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The Independent
23-07-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Joshua, Bruno, Dubois: Does Wembley inspire British heavyweights?
Daniel Dubois will step out in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley on Saturday night for the biggest fight of his life against Oleksandr Usyk. The nerves are bound to be jangling with the undisputed heavyweight championship on the line and Usyk has the advantage of having beaten Dubois before two years ago. But Dubois won at Wembley last year, and it has tended to be a happy hunting ground for British heavyweights in the past. Let's take a look back at those who have dazzled under the famous arch ahead of Dubois' shot at glory. Frank Bruno Fan-favourite Bruno lost to Tim Witherspoon at Wembley in 1986 as he fell short in his bid to win the WBA heavyweight title. He would go on to suffer defeats by Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis in world title bouts and may have thought he was never going to get his hands on heavyweight gold. But he received a fourth and final chance when he took on Oliver McCall at England's national stadium in September 1995. Bruno made his trademark fast start and moved into the lead on the scorecards as tens of thousands of fans roared him on from ringside. The muscular Londoner tired in the closing rounds and had to dig deep to get over the line, but when the final bell rang there was only one winner. Bruno claimed a unanimous decision victory on a famous night in the capital as he finally got his crowning moment. Anthony Joshua After winning a gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012, it became clear that Joshua was going to be British boxing's next big star. He swiftly moved through the heavyweight rankings and won a world title in just his 16th fight as he dispatched Charles Martin inside two rounds. Following a couple of title defences, Joshua was thrown in with Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley in April 2017. What followed was an all-time classic as Joshua and Klitschko both hit the canvas in a dramatic back-and-forth heavyweight scrap. With little to separate the pair heading into the final two rounds, Joshua uncorked a peach of an uppercut to send Klitschko tumbling again and refused to let his opponent off the hook. Another knockdown followed before the referee jumped in to give Joshua his coming-of-age night. Less than 18 months later, Joshua returned to Wembley to defend his unified titles against Alexander Povetkin. Once again, it was far from straightforward for Joshua as he was briefly wobbled early, but he regathered his composure before knocking Povetkin out in the seventh round. Tyson Fury Fury became champion for the first time by beating Wladimir Klitschko at a football stadium in Dusseldorf, so he was never going to be fazed by fighting at Wembley. In April 2022 he faced Dillian Whyte under the arch and insisted in the build-up that it would be his last bout before he headed into retirement. Fury outboxed Whyte in the opening rounds before walking his fellow Brit onto a huge uppercut. Whyte went straight down and was in no position to continue when he rose to his feet on unsteady legs. The 'Gypsy King' did briefly walk away from the sport after that win, but returned just eight months later to beat Derek Chisora for a third time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Daniel Dubois Dubois entered the ring as the underdog for his all-British clash with Anthony Joshua last September. He was the less experienced man, had lost comprehensively to Usyk the previous year and was taking on a fighter who had lit up Wembley on multiple occasions before. But Dubois had picked up back-to-back knockout wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic, and was riding the crest of a wave. He looked like a man who refused to be denied during his ringwalk, and then hurt Joshua inside the first minute of the contest. A huge knockdown followed in the final seconds of the first round, and Joshua was purely in survival mode after that as he went down again and again. He finally had some success in the fifth round as he briefly stunned Dubois, but as he went in to follow up Dubois landed a huge right hand of his own to finish the fight in emphatic fashion. The 27-year-old IBF champion will be hoping to land a similar punch on Usyk this weekend to become the undisputed heavyweight king.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Anthony Joshua explains boxing absence, fires defiant warning to heavyweight division
FRAMELESS, LONDON – As the assembled guests gathered around the door, having been ushered in for the main event of the evening, a murmur started to go around. Anthony Joshua was running a little late. The last time this happened in London, Joshua had been caught in traffic near Wembley Stadium and arrived with less time than was ideal to run through his pre-fight rituals on Sept. 21, 2024. A short while afterward, he was brutally dropped three times before being knocked out by Daniel Dubois. Advertisement The sensory overload at Frameless on Marble Arch – a self-described immersive art experience – is not anywhere nearly as painful. Joshua was in town for an event staged by his promoters, Matchroom, with new branding unveiled by the Eddie Hearn-fronted company. He took part in a brief Q&A alongside British boxing icon and former WBC heavyweight champion Frank Bruno and teenage amateur sensation Leo Atang, who will make his professional debut on the Jack Catterall vs. Harlem Eubank undercard in Manchester this Saturday. MORE:Will Anthony Joshua retire? What AJ should do next after Dubois demolition job It was a very deliberate past-present-future framing, and some observers might suggest it is charitable to grant Joshua — who turns 36 in October and has not boxed since the Dubois debacle — the middle description. Advertisement Long-time rival (regrettably, only outside the ring) Deontay Wilder returned to action with an underwhelming win over Tyrrell Herndon last weekend. Would-be rival and relentless motormouth Jarrell Miller has claimed Joshua turned down the chance to fight him four times over the past month. Blocking Miller's number after the second or third call feels a more plausible turn of events, but, not for the first time in his career, Joshua has allowed others to do the talking and shape narratives without his input. The former two-time unified heavyweight champion has recently posted on social media, documenting encounters with an adoring public during trips to Nigeria and Ghana after he underwent elbow surgery to fix a nagging injury in May. While Joshua was keen to keep his cards close to his chest on Tuesday, he acknowledged rest and recuperation have been his primary focus for the first time since being crowned Olympic super heavyweight champion in August 2012. "This [boxing] is my life," he said. "But what I've done is I took a year out for the first time in 12 to 13 years as a professional, not including the amateur stuff Advertisement "I took a year out to get my body right. I'm at a different stage of my career. I can look at time differently. I haven't got all these years in front of me, so I've got to make an executive decision over what I do next." Gently nudged to offer any hints on opponents, Joshua refused to play the game aside from giving a personal statement of intent. "The minute I come back, I'm coming back with a bang rather than just keep rolling through, going through the motions," he added. "Let me take some time, and, the time I do come back, I'm coming back fully active and ready to go, take the division by storm." Francis Ngannou is KO'd by Anthony Joshua Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing Advertisement Hearn would no doubt bristle at the suggestion — right as he is to point out that Matchroom has always trodden its own path since he dragged the family business back into the fight game 15 years ago — but it was hard not to view Tuesday's rebrand as a defiant move in response to boxing's centre of gravity having shifted to Saudi Arabia. Turki Alalshikh found a willing ally in Hearn as he plotted his takeover of the sport, but now he's handed the keys to the September megafight between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Terence Crawford to UFC supremo Dana White. White has flirted with involvement in boxing several times before now, not least when he sounded out Joshua for a move away from Matchroom, with whom he made his professional debut in 2013. "If you want loyalty, buy a dog," Barry Hearn's erstwhile promotion foe Micky Duff once quipped. Joshua does seem to be a genuine exception to that rule in this "crooked business" — AJ's label and one that Bruno nodded along with in rueful agreement. "The Hearn family hold their name really well. That's the reason that I went with them," he said. "I stuck with them, and I'm still with them today." He makes it sound like a fairytale. It remains to see whether Joshua's booming right hand has one or two more magical stories to reveal.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Former WBC heavyweight champion continues age defying comeback
Oliver McCall will return to the ring for the second time this year to fight Carlos Reyes in Nashville on the 3rd of June. Now, 60-years-old, McCall is the oldest former heavyweight champion to ever win a professional boxing fight. He last fought in February of this year, claiming a win after his opponent retired in their corner at the end of the first round. The comeback began in 2024 when McCall, who had been away from boxing for five years, beat Stacy Frazier via technical knockout in the second round. In a career spanning 40 years and 75 fights, the only years since 1985 that McCall has not had at least one bout were between 2015-2017 and 2020-2023. The Chicago-born fighter, renowned for his durability, has shared the ring with some of the best heavyweight to ever grace a ring such as James 'Buster' Douglas, Tony Tucker, Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno and Larry Holmes. McCall is most famous for his second-round knockout of Lennox Lewis in 1994 in front of Lewis' home support at Wembley Arena, which saw him capture the WBC heavyweight title. McCall would defend the WBC title once before losing it to Frank Bruno in 1995. He would go one to challenge for a world title once more in a highly anticipated rematch with Lennox Lewis, for the vacant WBC belt. The fight, which became infamous for its conclusion, saw a crying McCall pulled out of the fight in the fifth round. He had left rehab for addiction in order to compete against Lewis. McCall has had public struggles throughout his life with drugs and mental health. The former champion is now 4-0 in his last four fights, showing no signs of slowing down, and has suggested he would be open to fights against Shannon Briggs or Bruce Seldon. McCall has said he has no long-term goals for his return to boxing, taking it fight by fight and is instead turning his attentions to a future managing or training fighters. He told One Round With George: 'If I lose a fight, it's over with as far as boxing, that's a no brainer. That's what makes me take it more or less fight by fight, getting to know the business more and dealing with people more. Just going through the things I've learned over the years and how to translate that over to the fighters [I'm training] so they can do what I want them to do, when they need to do it.' Watch the very best boxing with a DAZN subscription DAZN is the home of combat sports, broadcasting over 185 fights a year from the world's best promoters, including Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy, Misfits, PFL, BKFC, GLORY and more. An Annual Saver subscription is a one-off cost of £119.99 / $224.99 (for 12 months access), that's just 64p / $1.21 per fight. There is also a Monthly Flex Pass option (cancel any time) at £24.99 / $29.99 per month. A subscription includes weekly magazine shows, comprehensive fight library, exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and podcasts and vodcasts.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Frank Bruno backs Redditch men in Atlantic rowing challenge
Boxing hero Frank Bruno has paid a group of friends a visit to wish them luck before they row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Humphries, 44, Kev Joynes, 54, Rob Oliver, 52, and Tom Hayward, 31, known as DeadLegz, from Redditch in Worcestershire, will attempt the World's Toughest Row when they set off in challenge will raise money for the Frank Bruno Foundation, which helps people with mental health former world heavyweight champion told them their efforts were "brilliant". "I think it's unbelievable what they're doing. I wish them all the best."He said it was a "very, very hard thing to do, mentally as well".Bruno spoke about the challenges of four men manning a boat and coordinating who would take over when one took a break, adding: "It's going to be a very, very hard task to do, but the men seem very confident."They are expecting to take about 45 days to make the crossing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean. Mr Joynes said: "I didn't know whether to roll out a red carpet, I mean he is sporting royalty really, Frank, he's an icon."He said the group had been working with Bruno for about 18 months, who has helped to publicise their said they had met Bruno a couple of times at his gym, but when they heard he was planning to visit, said it was "bizarre".Mr Oliver said the boat was eight metres long with two very small rowing, it would be two people on the oars at any one time, and the other two could have a cabin each while crossing is expected to take six weeks, he added, and said: "We're going to get to know each other very, very well." Mental health challenges Bruno's advice was: "All they can do is just try and get fit beforehand and just take their time; don't beat themselves up."He said they had to "do what they've got to do"."They've got to row; they've got to get to Antigua, and I hope they get there safe," he spoke about mental health challenges and how the issue affected men in said men were often reluctant to come forward about mental health issues, and it was good the team was supporting his foundation and its work in that Frank Bruno Foundation was set up in 2017 to provide a safe environment for young people with mental health charity later added a programme for older people who needed help managing their mental health while they were World's Toughest Row begins on 12 December. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Scottish Sun
21-05-2025
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Mystery as boxing Frank Bruno still hasn't received top award two MONTHS after ceremony he missed due to serious illness
Bruno was taken ill on a long-haul flight and spent weeks in hospitals in Qatar and London WAIT FOR FRANK Mystery as boxing Frank Bruno still hasn't received top award two MONTHS after ceremony he missed due to serious illness Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) FRANK Bruno has yet to receive a top boxing award — two months on from the ceremony. He could not collect his lifetime achievement gong as he was seriously ill. 2 British boxing legend Frank in his heyday Credit: Getty Pal Ricky Hatton read out his acceptance speech at the British Boxing Awards on March 28. But former heavyweight champ Bruno, 63, has yet to receive the gong. He told The Sun: 'I was delighted I had won. 'I did an acceptance speech which Ricky Hatton read out for me and as yet I have still not received the award. 'I am bemused not to have received the actual award which I want to show off to the world. 'My office asked a few times but had no joy.' But he penned a speech which Hatton, who co-hosted the awards with former fighter Nicola Adams, delivered on his behalf at the Langham Hotel in London. It said: 'I am sorry I cannot be with you tonight. Trust me - I would far rather be with you than in Hospital having daily tests. "Thank you to the organisers of this event and all the people that voted for me to get this prestigious award.' Bruno was taken ill on a long-haul flight and spent weeks in hospitals in Qatar and London. Exclusive interview with British boxing legend Frank Bruno after his health scare Agent Dave Davies said: 'I have never known somebody be announced as a winner then never receive the actual award.' BBA organisers were contacted for a comment.
