Tag: Boxing

Is this British boxer’s ring walk the best fighter entrance of 2020?

British boxer Nathan Heaney’s ring walk for his IBO intercontinental middleweight title fight will take some beating for the best fighter entrance of the year.

Everyone loves a good ring walk, so settle back for what we reckon might just be the best fighter entrance we’ve seen so far in 2020.

While a host of events were canceled or postponed over the last few days due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, one event that did go ahead was a boxing card in Stoke-on-Trent, England, where local fighter Nathan Heaney fought in front of a packed – and raucous – crowd at the city’s Kings Hall on Friday night.

Heaney took on Maltese contender Christian Schembri for the IBO intercontinental super middleweight title in the biggest fight of the undefeated Brit’s young boxing career and he delivered a ring walk to match, as he appeared from behind the curtain to make his way to the ring as the Tom Jones classic “Delilah” blasted from the arena speakers.

The song, which hit No. 2 in the U.K. charts and reached No. 15 in the Billboard Hot 100 back in 1968, is the terrace anthem of Stoke City Football Club, and the arena was packed to the rafters with “Potters” fans as Heaney strutted his stuff on the stage.

It sounded like every man, woman and child in the arena was joining in as the entire building belted out the famous song as Heaney made his way to the ring for the fight.

Sure, you can perform choreographed dance moves or wear outlandish costumes (as long as they’re not too heavy, of course), but nothing gets the blood pumping quite like a good old-fashioned singalong, and Heaney and his fans turned the atmosphere up to 11.

Clearly, it inspired him, as Heaney claimed a unanimous decision win to secure the title.

We reckon “Delilah” probably got another airing during the afterparty, too.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Mother of Floyd Mayweather’s children found dead (Boxingjunkie)

Josie Harris, the ex-girlfriend of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the mother of three of his children, was found dead Tuesday night in Valencia, California.

Josie Harris, the ex-girlfriend of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the mother of three of his children, was found dead Tuesday night in Valencia, California.

Mother of Floyd Mayweather’s children found dead

Josie Harris, the ex-girlfriend of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the mother of three of his children, was found dead Tuesday night in Valencia, California.

Josie Harris, the ex-girlfriend of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the mother of three of his children, was found dead Tuesday night in Valencia, California.

DAZN announces global expansion, with boxing as focus

DAZN announced Monday that it is increasing its global presence to 200 countries this year…

DAZN, the so-called Netflix of sports, is doubling down on its global footprint. And boxing will be the focus.

The subscription streaming app announced Monday that it will expand its English-language service centered on boxing to 200 countries and territories from the nine in which it currently operates.

The inaugural event in the rollout will feature Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez in his annual Cinco de Mayo Weekend appearance on May 2. Alvarez’s opponent has not been confirmed, but 168-pound titleholder Billy Joe Saunders appears to be the front runner.

“Beginning this spring, most of the world will have access to DAZN and its unmatched schedule of boxing events,” said DAZN’s Executive Chairman John Skipper. “Our roster of championship fighters represents some of the world’s most popular athletes, and we’ll be working with them to stage spectacular international events for years to come.”

The global service will include DAZN’s growing archive of classic fights, many of which feature top names like Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather. New subscribers will also gain access to DAZN’s original shoulder programming, like the Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg-produced “40 Days,“ a documentary series that takes a look at fighters’ training regime, and the Sylvester Stallone-produced “One Night,” which chronicles the sport’s most historic fights.

DAZN, which is backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, first launched in 2016 in Japan, Germany, Austria and Switzerland with a focus on international soccer. Two years later it entered the United States behind a lucrative 8-year, billon-dollar partnership with British promoter Eddie Hearn in a bold attempt to corner the boxing market. It has not been shy about its ambitions, paying top dollar to retain exclusive rights to some of the best fighters in the world, including Gennadiy Golovkin, Anthony Joshua and Alvarez, whom it signed to a five-year, $365 million deal in 2018.

“Since our launch in 2016, we’ve seen an encouraging level of interest around our key events from both international fans and potential partners, which highlighted the opportunity to capitalize on our existing rights portfolio within boxing to fuel our expansion,” said DAZN Executive Vice President Joseph Markowski, who will oversee the global service. “Establishing DAZN as the global home of fight sports is just the first step, and we couldn’t think of a better attraction for our inaugural event than Canelo’s traditional Cinco de Mayo Weekend fight.”

DAZN’s global plans will have particularly dramatic ramifications for the boxing landscape in the U.K., where the company is headquartered but has never operated. Heavyweight stars Tyson Fury and Joshua have exclusive deals with traditional networks BT Sport and Sky Sport, respectively.

According to the DailyMail, DAZN is planning to charge a £4.99 ($6.39) monthly subscription in the U.K. and aims to bid heavily for the rights to stream the third match between Fury and Deontay Wilder tentatively scheduled for July in Las Vegas.

Last November, it was reported that DAZN was up to nearly 8 million subscribers worldwide.

Read more:

DAZN hits 8 million global subscribers, according to report

Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury part three set for July 2020 (Boxingjunkie)

The fight will take place Saturday, July 18th in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same arena as their rematch in February.

The fight will take place Saturday, July 18th in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same arena as their rematch in February.

Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury part three set for July 2020 (Mmajunkie)

The fight will take place Saturday, July 18th in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same arena as their rematch in February.

The fight will take place Saturday, July 18th in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same arena as their rematch in February.

Wilder-Fury III is on. Here’s everything you need to know.

Deontay Wilder has exercised his right for a third fight, and we have the date and location details.

Deontay Wilder will exercise his right for a third fight against Tyson Fury, and the trilogy is on.

According to a report from ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Wilder has asked for a third fight, and the turnaround will be quick — They are scheduling for it to happen on July 18 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

That’s a quick turnaround for a third fight, but it’s clear they want to capitalize on the attention that the heavyweight matchup has garnered over its first two iterations.

Wilder won the first bout by knockout, with Fury dominating the second fight until Wilder’s corner threw in the towel in the seventh. Wilder suggested after the fight that perhaps the ref, or the 45-pound costume he wore before the bout, were to blame for the loss.

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Deontay Wilder saying he trained with a 45-pound vest makes his outfit excuse look worse

So much for that excuse.

In the days since Deontay Wilder took the first professional loss of his career at the hands of Tyson Fury, the former WBC heavyweight champion has unleashed plenty of excuses to explain what went wrong on Saturday night.

He blamed referee Kenny Bayless for not enforcing his pre-fight warnings about punches to the back of the head. He blamed his corner for throwing in the towel (despite that being the correct and responsible move). He also blamed the elaborate, 40-pound costume he wore during the ring walk for tiring out his legs by Round 3.

While it could theoretically be draining to take a long walk to the ring with 40 pounds of costume on your person, Wilder acted like it was a shock to his system and not something he’s been accustomed to. Back in 2018 and after the first Fury fight, Wilder discussed using a 45-pound vest as a key component for his training regimen.

He said to Joe Rogan:

“We want to activate the fast-twitch muscles. We do everything with rapid speed. If I’m doing anything that consists of me moving my feet, it’s sprinting and stuff like that. I wear a 45-pound vest on me as well to all my exercises and everything that I do to have that extra weight on me.”

If a 45-pound vest was a regular component of “ALL” his exercises, then that really makes his costume excuse look weaker than it already did. He should have been used to the weight.

Wilder has said that he’ll activate the rematch clause of the contract, so we’ll have to see what kind of costume he opts for ahead of his next fight. And how heavy it is.

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Deontay Wilder blames Tyson Fury loss on 45-pound costume he wore before fight

This is an all-timer of an excuse.

Deontay Wilder was in trouble against Tyson Fury from the very start of their heavyweight championship fight last Saturday night in Las Vegas, and now we’re learning that what he wore into the ring might have had something to do with it.

Well, at least that’s the excuse Wilder is apparently using a few days after the fight.

Wilder wore an elaborate costume into the ring, which weighed 45 pounds.

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According to a report by The Athletic, those 45 pounds took a lot out of Wilder’s legs as he made his way to the ring.

You can’t make this stuff up:

I mean, that is an all-timer of an excuse.

Boxing fans agreed:

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