Vikings defensive back Joshua Metellus had nothing but praise for quarterback J.J. McCarthy in a recent interview with Britain’s Sky Sports.
While he still may be stuck behind Sam Darnold on the depth chart for now, it seems like rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy is making quite the impression on his teammates. Last week free agent signee Blake Cashman voiced his strong support of the young quarterback, and now defensive chess piece Josh Metellus has echoed those sentiments.
In an interview with British sports network Sky Sports, Metellus had nothing but praise for the Vikings first-round draft pick, saying:
He’s gonna figure it out because he always does and I think he’s gonna be real good for the team. He brings a good energy, you can tell he’s a leader by nature so I think he’ll be really good for the locker room.
While we still don’t know when McCarthy will make his inevitable debut as the team’s quarterback, early returns suggest that he’s leaving quite a mark on the team as he prepares. Making a midseason switch at quarterback can be a risky proposition, but it seems like McCarthy will have the full backing of the locker room if he is put into the lineup this season.
The former Duke player is now busy crisscrossing the globe making history in the commentary box.
Alison Whitaker was having lunch on her birthday in China at a Ladies European Tour event when someone from the television crew asked if she’d be interested in filling in during the coverage later that day.
The affable Aussie said sure, she’d love to. The crew member went on to explain that ideally, they’d like to have a European voice. Whitaker said no worries, she’d be around for another 40 minutes in player dining if they couldn’t find a better option. Either way, no hard feelings.
“Lucky for me, they didn’t find anyone,” Whitaker said with a laugh. By the end of the day, she’d been offered a contract for the following season.
That was a decade ago, and now Whitaker, the former Duke player with the razor-sharp mind and infectious personality, is busy crisscrossing the globe making history in the commentary box.
LPGA Hall of Fame player and television trailblazer Judy Rankin calls Whitaker the most versatile person in broadcasting. She can walk the fairways as an on-course reporter and serve as both an analyst and lead host – sometimes in the same week.
Whitaker, 38, will be in the booth at this week’s Blue Bay LPGA event in China but does most of her work in the men’s game on the DP World Tour and is mostly off-camera, making her a sneaky low-profile TV personality.
“She’s tremendous,” said Rankin, adding that “here, she’s definitely under the radar except for the true golf junkies who watch a lot of the European Tour and so on.”
Whitaker made it to Durham, North Carolina, via a 2005 American summer tour that culminated in a semifinal appearance at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, where she beat future LPGA players Ryann O’Toole, Maria Uribe and Amanda Blumenherst before falling to finalist Maru Martinez.
Alison Whitaker played for Duke from 2006 to 2010. (courtesy Duke athletics)
When Whitaker arrived at Duke, the mood of the team lightened, recalled Blumenherst. She’d be the one printing out the lyrics to the “Little Mermaid” to bring in the team van. When Blumenherst played her last competitive round at the Evian Championship 11 years ago, Whitaker was there on the last hole to give her a hug.
Blumenherst was actually working for the Golf Channel on set when she first heard Whitaker’s voice on a broadcast. She watched as someone hit a thin shot out of a bunker that caught the top edge, prompting Whitaker to say, “Oh, those lips don’t lie.”
Right from the start, Blumenherst said, it seemed Whitaker belonged on television.
At one point this season, it looked like Whitaker might be on the road working events for 17 straight weeks. She deleted a few in the middle so she’d remember where to put the coffee mugs at her home in Melbourne. She’ll typically work five to seven weeks in a row and then have a couple off.
Saying yes to television was made rather easy given that she’d been battling glandular fever and vertigo as a touring pro. Plus, she absolutely loved it, noting that her work ethic exploded.
For many former players in the commentary world, television feels like the next stage. But for Whitaker, professional golf felt more like the lead-up to what she was meant to be doing.
When Whitaker first got recruited to work on the LET, she was in her late 20s, which was young for the time. After working the LPGA’s Asian swing and some of the men’s and women’s events in Australia, Whitaker started covering the DP World Tour for European Tour Productions, which provides the world feed for Golf Channel and Sky Sports, among others.
“She’s the most conscientious, diligent person I’ve ever come across,” said booth mate Tony Johnstone. “I think she’s surrounded by more laptops than when they put Apollo on the moon.”
Covering the men’s game meant that Whitaker had a lot to learn in a short amount of time, given that playing professional golf on a women’s tour leaves little time to watch the men.
Sitting next to men in the commentary box who had witnessed something firsthand that Whitaker had only read about drove her to work the range and talk to as many people as possible.
Even so, it was deeply intimidating.
“You kind of just have to make sure you fill your shoes with a little bit of self-belief,” said Whitaker, “which is so much harder than people would think when you’re sitting down the row from Nick Faldo and Trevor Immelmann, and I’m just trying to convince myself to talk.”
That’s where Whitaker’s strong sense of humor comes into play. She has learned to laugh about mistakes and give herself a bit of grace. When it comes to the naysayers online, her family provides some levity, particularly when bad grammar and typos are involved.
“Like many women in men’s realms, especially in sport, I’ve got a healthy dose of imposter syndrome,” said Whitaker, “which I’m trying to get in check, but at the same time it fuels me.”
Alison Whitaker and Iona Stephen pose for a picture at the TV compound. (courtesy photo)
Iona Stephen’s first memory of meeting Whitaker was at the 2019 BMW PGA Championship while working for Golfing World. Whitaker warmly introduced herself, and they sat down for a drink. Right from the start, Stephen felt this was a woman she could trust.
Fast forward to the global pandemic, when Stephen was early into her work as an on-course reporter covering the DP World Tour and tasked with interviewing some of the biggest names in golf – live. It was a tough time learning a new business during the isolated era of Covid, but as luck would have it, Stephen was in a shared accommodation space with Whitaker that week. Stephen grabbed a decorative shell and used it as a pretend microphone as she conducted mock interviews with Whitaker until midnight.
“I’ll never forget that,” said a grateful Stephen.
Whitaker started working the lead of men’s broadcasts toward the end of 2020. With little advice to go on, she dove in, unaware of all the ways she’d soon be making history.
In addition to working as the lead host covering on the DP World Tour on a consistent basis, Whitaker became the first female lead at the Open Championship three years ago at Royal St. George’s for the world feed, as well as at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Last year, she was the first female lead on a men’s major for Sky Sports at the PGA Championship.
David Mould, director of live television at the European Tour Group, said Whitaker is also the first person on the world feed to work as both a lead host and analyst, which she does for the DP World Tour’s high-profile Rolex Series events.
“I don’t think Alison realizes how good she is,” said Mould, “and maybe that’s a good thing because it drives her forward to try and be better.”
Whitaker is humble about the history and mostly wants to help other women join her on course and in the booth. She’s open to sharing all of her tricks and tips. And when the pressure gets to be too much, as it invariably does in a profession in which mistakes are amplified, she’s the first to offer those in her small girl gang a hug.
“The environment when I got into it was very competitive because there wasn’t enough room for more women,” said Whitaker. “It felt like there was one woman on each crew and everyone was quite defensive of their patch.”
She describes Thomas Bjorn as her security bear. He’s quick to make sure everyone is taken care of, she said, and will march into any room to make things happen. He’s even fought a few battles for Whitaker, just so she doesn’t have to.
“When you hang out with him, you can see why so many guys respect him and look to him as a leader,” she said. “I got to know that more after his Ryder Cup captaincy when I started to work with him more. He just gets things so right, and he takes care of you.”
Whitaker often works broadcasts without ever being seen on camera. (courtesy photo)
The team environment means much to Whitaker, a noted foodie and wine expert who can direct pals to brilliant food haunts around the world.
Whitaker notes that Scotland’s Ken Brown has a contagious laugh that can heard buildings over. He presented her a watercolor for Christmas – someone pulling a sleigh down a snowy street – and it became an instant treasure.
Richard Kaufman and Kate Burton were early mentors as she started covering the LET. Her goal every day was to find something that Kaufman didn’t know.
At the 2015 Solheim Cup, Whitaker sat in a box with Burton, who was working lead for the first time. At the end of the first day, Burton asked Whitaker to give her one thing she liked, and one thing she could work on for the next day. Learning how to take feedback is very hard to do, Burton explained, but it’s the only way to get better.
“What a massive lesson to learn,” said Whitaker. “Between the two of them, I got work ethic, and the secrets on how to try and improve.”
Of course, Whitaker’s favorite stories to tell are the ones when things didn’t go as planned. Like the time the air-conditioner died during the Joburg Open in South Africa and they had to put their phones in the fridge before finishing up a Sky Sports interview. Not to mention the black mamba curled up under the portable toilet.
“I hope to have a career of that,” said Whitaker. “I don’t want it to be too polished.”
Formula 1 broadcaster Sky Sports is looking to create the ‘Greatest Track on Earth’ as part of a new fan survey it has launched. The digital project will encompass iconic bends, straights and attractions from various grand prix venues to create the …
Formula 1 broadcaster Sky Sports is looking to create the ‘Greatest Track on Earth’ as part of a new fan survey it has launched.
The digital project will encompass iconic bends, straights and attractions from various grand prix venues to create the ideal circuit.
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It will come from the results of a 13-question survey, which can be taken here, covers everything from viewing habits to favorite teams and drivers from F1’s history, as well as all-important choices of specific track elements, weather, and fans at the venue itself.
Twelve corners can be chosen from the survey, including the likes of the tunnel into Nouvelle chicane in Monaco, Eu Rouge and Raidillon at Spa, Degner at Suzuka, the high-speed Maggots, Beckets, and Chapel complex at Silverstone, Circuit of the America’s tight Turn 1, and the high speed Parabolica at Monza.
The opening straights of COTA, the Red Bull Ring, Baku, and Zandvoort are also on the table, along with Hangar Straight at Silverstone and Kemmel Straight at Spa among others.
The correspondent quizzed a player on whether St. Andrews would be his last major for a while.
Sky Sports reporter Jamie Weir has revealed how a LIV golf star told him to “go (expletive)’ himself after he asked a question.
The golf correspondent quizzed the golfer on whether The Open at St. Andrews would be his last major for a while. Weir did not reveal who the golfer was but he shared the exchange on Twitter.
He wrote: “Odd how one of the players listed below, when I asked him at The Open if he was at all concerned this could be his last major for a while, told me to ‘go (expletive) myself’ and that it was a ‘(expletive) (expletive) question.'”
LIV golfer Lee Westwood responded to the tweet saying: “It wasn’t me but I did overhear the conversation in question. Jamie works for Sky. They cover the PGA & DPWT. Where do you think their loyalties lie and what their agenda is?”
How is asking ‘are you concerned this could be your last major for a while?’ showing any ‘agenda’?!!
The 46-year-old Swede is understood to be on the verge of signing up for the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf Invitational Series and, after discussions with Ryder Cup Europe officials, the decision was made to effectively sack him as captain.
“In light of decisions made by Henrik in relation to his personal circumstances, it has become clear that he will not be able to fulfil certain contractual obligations to Ryder Cup Europe that he had committed to prior to his announcement as captain on Tuesday March 15, 2022, and it is therefore not possible for him to continue in the role of captain.
“Confirmation of the new 2023 European Ryder Cup captain will be made in due course. Ryder Cup Europe will be making no further comment on any aspect of the process until that time.”
Stenson’s appointment in March had appeared to end speculation about his involvement in the Saudi-backed breakaway as he insisted he was fully committed to the role.
But in a massive blow to the DP World Tour, of which players must be a member to compete in the Ryder Cup or captain the European side, the former Open champion signaled his intention to joined LIV Golf in a move which extends the deepening rift in the men’s professional game.
Laidlaw became the first non-American reporter to reach the milestone of 40 Masters tournaments in 2013.
Tributes have been made to Renton Laidlaw, a hugely respected Scottish golf journalist and broadcaster, who has passed away at the age of 82.
Edinburgh-born Laidlaw was a true voice of the game across the mediums and his tireless dedication and distinctive style brought acclaim and accolades throughout a career of revered longevity.
Laidlaw covered his first British Open back in 1959 while he would become the first non-American reporter to reach the milestone of 40 Masters tournaments in 2013.
In total, the softly-spoken Scot covered 165 majors including 58 Opens and 42 Masters as well as golf’s other showpiece occasions in a globe-trotting professional life spanning six decades.
Ewen Murray, the Sky Sports golf commentator, led the tributes for his fellow Edinburgh man and wrote: “I met Renton Laidlaw when I was seven. He was 22 and came to my parents’ house every Friday for tea ahead of his column for the Edinburgh Evening News.
“He was my mentor at the start of my TV career. A gifted broadcaster, an exceptional man in every way. Many hearts are sore tonight.”
Renton Laidlaw died at the age of 82.
Dougie Donnelly, another well-kent voice of golf, described Laidlaw as a “dear friend and colleague” and added that he was “an outstanding writer and broadcaster, held in genuine affection by everyone he worked with, and a great support to me and to so many others over the years. He will be very sadly missed.”
Iain Carter, the BBC’s golf correspondent, said Laidlaw had been the “voice of golf on BBC radio for so many years and a colossus of the golfing media.”
We are deeply saddened to hear of Renton Laidlaw’s passing.
With his distinctive Scottish voice, Laidlaw was one of golf’s most respected broadcasters and journalists, and provided great service and dedication to the sport.
The game’s governing body, The R&A, issued a statement on Laidlaw’s passing and said: “With his distinctive Scottish voice, Laidlaw was one of golf’s most respected broadcasters and journalists, and provided great service and dedication to the sport.”
Laura Davies is back in the booth for Sky Sports to cover her second Ryder Cup, this time at Whistling Straits.
Laura Davies, who at age 57 has made the cut in her last three LPGA starts, will be back in the booth this week for Sky Sports to cover her second Ryder Cup, this time at Whistling Straits.
The legendary player represented Europe in 12 Solheim Cups, including the first one in 1990, and served as a vice captain for Catriona Matthew in the last two Cups. The four-time major winner with 87 titles worldwide shows no signs of slowing down.
Golfweek recently caught up with Davies, who lights up the commentary box as well as she has the interview room for decades.
What’s your preparation like to cover a men’s event?
When I do features like I have the last two days, I do a bit of homework and make sure I know the facts on the various bits that I know I’m going to do. Just normally I react to what’s happening on the golf course in the coverage. It’s just a normal event, like a British Open. Obviously the guys hit it a lot farther, so you’ve got to be ready for the clubbing and bits like that. But really and truly golf’s golf, so you just talk about it.
What are your impressions of Whistling Straits?
I know these guys are so unbelievably good, but it just looks like a huge golf course. I know they were setting it up more for the Americans, lots of birdies, but I think if this wind keeps blowing, I’m not sure if it’s going to be a birdie-fest. Par could end up being pretty good on some of those holes.
I’m not sure you could set it up for either team really because these guys hit it so long now. It’s hard to say one team has an advantage on the actual style of the golf course to another.
Bryson DeChambeau of team United States speaks to the media prior to the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits on Sept. 21, 2021 in Haven, Wisconsin. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
What do you make of the Bryson/Brooks feud?
To be honest, I don’t know much about it. I just know that they’ve had some sort of argument a year or so ago and it’s just kept bubbling on and bubbling on, I suppose. Certainly when it comes to the Ryder Cup, they should put their differences aside.
In fact, one of the features I did was if I was Steve Stricker what would my Friday morning foursomes be, and I put them together. There was a little bit of devilment in it, see what would happen. I actually think their games would be suited in foursomes. They’re both strong guys who like to hit drivers and try to overpower golf courses.
Only the American room would know if it’s a real rift and there’s no going back from it, or whether they can get out there and try and win a point for the team. … It was like a pure fantasy league thing, who would you put out.
If I knew that they weren’t that bothered about playing with each other, I think they would be a great team. That was the angle I was coming from. It certainly wouldn’t be to let them start punching it out on the golf course.
Seve Ballesteros with members of Team Europe during the 1991 Ryder Cup matches at Kiawah Island. (Photo by Simon Bruty/Getty Images)
Who’s your all-time favorite Ryder Cup player?
Seve, without a doubt. My favorite match ever, he actually lost it, was the one he played against Tom Lehman (in 1995) when Tom Lehman was one of the best players in the world. He led off for the Americans and the European captain put Seve out there knowing full well Seve was really struggling at the time with his game. Seve took him, I think, to 17. (Editor’s note: Lehman won 4 and 3.) He was hitting shots that were ridiculous. Bad shots to get him into to trouble, but the way he kept getting up and down and holing putts just to keep the match going on and on – that’s my most memorable Ryder Cup match.
What’s your early impression of Padraig Harrington as captain?
As you’d expect, quite analytical. He likes all the facts and figures. Obviously they’ve done all that, but then when the guys are here it sounds like he’s just kind of do their own thing. … in many ways like Beany (European Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew). Beany wasn’t analytical in any way, shape or form, but it looks like he’s just going to let them do what they do week in and week out, the stuff that got them here in the first place.
Members of Team Europe pose for a photo after winning the 2021 Solheim Cup at Invernes Club in Toledo, Ohio. Photo by Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
What do you think was the key to Europe’s success at the Solheim?
I just think we had the strongest team we’d ever had. From the No. 1 player, obviously you’d put that as (Anna) Nordqvist because she’d just won the Open, right to the rookies. … It was a pretty cohesive team and Beany was happy playing everyone at least twice, obviously before the singles.
I think the fact that she believed in them, they fed off that and I think they realized from the very early outset that we had a good chance of winning. Overall it was just a great team effort.
Who are you most looking forward to watch this week on both teams?
I’m curious about Bryson (DeChambeau). I want to see if he drives the first, because I think it’s definitely on. He just fascinates me the way he goes about it.
And European-wise, (Viktor) Hovland. It would be really nice to see if he’s as good as we all think he’s going to be in a Ryder Cup setting. Because obviously he’s never done it before, but he’s one of the best players in the world. It will be interesting for me to see if the Ryder cup pressure gets to him and he doesn’t perform. I don’t think it will, he plays with these guys week in and week out.
Maybe that first tee might scare him a bit, but these youngsters these days don’t seem to worry about that.
Laura Davies at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Photo by Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
What’s your playing schedule for the rest of the year and how are you feeling about your game?
I’m very happy with the way I’m playing. My next two tournaments will be Atlantic City (ShopRite) and Founders, both in New Jersey, and then I’m going to play the Saudi event (Aramco Team Series), and there’s a chance I might go to Dubai the week before.
It’s still the putting that’s letting me down. It’s such a shame because my long game is really as good as it’s been for a very long time. … I made the last three cuts, I’m hoping to make the next two but also have at least one of those be a decent finish. A top 10 would be great.
Who’s your pick to win the Ryder Cup?
I would take a tie because that means we retain. I think the American team is very strong. If we could silence the crowd, we could definitely win it.
I would take a draw but you never know, we might just nick it anyway.
Abel Sanchez, Andy Ruiz Jr.’s former trainer, said Eddy Reynoso could have his hands full with a fighter who resists hard work.
Abel Sanchez, Andy Ruiz Jr.’s former trainer, painted a clear portrait of the challenge Eddy Reynoso faces.
Reynoso, the longtime mentor of Canelo Alvarez, has agreed to work with the former heavyweight titleholder.
Ruiz stunned the boxing world by stopping Anthony Joshua to win three belts last June but, ill-prepared for the rematch six months later, he lost a wide decision. The latter fight raised questions about Ruiz’s dedication to the sport.
Sanchez was in Ruiz’s corner when the Mexican-American lost a close decision to Joseph Parker. Manny Robles worked with him for the Joshua fights.
“Eddy Reynoso must keep him in the gym, make him work and get rid of the baggage (read: enablers) around him,” Sanchez told Sky Sports. “Andy must listen. Eddy is a heck of a coach, one of the best in boxing right now.”
He went on: “”I’m not there to baby sit, I am there to coach and develop you if you are willing to listen. You can’t develop someone who doesn’t want to try anything. It was difficult for me because I don’t like laziness. We work too hard. I have too many people here working their butts off. To have one person get away with things that nobody else can? That’s not proper.
“He doesn’t look like a prototypical heavyweight but he has a lot of ability, unbelievable ability. He lacks in desire. He doesn’t want to do things. He finds an excuse not to do something. That’s a shame because he could do great things.”
Sanchez’s comments were similar to those Robles made to Sky Sports earlier.
“My job is not to call him every day,” Robles said. “He’s a man, not a kid, and must be treated as such. You can’t convince someone to want something. The fame and money has been overwhelming for Andy.
“He’s got to know how to handle it. Maybe after this defeat, the game has humbled him.”
This time of the year always gets Rich Beem thinking about the PGA Championship, an event he won in 2002 after fending off Tiger Woods.
Rich Beem is a 5-foot-8 party.
The guy’s glass is always north of the half-full line. Jokes with the best of them, laughs with one and all.
Remember, the man they call Beemer did a jig on the 72nd hole after slaying a goliath named Tiger Woods and lifting the Wanamaker Trophy at the 2002 PGA Championship.
Now he’s one of the best voices in golf as an analyst for Sky Sports and, yes, he drops in some amusing one-liners from time to time. He finds the proverbial silver lining in most everything and has done so since the COVID-19 global pandemic halted the PGA Tour and stifled most of the world.
“All about hanging out and staying safe,” Beem said in a chat with Golfweek from his home in Austin, Texas. In a lively discussion – they always are with Beem – he touched on how he’s been dealing with the current times, why COVID-19 put his plans for joining PGA Tour Champions on hold, meeting Woods for the first time and the magical week he took down Tiger in a major championship.
Rich Beem of Sky Sports interviews Kurt Russell and Samuel L Jackson during a celebrity challenge match ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National. Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Beem, 49, said he’s been fortunate to be able to play golf four to five days a week but has been longing to get back to work and commentating on the best players in the world. This week, he was supposed to be in San Francisco – at TPC Harding Park, to be exact – pulling double-duty as player and analyst for the 102nd edition of the PGA Championship. But the tournament has been postponed to August 6 because of the coronavirus.
Still, this time of the year always gets him thinking about the PGA Championship.
Last year, he played one official event – one – and somehow made the cut at bruising Bethpage Black in the PGA.
He said, “smoke and mirrors was a lot of it,” that karma played an influential hand and how a few words from John Daly got him going. Beem made five birdies in the last six holes in the second round and made the cut on the number.
“It was meant to be,” Beem said. “I was as shocked as anybody. But probably one of the proudest things I’ve ever done.”
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After he finished his second round, Beem rushed to get back on the course for his day job for Sky Sports and caught up with eventual champion Brooks Koepka on the fifth hole. Beem said he smoked a drive on the fifth during his round and had hybrid to the green.
“Brooks gets up there and hits driver, 9-iron,” Beem laughed. “Well, we’re competing on the same course but it’s really not the same game we’re playing right now. But for me, that’s the fun part of it. They have a different set of skills I don’t have. I just love getting out there and being inside the ropes with a golf club in my hand again. I love competing knowing full well I’m going to get smoked.”
His biggest moment in golf, however, came in the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota. Beem had won The International two weeks prior. Woods won the Buick Open the week prior. Woods had won seven of most recent 12 majors. Beem was in the final group on Sunday with Justin Leonard, with Woods playing right in front of the two.
“That day was obviously surreal. The whole week was surreal,” said Beem, who earned an exemption into the tournament every year until he’s 65 with his victory. “I had a handle on the greens right away. I was rolling the golf ball unbelievably good. Going into Sunday I was incredibly nervous. But I still felt I was in charge of my emotions.”
After an eagle at 11 and a birdie at 13, Beem had a six-shot lead. Then Woods birdied his last four holes. Beem held on and a tap-in bogey on the last gave him a 1-shot win and ignited the jig.
“Thankfully he ran out of holes,” Beem said. “But let’s face it, you know me, if golf was 19 holes, you think I would have let him beat me on the 19th hole? I’m an excellent 19th hole kind of guy.”
But Woods was a different kind of guy.
“It’s like he fell out of bed and he knew has was going to win another major championship,” Beem said. “Everybody in the field at the time knew that you had to beat him in order to win any tournament.
“His confidence was so high and he was so focused on what he was doing. You just were in awe of the guy. At the time, in 2002, he was No. 1 in the world by forever.”
Beem hoped to be playing in the fall on the PGA Tour Champions (he turns 50 on August 24). But the coronavirus got in the way.
“My plans to play this year are on the back burner because I feel I owe Sky Sports to see out the rest of the year once golf starts back up,” Beem said. “I’m going to be the only one from Sky Sports to be in the U.S. that will be able to go to the events. So I’m looking forward to playing next year. I’m OK with that.”
Dillian Whyte will face Alexander Povektin on May 2 in Manchester, England on DAZN in the United States and Sky Box Office in the U.K.
There’s more to the heavyweights than Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. They continue to show depth not seen in years.
Another sign of the division’s ongoing comeback from dormant days landed on the calendar Tuesday with Matchroom Boxing’s announcement of Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povektin on May 2 in Manchester, England on DAZN in the United States and Sky Box Office in the U.K.
“I want to be heavyweight champion of the world, so anywhere in the world is my lion’s den,” said Whyte, who ranks as the No. 1 challenger to the title Tyson Fury took from Wilder Feb. 22 in a rematch. “If you aspire to be world champion, you should be able to fight anywhere.’’
Fury, who is set to fight Wilder for a third time probably in July, has talked about three more bouts before retirement. After Wilder and presumably Joshua, he has mentioned Whyte. Then again, he has also mentioned Dereck Chisora. Fury figures to change his mind again. And again.
All Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) can do is keep himself at the top the rankings and in the public eye. He needs more than a win against Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs). He needs a performance that fans won’t forget and Fury can’t ignore.
“This is a great fight,’’ said Whyte, whose only loss was to Joshua in 2015. “Povetkin is an Olympic gold medalist, has loads of experience, he’s a former world champion and he’s only lost to Joshua and [Wladimir] Klitschko.’’
Whyte is coming off a unanimous decision over Mariusz Wach in Saudi Arabia on a card featuring Anthony Joshua’s decision Andy Ruiz Jr. in a rematch Dec. 7. Whyte’s status was uncertain before the bout because of a reported doping violation. He was cleared by an investigation and allowed to fight.
Povetkin, a Russian who has tested positive twice for performance enhancers, also appeared on the Joshua-Ruiz rematch card, fighting to a split draw with Michael Hunter.
“I am pleased to fight Whyte,” Povetkin said in a news release. “It has long been discussed but didn’t happen for whatever reason. Dillian is a good, strong boxer, and it will make for an interesting fight.’’
Whyte and Povetkin are scheduled to be at a news conference Wednesday in Manchester.
Anthony Joshua told Sky Sports that he is going to “whoop” Andy Ruiz in their rematch on December 7 in Saudi Arabia.
This much is certain: After the most humiliating experience of his professional boxing career, Anthony Joshua is talking as if his confidence is intact.
The British heavyweight looks to regain his title belts from cherubic Andy Ruiz Jr., the current poster child for the proverbial underdog, on Dec. 7 in Saudi Arabia on DAZN. Ruiz stopped Joshua in the seventh round in June, an achievement that ranks among one of the early century’s most improbable upsets.
That’s all anyone has been able to talk about over the past few months, much to Joshua’s noticeable chagrin.
“I’m gonna whoop him, show (Ruiz) how great I am,” Joshua told Sky Sports in a recent interview. “If they think he’s that great, if I beat him, I want everyone to bow to my feet and tell me how great I am.”
That’s all Joshua used to hear, how great he is. Now? The conversation is about his shaky chin, how he went down to defeat meekly, how he was never as good as hyped, how he must win on Dec. 7 to save his career. Above all, the last few months have been a constant reminder of the prowess of the Mexican-American from the Imperial Valley, flabby waist and all.
That’s a massive shift in the boxing discourse. That’s why Joshua is adamant that when he defeats Ruiz, he wants everyone to kiss his feet.
“I couldn’t beat Andy Ruiz before and get the credit I deserved,” Joshua said. “I wasn’t fighting King Kong was I? … Now apparently I am fighting the quickest hands and the best fighter in the division. Once I beat him, I want everyone to bow to me.”
