Latest news with #middleweight
The Independent
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Austin Williams and Etinosa Oliha to meet in IBF eliminator in Texas
Austin Williams and Etinosa Oliha are to meet in an IBF middleweight eliminator fight on 19 July in Frisco, Texas. A statement from AGON Boxing in Germany, which promotes Etinosa's fights, said that the winner of the bout will become the official mandatory challenger for the IBF middleweight championship currently held by Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (who also holds the WBO belt). Ingo Volckmann, who runs AGON Boxing, said: "We are very proud of Etinosa and of the development of our entire team. Our goal is to position German boxing more strongly internationally again and to give our boxers real world championship chances. The fact that we are now once again bringing a boxer into a final eliminator shows that we are on the right track." The venue for the card will be the Ford Center at the Star, which also serves as a training ground for the Dallas Cowboys. In 2018, Errol Spence Jr defended his IBF welterweight champion at the venue, knocking out Carlos Ocampo in one round. The 19 July bout, which will be broadcast on DAZN, will be the co-headliner on a card topped by the match between Jesse Rodriguez and Phumelele Cafu for the WBC and WBO super-flyweight titles. It is taking place on the same night that Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois meet in their rematch for the heavyweight championship of the world. Oliha, 21-0 (9), who comes from Turin but is now based in Germany, last fought in September when he stopped Alexander Pavlov in three rounds in Berlin. Previously, Etinosa held the lightly regarded IBO title, winning it from Julio Alamos in Wuppertal, Germany, nearly two years ago. Williams, 18-1 (12), comes from Milwaukee and is best known to UK audiences for losing in eleven rounds to Hamzah Sheeraz in June last year. Since then, he has rebuilt somewhat with two victories, a stoppage over Gian Carrido in Philadelphia and a points decision over Patrice Volny in Orlando. Aside from Sheeraz, the other significant name on Williams's record is Steve Rolls, who lost in four rounds to Gennady Golovkin in 2019 and on points to Edgar Berlanga in 2022. 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.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Khamzat In Danger Of UFC 319 ‘Fraud Check'
Khamzat Chimaev is currently ranked No. 3 at 185 pounds and widely-expected to earn the next crack at defending middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis, assuming 'Borz' can make it to fight night without another mysterious medical malady. Don't worry, matchmakers have a backup plan. Advertisement Chimaev's 'special' rise to the top, which included a pit stop at 170 pounds, came with a considerable amount of hype, to the point where fight fans were calling for a potential title shot after just two fights under the UFC banner. Former UFC lightweight, Josh Thomson, wants to pump the brakes. 'How bad is he ... or is he good? We're gonna find out when he fights DDP,' Thomson said on We Want Picks. 'I've said this for the longest time, the sample size is not big enough for me with Chimaev. It's just not big enough. Are we giving him too much credit? Everyone's like, 'Oh, he's muslim, he's got the beard, he can wrestle.' Are we giving him the Khabib credit? No one is like Khabib [Nurmagomedov], nobody is like Islam [Makhachev]. We associate the two things, they are not the same. Khabib didn't get tired. Is [Chimaev] as good as we think? Or we getting a fraud check here with DDP?' Thomson argues the 31 year-old Chimaev (14-0) has been able to capitalize on favorable circumstances, like a washed-up Gilbert Burns, hot-and-cold Kevin Holland, short-notice Kamaru Usman, and even the grill-challenged Robert Whittaker, who already had existing teeth issues. Advertisement 'He's fantastic when he's fresh, but we've seen him wilt in rounds two and rounds three,' Thomson continued. 'He got dropped by Gilbert Burns [at UFC 273] and look at Gilbert since they fought, he can't seem to buy a win right now. So is he as bad or is he as good as people wanna make him? I don't think he's as good as people want him to be. He's fantastic when he's the hammer, I'm not denying that, but what is he like when 'boom' all of the sudden he gets cracked? Is Chimaev that guy, does he fold? Does he break? I'm leaning more towards he does.' We'll find out at UFC 319 this summer in Chicago. More from
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
UFC Abu Dhabi Opening Betting Odds
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 26: Robert Whittaker of New Zealand prepares to face ... More Khamzat Chimaev of Russia in a middleweight fight during the UFC 308 event at Etihad Arena on October 26, 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) The UFC will return to Abu Dhabi on July 26 for an UFC Fight Night event. The developing fight card, which will feature a UFC on ABC main card, has a middleweight main event between former UFC 185-pound champion Robert Whittaker and the fast-rising Reinier de Ridder. When BetOnline first published the betting line for the UFC Abu Dhabi 2025 main event, Whittaker was listed as the -190 betting favorite over the +165 De Ridder. Those odds have shifted slightly. Today, Whittaker is listed at -185, while De Ridder is a +160 betting underdog. RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - JUNE 22: Robert Whittaker of New Zealand reacts after his victory against ... More Ikram Aliskerov of Russia in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Kingdom Arena on June 22, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Whittaker (26-8) is the No. 5 fighter in the official UFC middleweight rankings. Whittaker has long been one of the best fighters in the UFC's 185-pound division. His only losses under the UFC banner as a middleweight have come against Israel Adesanya, Dricus Du Plessis, and Khamzat Chimaev. The 34-year-old was on a two-fight winning streak since his loss to Du Plessis in a middleweight title eliminator in July 2023 when he stepped into the Octagon to face Chimaev at UFC 308 in October 2024. Chimaev ran through Whittaker in that matchup, handing the ex-champ his first submission defeat as a member of the UFC roster. UFC Abu Dhabi marks the first fight for Whittaker in 2025. He fought three times in 2024. DES MOINES, IOWA - MAY 03: Reinier de Ridder of The Netherlands reacts after his TKO victory over Bo ... More Nickal in their middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Wells Fargo Arena on May 03, 2025 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC) Reinier de Ridder (20-2) joined the UFC in 2024. De Ridder was a two-division champion with ONE, claiming titles in the middleweight and light heavyweight weight classes. A talented grappler with 11 career submission victories before inking his UFC deal, De Ridder is 3-0 with the UFC, picking up submission wins over Gerald Meerschaert and Kevin Holland, while most recently putting and end to Bo Nickal's unbeaten run with a knockout win on the UFC Des Moines fight card in early May. De Ridder is the No. 13 fighter in the official UFC rankings. He gets the opportunity surge in those rankings when he faces Whittaker in July. De Ridder has fought twice in 2025. His win over Holland took place on the UFC 311 pay-per-view card. Robert Whittaker vs. Reinier de Ridder - Middleweight Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Marc-André Barriault - Middleweight Nikita Krylov vs. Bogdan Guskov - Light Heavyweight Ramazan Temirov vs. Asu Almabayev - Flyweight Ibo Aslan vs. Billy Elekana - Light Heavyweight Saturday, July 26, 2025 TBA Etihad Arena, Yas Island, United Arab Emirates Man Card: ABC Preliminary Card: ESPN2 We will have more on the UFC Abu Dhabi 2025 fight card as news becomes available.
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
‘A savage high-octane athlete': Inside Conor Benn's brutal training camp for Eubank Jr showdown
In the searing Spanish sun, Conor Benn glides around a running track. He eats up 300m in 41 seconds, walks for 100m, then repeats this sequence nine more times without dropping the pace. Despite being significantly heavier than he's used to, the would-be welterweight is quite literally fighting fit – and it's just as well. On Saturday, April 26, he faces Chris Eubank Jr in a middleweight clash steeped in hype and history. As an added challenge, Benn had to pack on 13lb and move up two divisions in preparation for the fight, all while maintaining the speed and explosiveness that make him formidable. 'A boxer is a supreme athlete because they work across so many different disciplines from a physiological point of view,' Dan Lawrence, Benn's strength and conditioning coach, tells me. 'And Conor is a savage, high-octane athlete.' Below, he reveals how Benn was able to gain weight, stay lean and, crucially, improve performance over the course of a 70-plus day training camp in Mallorca. A week of Connor Benn's training Most people look at a week and see three, four or maybe even five opportunities to train. But Benn is an elite athlete, so Lawrence splits his days into AM and PM sessions so he can balance as many attributes as possible. 'A boxer isn't like a powerlifter; someone who has to produce high amounts of force with no time constraints to get from point A to point B,' says Lawrence. 'Boxing has an element of that; force production is important, as we know force times velocity equals power. 'But we also need to produce that force very quickly because we are under time constraints. That's the difference between landing a shot and not landing a shot. So we surf the force-velocity curve, and that's just one piece of the puzzle. 'Then we have energy systems – what goes on from a bioenergetic point of view. We know we can't train like an endurance athlete because he needs high-intensity repeated bouts of exercise. Then he recovers, then he goes again.' To ensure Benn remains a well-rounded athlete, while capitalising on his trademark power and explosiveness, this is what a typical training week looks like: Monday AM: Weighted run 'This is generally 30 to 35 minutes of running with a weighted vest,' Lawrence says. 'Conor is a savage so he'll do that run early [most days he and his team are up at 5am], sleep, fuel; it's really a case of eat, sleep, train, repeat.' Monday PM: Sparring ' He'll spar in the evening now,' says Lawrence. 'We've moved our sparring times to later in the evening over the last couple of weeks to get accustomed to being ready at that time – that's a key consideration of ours. His ring walk will be at about 9.50pm, so if we're only training until 4pm or 5pm that's problematic in terms of him being ready to go at that time.' Mallorca's 600 Santa Ponsa steps are seen as a challenge among tourists, who sweat and struggle their way to the top at walking pace. Over the course of the training vamp, Benn and Lawrence have commandeered these steps for hill sprints. Tuesday PM: Technical boxing 'This is where Conor will go through technical drilling with Tony Sims, the head coach.' Wednesday AM: Sparring Benn usually heads to the ring for 10.30am for a sparring session. Wednesday PM: Strength and conditioning Here, Lawrence again takes the lead, subjecting Benn to a series of strength and power-building protocols such as overcoming isometrics and the French contrast method – more on this below. 'Do we want high force from movements? Yes. But then we do strength-speed exercises, speed-strength exercises and high velocity unloaded exercises as well to enable him to become more explosive,' Lawrence explains. Thursday AM: Track session When he first arrived in Spain for the training camp, Benn did four rounds of a 300m run followed by a 100m walk. 'Tony said to Conor, 'By the end of camp, I want you doing 10 of these',' Lawrence says. 'Conor thought there was no way that was going to happen, but lo and behold he did 10 of them last Thursday, in times that were far superior to when he did four at the start of camp. 'On the track he's really impressed me. Biomechanically, the progression in the way he flows and the mechanics of his running has been really impressive to see.' Thursday PM: Technical boxing Friday AM: Recovery or a run 'Friday morning involves either recovery or a run based on training load management,' says Lawrence. 'There have been times where we've given him full recovery based on the data.' Friday PM: Sparring Saturday AM: Run 'This would likely be a steady state run, which we do as a team.' Saturday PM: Strength and conditioning Sunday: Full recovery day Benn has now entered a taper phase, which begins 10 days out from the fight. This involves maintaining a high training intensity while reducing total training volume by 30-60 per cent. 'The reason for that is to enable the athlete to peak on fight night, with all fatigue dissipated,' Lawrence explains. 'Reducing training loads allows some supercompensation to occur, which means Conor will then peak above his baseline [performance] levels on fight night.' Conor Benn: Diet Lawrence summarises his approach under the banner: 'Old school values, modern methods.' It was these modern methods he turned to when helping Benn pack on 13lb of lean mass. 'We took him to My Vital Metrics to do a comprehensive physiological profile,' Lawrence says. Alongside performance-based assessments, he tested Benn's resting metabolic rate (RMR, or the amount of calories he burns at rest) and completed a DEXA scan to reveal factors such as his body composition. 'Conor didn't want to go to the lab, but he knew that we had to do it and it was a non-negotiable for me because otherwise we would have been going in blind,' says Lawrence. 'Looking at RMR, that gives us a baseline number, then we record the data from training. So let's say in session one he expends 700 calories, in a second boxing session he may expend 1,200 calories, so his total output would be around 3,500, sometimes even 4,000 calories, per day. 'If we're only consuming 3,000 calories, for a guy who's stepping up 13lb and two weight classes, that's going to be problematic. ' Using this data, Benn's team builds a suitable nutrition plan, factoring in the optimal doses of protein, carbohydrates and fats to ensure his packing on mass optimally for his performance. 'He'll be in either maintenance or a slight surplus of calories to ensure that his weight is good,' Lawrence says. 'And his weight has been absolutely brilliant throughout camp. He checks his weight every single morning, feeds back to us, then we build a nutrition plan for that day.' Conor Benn: Recovery Speaking to Lawrence, the importance of data is clear. He even has the metrics from Benn's Whoop band stream straight to his phone to monitor his sleep, recovery and readiness to train. 'There's no guesswork here,' he says. 'We use data to drive our decision-making processes – both subjective, aka 'How are you feeling?', 'Are you sore?', and also objective markers. 'This is how he merges his incredibly hard work – no one works harder than Conor – with smart work to enable us to reach our goals.' One of the objective markers is neuromuscular readiness testing, which comes in the form of a daily vertical jump test. For this, Benn performs three max-effort countermovement (or vertical) jumps, and the results indicate his levels of fatigue. 'Conor's PB on that currently is 58.6cm, which puts him in an elite range,' says Lawrence. 'If he is 10 or 12 per cent down on his numbers, he may be in a slightly more fatigued state than we would like. 'Do we then take that as gospel, decide he can't train and go home? Of course not. But it does mean we then have deeper conversations around how his sleep was last night. And if he's had a poor night's sleep, we identify why.' This might be that Benn has eaten too late or his room is too hot. After one poor night's sleep, his team even found themselves remedying a 'pillow issue'. 'Sleep is the number one priority tool, and it costs absolutely nothing,' Lawrence says. 'He'll use saunas sporadically as well as massage, and there's a physio out here. He also uses ProTec compression boots every day to promote blood flow and help recovery.' The principle behind these constant data-driven tweaks is the 'aggregation of marginal gains' – a term popularised by Ineos director of sport and esteemed cycling coach Sir Dave Brailsford. 'Getting one per cent better every day yields a 37-time improvement throughout the year,' Lawrence says. Conor Benn: Workouts 'For Conor's workouts we look at general physical qualities first, then we work in a bit more specificity as we draw closer to fight night,' Lawrence says. 'Do we want to become stronger? Yes. Do we want to become more powerful? Yes. Do we want to improve VO2 max? Yes, of course we do. All of these are going to help as general qualities, so we develop them.' But on top of this, his workouts pay heed to the nuances and needs of the sport – specifically: developing strength, robustness and mobility in the neck, lower leg, mid-spine and shoulders. 'We do a lot of work around the lower leg,' Lawrence says. 'We want him to be springy and reactive when pushing into the floor, so when he steps back he doesn't bleed energy into the ground with his foot, but he can be springy and elastic like a kangaroo as opposed to being like a gorilla. 'We do a lot of work around the neck too. From a shot absorption point of view, obviously the goal is to not get caught, but it's boxing, and you're going to get caught. Conor's stepping up in weight and we've got to be aware of that. 'And then we work the core. The core is a transfer centre, so we want to transfer energy to the fist through the kinetic chain. If all we ever do is old school ab crunches, it's probably not going to cut it.' However, given Benn's calorie surplus, weight gain goal and high overall training load, Lawrence says he has the 'luxury' of being able to add 'bolt-ons' to his sessions. 'I want him to walk out of that gym feeling great, not beaten up,' Lawrence says. 'I get what I need from a strength, power and robustness point of view, then at the end I'm absolutely fine with him doing a couple of sets of bicep curls so he goes out the gym feeling good.' Conor Benn: Sample training day Benn is in enviable shape, but building muscle isn't a priority in his training. Instead, he needs a body that's built for purpose, and that purpose is having his arm raised on April 26. Here's an example of the methods he uses to do just that: A warm-up using the RAMP protocol. Raise the heart rate, activate specific muscles, mobilise around key joints, then potentiate or prime the neuromuscular system to prepare for the training ahead. This involves mobilising the hips ('If he's throwing his backhand, we want to be able to extend the glutes properly – if he's tight through the opposite side of the anterior hip complex, he might lose power') and performing exercises such as thoracic extensions and rotations. Activation sequences often work the glutes work and posterior shoulder. Neuromuscular readiness testing with countermovement jumps. 'We've just gone through a block which focusses on both strength and power using the French contrast method,' says Lawrence. This is four exercises performed back to back – this might be heavy (180kg) quarter squats, followed by squat jumps, then a loaded jump to develop strength-speed, and finally an over-speed exercise like assisted jumps using a resistance band. 'Conor has a very high training age, he has lots of strength and conditioning experience, so he's able to do something like French contrast method which is incredibly hard,' says Lawrence. 'There are not many fighters I'd be putting through that. The demand on the neuromuscular system is incredibly high, which is why the athlete must have a high training age to reap the rewards from that kind of system. But Conor adapts really well to it.'
The Sun
16-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
George Liddard is the West Ham super-fan who went from windscreen fitter to Britain's next middleweight boxing hopeful
GEORGE LIDDARD is hoping to wipe out the middleweight competition having gone from windscreen fitter to boxing prospect. The West Ham super-fan was an elite amateur, winning four national titles and medals on the international stage. 4 4 4 But he snubbed the chance to earn a place on the Team GB Olympic squad to instead turn professional in 2022 under Eddie Hearn. It came after a brief absence from the ring as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, where Liddard worked for a windscreen fitting company. He told the Hammers website: "I was part of Team England, and then Covid-19 hit, and there was a lot of uncertainty in my life. "During that period, I ended up working with my dad at a windscreen company. "I got defeated by a well-known Great Britain fighter in a close fight after the pandemic, and that was the moment I said to myself to give it a go. "I got a text from Tony Sims, one of the legendary boxing trainers, asking me to spar with John Ryder. "So I went down there and gave a good account of myself. I've been at the Matchroom Gym ever since and have never looked back." Liddard is 11-0 and returns on Saturday night at the Copper Box on the undercard of Johnny Fisher's rematch with Dave Allen. The 22-year-old East Londoner faces Aaron Sutton but has his eyes on fighting for the British title and even world honours beyond that. He said: "I feel as if I'm at a level already where I can win a British title. "I know I'm good enough but have to prove it to the world, and the next fight is another opportunity to do that. "I'm in this game to be a world champion, and I want to win world titles down the line. I will be a world champion someday; I know that for sure. "I look forward to the day I stand there with a world title belt and say, I made it." Liddard dons the famous claret and blue when he steps into the ring and regularly sits in the Hammers stands outside the ropes. He said: "I couldn't pinpoint an exact moment when I started supporting West Ham, but I've followed the Club all of my life and attend home games now with my sponsor, ABSM Building Services. "I would have loved to have been at the Conference League final, but I was fighting on that Saturday. "I remember watching it in the hotel and being ecstatic when Jarrod [Bowen] scored that goal. "I was gutted to have not been there, but I won the fight, so it was a memorable weekend." 4
