges and scores with a left. Usyk 10, Fury 9.

Round 2: Usyk fires a quick left and it connects. Follows up with a jab to that jiggly Fury body and scores again. Fury fires two jabs and follows with a right. None land and up goes the chant: “Usyk!’’ Usyk at the center of the ring and looks in control. They trade lefts. Fury connects with a left and stuns Usyk with a shot. Usyk 19, Fury 19.

Round 3: Fury looks twitchy as he fires. Usyk responds but now circling away and out of danger. Usyk lunges with a left and another left. Maybe glancing shots. Usyk misses with a left, follows up and connects. Fury using his jab to respond. Fury lands a solid left. Fury 29, Usyk 28.

Round 4: Usyk pressures early, and Fury responds with lefts. And extra weight Fury’s carrying seems to be no detriment early. Usyk works with body. Usyk lands a big left and another. But Fury moves forward and Usyk backpedals. Fury lands a right. Fury 38, Usyk 38.

Round 5: Boxers tangled up and Fury looks to take advantage before they’re separated. Fury uncorks a nice left uppercut. But Usyk shakes his head, insists he’s not hurt. It’s Fury stalking now. Usyk lands a flurry and Fury fires right back and delivers a solid uppercut to the body. Fury with another solid right. Usyk fires a nice combination. Fury 48, Usyk 47.

Round 6: Fury’s height and weight advantage look so substantial. But it’s unsure if Fury will tire because of the weight. Boxers circling at the center of the ring. Usyk works the body and Fury responds. Usyk scores with a right and follows it up with a combination. His agility is starting to pay off. Pops Fury with a left to the kisser and finishes the round strong. Fury 57, Usyk 57.

Round 7: Usyk opens a quick right, then clips Fury with a right. Usyk working to close the distance without exposing himself to Fury’s dangerous right. Fury connects with a short right, now working his left. Usyk connects with the left. Usyk closes with a glancing left. Usyk 67, Fury 66.

Round 8: Usyk opens with a left and Fury pushes back. Usyk will need to work hard to close the gap. Fury throws a couple of lefts and follows with an uppercut, blocked by Usyk. Usyk stalking. Usyk sneaks inside and lands body shots. Fury leaning on Usyk. That’s a load. Usyk landing punches – no head-snappers, but solid. Usyk 77,  Fury 75.

Round 9: Fury emerges more aggressive behind the left. Then lands three strong body shots. Fury coming alive. Usyk looks more passive as Fury turns up the heat. But here comes Usyk as Fury tires. Usyk 86, Fury 85.

Round 10: Usyk moves forward, and directly into a couple of Fury punches. Fury trying to use his size and lean forward, but referee separates the boxers. Fury lands a hard right. Usyk clearly felt that, but now he’s moving forward. Fury leaning on Usyk and connects. Usyk fights back and finishes strong. But it’s too late to win the round. Usyk 95, Fury 95.

Round 11: Fury misses with a big uppercut. Usyk lefts a nice left and his technical skills are serving him well. But the herky jerky Fury lands a shot. Usyk lands two hard lefts. And another. Usyk is heating up. Usyk 105, Fury 104.

Round 12: Fury lands a hard right to Usyk’s body. Usyk responds with a hard right of his own. Some impressive exchanges. Fury looks tired but digging deep. Usyk scores with another left as Fury and both fighters let their fists fly. Fury looks exhausted. Usyk lands a hard left seconds before the round ends. Usyk 115, Fury 113.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Usyk vs. Fury 2.

Oleksandr Usyk def. Tyson Fury: Best photos from Riyadh

Check out these photos from the heavyweight title rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Check out these photos from [autotag]Oleksandr Usyk[/autotag]’s victory over Tyson Fury in their championship rematch at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photos by Richard Pelham, Getty Images)

Video: UFC, NFL veteran Greg Hardy brutally knocked out at Russian boxing event

UFC, NFL veteran Greg Hardy ended up on the wrong end of a highlight at a boxing event in Russia.

Former UFC fighter and ex-NFL star [autotag]Greg Hardy[/autotag] ended up on the wrong side of a boxing highlight reel again.

At Fight Club REN TV Super Series in Moscow, Russia, Hardy took on Aleksei Papin. The fight was scheduled for six three-minute rounds, but it didn’t last that long.

With about 90 seconds remaining in the third round, Hardy was rocked badly with clean punches, and ultimately sent crashing to the canvas.

Check out video of the highlight moment below:

Since exiting the UFC after a TKO loss to Serghei Spivac at UFC 272 in March 2022, Hardy has been competing in exhibition and professional boxing bouts. He has picked up some wins, but has also been on the wrong end of a few devastating knockouts.

Hardy also tried bareknuckle boxing once, but was knocked out by Josh Watson at BKFC KnuckleMania 3.

Shortly after the fight, Hardy posted a statement on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDiMsYbv6Z7/

“I came to Russia Alone on short notice to fight a monster with 18 wins and tested my metal. Got two knock downs and went toe toe. I don’t take easy fights, I don’t fight fake fights I fight real killers and sometimes the price is high but I will pay it to become the best no ? Thank you to everyone that helped me get to this point.”

Check out a full replay of the fight in the video above.

Former Panthers DE Greg Hardy viciously KO’d by (much smaller) Russian boxer

Greg Hardy got knocked out by Russian boxer Alexey Papin, who may be around 100 pounds lighter than the former Panthers pass rusher.

Let’s check back in with former Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, shall we?

Our latest update brings us to the Megasport Sport Palace in Moscow, Russia—where the pass rusher-turned-combat athlete stepped into the boxing ring to face the 18-1 Alexey Papin as part of Friday’s REN TV Fight Club event.

This was the result:

If @ParamPam1990 is correct, 146 kilograms would put the 6-foot-5 heavyweight Hardy at a shade under 322 pounds. The 6-foot-1 Papin, who’s billed as a cruiserweight, is listed at around 200 pounds.

Hardy posted the following to his Instagram account after the vicious knockout:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDiMsYbv6Z7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

The former Pro Bowler, who played for the Panthers from 2010 to 2014, entered the bout with a professional boxing record of 3-0.

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Netflix drew 60 million for Tyson-Paul, which contributed to the buggy broadcast

Netflix apparently drew 60 million for Tyson-Paul, which likely impacted the buggy broadcast.

Netflix on Saturday revealed 60 million households worldwide spent (wasted?) Friday evening watching two annoying windbags pummel each other for money.

Oh yes, the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul “boxing match” apparently drew 60 million for its buggy live broadcast, according to the streaming giant’s Saturday estimate.

Netflix said the broadcast pull had “our buffering systems on the ropes.”

Fans who are worried about watching the NFL this Christmas or WWE Raw in January might be heartened to know the Tyson-Paul clown show drew much more of an audience share than your average football game or wrestling match.

In comparison, Amazon is reportedly averaging 13 million viewers a week for its Thursday night NFL broadcasts, per Front Office Sports. Last Monday’s broadcast of WWE Raw drew a little more than 1.5 million viewers, per Wrestlenomics.

Last Christmas, the NFL brought in an average viewership of 29.2 million for the Kansas City Chiefs-Las Vegas Raiders game, likely heightened by intrigue in Taylor Swift’s attendance.

With the Chiefs playing the Pittsburgh Steelers on one of the Netflix broadcasts and Swift’s attendance a definite possibility, the streamer could be attracting around 30 million viewers for that Christmas broadcast.

While Friday’s Tyson-Paul broadcast had its glaring issues (both in the ring and with the live-streaming), Netflix has time to amend its infrastructure before the holidays and its WWE broadcasts next year.

For bigger events than regular-season NFL games and WWE matches, Netflix might have its hands full with mounting a problem-free broadcast.

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5 biggest losers from the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight debacle

The were no winners at Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. Just a lot of losers.

In a turn of events shocking only to the most optimistic among us, a 27-year-old entered a boxing ring against a 58-year-old on Friday night and proceeded to commit what would otherwise be considered borderline elder abuse if not for the million-dollar paydays involved.

The Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight was a debacle from start to finish, and though generations of fight fans tuned in to watch (and bet on) the made-for-streaming event, it didn’t take long to realize what a massive waste of time this was.

Inside the ropes, the fight itself — a somehow sanctioned bout and not an exhibition — was the total farce we expected.

Technically, Paul was declared the victor, but there were no winners on Friday. Certainly not any worth celebrating. There were, however, plenty of losers including, but not limited to…

1. Netflix

(Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)

Holy cow, this could not have gone worse from a public relations perspective for the streaming giant.

If this was a test run for the millions of concurrent users Netflix can expect for its upcoming Christmas Day NFL games and WWE Raw broadcasts, it was an epic fail.

FTW’s Nick Schwartz summed it up best:

Constant buffering and blurry images marred Friday’s undercard, leaving many upset viewers wondering what sort of stress testing Netflix did before millions of people were expected to tune in at the same time. Midway through the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano lightweight title bout, nearly every trending topic on X was related to the fight, with thousands of people complaining about their experience.

There were complaints from people streaming on TV, on tablets and on their phones. It was bad. Especially considering this is not the first time Netflix has streamed live events. We’ve seen similar issues when Netflix broadcast a Chris Rock concert, The Roast of Tom Brady and more.

Can Netflix solve these issues before the behemoths of the NFL and WWE entrust their audiences to the service? That’s quite literally a billion-dollar question.

2. Mike Tyson

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Props to Tyson for stepping into the ring at 58 years old after dealing with an ulcer earlier this year, but that’s where the congratulations begin and end. More than anything else, this was a sad display from a notoriously bad human who inexplicably rebounded in the public consciousness following a cameo in The Hangover trilogy.

If you tuned in hoping to Tyson turn back the clock, you were disappointed. If you just hoped Tyson could avoid embarrassing himself, you were disappointed. If you thought two-minute rounds and 14-ounce gloves would level the playing field, you were only playing yourself.

At the end of the day, Tyson earned a reported $20 million for letting a self-described heel toy with him in the ring. It’s hard to see this as anything but a nadir for a sport already dripping in cynicism. A fitting performance for anyone who expected anything else.

3. Jake Paul

(Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

Does Jake Paul actually want to be a champion boxer? Or is boxing just a means to extract the biggest paydays for his content as possible? After watching the 27-year-old waste a portion of his athletic prime and star power on such a sham, it’s hard to conclude anything but the latter.

Tyson spent the first 45 seconds of the fight unleashing everything he had, only for Paul to spend the remaining seven rounds carrying his opponent across the finish line. At multiple times, Paul had his hands down seemingly begging Tyson to land a blow and get the extremely pro-Iron Mike crowd back into the action.

Paul spent the final 10 seconds of the bout literally bowing down to Tyson, then admitted afterwards he was pulling his punches all fight because he didn’t want to “hurt” him. It’s hard to fathom anything more insulting to Tyson’s boxing legacy — and even harder to fathom Tyson ever affording any opponent the same courtesy if the roles were reversed.

As Hector Diaz perfectly stated on Bluesky: “If you’re interested in the Tyson-Paul match, you might enjoy pro wrestling. It’s also a predetermined fight between personalities. The only difference is that wrestling has good payoffs and you’re in on the joke.”

4. Anyone who bet on Mike Tyson

(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)

And boy-oh-boy were there a LOT of Mike Tyson bettors.

At BetMGM, 69 percent of all bettors on the three-way line took Tyson (+180), including 54 percent of all money wagered.

Maybe it was wishful thinking, maybe it was a sucker bet or maybe it was just bettors attempting to get their limits raised by purposely picking a losing side. In either case, Paul’s victory saw the house absolutely clean up.

On the other hand, Drake continued his impressive streak of horrible gambling by taking Tyson. So there’s that.

5. Roy Jones Jr.

A picture taken on August 19, 2015 shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shaking hands with US boxer Roy Jones Jr during a meeting in Sevastopol, Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 19 said he would be glad to grant a request for Russian citizenship from US boxer Roy Jones Jr as the multiple world champion visited Russian-annexed Crimea. ALEXEI NIKOLSKYALEXEI NIKOLSKY/AFP/Getty Images

Former champion boxer Roy Jones Jr. sat ringside on the official call of the bout and kept insisting something was wrong with Tyson’s mouth.

Every round it looked like Tyson was fidgeting with his mouthguard or biting his gloves. This, actually, was a very normal tick for Tyson and something he has done in past fights.

Jones Jr. — who previously fought Tyson in a November 2020 exhibition — refused to believe this.

Repeatedly and erroneously, Jones Jr. kept talking about Tyson’s mouth even as play-by-play announcer Mauro Ranallo kept trying to tell his colleague this was a common occurrence for Tyson.

You could sense Ranallo’s frustration building each round as he attempted to actually inform viewers while Jones Jr. continued to baselessly speculate.

It was far from the most upsetting part of the night, but it certainly made for an annoyingly repetitive conversation throughout the main event. The narrative was finally put to bed when ringside reporter Ariel Helwani asked Tyson about tick immediately after the fight.

Tyson confirmed he just has “a biting fixation” after which, mercifully, we were all able to go to bed, too.

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Jake Paul admitted to pulling punches instead of knocking out Mike Tyson

“I just have so much respect for him,” Paul said.

A whole lot of people tuned into Netflix – and endured streaming issues – on Friday night to watch Jake Paul fight Mike Tyson.

And folks who remember the Mike Tyson of 20 to 30 years ago would have assumed that bout would’ve ended in a knockout in Tyson’s favor, against almost anyone, much less a YouTube star turned fighter. Drake was among those who thought Tyson would surely win.

But Tyson is now 58-years-old and seemed to be hobbled Friday night by a bum knee. And anyone who watched the fight would say that Paul was in control almost the whole time. And if someone was going to suffer a knockout, it would have been Tyson at Paul’s hands.

After the match, Paul even admitted to pulling some punches and carrying Tyson, ensuring the fight would go the distance.

“I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt. … There was a point where I was like, ‘OK, he’s not really engaging back.’ And so, I don’t know if he’s tired or whatever, I could just tell that his age was showing a little bit. I just have so much respect for him.”

Tyson’s boxing record is 50-7 after losing to Paul.

Amanda Serrano posted a gnarly photo of the gash on her head after fighting Katie Taylor

An injury as brutal as the decision from the judges

Those who were able to stream Netflix’s Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight on Friday night without interruption saw an incredible bout turned into a shame at AT&T Stadium — and we’re not talking about Paul’s victory.

The co-main event between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor proved to be the most epic fight of the night as the two rivals went the full 10 rounds for the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring female light-welterweight titles.

Despite Serrano landing 107 more punches than her opponent — and Taylor losing a point due to a headbutt deduction — Taylor was controversially named the winner in a unanimous decision by the three judges. That only added insult to an already brutal injury sported by Serrano by the end of the bout.

The 36-year-old from Puerto Rico sported an absolutely brutal cut above her right eye and posted a quite graphic close-up photo of the gash after the fight.

Scroll down with caution if you want to see it.

Warning: NSFW Graphic Image

via @Serranosisters
via @Serranosisters

OUCH!

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Fans trying to watch Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul on Netflix faced technical issues during undercard

It didn’t take long for technical issues to rear their head in Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul.

One of the most highly anticipated boxing matches in recent memory is set to go down on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

Mike Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion, squares off against internet personality and budding professional boxer Jake Paul. Tyson, 58, is more than twice the age of Paul, 27.

MORE: 10 celebrities spotted at the fight 

Fans were obviously excited for the fight, but it didn’t take long for technical issues to arise. Instead of being shown over pay-per-view as is typical for fights like this, it is instead a Netflix exclusive stream.

As anyone familiar with streaming knows, high-traffic events can cause disruptions, and Tyson vs Paul was no different. Even during the first undercard fight, fans took to social media to complain that the stream continued to buffer.

Not the best start for Netflix!

The event is sure to draw a massive viewership as it has already been postponed from July 20 after Tyson had an emergency ulcer flare-up on a plane. And it seems those fans who have been waiting months for the fight have had to deal with some buffering annoyance.

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