Fabio Wardley has been calling for a fight with fellow heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk since he became WBO champion, and the Briton had a surprising reaction when he heard that the Ukrainian was planning to fight him.

Wardley knocked out Joseph Parker in an upset victory to capture the WBO interim world title in October, seemingly setting up a showdown with then-undisputed ruler Usyk, given that he had taken over as his mandatory challenger.

However, instead of doing his duty and facing Wardley, Usyk chose to relinquish his full WBO world title, and as a result, Wardley was promoted to world champion.

Since then, Wardley has been clamoring for a chance to take on Usyk and claim the coveted undisputed crown, but to no avail. Instead, Usyk agreed to a fight on the left wing with kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven.

Although Usyk has now revealed he plans to face the Wardley-Dubois winner after Verhoeven, ahead of a trilogy fight with Tyson Fury that will end his career.

I’m talking to iFL TelevisionWardley reacted to the news of his inclusion on Usyk’s hit list, but admitted he took the words “with a pinch of salt” after previously having false hopes of fighting the undefeated pound-for-pound star.

“It’s nice to be on the list, it’s nice to be part of the conversation, I always assumed that would happen.

“I still take it with a pinch of salt because I talked to him before the fight with Parker, before the fight [announcement of] Dubois fight, I talked to him. So I say: “yes, but we’ll see”, but I’m not expecting it.

“I’m not going to say, ‘yes, I fought Dubois, now Usyk,’ because you never know how the fight will go, how it will work, what they will want or whatever.

“It’s great to be on the list, it’s great to be included. I welcome it with open arms any day, any time, but we’ll see how things pan out.”

Before Wardley can find out if Usyk will keep his word, he must defend his WBO heavyweight title on Saturday, May 9, she made her first attempt to defend herself against the former ruling IBF Daniel Dubois.

Most Valuable Promotions has announced the full card for its inaugural US event for MVPW, a modern global women’s boxing platform, headlined by Alycia Baumgardner’s junior lightweight title defense against Bo Mi Re Shin at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden on April 17.

Undefeated middleweight title challenger Tamm Thibeault (4-0, 3 KO) will face undefeated Nadja Jesus (5-0, 3 KO) in a 10-round fight. Puerto Rico’s Krystal Rosado (8-1, 2 KO) will open the main event against Mexico’s Fernanda Reyes (8-0) in an eight-round bantamweight bout. These two fights will join Baumgardner-Shin and Shadasia Green’s unified super middleweight title defense against Lani Daniels and will form the women’s main card to close out the night.

“I am proud to be a part of the first women’s main card on ESPN,” Thibeault said in a statement. “ESPN and MVP are making a statement by bringing women’s boxing to the forefront, and on Friday, April 17, I will be ready to showcase my talent, elegance and exactly why I belong in this scene.”

There will also be several men’s fights in the qualifiers, including American Olympian Jahmal Harvey (2-0, 1 KO) against Argentine Leandro Medina (7-3-1, 4 KO) in a six-round lightweight fight. Javon “Wanna” Walton (3-0-1, 1 KO) from the HBO series “Euphoria” continues his search for a professional boxer when he steps into the ring with Dionne Ruvalcaba (2-2, 1 KO) in a six-round lightweight battle.

Undefeated flyweight Nat “No Love” Dove (7-0-1, 2 KO) will face Maria Micheo in an eight-round fight, while Raquel “Pretty Beast” Miller (13-0, 6 KO) is scheduled to make her MVP debut against Adriana Araujo (6-3, 1 KO) in a six-round super middleweight match. Both bouts are awaiting final approval from the Modern York State Athletic Commission.

The gala will be complemented by bantamweight fights between Elon De Jesus (11-1-2, 8 KO) and Connor Adaway (10-2-1, 4 KO), as well as Alex Vargas (14-0, 5 KO) and Ryan O’Rourke (13-0, 3 KO).

“MVPW was created to give the best women in boxing the same platform, spotlight and opportunity as men in the sport, and this card shows exactly what that looks like,” said Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, co-founders of Most Valuable Promotions. “We are proud that women are leading the way in MVPW. This is what true equality in sports looks like.

“For years, women have fought at the halfway point of men’s events, and now the roles can be reversed, with top female fighters headlined, supported by the incredible male talent on the card. MVPW-02 highlights the incredible depth of talent in women’s boxing today, and bringing the event to Modern York at Madison Square Garden and broadcast live on ESPN is another crucial step toward establishing MVPW as the global home of women’s boxing.”

The fallout from Claressa Shields’ renewed claims over an elderly sparring session continues to reverberate across boxing, with fighters increasingly reluctant to share the ring with female professionals.

Controversy resurfaced after Shields again addressed allegations regarding a 2018 training session with Latvian boxer Arturs Ahmetovs.

The incident in which Ahmetovs dropped his shields before he was accused of glove tampering was largely forgotten until the topic was brought up again.

Since then, debate has erupted throughout the sport over sparring between male and female players. The complications when private gym sessions become the subject of public conversation years later are obvious.

Ahmetovs, who previously shared his own account of the session with World Boxing News, believes the situation highlights why many male fighters are hesitant to spar with women at all.

Two sides of one story

The story is complicated, given that it remains one side’s version of events against the other. Ahmetovs was able to provide evidence to support his account in the form of a photo they shared after the sparring session, while Shields maintained that coach Derik Santos left with the gloves on shortly after the session.

While Shields has stated in interviews that she will spar and even fight with men, the reality of that happening in today’s climate seems unlikely.

The broader debate about natural male athletes competing in women’s sports has only increased sensitivity to such situations.

Ahmetov explains his position

When asked about the effects, Ahmetovs addressed this topic directly.

“Every fighter has the right to trust,” Ahmetovs told WBN exclusively. “But men’s and women’s boxing are different categories. It’s just not her field.”

On his potential return to boxing after years of absence, and regarding any upcoming offers to fight Shields on the show, Ahmetovs added: “I was preparing for fights a few years ago, but they were canceled. Maybe I’ll do another one under the right conditions.”

“But I don’t fight with women – even sparring can get complicated. They asked for facilitate and we’ve already seen what happened.”

Ahmetovs remained accessible and lucid throughout the episode, while Shields – although defensive – never changed her stance.

Ultimately, it’s a sorry situation that a sparring session from eight years ago has resurfaced and become a talking point again, something that probably could have been avoided.

For now, the debate continues to circulate online, with supporters of both fighters offering their own interpretations of what happened during that gym session all those years ago.

Meanwhile, Shields stood by her version of events.

Whether the full truth will ever come to delicate is another matter entirely. What is clear is that this incident – ​​once little more than a forgotten sparring story – has now become part of a broader discussion about the boundaries, expectations and realities of men and women sharing the ring.

About the author

Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.