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Coaches’ brawl leads to harsh words between Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer

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Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer no longer have much respect for each other — and not just because they’re set to fight next Friday, when Ryan defends her WBO welterweight title against Mayer.

Because Mayer believes Ryan stole her trainer, Kay Koroma.

“Koroma told Mayer that Ryan would only train with one of his assistants” The New York Post reports that“But Mayer […] Then I saw Ryan working with Koroma at the gym and realized Koroma was telling her one thing and Ryan was telling her another.

It led to some pointed words between the two 147-pound fighters on Wednesday at the final press conference ahead of their fight, which will take place at Madison Square Garden Theater and be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+, with coverage starting at 10:30 p.m. ET (3:30 a.m. U.K. time). The show’s promoter, Top Rank, he also leaned towards drama to sell this fight.

“We’ve known each other for [the] amateur days. I was on Team GB, she was on Team USA, and we went to training camps and sparring,” Ryan told a news conference. “I always respected her as a fighter and I’ve always said that. Now I don’t respect her as a person, considering how she prepared for this fight.”

Mayer replied:

“I mean, we knew each other from the amateur days. She said she respected me. Then you’d think I’d get something like… ‘Hey, Mikaela, guess what? I’m coming to America to train, to your gym, with your trainers, with your team. Aren’t you excited?’ None of that happened. So of course, in my head, she knew she was doing something a little shady. She knew there were going to be some problems with it. And she knew I was a welterweight. It was no secret that I was a welterweight. I slowly moved up over the course of a year.”

Ryan doesn’t see it that way. According to Ryan, Mayer wasn’t even in the same weight class when the 31-year-old from Derby came to Koroma Gym.

“The first time I came to America was for the Jessica McCaskill fight, and Mikaela wasn’t 147 pounds at the time, so I’ll let you form your own opinion on what she just said,” Ryan said.

Ryan took the vacant WBO belt in April 2023 after it was stripped from McCaskill. Five months later, in September 2023, she challenged McCaskill, the former undisputed welterweight champion and at the time still the lineal champion. The fight ended in a draw, some thought Ryan deserved to win. Ryan defeated Terri Harper in March of this year and went 7-1-1 (3 KOs),

Mayer has been moving up the weight class over the years. She turned pro after the 2016 Olympics and won a junior lightweight title. After losing to Alycia Baumgardner in a three-fight fight at 130 pounds in 2022, Mayer left the division. She has fought once each at lightweight (decision over Lucy Wildheart in April 2023) and junior welterweight (points win over Silvia Borto in September 2023). In January of this year, Mayer moved up to welterweight and lost a split decision to IBF titleholder Natasha Jonas. The 34-year-old from the United States is 19-2 (5 KOs).

Mayer would have been at 140 when Ryan joined Koroma. That’s just one division away from welterweight, which Mayer officially moved up to a few months later.

“I never came here to bother Mikaela. I came here to improve my career,” Ryan said. “You see a lot of fighters – top fighters, fighters from Great Britain – come to America because the training here is great. The sparring is great. The coaches are great. You see fighters who do it to improve their careers, and that’s exactly what I did.”

While Mayer clearly remains upset about the situation, she is ecstatic that it led her to a fresh trainer, Kofi Jantuah, who fought as a professional from 1993 to 2009 at welterweight and middleweight. Jantuah is best known for wins over Daniel Santos and Marco Antonio Rubio and losses to Kassim Ouma, Arthur Abraham and Dmitry Pirog.

“This whole thing has been a blessing in disguise,” Mayer said. “Honestly, I should thank Sandy because I had to reorganize everything and I feel like I’m in a better position. I have Kofi Jantuah in my corner, which I’m extremely ecstatic with. They say you can’t learn a lot at this point in your career, but that’s not true for me. I always feel like I’m growing and getting better. We’ve had a good few months together, so I’m excited to get out there and show it.”

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Boxing

Dmitry Bivol will have to fight Beterbiev: he cannot run for 12 rounds

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Image: Dmitry Bivol Will Need To Fight Beterbiev: He Can't Run for 12 Rounds

WBA airy heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will not defeat unified champion Artur Beterbiev without getting back on his feet and fighting on October 12. Bivol (23-0, 12 KO) will be unable to contain Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KO), turning the fight into a 12-round fight on the track.

Beterbiev cuts the ring too much for Bivol to get away with, and he can’t afford to get tired of staying on the move throughout the fight. Bivol is 33 years elderly and not youthful enough to move for three minutes in each round.

The Bivol vs. Beterbiev fight will be shown live on DAZN PPV at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. According to bookmakers, Bivol is the favorite due to his youth, boxing skills and the fact that Beterbiev is returning from a knee injury.

“This is an incredible fight for my career. Boxing fans want to see this fight,” said Dmitry Bivol conversationSport about his match with Artur Beterbiev. “It’s good that two players have different styles. That’s engaging.

“Of course, it made my career more renowned. I gained a lot of boxing fans thanks to this fight,” Bivol said about his 2022 fight with Canelo Alvarez. “It was a fight that was borderline. If we pass the exam, we can move to another level.”

Fortunately for the fans, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh became interested in organizing the Beterbiev vs. Bivol because we might never have gotten there because of networks and promoters.

“After October 12, I have nothing on my mind. Just this fight for the belts and then we’ll see. I knew this fight would happen sooner or later.” – Bivol said about his fight with Beterbiev.

“It should be a classic. I described it as the airy heavyweight version of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. That’s how close they are and how well they fit together,” said journalist Colin Hart Professional boxing fans. “Beterbiev is a beast when he enters the ring. He is 39 years elderly and should not be where he is at 39 years elderly.

Bivol doesn’t fight like the version of Muhammad Ali who first fought Joe Frazier, and Beterbiev is completely different than Frazier. If anyone, Bivol fights a lot like a younger version Wladimir Klitschko before he began training with Emanuel Steward.

When Wladimir was youthful, he was a combination striker who moved a lot. After Steward caught Wladimir, he added a lot of clinching. He became a bit like Lennox Lewis.

“He is undefeated with 20 fights and 20 knockouts. Bivol defeated Canelo. This gives you an idea of ​​how good he is. So flip a coin. I have to believe that Beterbiev will win. This will be the first time in his life that he has covered such a distance,” Hart said.

It will be arduous for Bivol to go the full 12 rounds against Beterbiev because he has a lot of bad habits that give him a chance to get knocked out. Bivol’s habits:

  • Fighting with the ropes: Bivol often leans on the ropes and tries to hide it. It has worked for fighters like Canelo, Gilberto Ramirez and Lyndon Arthur, but I don’t think it will work for Beterbiev.
  • Throwing Combos: This is the biggest flaw in Bivol’s game because he has been a hitter in the competition since day one. He likes to throw combinations of two to four punches, and sometimes even seven.

“His only strength is skill. This is what will defeat Beterbiev. He is so skillful and sharp,” Hart said of Bivol. “It’s amazing to think that two Russians will headline Riyad. This gives you an idea of ​​the difference in boxing today from what it used to be.

Bivol’s skills may not be enough to stop Beterbiev, who will force him to fight at some point in the competition. He cannot move for the entire 12 rounds without standing and switching with Beterbiev without risking a decision. The judges will not automatically award rounds to Bivol if he fights defensively, as he did against Lyndon Arthur and Craig Richards. These fights were difficult to watch because Bivol showed no heart.

“It’s a fight people will want to see. “I’m not saying that people on the fringes of boxing will say the same because I’m pretty sure they don’t know much about either of them,” Hart said.

Casual fans probably won’t bother purchasing the Beterbiev vs. event. Bivol on DAZN PPV. However, a good number will watch it on ESPN+ if they have a subscription and stumble upon it on October 12.

Casual fans won’t seek out this event as it’s all foreign fighters and the undercard is mostly UK guys that even hardcore fans won’t be too interested in watching in the US

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Boxing

DMitry Bivol has NOT achieved his goals YET

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Author: Sean Crose

Dmitry Bivol did what few people have done before – he defeated the great Canelo Alvarez in the ring. And while some might argue that moving up to airy heavyweight again was a bridge too far for Canelo or that he was starting to show signs of wear and tear when he and Bivol fought in 2022, there was no doubt that defending WBA champion Bivol dominated their fight. If the decision loss to Bivol wasn’t a huge upset, it was certainly close to one. And yet, 33-year-old Bivol is still not fully satisfied with his career.

The 23-0 fighter has an ultimate goal he wants to achieve – to become the undisputed airy heavyweight champion of the world. Fortunately for all parties involved, as well as the entire legion of boxing fans, Bivol will get his chance on October 12, when he will face another undefeated fighter, Artur Beterbiev, owner of the WBO, WBC and IBF airy heavyweight championship belts. The winner will not only be the undisputed airy heavyweight king, but will likely be among the best airy heavyweights in the world – that’s no miniature thing.

What makes this fight fascinating, apart from the fact that both fighters are undefeated and seemingly in the top form of their competitions, is the fact that it is tough to say who will actually win this fight. Stylistically, both men are close to opposites. Bivol is a highly skilled technician and Beterbiev is a highly skilled vehicle of destruction. Apart from the fact that Bivol has more than a five-year age advantage over the elder Beterbiev, there is little about these two that gives one an advantage over the other. That is, not until the first bell rang.

The truth is that this fight has been a long one. Beterbiev’s injury prevented this anticipated clash from becoming a reality for longer than most would like to remember. Indeed, it is said that there is no guarantee that the fight will end in October without obstacles delaying the fight again. However, Booth’s players are clearly ready for this moment. If he wins, there is no doubt that Bivol would be willing to face Canelo again. However, this is just a pipe dream until he defeats Beterbiev. And there is no guarantee that Bivol will be able to do it.

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Boxing

Sebastian Fundora only focused on landing Terence Crawford, not Errol Spence Jr.

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As the fight plot between Sebastian Fundora and Errol Spence Jr. it’s still boilingpromoter Sampson Lewkowicz focuses solely on organizing Fundora’s fight with Terence Crawford.

August 28 WBO ordered interim junior middleweight champion Crawford (41-0, 31 KO) will face full titleholder Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KO) and indicated that both camps have 30 days to reach an agreement or the fight will be sent to the handbag offer.

While an agreement has not yet been announced, Lewkowicz is aware that Crawford is committed to climbing up to 168 pounds in hopes of defeating super middleweight king Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

“It looks like Crawford just wants to fight Canelo,” Lewkowicz told BoxingScene. “If Canelo gets $100 million to fight Crawford, he will take it and knock Crawford out. He’s not stupid. It’s an straightforward fight and that’s it. This is the end of Crawford’s career. If Canelo doesn’t take the Crawford fight, we’re ready to fight Crawford. All our efforts are focused on Crawford. We have nothing else in mind. We want to fight Crawford. Sebastian believes he can beat Crawford and when he does, he will become a superstar. Sebastian has balls and it’s a threatening fight for anyone.

Earlier this month, Lewkowicz said he did not yet have an offer to consider for the Fundora vs. Spence.

Fundora, 26, resumed his career in March, earning a split decision victory over Tim Tszyu. This was Fundora’s first fight since suffering a stunning stoppage loss to Brian Mendoza in April 2023. Spence entered the ring after the Fundora-Tszyu fight, seemingly calling for a fight against “The Towering Inferno”.

Spence hasn’t fought since a one-sided loss to Crawford in July 2023 for the undisputed welterweight title, but he indicated a move to 154 pounds would be next.

Meanwhile, the soon-to-be 37-year-old Crawford defeated Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision in his 154-pound debut in August to win the WBA title.

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