MARIO LOPEZ TO HOST DAZN'S 'INSIDE THE RING' BOXING SHOW

 

TV personality Mario Lopez will be “taking over the role as the host” of DAZN’s “Inside the Ring” for its second season.
TKO WORLDWIDE LLC VIA GETTY IMAG

TV personality Mario Lopez, of “Saved By the Bell” and “Extra” fame, will be “taking over the role as the host” of DAZN’s “Inside the Ring” for its second season, which premieres Thursday, according to Grace McCarron of the N.Y. POST. Host Max Kellerman and analyst LeSean McCoy will “not be returning as part of the show’s reshaping.” Boxing insider Mike Coppinger announced Monday that he “would return to the show, and that it will stream twice a week on DAZN Boxing and Ring Magazine’s YouTube pages.” Coppinger and a “rotating panel of analysts will join Lopez on the show.” Lopez has a background in boxing, having trained for several years at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club near L.A., often sharing clips on social media. He has also been a longtime host of “The 3 Knockdown Rule” podcast with Ring Magazine’s Steve Kim, and served as a guest color commentator on several boxing events. Meanwhile, Kellerman will “remain in his role calling matches for Zuffa Boxing,” a collaboration between the Saudi Public Investment Fund and TKO 

- N.Y. POST

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JOE JOYCE BELIEVES HE WILL REPEAT THE WIN OVER FILIP HRGOVIC: "I LOOK FORWARD TO KNOCKING HIM OUT ON SATURDAY NIGHT"

Joe Joyce vs Filip Hrgovic press conference quotes

The leading cast for the ‘Heavy Impact’ card that will take place on Saturday at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester gathered at the venue today for the final press conference ahead of fight night, being broadcast live on DAZN.

Joe Joyce goes up against Filip Hrgovic in the headline attraction, with the British heavyweight title being fought for between David Adeleye and Jeamie TKV.

Frank Warren

“Saturday is a new era for us, we are on DAZN and we will be seen worldwide, which is a great, great showcase for all the fighters. We are competitive, like the boxers and certainly like the rest of the promoters on DAZN, we aim to be the best and put the best shows on and our start is a fabulous one.

“The main event between Joe and Filip is a cracker of a fight, it is a fight with jeopardy involved where the winner will go on and the loser will have a hard, hard task to get back into the mix at the top. We all know what is on the line and they know that better than anybody else in this room. So I am looking forward to a great fight and a fabulous, fabulous undercard.”

Joe Joyce

“It is a great fight, entertainment, and I expect a great performance. It is good to share the ring with Hrgovic again, we had a good scrap last time about 12 years ago. The same result is going to happen, I’m going to win and then get elevated back up to the top of the sport. I am really excited to be here again, there is a lot of excitement here and it is going to be a great night of boxing.

“I know exactly what to expect from him and I have worked with Abel [trainer, Sanchez] before. He’s got a lot of mileage and has been in the sport a long time and had a lot of hard fights. I look forward to knocking him out on Saturday night.”

Filip Hrgovic

“Are we still main event after this? It was short notice, a few weeks, but I was already in good shape. That is why I accepted this fight and I think this is a good opportunity for me. This win, hopefully on Saturday, brings me back to the top and it is good to be part of this.

“Thanks to Queensberry and DAZN and I am looking forward to the win on Saturday, to knock him out and get back to the top. That is the plan. My motivation is big, for sure. I want to be back at the top and, like Frank said, the loser will be in a very bad position. I don’t want to lose.

“Man he is 40 years old. If he is 39 then he is young, I didn’t know that. Look, he is definitely not in the peak of his career, fighters get older and that is the reality, I am seven years younger. I think it will play a role in this fight.”

Jeamie TKV

“I am even more excited about this fight, To be honest, I am offended. I am offended by David’s behaviour. He knows me and I know him and the way he has been going about talking I am offending. The way he has been behaving is very disrespectful. I don’t take that lightly and I’m going to show him on Saturday.

“This persona that he is putting on, this bad boy persona. We are both educated men, both raised by great parents. So what are you? An academic gangster? I don’t know where this persona comes from my brother. You say you are going to knock me out, but when I say it I am being disrespectful?

“You are taking it personally that I am taking this fight. I see a scared man and I know when I see a scared man. What happened at Talksport was he couldn’t get to me, he tried saying I had lost too much weight and wouldn’t hold his shots. He got frustrated because I’m not reacting to him, so he decided to pipe up for no reason. He tried to pull up in my face."

David Adeleye

“All this educated gangster, I am just being myself. Of course it is personal, we are fighting in 48 hours. You don’t see a scared man, where do you see fear in me? Scared of what?

“You can ask me what happened at Talksport on Monday, I just cussed his weight, I cussed his appearance and he is obviously insecure about it. He’s got this cameraman, this Harry Hill looking guy recording and editing in a certain way. I did want to take this fight, me and you spoke on the phone and your managers were calling mine. What are you talking about?

“You called me and said I know you’re going to do Dacres and after that you were saying ‘you’re the truth’. Your manager said to me there is nothing for Jeamie, nothing going on for Jeamie and we know he ain’t getting nothing. Let’s be real about it. You’re a bitch. Every time I fight security come because they know I’m on smoke, with you there is no security.”

Delicious Orie

“I am just happy to be here, to be honest. When I started boxing in 2016 I saw Joyce win his silver medal, Hrgovic his bronze, David Adeleye and Jeamie TKV doing their thing as elite amateurs, so I was looking up to these guys. Here I am sat with them at the table, on the same card, I am living life at the moment.

“It will be different, there is a slight adaptation and for the last eight years I have just been focused on the Olympics, so for the last three months I have been working with Grant Smith in Sheffield just working on digging in a little bit more, planting my feet, getting used to the smaller gloves as well. I just can’t wait to put it all together this Saturday.

“Professional boxing is different. As an amateur I go in there to score the points to get my hand raised. It is different now, I actually have to hurt my opponent. That is the kind of spite I have been talking about.”

- Tim Rickson

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HARRY KANE PASSES WAYNE ROONEY AS RECORDS FALL IN BAYERN MÜNCHEN ROUT

Harry Kane celebrates after scoring a goal for Bayern Munich against Dinamo Zagreb. Getty Images

MUNICH -- Harry Kane scored four times on Tuesday to bring his Champions League goal total to 33, blowing past the previous record of 30 set by Wayne Rooney for the most goals by an English player in the competition.

It was all part of a record night for the striker and Bayern Munich, as they cruised to a 9-2 rout of Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb in the first round of games in the new-look Champions League format.

The nine goals for Bayern were also the most ever in a Champions League game by a single team, and Kane had another European record to his credit with three of his goals coming from the penalty spot.

"Amazing game, a bit of a crazy game for sure," Kane told broadcaster DAZN. "To score all those goals in the end was a great night.

"To be honest, after the second [penalty] I didn't really know what to do with the third one, but thankfully I was able to put it away."

Kane opened the scoring from the penalty spot to give Bayern the lead and equal Rooney's mark for an Englishman. He scored his 31st on a rebound to pass Rooney and added two more from the penalty spot to take his Champions League tally to 12 goals since moving to Bayern a year ago.

"He is motivated and for me as a coach it is easier because if you have a top player who is himself so motivated it makes things so much easier," said Bayern manager Vincent Kompany after the match. "He is a leader, captain of the national team. Players like him, they know they have to rise at these moments and that is what he is doing."

Raphael Guerreiro, Michael Olise, Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka piled on the goals for Bayern to hit the record haul of nine in a single Champions League game, while Bruno Petkovic and Takuya Ogiwara each scored to get the visitors on the scoresheet.

Kane now has 53 goals in 50 games in all competitions since moving to Bayern and has scored nine goals in his past three games for club and country, including two for England against Finland in his 100th international game and a hat trick Saturday for Bayern against Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga.

Another record was broken when Thomas Müller came off the bench to play his 152nd Champions League game for Bayern. That's the most for a player for one club, breaking a tie with former Barcelona player Xavi Hernandez.

Despite the lopsided win, it was not all praise from Kompany, who saw his team lead 3-0 at half-time but concede two goals in two minutes shortly after the restart as the Croats tried to find a way back.

"We scored nine but we conceded two goals. We conceded those goals because we were a step too late. Still we stayed calmed and then had a good evening," said the Belgian.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.

-  Mark Ogden and Gab Marcotti

TONY BELLEW SAYS USYK IS MAKING A MISTAKE AFTER SHOCK ANNOUNCEMENT "HE'LL CHANGE HIS MIND"

Only a few men have ever gone from being cruiserweight world champion to heavyweight king, but no one has ever done the same in reverse.

Tony Bellew has experience of fighting at both cruiserweight, where he became the WBC world champion back in 2016, before then moving up to heavyweight. Although he didn’t win a world title in the most famous division, he did secure back-to-back wins against David Haye in huge shows on Sky Sports Boxing Office.

He then moved back down to cruiserweight to challenge Usyk for the undisputed title. Though he came up just short and was stopped in round eight, he put up a superb effort through the first half of the fight.

Usyk is only the second man to ever be undisputed at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, with the other being Evander Holyfield. The Ukrainian shocked fans when he announced his plans to move back down to 200lbs once he’s finished his business at heavyweight.

Speaking to Lucky Block Casino, Bellew was asked if he was surprised by Usyk’s plan.

“No, it didn’t surprise me because I’m the first person he told it to. I interviewed him for DAZN, and I said when you defeat Tyson Fury, this was months ago, he just smiled and he says to me I’m going back down. I went you what? He said I’m going back down, I want to be the best at cruiserweight again.”

It is, however, a move Bellew thinks he will realise is unrealistic.

“I said you know that’s not beneficial. You know that’s not good. His body has time to adjust and adapt and he thinks he can go back down but it’s not that easy. Your body gets used to it.

He’ll understand and he’ll change his mind but it’s so hard to go back down. But listen, there is no one defeating him. I’d like to see him just walk away and go off into the sunset.”

Usyk will remain at heavyweight for at least one more fight when he rematches Tyson Fury in December for three of the major world titles.

- Toby Morgan 

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WHY IS CANELO FIGHTING MUGUIA? WHAT ABOUT BENAVIDEZ? CHARLO?

Super middleweight undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez, above, will fight Jaime Munguia on May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Sarah Stier/Getty Images

 The latest winner of the Canelo Alvarez sweepstakes is Jaime Munguia, who beat out Jermall Charlo and Edgar Berlanga to land a May 4 fight in Las Vegas against boxing's top star. With that fight comes a chance at boxing championship glory, and of course, the biggest payday of Munguia's career.

Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) enters the undisputed super middleweight championship bout on the heels of a career-best performance, a ninth-round TKO victory over John Ryder in January. Munguia has improved greatly under the guidance of Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach.

And now he'll meet his countryman on Cinco de Mayo weekend. Canelo-Munguia is the first all-Mexican showdown for a title above 160 pounds.

How did Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) select Munguia? What lies ahead for Canelo now that he's back in the fold with PBC for at least one fight? Let's dive into it:

Does Munguia have any realistic shot of beating Canelo?

Jaime Munguia, left, defeated John Ryder by ninth-round TKO in January. Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images

Munguia is a worthy opponent and arguably earned his shot after the way he defeated Ryder. In comparison, Canelo wasn't able to finish Ryder last May and went the distance, though he did break the Englishman's nose and handed him a comprehensive 12-round beating.

And there's little doubt that Canelo softened up Ryder for Munguia. Nonetheless, Munguia capitalized. His defense was his biggest flaw as he built up his record, a flat-footed pressure fighter who relied on power shots. But against Ryder, Munguia was far more defensively responsible.

He held his guard up tight and used his jab much more effectively in that fight in January. Munguia boxed on his toes more, too. He's come a long way since his days as a 154-pound titleholder and appears to be steadily improving with each bout.

Naturally, it's one matter to box with discipline against a fighter like Ryder, a world-class boxer who retired afterward. It's quite another to do so with success against one of the sport's elite.

While Munguia's defense is much improved at age 27, it's still a weakness. He's often wide open for countershots, which should make him an easy target for Canelo's power punches.

Canelo's hand and foot speed will be disparate, too, as is experience. Canelo has shared the ring with all-time greats such as Floyd Mayweather, Gennadiy Golovkin (36 rounds) and Miguel Cotto. Sixty rounds with those boxers alone.

Munguia's toughest opponent, meanwhile, was Ryder.

Munguia could find success early in the fight; he has the adequate size and strength to compete with Canelo. But once Canelo finds his timing against the slow-footed Munguia, he should be able to land his vaunted power-punch combinations at will, when Munguia's chin will be truly tested for the first time.

At 33, Canelo remains boxing's top star and is rated the No. 4 pound-for-pound fighter by ESPN. He opened up as a -650 favorite, per ESPN BET.

SEVILLA PLAYER PHYSICALLY ABUSED BY SPECTATOR MARS LALIGA WIN OVER RAYO VELLECANO

 MADRID (AP) — A Rayo Vallecano fan appeared to interfere with a Sevilla player taking a throw in during their Spanish league match on Monday.

Lucas Ocampos was on the touchline 33 minutes into the first half when a fan reached out and poked his backside. The Argentine winger turned to remonstrate with the young fan and then called the referee over. The match was halted briefly.

Some fans laughed at the incident as Rayo players appealed to the crowd to behave.

"You can see what happened in the (video) images," Ocampos told broadcaster DAZN. “I hope La Liga takes it as seriously as it takes racism and these things. I don’t think all the Rayo people are like that because they have always treated us with respect, but there is always one fool.

"I hope it doesn’t happen in other areas, because if this happens in a women’s football match we know what can happen. I kept my calm because I have two daughters, I hope this doesn’t happen to them in the future. I hope that the action that has to be taken is taken, and I hope that a fool like this does not stain a set of fans who otherwise behaved very well.”

SOCCER DAZN, SKY RETAIN ITALIAN SERIE A RIGHRS IN $4.8 BILLION DEAL

DAZN and Sky will keep the rights to screen live Serie A matches in Italy for the next five seasons after Italian clubs on Monday approved bids worth at least 4.5 billion euros ($4.8 billion), league officials said.

After four months of negotiations, the Serie A clubs had met in Milan on Monday to review final offers tabled by streaming services DAZN and Sky which amounted to some 900 million euros per year until the end of the 2028/2029 season, just below the annual value for the current agreement.

Seventeen of the 20 clubs backed the offer but the decision drew sharp criticism from Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis.

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