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Imane Khelif sends a very direct warning to Olympic rivals after boxing opponent pulls out

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Imane Khelif sent a provocative message to her rivals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after forcing her opponent to submit just 46 seconds into the fight.

The 25-year-old competes in the women’s 66kg category and reached the quarter-finals after defeating Italian Angela Carini.

The fight was controversial, however, as Carini decided to withdraw from the competition, reportedly telling her corner that “it wasn’t right,” after Khelif was cleared to compete in the Games.

Khelif was allowed to compete in the women’s boxing category despite being disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Championships before her gold medal fight because she did not meet the International Boxing Association (IBA) qualifying criteria.

It turned out she had failed testosterone and gender tests, but Khelif was allowed to compete in the women’s category at the Olympics and quickly threw herself into a hail of punches. Carini, whose helmet was not attached, decided to stop the fight on her own terms.

When Khelif was announced the winner, Carini refused to shake her hand and the Italian could be seen crying in the ring before leaving. Immediately after the fight, the 25-year-old spoke about her victory.

Khelif refused to spend any time in the post-fight interview area, but the Algerian left the venue with a defiant statement to her critics: “I’m here for the gold. I’ll fight anyone.”

Imane added as she left the ring: “God willing, that was the first win. God wants me to be the golden one.”

The Algerian Boxing Federation also congratulated its Olympian on Facebook after the fight and issued a statement condemning alleged “lies” and “unethical attacks and denigration of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, through baseless propaganda by some foreign media.”

However, an emotional Carini began to fear for her safety, claiming that she had never been hit like she experienced during the fight.

“It hurt so much. I’m devastated. I went to the ring to pay tribute to my father,” Carini said. “I’ve been told many times that I’m a fighter, but I chose to stop for my health. I’ve never felt a blow like that.

“After the second punch, after years of experience in the ring and a lifetime of fighting, I felt a huge pain in my nose.”

In the quarterfinals, Khelif will face Hungarian Luca Anne Hamori, who will be fighting to win the gold medal for the African country.

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UK Boxing

Conor Benn pushes Chris Eubank Jr during heated exchange in Riyad

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Eubank Jr faces Szeremeta on October 12 in Riyadh Photo Credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing

Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr confronted each other in Riyad Photo: @ChrisEubankJr Twitter
Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr confronted each other in Riyad Photo: @ChrisEubankJr Twitter

Conor Benn pushed Chris Eubank Jr. when the pair bumped into each other on Friday in Riyad.

Eubank Jr and Benn were scheduled to fight in October 2022, but the fight was postponed during fight week after Benn tested positive for the banned substance clomiphene.

Benn arrived in Riyadh on Thursday ahead of Eubank Jr’s fight against Kamil Szeremeta on Saturday, a preview of the undisputed featherlight heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

The anger between the pair, whose fathers fought twice in the 1990s, clearly remained, and tensions rose on Friday when they crossed paths for the first time since their fight was canceled, at a hotel in Riyad.

“Don’t screw it up, son,” Benn warned Eubank Jr.

The Brighton fighter then came face to face with ‘The Destroyer’, confronting him and replying: “This guy comes in when I’m cutting weight.”

Benn replied: “Comes when you cut weight? See you tomorrow after the fight.

“I’m going to get in that ring and fucking give it to you.

“You’re fucking lucky you’re going to be fighting tomorrow.”

Eubank Jr will face Szeremeta on October 12 in Riyad. Photo: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
Eubank Jr will face Szeremeta on October 12 in Riyad. Photo: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing

The insults and swearing continued until the Essex player shoved his fierce rival in front of the looking media.

“I like the energy,” Eubank Jr said after the push.

“You are a child.”

“A kid who will fuck you up,” Benn replied.

Eubank Jr's fight with Benn has been postponed. Photo: Ian Walton/Matchroom Boxing
Eubank Jr’s fight with Benn has been postponed. Photo: Ian Walton/Matchroom Boxing

The 28-year-old has had two fights since his drug saga but was unable to compete in the UK as both fights took place in the US.

Benn appeared to be on track to fight in Great Britain again when the National Anti-Doping Panel cleared him to resume his career in his country last July, but those hopes were dealt a major blow in March after both Great Britain fighters were banned Anti-Doping and the British Boxing Board of Control won an appeal to have his provisional suspension lifted.

Undefeated welterweight fighter is scheduled to appear before the BBBofC for questioning this month and hopefully a successful case will lead to the long-awaited showdown with Eubank Jr.

The pair were scheduled to fight at the 157-pound catchweight, but Benn has repeatedly said he will now move up two weight classes to face “NXTGEN” at middleweight.

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UK Boxing

Tyson Fury reveals that Mike Tyson is demanding a staggering $500 million for fights

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Tyson Fury revealed the staggering sum Mike Tyson wanted for a potential ring clash. Despite the heavyweight boxing sensation expressing his desire to face the American legend, it appears that financial expectations were too high to fulfill his dream.

“The Baddest Man on the Planet” will be ready to make his ceremonial return to the ring on November 15 at the prestigious AT&T Arena in Texas against social media influencer turned boxer Jake Paul. Although Tyson has been out of professional boxing since 2005 after a loss to Kevin McBride, fans were treated to an exhibition match in 2020 when he faced Roy Jones Jr.

In an unexpected way before the fight with Jones Jr. Tyson got into a Zoom discussion about fighting the “Gypsy King” himself, Tyson Fury. Although the British champion was interested in the prospect, the deal fell apart under the weight of Tyson’s extraordinary request for a payout.

“There has been talk of it,” Fury revealed IFL Television. “His people contacted me. Mike and I had a phone conversation. It was all real, but it never materialized. Whoever offered Mike money to come back was offering us peanuts.

“Mike was talking about the $500 million numbers [half a billion]but what came back to us on paper was a joke. It was crazy. I had a $10 million offer from ESPN to do the fight on the show, but I think everyone has moved on now.”

Fury then faced Deontay Wilder in the highly anticipated rematch between the two heavyweight giants, ultimately stopping his rival in the 11th round. He then secured wins over Dillian Whyte, Derek Chisora ​​and Francis Ngannou before suffering his first professional loss to Oleksandr Usyk earlier this year.

Fury is currently preparing for a rematch with the Ukrainian, wanting to avoid further defeats. Although the exhibition fight with “Iron Mike” never took place, Fury expressed his desire to enter the ring with the former heavyweight champion.

“I would love to share the ring with him and move on,” he continued. “But if he won, people would say I’m rubbish because a 53-year-old beat me.

“If I beat him, I would be a tyrant. This was a lose-lose situation for me. It was money; I didn’t have to fight a guy who was past his prime.”

The boxing community has raised eyebrows at the prospect of Tyson vs. Paul, with skepticism also surrounding Tyson’s involvement in the upcoming match.

Fans are wary because the esteemed “Iron Mike” made a surprising revelation on Jimmy Kimmel’s show about his current workout routine. The boxing legend informed the astonished host: “I train extremely challenging, I practice six hours a day.

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UK Boxing

Junto Nakatani vs Tasana Salapat – massive fight preview and predictions

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Salapat fell short in his one previous step up to world level (Photo Credit: Tapology)

Nakatani will defend his crown on Monday (Poster source: top position)
Nakatani will defend his crown on Monday (Poster source: top position)

This Monday, a triple world title fight will take place at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, and in the main event Junto Nakatani will defend his WBC bantamweight title for the second time against Tasana Salapat from Thailand.

Top Rank is promoting the Nakatani vs Salapat fight and Sky Sports television in the UK.

Nakatani (28-0, 21 KO) won the vacant WBO flyweight title in November 2020, defeating Giemel Magramo in eight rounds, and traveled outside Japan for the first time to make his first defense, defeating Angel Acosta in the fourth round months later in Tucson.

After winning the super flyweight division, he then captured the vacant WBO super flyweight crown with a dominant last-round knockout of Andrew Moloney, defeating the Australian more than three times in a brutal fight.

After that crushing first defense, he rose to the top again, this time winning the WBC bantamweight title with a sixth-round victory over Alexandro Santiago. Nakatani was last sidelined in July due to needs in the round to knock out Vincent Astrolabio.

Now he will face Salapat (76-1, 53 KO), a man with a record in which it seems that not all is well. The 30-year-old from Roi-Et challenged for world titles in December 2018, but was badly defeated on the cards by Takuma Inoue in a fight for the interim WBC super bantamweight title.

Salapat failed to make the step to world level (Photo: Tapology)
Salapat failed to make the step to world level (Photo: Tapology)

He has since won 28 straight fights, but against a terrible list of opponents, most of whom were losing records or fighting on their debut. In his last fight, he defended his WBC Asian belt for the fourth time, scoring in ten rounds over GuiMing Li 6-5-1 at Rangsit in July.

Many believe Nakatani is the best 118-pound fighter in the world (Photo: Mikey Williams, top position)
Many believe Nakatani is the best 118-pound fighter in the world (Photo: Mikey Williams, top position)
Tanaka defends his title against Cafu

Kosei Tanaka won the vacant WBO super flyweight title in his last fight and makes his first defense against Phumelele Cafu.

Tanaka (20-1, 11 KO) won the belt in February on clear points against Christian Rangel and previously reigned as the WBO minimum-to-super flyweight champion.

After three draws early in his career, Cafu (10-0-3, 8 KO) is on a six-fight winning streak, with the South African winning the IBF International belt in August and then knocking out Enathi Stelle in just 26 seconds in the last contest in December 2023 at getting a free South African bauble.

Tanaka is a true rising star. Photo: badlefthook.com
Tanaka is a true rising star. Photo: badlefthook.com

The WBO flyweight title is also at stake here, and champion Anthony Olascuaga will defend himself against Jonathan Gonzalez.

Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KO) won the vacant title in July, knocking out Riku Kano in three rounds after being stopped in nine by Kenshiro Teraji for the WBC lithe heavyweight championship last April.

Gonzalez (28-3-1, 14 KO) comes from lithe flyweight, where he defended his WBO title three times, most recently a points win over Rene Santiago in his native Puerto Rico in March.

Undercard remaining

Elsewhere, Tenshin Nasukawa (4-0, 2 KO) could win the vacant WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight title after scoring points with Gerwin Asilo (9-0, 4 KO) and super lightweight hope Ayato Kobayashi (1-0, 0 KO ) ) can defeat Excell James Junior (2-1, 0 KO) in four rounds.

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