Monday 24 December 2018

2018 Boxing Day EPL fixtures

Wednesday, December 26, 2018
 
Fulham           vs Wolves      1:30pm
Liverpool       vs Newcastle 4:00pm
Leicester        vs Man City   4:00pm
Burnley          vs Everton   4:00pm
Man United  vs Huddersfield 4:00pm
Tottenham   vs Bournemouth 4:00pm
C/Palace       vs Cardiff City 4:00pm
Brighton        vs Arsenal    6:15pm
Watford        vs Chelsea     8:30pm
THURSDAY:
Southampton vs West Ham  8:45pm

Thursday 6 December 2018

Referee Reiss defends Wilder/Fury knockdown drama

Referee Jack Reiss has lifted the lid on the stunning few moments after Tyson Fury was savagely knocked down in the early hours of Sunday, December 2 by Deontay Wilder - and explained why he allowed the Gypsy King to continue.
Fury and Wilder battled to a controversial draw in Los Angeles on Saturday night, with the challenger twice climbing off the canvas to hear the final bell.
Wilder looked set to continue his impressive knockout record when he floored Fury in the final round, leaving the heavyweight flat on his back and seemingly out for the count.

But Fury somehow rose to his feet and survived the rest of the fight. Reiss has been lauded for his decision not to wave the fight off and now the referee has explained the thinking behind his decision.

KNOCKDOWN RULES:

A knockout occurs when an boxer is floored by his opponent or otherwise is down and the referee reaches the count of 10 before the boxer is back on his/her feet.
Even if a fighter rises to his/her feet, referees will check they are fit to continue before the waving the fight on.
Fighters are often made to walk towards the referee to check they're on steady legs. On Saturday, Reiss asked Fury to walk towards the corner of the ring and asked him if he could carry on.
"I was evaluating these guys throughout the whole fight (and) in the 12th round, they'd boxed their hearts out, threw a lot of punches but there wasn't a lot of heavy damage taken by either guy," he told SiriusXM Boxing.
"They both moved into the 12th round tired but not extremely hurt. When (Fury) got hit and he went down hard, that was an unbelievable knockdown.
"Two things went through my mind - No 1 always count a champion out and No 2


give this guy the benefit of the doubt and let's see how he still is.
"So when I went down to count... not only did I get down, I scooted in so he could see my hand and hear my voice."
Fury was floored by a huge right hand-left hook combination that snapped his head back and sent him crashing into the canvas.
Though he lay motionless on his back for several seconds, Reiss always knew he was not knocked out.
"I said three, four... he was grimacing, his eyes and his cheeks, he was grimacing so I knew he was awake and then when I said five his eyes popped open like I startled him," the official added.
"He rolled over and got up and said "I'm OK! Jack I'm OK" or whatever he said.'
"I said, "Do you want to continue?", he said "Yes" and put his arms on my
shoulders. I pushed his arms off and said walk over there, come back to me and show me you're OK. He did and we let it go."
Reiss has come under fire from some observers, who claim he gave the Gypsy King more than his allocated time to recover.
But the referee hit back at his critics, insisting: 'The 10 count doesn't mean 10 seconds.
"It is the referee's opportunity to make sure the fighter who is hurt can intelligently defend himself because you're about let a guy come hurtling across the ring and finish this guy.
"People started making them walk in a straight line, any drunk can walk in straight line. Doctors taught us it is hard to hide things are off when they have to change direction. That's what I was doing."

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Caption Photo 1:
Referee Jack (right) attending to embattled Fury after beating the mandatory count following a knockdown he received at the hands of Wilder.

Photo 2: Fury (down) receiving the mandatory count from referee Jack.

Tuesday 4 December 2018

Anthony Joshua is a 'chicken'--Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury took aim at Anthony Joshua after his controversial draw in the early hours of Sunday with Deontay Wilder, branding his fellow British heavyweight boxer a “chicken”, reports https://talksport.com.
Fury was knocked down twice by Wilder but boxed brilliantly in an enthralling 12-round encounter in Los Angeles and can count himself desperately unlucky not to be returning to England with the American’s WBC belt.
The 30-year-old accepted the verdict of the judges –  with Wilder given the nod 115-111 on one card, Fury 114-110 on another and the third scoring the fight 113-113 – and paid tribute to his opponent.
But he was scathing about Joshua, the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion, when he gave his post-fight interview in the ring.
Fury said: “There is another certain heavyweight out there… chicken, chicken! Where are you AJ? Where are you?”
Fury and Wilder both said they are keen on a rematch, and their draw is set to scupper Joshua’s plans for 2019.
Joshua has Wembley booked for April 13 and been hoping to face Wilder in a unification showdown.
But that now looks highly unlikely with Fury and Wilder’s thrilling clash likely to result in a rematch.
Fury said: “We’ll do the rematch but we’re going to go away, recalculate, see what’s going to happen. We are two great champions. Never mind anybody else, me and this man here are the two greatest heavyweights on the planet.”
Wilder insisted he should have got the decision, having twice knocked down Fury, but was also keen to pay his respect to his opponent.
He added: “When you’re at each other and you have a great fight, we give each other all we’ve got. At the end of the fight that’s what it’s all about.
“He was just telling me what a great fight, he loves me, and thank you for the opportunity. We’re the best in the world. The respect was mutual.
“I was rushing my punches. That’s something I usually don’t do. I couldn’t let it go tonight.
“I was forcing my punches too much instead of sitting back being patient and waiting it.
“I really wanted to get him out of there give the fans what they want to see.
“I didn’t feel no pressure at all. When I rush my punches like that I’m never accurate. The rematch I guarantee I’m going to get him.
“I would love for it to be my next fight (on the rematch). Why not? Let’s give the fans what they want to see. It was a great fight and let’s do it again. It doesn’t matter to me where we do it.
“We’re the two best in the world and we proved it tonight. When you get two warriors you get a great fight. That’s what we proved tonight and I’m ready to do it again.”
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Caption:
Fury (right) during his bout with Wilder in Los Angeles, USA, in the early hours of Sunday.