ANTHONY JOSHUA VS TYSON FURY ULTIMATUM ISSUED - "THERE WILL BE NO FIGHT"

Joshua and Fury are contracted to meet in the UK later this year but Netflix, and the fight's Saudi backers, want to host it at Madison Square Garden on November 20

Tyson Fury is due to fight Anthony Joshua(Image: Tyson Fury/Instagram)

Eddie Hearn insists he will pull the plug on Anthony Joshua's fight with Tyson Fury if New York is announced as the venue without a change of contract.

Joshua and Fury are contracted to meet in the UK later this year but Netflix, and the fight's Saudi backers, want to host it at Madison Square Garden on November 20. But Hearn insists he and Joshua want the fight to be held at Wembley and is refusing to back down in the row.

"Everybody wants to do the fight in New York, apart from Anthony Joshua and me," he told The Punch Podcast. "We're under a huge amount of pressure, and we're being told by Turki Alshikh and those guys - Netflix particularly - 'Look, we really want to do the fight in the US.' It's almost not a 'please Eddie,' but like, 'We're partners. We're paying a lot of money. Come on, you have to understand that we need to put the fight where we feel is commercially the best place.'

"I don't agree with their arguments, but I'm not the one paying the money. However, we wouldn't have signed the contract if the fight was in America, so we have to have a discussion around that. Then you've got Nick Khan phoning me up from TKO and Zuffa, saying, "Come on, can we be involved?" And I'm like, "What? Why? Why would I let you be involved?" "Well, we think we can make the fight bigger," and blah, blah, blah.

"Okay, if you tell me some reasons why I should let you be involved... Are you going to let me be involved in the next Conor McGregor fight in the UFC? No, of course not. So what? But I'm also not stubborn enough to just say no; I'll listen. The other day, though, they wrote to us and said, 'Just to let you know, we'd like to announce the fight for New York.' I said, 'No. You can't.'

"By the way, there might even be a situation where they go ahead and announce it anyway, and you'll probably see me come out quite quickly and say, 'No fight.' Because I promise you, if they announce that fight without an agreement in place to change the venue, there will be no fight, and we ain't bluffing.

"We feel really strongly that this fight should be in the UK. I've also said many times that I want it to work for everybody. Turki is spending a lot of money on this fight, if you really feel that commercially you're going to be so much better off doing it in America."

- Martin Domin

OLEKSANDR USYK VS. DANIEL DUBOUS 2 | TKO | FULL FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS

 

JON JONES TRIUMPHS IN RETURN, TKO'S STIPE MIOCIC AT UFC 309

Jon Jones celebrates after his total knockout victory against Stipe Miocic in the UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden, New York City, US, November 16, 2024 [Sarah Stier/Getty Images via AFP]
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NEW YORK -- Jon Jones looked exceptional as ever Saturday, knocking out Stipe Miocic with a spinning back kick in the third round of their heavyweight championship fight at UFC 309 inside Madison Square Garden.

And now, with that matter settled, the fight world will eagerly await its heavyweight title unification bout.

Jones (28-1) dominated Miocic (20-5) en route to the TKO victory at 4:29 of the round. The matchup was originally scheduled to take place in November 2023, but Jones pulled out with a torn pectoral muscle. Leading up to Saturday, much of the prefight talk was about whether Jones would face interim champion Tom Aspinall if he won.

After defeating Miocic, Jones made it clear he is open to the challenge.

"I've decided maybe I will not retire," Jones said, adding that he'll have conversations with UFC CEO Dana White and chief business officer Hunter Campbell. "We'll negotiate. If everything goes right, maybe we'll give you guys what you want to see."

Miocic, 42, who elected to wait an entire year for Jones' return, announced his retirement in the Octagon following the loss. The former two-time champion hadn't fought since 2021 before facing Jones on Saturday.

Even taking Miocic's layoff into account, Saturday was more about how good Jones looked rather than how rusty Miocic might have been. A near-consensus pick for greatest fighter of all time, Jones showcased all his tools in his first knockout win since December 2018. He took Miocic down in the opening round and tormented him with nasty elbows from top position. He hurt him with front kicks to the body in the second and third rounds and nearly dropped him with a jab.

The final shot was a spinning back kick to Miocic's midsection that sent him to his knees. It was a brutal climax to a one-sided fight. According to UFC Stats, Miocic landed 42 strikes -- none of which was particularly memorable -- to 104 by Jones. Jones' defense was superb all night, and he made Miocic pay with counterpunches and knees in the clinch.

"He's really, really good," Jones said of Miocic. "He's tough, durable. I hit him with some decent shots, and he kept coming forward. Everyone knows Stipe isn't the biggest heavyweight. He comes lean, in great shape. I watched him have wars with Daniel Cormier and a lot of guys, and they were rock 'em, sock 'em. He doesn't react much to getting hit in the face, so our plan was to get him in the body."

Aspinall (15-3) was in New York for UFC 309 and sat cageside for the main event. The 31-year-old English champion has been a wrecking ball in the heavyweight division in recent years, recording first-round finishes in seven of his nine UFC appearances. He won the UFC's interim title in November 2023 and made a rare defense of it against Curtis Blaydes in July.

Before Saturday, Jones had shown zero interest in facing Aspinall, even going as far as to call him a "nobody." Jones had said he'd rather vacate the heavyweight title than face Aspinall in the Octagon. Whether that was a negotiation tactic or Jones simply had a change of heart, it now appears a unification bout is very much on the table.

With the victory, Jones extended his UFC record to 16 title fight wins.

- Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff Writer

JAKE PAUL REGISTERS SIXTH-ROUND TKO VICTORY OVER MIKE PERRY

Photos by Esther Lin, MVP Promotions

Jake Paul scored a sixth-round TKO victory over bare-knuckle fighter Mike Perry on Saturday in Tampa, Florida, in an eight-round cruiserweight boxing match.

With the win, Paul maintained his Nov. 15 showdown with the 58-year-old Mike Tyson that was originally scheduled for this night. Paul, a social-media star turned boxer, floored Perry three times before the referee halted the bout at 1:12 of Round 6.

"He's tough as nails ... but I just hit too hard and he took a lot of damage," Paul said. "Mike Tyson, you're next. ... It's anyone, anytime, anyplace."

Paul, who was a -475 favorite, as per ESPN BET, said he was sick leading up to the fight and that his knuckle was "basically broken."

Perry, 32, is the latest former UFC fighter to fall to Paul. Paul (10-1, 7 KOs) also defeated Tyron Woodley, Nate Diaz and Ben Askren. Paul, 27, was noticeably bigger and enjoyed a three-inch height advantage. Perry (0-2) of Orlando, Florida, fights at 175 pounds in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

Paul, of Cleveland, scored a flash knockdown in the opening round with a chopping right hand. He controlled the action from range with his superior jab and footwork.

A jab set up a right hand that dropped Perry 30 seconds into Round 2. Perry rebounded with a strong Round 3 and opened up a cut over Paul's left eye. But by Round 4, it was Paul who once again dominated the exchanges. He rocked Perry into the ropes with combinations on several more occasions before the finishing sequence.

"You did a great job, you were way too fast for me and I couldn't adjust," Perry said. " ... He's not sitting there waiting to be hit like me."

Perry's lone previous boxing match was a fourth-round KO loss to journeyman Kenneth McNeil in May 2015. Perry made his UFC debut one year later. His MMA record is 14-8. All eight of his defeats took place in the UFC (he had 14 fights total in the Octagon and never challenged for the title.)

Perry's BKFC record is 5-0 and his last fight was in April.

Paul, meanwhile, will move onto an eight-round heavyweight bout with Tyson on Nov. 15 in Arlington, Texas, where they'll wear 14-ounce gloves.

Tyson withdrew from the marquee event -- it will be streamed on Netflix -- after he suffered an ulcer flare-up on a flight in May.

Saturday's win was Paul's second fight of 2024. He scored a first-round KO of journeyman Ryan Bourland in March in Puerto Rico.

"In two years I will be the cruiserweight champion of the f---ing world," Paul said. "I'm way sharper, cleaner. I think he hit me with like one shot tonight. ... It's back to the drawing board and I'm going to just keep getting better."

Serrano scores TKO 2, moves onto Taylor rematch

Amanda Serrano scored a second-round TKO victory vs. the overmatched Stevie Morgan in the junior welterweight co-feature to set up a Nov. 15 rematch with Katie Taylor.

Serrano, a former seven-division champion, landed at will against Morgan, who was fighting on the top level for the first time. Puerto Rico's Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KOs) stunned Tampa's Morgan (14-2, 13 KOs) on several occasions and teed off on her fellow 35-year-old until the referee stepped in.

"I think these girls mistake my kindness for weakness," said Serrano, ESPN's No. 3 pound-for-pound boxer. " ... If you not on my level, that's what happens. ... I know she didn't have the experience, I know this might have been a little too much for her."

Serrano was fighting for the first time since October, when she outpointed Danila Ramos. Serrano suffered an allergic eye reaction to hair braiding gel that scrapped her Puerto Rico homecoming main event in March.

Serrano now moves onto the rematch with Taylor for the undisputed junior welterweight championship. They met in April 2022 at New York's Madison Square Garden in the biggest fight in women's boxing history.

Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs) won that fight by split decision to retain the undisputed lightweight championship. The rematch was originally scheduled for May 2023 in Dublin before Serrano suffered an injury.

Taylor, a 35-year-old Irishwoman, is ESPN's No. 3 pound-for-pound boxer.

"Can't wait to go in there with you once again," Serrano said. " ... This time it's going to be a lot different."

- Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider

VINCE MCMAHON RESIGNS FROM TKO, WWE OVER SEX ASSAULT LAWSUIT

Reuters 

 Vince McMahon resigned from wrestling giant TKO Group (TKO.N) and the subsidiary WWE that he founded, over a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault and trafficking, which he said he will fight, the company said on Friday.

"I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effective immediately," McMahon said in a statement released by TKO.

The suit by a former employee, filed on Thursday in federal court in Connecticut, accuses McMahon, WWE and another executive of "physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking at WWE," and seeks unspecified costs and damages.

McMahon denied the allegations in the statement, saying, "I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name."

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