UK Boxing
Anthony Joshua’s offer from the head of the UFC and what the boxing star immediately told Dana White
Anthony Joshua was previously approached by UFC supremo Dana White (Photo: Getty)
According to his promoter Eddie Hearn, Dana White has sensationally approached Anthony Joshua about the prospect of joining the UFC supremo’s boxing stable. The former heavyweight champion is close to returning to the ring for the first time since his December knockout victory over Jake Paul. Just days later, he was involved in a sedate car accident in Nigeria that killed two of his closest friends.
The tragic incident has complicated Joshua’s return to boxing, but he is believed to be preparing for two gigantic fights before the end of the year. He is expected to have a warm-up fight in the summer, likely against Deontay Wilder, before finally facing Tyson Fury in the fall.
Joshua has worked with Hearn throughout his professional career, but White became his target in an attempt to lure him away from his longtime promoter.
White, best known for his role as UFC president, ventured into boxing with his Zuffa brand last year and immediately made a splash by poaching Conor Benn from Hearn on a one-fight deal.
He also tried to sign Joshua, but the former Olympic champion was not interested in doing business, instead showing loyalty to Hearn.
During the performance in Talking about cigars podcast, a Matchroom promoter recalls: “About two deals ago, the media published an article… ‘AJ talks to Dana White.’ And I said, ‘What the hell?’
“So it’s in the paper, right. So I go to AJ, we have a media scandal, and I say, ‘What the hell?’ And he says, ‘Yeah, he called me out of the blue.’
“And I said, ‘What?’ And he said, ‘I told him right away. I told him I was with Eddie, but we had a nice conversation. We talked for about half an hour.’
“Because AJ likes to listen, I’m like, ‘What?’ And then, funnily enough, about six months later I went to Dana’s office and we had a meeting.
The Whites failed to extort Joshua from Matchroom (Photo: Getty)
“And I said, ‘Oh, I heard you talked to AJ.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, and you know something, he told me within the first five seconds to let you know that I’m not leaving Eddie. He’s my guy, but let’s talk.’ I respected that. I was like, ‘Fuck, wow.'”
Hearn added that Joshua’s loyalty had been tested several times over the years but he had not wavered despite being offered lucrative offers.
“After our contract expired, he was offered deals that were much better short-term financial options for him,” Hearn added.
“And when you looked at it, fur again, no panties. When you looked at the beginning, you thought, Wow.” But then you thought, “Oh, you have to do this, and it’s a five-year deal,” and blah, blah, blah.
“But he never even [was like]: “Let me look at it.” It was like, “No, no. I’m with Eddie, so whatever, but Eddie can look at it.”
“I have a lot of respect for him because… there are a few players, probably a few players, that I feel the same way about as AJ.
“Like in an empty room with one or two people, they will support you in conversation, you know what I mean? And in life, you know, there are not many people like that, that’s true, especially in a game like boxing.
“So I will always be grateful to him. Not only as a company because he helped us and is now a shareholder in my company, but also because of what he did for me and the company.”
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On Wednesday, Lewis Crocker heads to Australia to defend his IBF welterweight world title against Liam Paro for the first time.
Crocker will face Paro at the Pat Rafter Arena in Queensland, live on DAZN in the UK and Kayo Sports in Australia.
Crocker (22-0, 11 KO) became world champion in September, defeating Paddy Donovan twice before winning the rematch by split decision.
Man from Belfast recorded his second victory over Donovan after the first victory in March last year, and his rival was disqualified for hitting him after the bell.
Paro (27-1, 16 KO) is trying to become a world champion in two weight categories, having previously reigned in the super-lightweight division.
The 30-year-old won the title with a unanimous decision victory over Subriel Matias in Puerto Rico before winning the belt in his first defense against Richardson Hitchins.
The Australian has since won twice, overtaking David Papot in his last appearance in September.
McKean meets Taliva
Heavyweight Demsey McKean will look to continue his rebuild when he faces Liam Talivaa for the vacant IBF Pan Pacific title.
McKean (24-2, 16 KO) had his career cut miniature after a last-round loss to Filip Hrgovic, followed by a brutal first-round loss to Moses Itauma.
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The 35-year-old southpaw returned to winning ways with back-to-back stoppage victories.
Talivaa (8-2, 4 KO) last won the IBF Oceania-Orient title, defeating Faiga Opelu by first-round stoppage.
Undercard remaining
At cruiserweight, Luke Modini (13-0, 11 KO) will likely need distance to beat Peng Qu (17-2-1, 12 KO), while Riley Candy (8-1, 5 KO) could stop Nathan Watson (11-3, 3 KO) at super middleweight.
Vegas Larfield (13-1, 9 KO) can hand Shamal Ram Anuj (11-8, 8 KO) his fourth defeat in a row in a featherweight clash.
Heavyweight Nelson Asofa-Solomon (2-0, 2 KO) can secure a third straight knockout over debutant George Burgess, and Stevan Ivic (8-0-1, 2 KO) can do the same against Caleb Tialu (3-7, 3 KO), also a heavyweight.
Prospective super welterweight fighter Jack Javed (1-0) should overtake Lance McDonald (1-5-1, 1 KO).
The post Lewis Crocker vs. Liam Paro – Gigantic Fight Preview and Predictions appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
On Saturday in Brooklyn, Xander Zayas will defend his WBO and WBA super welterweight world titles against Jaron Ennis.
Zayas (23-0, 13 KO) will face former welterweight champion Ennis (35-0, 31 KO) at the Barclays Center.
Zayas unified the division in his last outing in January, adding Abbas Baraou’s WBA crown to his WBO title in his native Puerto Rico.
The 23-year-old extended his undefeated record to 23 consecutive professional victories.
Ennis is trying to become a world champion in two weight classes, having previously reigned as the unified champion at 147 pounds.
The 28-year-old made his debut at 154 pounds in October blowing away Uisma Lima in the first round in his hometown of Philadelphia, improving his undefeated record to 35-0.
Zayas vs Ennis – date, place, start time and ring walk
- The fight between both fighters will take place on Saturday, June 27, live at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Modern York
- Broadcast will start at 8pm ET/5pm PT/1am BST (Sunday)
- Main event will start around 10:45 PM ET / 7:45 PM PT / 3:45 AM BST (Sunday)
Zayas vs. Ennis – how to watch
- The card can be watched live worldwide on DAZN
Zayas vs. Ennis – last three fights
Xander Zayas
- Xander Zayas bt Abass Baraou – split decision
- Xander Zayas bt Jorge Garcia Perez – unanimous decision
- Xander Zayas bt Sława Spomer – TKO in the 9th round
Jaron Ennis
- Jaron Ennis bt Uisma Lima – TKO in the 1st round
- Jaron Ennis bt Eimantas Stanionis – 6th round RTD
- Jaron Ennis bt Karen Chukhadjian – unanimous decision
Zayas vs Ennis – Undercard
- Emiliano Vargas (17-0, 14 KO) vs. Bryce Mills (22-1, 9 KO) – WBC USA Silver, WBO Latino, NABF Junior junior titles (10 rounds)
- Ben Whittaker (11-0-1, 8 KO) vs. Richard Rivera (27-2, 20 KO) – WBC silver airy heavyweight title (10 rounds)
- Jahi Tucker (16-1-1, 7 KO) vs. Euri Cedeno (14-0-1, 12 KO) – IBF North American, WBC USA, WBO NABO middleweight titles (10 rounds)
- Dennis Thompson (10-0, 6 KO) vs Edwin Rodriguez (12-11-3, 5 KO) – super bantamweight (8 rounds)
- Quincey Williams (6-0, 6 KO) vs Jerome Baxter (8-1, 3 KO) – welterweight (8 rounds)
- Juanma Lopez De Jesus (5-0, 2 KO) vs. Alberto Motos (6-2) – super flyweight (6 rounds)
The post Xander Zayas vs. Jaron Ennis – how to watch it appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
Lewis Crocker returns to the ring this week and faces Liam Paro.
Paro is Crocker’s first defense IBF welterweight world title.
He has been out of the ring since September 2025, when he appeared in the long-awaited rematch with Paddy Donovan.
After falling behind before the first fight was stopped due to Donovan’s disqualification, he entered the second fight as an underdog.
“The Croc” put on a great performance and proved the bookies wrong by taking down and dropping Donovan multiple times throughout the fight.
With the victory, Crocker became the IBF world champion in his hometown of Belfast.
His opponent, Paro, has only one defeat to his name. It came against Richardson Hitchins in 2024, when he was on the wrong side of a split decision.
Since that loss, he has picked up two victories, defeating Jonathan Navarro and most recently David Papot, who will be Harlem Eubank’s next opponent in July.
Crocker vs Paro – date, place, start time and ring walk
- The pairs fight will take place on Wednesday, June 24, live from the Pat Rafter Arena in Queensland, Australia
- Broadcast will start at 8:00 BST / 3:00 ET / 12:00 PT
- The main event will start around 1:00 p.m. BST / 8:00 a.m. ET / 5:00 a.m. PT
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Crocker vs. Paro – how to watch
- The pass can be watched live on Kayo Sports in Australia and DAZN in the UK
Crocker vs. Paro – last three fights
Lewis Crocker
- Lewis Crocker vs. Paddy Donovan – split decision
- Lewis Crocker vs. Paddy Donovan – disqualification
- Lewis Crocker vs. Conah Walker – unanimous decision
STEP
@lewiscrocker1 goes 20-0 with UD victory over Conah Walker and takes the WBA International welterweight title back to Belfast!
96-93, 96-93, 95-94#CrockerWalker #DennyCash pic.twitter.com/YNGePNzmlB
— Boxing at Matchroom (@MatchroomBoxing) June 22, 2024
Liam Paro
- Liam Paro vs David Papot – unanimous decision
- Liam Paro bt Jonathan Navarro – 5th round RTD
- Richardson Hitchins bt Liam Paro – split decision
Crocker vs. Paro – Undercard
- Dempsey McKean vs Liam Talivaa – vacant IBF Pan Pacific heavyweight title (10 rounds)
- Luke Modini vs. Peng Qu – cruiserweight (10 rounds)
- Riley Candy vs. Nathan Watson – super middleweight (5 rounds)
- Vegas Larfield vs Shamal Ram Anuj – featherweight (5 rounds)
- Nelson Asofa-Solomon vs. George Burgess – heavyweight (4 rounds)
- Jack Javed vs Lance McDonald – super welterweight (4 rounds)
- Stevan Ivic vs Caleb Tialu – heavyweight (4 rounds)
The post Lewis Crocker vs. Liam Paro – how to watch it appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
Lewis Crocker vs. Liam Paro – large fight preview and predictions
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