I will continue boxing at 54---Iron Mike Tyson

FORMER undisputed world heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson, has revealed plans to continue fighting at the age of 54 after impressing in his highly-anticipated return in his draw with Roy Jones Jr in Los Angeles, reports www.dailymail.com.

'Iron Mike' stepped in the ring for the first time in 15 years to take on fellow boxing great Jones Jr in an eight-round exhibition at the Staples Center. The duo went the distance as the fight was scored a draw by the judges.

The pair's combined age of 105 had left some fans divided over the event, but Tyson has revealed he would like to step in the ring again following his return this weekend despite being in his mid-50s.

"This is better than fighting for championships," Tyson said of the heavyweight exhibition, which raised money for various charities. "We're humanitarians now. We can do something good for the world. We've got to do this again. I would absolutely do this again.'

"I'm good with a draw, because I entertained the crowd. The crowd was happy with it.  Nobody thought I could go eight rounds, but you've got to go the distance, that's boxing. I was very happy to be here, despite what everyone says I was happy to go to eight rounds.

"I used to do this for three minutes. Somehow, those two minutes felt like three minutes,' admitted Tyson. 'I'm just happy I got this under my belt and will continue to go further.'

"Absolutely,' Tyson said to the possibility of returning under similar circumstances. 'I hope (Jones) will be on the card as well. We gotta do this again."

Despite the draw, Tyson looked in phenomenal shape as the former heavyweight king rolled back the years with an impressive performance.

The 54-year-old had Jones Jr, 51, on the back foot for most of the contest, boxing from the outside in an attempt to slow Tyson down. The former four-weight champion said he too would like to fight again.

"Dude is so strong man,' Captain Hook said after the contest. 'When he hits you, to the head, punches to the body shots, everything hurts. I'm cool with a draw, we just might have to do it again.

"We've got to do this again, everybody loves Mike, I love Mike too but it's something else taking punches from Mike.
"I'll go talk to my family, see how they feel about it and if they want to do it again, we'll do it again."
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Caption:

Tyson after the clash with Roy Jones Jr last weekend.

Champions League: Shakhtar Donetsk humiliate Real Madrid 2-0

Real Madrid's hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 for a 24th consecutive season hang in the balance after Zinedine Zidane's side were beaten again by Shakhtar Donetsk, reports www.bbc.com.

The 13-time European champions are third in Group B with one game to play.

Dentinho and Manor Solomon struck in the second half for Shakhtar, who won the reverse fixture 3-2 in Madrid.

Borussia Monchengladbach can qualify as group winners with victory over winless Inter Milan later tonight.

The Spanish champions, currently fourth in La Liga, were without injured pair Eden Hazard and captain Sergio Ramos but welcomed back talisman Karim Benzema for their return to the stadium where they were last crowned European champions in 2018.

Real started well as Marco Asensio hit the post after five minutes and Benzema drew goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin into action.

Trubin then tipped over from Asensio's powerful shot before half-time and again denied Benzema, before substitute Dentinho pounced on Raphael Varane's error to score with the hosts' second shot on target after 57 minutes.

Rather than retreat, Shakhtar pushed for a second and got their reward eight minutes from time when Solomon fired into the bottom corner.

Shakhtar had not scored in three group games since beating Real in October and conceded a total of 10 goals in heavy back-to-back defeats by leaders Borussia Monchengladbach.

But the Ukrainian side, with their superior head-to-head record, now have the upper hand on Real going into next week's final round of fixtures. 

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Caption:

A player of Shakhtar Donetsk, celebrates one of the goals against Real Madrid, on Tuesday night in a Champions League clash.

Holyfield agrees knuckle boxing clash with me----McCrory

Former cruiserweight champion, Glenn McCrory, has claimed he and four-time heavyweight boxing champion, Evander Holyfield, have agreed terms on a sensational bare knuckle boxing bout.
The 56-year-old, who was the IBF world title holder from 1989 to 1990, McCrory shared a post on Twitter with a poster depicting the pair and branded with a Bare Knuckle Boxing trademark.
Under the headline 'Legends Return' pictures of the pair back int their prime, along with pictures of the pair today, seem to show an air of legitimacy.
Challenged on whether it was true or not, McCrory replied to those who were skeptical as to the veracity of the claim, after posting his own tagline which read 'Now or Never'.
Replying to TV and Radio presenter Adam Catterall, when asked if the bout was real,
McCrory replied: '100 per cent''.  
The Sky Sports pundit then assured another Twitter user that the promotion poster was 'no joke'.
As yet, Holyfield has not made any post of his own, or acknowledged an agreement with McCrory.  
Holyfield, who is 58, has long documented his attempts to get back into the ring, and has
teamed up with the likes of Wladimir Klitschko in a bid to regain his shape.  
The boxing legend has been a regular poster to social media, updating followers on his return to fitness and has even teased the possibility of a rematch with Mike Tyson.
Tyson himself made his long-anticipated return to the ring on Saturday night, when he drew with Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition bout in Los Angeles.
His performance was such that there have even been claims made that Tyson could make
a shock return to the realms of title bouts.
Former world heavyweight champion George Foreman said: "If he gets in shape like he's in
now, gets his timing back, and all the other things fall into place, he can have an
opportunity to fight for the title.
"If he can be managed right, the right champion will come to him. And if the right one
comes, he can knock him out."

Fan killed in Kenya for allegedly mocking Arsenal supporters

A man in Kenya lost his life at Kinamba Centre along the Naivasha-Kirima Road, after allegedly mocking Arsenal fans after their 2-1 loss at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers FC last weekend.
In the absence of their top scorer Raul Jimenez who was injured earlier on, Wolves scored
through Pedro Neto and, although Gabriel briefly headed Arsenal level, the visitors claimed a deserved three points through Daniel Podence's superbly taken 42nd-minute winner.
It was a third straight loss at home for the 13-time English champions.
"The middle-aged man was hit on the head with a stone when he started mocking supporters of [Arsenal after the loss]," The Standard Newspaper reported.
"The group was watching the live match that was being aired on television when the incident occurred on Sunday night.
"The deceased was left bleeding from his head outside a petrol station located a few meters from the bar that the friends were drinking."
A witness who has been identified as Peter, went on to explain what transpired between those involved before the unfortunate incident.
"[The argument] degenerated into name-calling and the deceased was chased out of the bar and later attacked and left unconscious," he revealed.
Police have now launched a manhunt for those involved in the incident. The result moves Wolves up to sixth on the table, with Arsenal languishing 14th on the table.
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Caption:

David Luiz (left), battles for the ball with a Wolves player, during the EPL clash at the Emirates last Sunday.

Fury, Joshua showdown must happen-------WBC

Reigning WBC champion, Tyson Fury, has received support from the World Boxing Council
president, Mauricio Sulaiman in his pursuit of an undisputed world title fight against Anthony Joshua.
The British rivals want to fight for all the world heavyweight belts next year, provided that they overcome current challenges inside and outside the ring.
Joshua defends his WBA, IBF and WBO belts against Kubrat Pulev on December 12, while
Fury has entered a mediation process over a disputed third fight with Deontay Wilder.
Sulaiman has given his backing for Fury to face Joshua.
"There's absolutely great hope from the world to see that undisputed fight.
"Tyson Fury is our champion, our pride. Anthony Joshua holds the other belts and he has been a tremendous asset to the sport. A gentleman, a great career.
"To see this showdown, Fury-Joshua, would be tremendous for everyone in the sport of
boxing. We will absolutely support it," he told Sky Sports.
"The WBC has no blocks right now. There is no mandatory contender. There is an issue
that we are aware that Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder have some sort of mediation process going on and that's the only thing, but we don't have any details.
"We're just hoping that everything gets resolved and everybody is happy and we see great fights inside the ring."
Dillian Whyte's status as the WBC mandatory challenger was ended by a knockout loss to Alexander Povetkin, with a rematch set to be rescheduled in January, and an official ruling is yet to be made by the WBC on whether the winner will line up a title shot.
Fury has final say on Joshua fight?
Fury's expected homecoming clash against Agit Kabayel this month was called off amid the
ongoing dispute with Wilder.
Fury's list of opponents is laughable in comparison to Joshua, says Eddie Hearn
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn insists he remains eager to arrange a massive showdown with Fury, if his fighter makes a successful title defence against Pulev.
"Listen, it's completely over to them," Hearn has told Sky Sports. "We have the dynamics of the deal in place.
"I don't want to hear [from] Fury: 'No, I'm thinking about fighting in March or April'.
"Why? Just go straight into the AJ fight.
"It's going to be the same timeframe.
"[Fury] boxed in February. It's not like he's been out and he didn't box in 2020.
"Listen, Fury doesn't want to take a small fight. They couldn't even get the money together to give him a fight in December, so let's give him plenty of money. Let's give him the biggest fight."
Sulaiman has suggested that Wilder will remain in contention for another world title shot,
despite his stoppage loss to Fury in February.
"Wilder is a tremendous, important element," Sulaiman told Sky Sports.
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Caption: 

Joshua (right), during his heavyweight rematch with Andy Ruiz Jnr, Joshua won by unanimous to retain his WBA, IBF, WBO titles.

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French Open: Nadal, Djokovic chasing history

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are both chasing history, as they meet for a 56th time in the French Open final on Sunday, October 11, reports www.skysports.com.
For the Spaniard, victory over the world number one would secure his 13th French Open title and mean that he levels Roger Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam titles.
In Djokovic's case, and 18th Grand Slam title awaits and victory would see him become the first man in the Open Era to win all four Slam titles at least twice.
It's the final that many anticipated ahead of the tournament, however Nadal's loss to Diego Schwartzman at the Italian Open on clay, and Djokovic's issues against Pablo Carreno-Busta earlier in Paris, caused slight concern for fans of both.
However, when it came to their respective semi-finals they each showed they're on track to peak at just the right time.
In the first semi-final, Nadal took the opportunity to avenge his loss in Rome to Schwartzman and maintain his record of not losing a set so far this year at Roland Garros.
After close early exchanges, he opened up on Court Philippe Chatrier and believes that the contest has set him up well for what's to come.
"[It is] an important victory for me against a very tough player. To win against Diego, you have to work a lot and you have to play well for such a long time," Nadal said.
"To play against Novak, I need to play my best. Without playing my best tennis, the situation is very difficult.
"I know this is a court that I have been playing well [on] for such a long time, so that helps. At the same time, he has an amazing record here too, being in the final rounds almost every single time."
I know I have to make a step forward. I did against Diego but for Sunday, it's not enough. I need to make another one. That's what I'm looking for. I'm going to work hard to try to make that happen.
The world number one will need to step up too, with Nadal having played 101 matches at Roland Garros and lost just two.
In the end, Djokovic's 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6 6-1 semi-final win against Stefanos Tsitsipas was more straightforward than the score suggests. Plus, he didn't appear to be struggling as much physically, as he had in the previous round against Pablo Carreno Busta.
"I was definitely not pleased with the way I played the finishing stages of the third and fourth sets [against Stefanos], but I was very pleased with the way I kept my composure mentally throughout the entire match," Djokovic said.
The world number one is fully aware that Nadal is a different kettle of fish to anyone else at Roland Garros. However, he's taking a good deal of self-belief into Sunday's encounter and believes there are elements which favour him.
"Obviously the conditions are different than the ones that we are used to playing in May and June," he said.
"I think that could be a better chance for me, obviously the ball not bouncing as high over the shoulder as he likes it usually. Regardless of the conditions, he's still there, he's Rafa, he's in the finals and we're playing on clay.
"Best-of-five, playing him in the finals at Roland Garros, I know that feeling. I did lose to him on this court most of the matches that we played, but I also won one match in 2015 in straight sets.
"That's the match that I'll look back at and obviously try to take some positives out of it and use it tactically against him."
When it comes to their head-to-head record, Djokovic holds a 29-26 advantage over Nadal and has won three of their last four meetings.
Against top opposition this year, the world No 1 has an 8-0 record but a few questions remain. First, will Djokovic's physical condition withstand the relentless nature of Nadal? Has he really got rid of the ailments he felt against Carreno-Busta?
Second, how much more is there to come from Nadal? He's highlighted his need to step up, what will the context of a final at the tournament he loves so much, do to his game?
This championship decider will be ninth Grand Slam that Nadal and Djokovic have contested, and with conditions set to be fine and dry in Paris, it could be another thriller between two of the very best in the business.

Grand Slam Titles Won -Before Sunday's Final
Roger Federer - 20
Rafael Nadal - 19
Novak Djokovic - 17
Pete Sampras - 14
Roy Emerson - 12 

Caption: Djokovic set for Sunday's French Open showdown.

Joshua/Pulev clash will still hold in December

 

Anthony Joshua’s fight with Kubrat Pulev will go ahead this year irrespective of the announcement that fans cannot return to sporting events from October.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn had been working in the hope that the heavyweight world title fight would take place on December 12 at The O2 in front of upwards of 5,000 spectators as part of the phased reintegration of crowds at live sport.

However, it is increasingly likely that any fight would need to be staged in front of zero fans following the confirmation on Tuesday from Prime Minister Boris Johnson that large events will remain closed due to the rise in coronavirus cases.

Despite the hefty financial implications of having no gate income to pay a fighter whose purses top eight figures, Hearn is adamant all his scheduled shows will go ahead.

He told Sportsmail: "Obviously today’s announcement is a massive challenge for everyone in sport.
"Our intention now is carry on with all our scheduled events. Clearly the finances are affected by not having crowds, even smaller crowds, but we’re working to keep our schedule. That includes Joshua.

"You have two options - cancel or go ahead, quite possibly without a crowd. You’d still hope that by December you might have some back but you can’t plan on that now. 

"We’ll go ahead in December for Joshua because it’s been a year since he fought Andy Ruiz and he needs to fight."

Hearn is still working on the basis that the fight will be at The O2, despite foreign interest in staging Joshua’s defence of his IBF, WBA and WBO titles.
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