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Gervonta Davis lays down demands for Saudi Arabia discussions

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Gervonta Davis

Gervonta Davis has revealed what it would take for discussions with Saudi Arabia to begin following an admission by its Sports Chairman.

Turki Alalshikh recently stated the region would like to bring “Tank” over to his country alongside long-time rival and former undisputed champion Devin Haney.

Speaking to DAZN, Turki said: “I want him [Gervonta Davis]. I am sending a message now from you to [Al] Haymon. Let’s do a job, brother.

“But Haney, I want to see Haney in my country [too]. I am sending messages from you now to him. I will try to do it in 2024. Of course, we want him [to fight] in my country [of Saudi Arabia].”

Gervonta Davis makes Saudi Arabia demand

Davis got wind of the intentions. And while fans of Premier Boxing Champions stated Davis would never accept the money, the WBA lightweight champion made a tongue-in-cheek request.

“They made me mad. If they want me, they must send something to my front door, like two Ferraris or something!

Gervonta Davis

“Like before I even think about going over there,” he added.

Despite the demand, which wouldn’t be a problem for Alalshikh to arrange, any move by Davis could damage the United States’ grip on boxing.

All the significant Pay Per View events worldwide, outside the heavyweight division, occur stateside. Davis sold 1.3 million PPVs against Ryan Garcia, which would prove challenging if they shifted that fight to Riyadh Season.

There’s also the gate to consider. US fans would unlikely accept traveling to Saudi Arabia and paying upmarket prices. Therefore, it seems a non-starter for a massive event.

Gate receipts

Davis vs Garcia raked in $22.8 million in gate receipts, something Saudi Arabia couldn’t offer. They could pay that kind of money upfront, which is the only way Davis would accept an offer.

A minor event, potentially a mandatory title defense, would be possible. But that depends entirely on Al Haymon’s willingness to give up control of the narrative.

Haymon is a savvy businessman. He would know that the USA would be threatened if its top fighters began moving overseas. Saudi Arabia already has the glamor heavyweight division on lockdown.

Adding the world’s Pound for Pound American stars would be a kick in the teeth for the loyal boxing fans.

March 30 is currently on the table for Haymon’s first fight under the Amazon Prime Video banner. It’s yet to be announced whether Davis will be the headliner.

The two-weight world champion recently returned to training while waiting for a judge to allow him to move outside his home state. It follows a 2023 jail sentence for his part in a hit-and-run three years earlier.

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BOXING

Terence Crawford trainer reveals Tim Tszyu the ‘right one’ for pound-for-pound star’s next fight

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Terence Crawford

Three-weight world champion Terence Crawford (40-0) is reportedly looking at making a fight with WBO super welterweight titleholder Tim Tszyu (24-0).

According to Crawford’s trainer, Bernie Davis, the undefeated 36-year-old is eyeing off a world title in a fourth division, with Australia’s Tszyu at the top of his hitlist.

Tszyu, 29, announced himself to the world with victories over Tony Harrison and Carlos Ocampo, seeing him elevated to world champion with the WBO after Jermell Charlo was stripped of the belt, before defending the title against Brian Mendoza in a busy 2023.

Terence Crawford

Crawford had seemingly been waiting for a contracted rematch with Errol Spence to be arranged, although the latter’s recent cataract surgery has sidelined those plans, while some have been calling for “Bud” to take on Jaron “Boots” Ennis in a welterweight unification bout.

Tim Tszyu the ‘right one’ for Terence Crawford’s next fight

Speaking on MillCity Boxing, Davis said a fight with Sydneysider Tszyu was currently the frontrunner.

“I think Tszyu will be the right one since we can’t get Spence,” Davis said.

“We want to move up and still make history, still have something to get up for and even though ‘Boots’ is an attractive option, I think Tszyu just edges him a little bit.

“I think Tszyu fought the better competition, I think he’s been looking more spectacular in his fights and he got the country [Australia] behind him.

“Plus, he has something that we want. It’s another weight class to jump and it’s another something to aspire to.

“So that’s where I would think we would land.”

Sporting News can confirm the interest in a fight with Crawford is also concrete on Tszyu’s side, although the Aussie will likely have at least one fight before then.

Davis also poured cold water over possible matchups with Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez, while adding he’d like to see Jermell Charlo “get himself together” before a possible bout with Crawford.

“This guy Tszyu’s coming off some big wins,” he said.

“Beating Mendoza who was coming off a big win and is kind of a seasoned fighter, he been at the world level and Tszyu got the country behind him, been looking good technically, been looking better every fight… and he got the belt.”

Erickson Lubin reportedly withdraws from negotiations with Tim Tszyu

Tszyu is currently attempting to line up a bout in Las Vegas in late March, but it won’t be against former world title challenger Erickson Lubin after he dropped out of negotiations, according to Main Event‘s Ben Damon.

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BOXING

Why Paulie Malignaggi Predicts Canelo-Terence Crawford: “It’s Only Interesting To Idiot Casuals”

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Terence Crawford

Terence Crawford has made no secret of the fact that he wants to jump up three divisions to challenge for Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’ undisputed super-middleweight title.

Despite only having just secured all the belts at 147, ‘Bud’ has urged Canelo to welcome him to 168 for a mega-fight.

Speaking on Pro Box TV, Paulie Malignaggi said he believes it’s a step too far for the Omaha man.

Malignaggi then said he’d rather see Crawford in other match-ups – presumably at super-welterweight or even middle – and said any fan pushing for the fight was a ‘casual.’

Terence Crawford

Neither man has announced his next fight. Crawford, although contracted for a rematch, hinted recently that his rivalry with Errol Spence Jr was over. Canelo is heavily rumoured to be facing Jermall Charlo next after beating his brother Jermell in September of last year.

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BOXING

Tyson Fury sparring partner leaves after just five rounds ahead of Oleksandr Usyk fight

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tyson fury and oleksandr usyk

Former cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia has left Tyson Fury’s training camp after sparring just five rounds with the Brit.

Opetaia will fight Mairis Briedis on the undercard of Fury’s undisputed heavyweight world title fight with Oleksandr Usyk next month. He has also been part of Fury’s team in Saudi Arabia but the 28-year-old has returned to Australia due to a lack of orthodox sparring.

Fury has prioritised southpaw sparring ahead of his clash with ‘lefty’ Usyk and has been based in the Middle East since shortly after Christmas. He and Usyk will meet in the ring on February 17 as they attempt to crown the division’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999.

A statement from Opetaia’s promoter read: “Jai Opetaia has recently returned from Saudi Arabia where he sparred and trained with Tyson Fury. They were fantastic, competitive rounds and an incredible experience for Jai. However any talk of either boxer being dropped is not true. Jai is now back in Australia finalising his preparation to defend his world title and cannot wait to do so in Saudi Arabia.”

Fury enters a fight billed as ‘Ring of Fire ’ on the back of last year’s fraught split decision victory over former UFC heavyweight king Francis Ngannou, who was making his boxing debut. But he is confident he can deliver an improved performance. “I’m going to bust him up. Sausage. Ugly little man. Rabbit. Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run,” Fury said.

Oleksandr Usyk

“You know what’s coming? You’re getting smashed to pieces, sausage. You’re fighting the best British heavyweight there’s ever been. You’ve beaten the rest of them, but you haven’t beaten Tyson Fury, sausage.

“You can never beat me. If you beat me in your dreams you better wake up and apologise. I stole that from Muhammad Ali, I apologise. When you sleep at night ugly man you’re going to think of me for the next eight weeks. I’m going to punch your face in. You ugly little man.”

With his verbal attack on the Ukrainian over, Fury talked up the quality of a contest between two outstanding boxers who posses skill and warrior spirit in equal measure, even if he thinks Usyk will struggle because of his size.

“We’re both undefeated. He’s a champion, I’m a champion. It’s going to be a fight for the ages,” Fury said. “It’s been 24 years since we’ve had an undisputed champion. The Klitschkos were champions for around 10 years, so there’s been 14 years when the other heavyweights couldn’t do it.

“We’ve both been chosen and there can only be one winner. I’m going to become the undisputed champion. More than that, I’m destined to cement my legacy as the number one fighter of this era.

“To do that I’ve got to beat this little man, which is easier said than done because he’s a tricky boxer, slick and all of that. But I’ve seen many like him before and when they fight the big men, they struggle. And he will struggle on February 17. I will break him.

“He’s a middleweight, but it’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog and he’s obviously got a lot of fight in him. But when you meet a big man who is a lot bigger but also has the fight inside him, let’s put it in a nutshell – you’re f****d.”

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BOXING

‘Not true’ – Tyson Fury’s former world champion sparring partner Jai Opetaia denies knockdown rumours after leaving Oleksandr Usyk camp having done just five rounds

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Jai Opetaia’s co-promoters have put out a statement to deny that he floored Tyson Fury in sparring.

Australia’s Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion is set to fight Mairis Briedis to regain his IBF world title on the undercard of Fury’s undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk on February 17.

As a result, he was recruited to join the Gypsy King’s camp in Saudi Arabia with many fans excited by the prospect.

Opetaia is widely regarded as the world’s best and most destructive cruiserweight today, and the southpaw remains unbeaten despite being controversially stripped of his IBF belt late last year.

Due to the fact Usyk is a former undisputed cruiserweight king, and also a southpaw, the Australian was viewed as the perfect sparring partner to prepare Fury for the Ukrainian.

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury

However, the pairing hasn’t worked out as Opetaia has left the camp already.

It’s reported that he did just five rounds with Fury before heading back home.

According to Australian journalist and commentator Ben Damon of Fox Sports Australia and Main Event TV, this was due to ‘a lack of orthodox sparring in Fury’s camp’.

Rumours have been rife on social media in response, with some claiming to have heard that Opetaia knocked Fury down and that this is the true reason he has left the camp.

However, on Monday, his Australian co-promoters Tasman Fighters put out a statement to deny this.

It read: “Jai Opetaia has recently returned from Saudi Arabia where he sparred and trained with Tyson Fury.

“They were fantastic, competitive rounds and an incredible experience for Jai.

“However any talk of either boxer being dropped is not true.

“Jai is now back in Australia finalising his preparation to defend his [Ring] title and cannot wait to do so in Saudi Arabia.”

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BOXING

Jai Opetaia Leaves Tyson Fury’s Training Camp After Sparring Just 5 Rounds

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JaI Opetia

Cruiserweight sensation Jai Opetaia was recognised by some as the perfect sparring partner to Tyson Fury when his fight with Oleksandr Usyk was announced.

The 28-year-old southpaw won the IBF World Title from Mairis Briedis in 2022, fighting through a broken jaw to take a unanimous decision.

He defended the belt once – a fourth round stoppage of Jordan Thompson – before being forced to vacate when he had a fight with Ellis Zorro lined up because the sanctioning body would only accept the Briedis rematch. Opetaia produced a highlight-reel knockout against Zorro in the first round.

His slick lefty stance and potential as a heavyweight in the future led Fury’s team to get in touch for sparring before the Usyk bout – the current unified champion after winning all four belts down at 200lbs.

Opetaia grabbed the opportunity with both hands, and was then manoeuvred to have his second fight with Breidis on the same card, giving him the chance to win back the now-vacant IBF belt as well as defend his Ring Magazine title.

Tyson Fury

Whilst the match-up bolsters his career, it has now been revealed that it has shortened his learning experience with ‘The Gypsy King.’

Ben Damon of FOX Sports Australia now reports that, after just five rounds of work, Opetaia has left the camp in order to pursue more orthodox sparring in preparation for his own fight.

Social media rumours immediately began to suggest that one man had hurt the other, but that has been confirmed as false by Opetaia’s team.

Opetaia-Briedis and Fury-Usyk land on February 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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BOXING

Former World Champion Says Usyk Is Too Small And Careful To Beat Tyson Fury

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Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury 1

Tyson Fury will have around five inches and height, 50lbs in weight and seven inches in reach on Oleksandr Usyk when they meet in the most anticipated heavyweight match-up in some years.

Whilst Usyk has adapted well to the heavyweight division since his four-belt run at cruiserweight, Sergio More believes going in against the self-proclaimed ‘behemoth’ is a step too far.

Speaking on DAZN, former middleweight champion Mora said Fury is too big for Usyk.

‘The Latin Snake’ pointed out that he was more impressed by Fury’s wins in the division than Usyk’s.

Finally, Mora gave the style advantage to Fury to cement his prediction.

Either Fury or Usyk will be crowned undisputed heavyweight champion on February 17.

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BOXING

Nick Dunlap follows in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s footsteps but won’t win seven-figure prize money

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Nick Dunlap became the first amateur PGA Tour winner in 33 years, but had to miss out on the seven-figure prize.

The 20-year-old college student beat Christiaan Bezuidenhout at The American Express by one shot for one of the most remarkable results golf has seen

With the victory, Dunlap becomes the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991, and he also takes the record as the first reigning U.S. Amateur champ to win on the Tour since Tiger Woods in 1996.

Ending up -29 under par at La Quinta Country Club in California, the Alabama native became the youngest winning amateur since 1910, and he burst into tears with his hands on his head after securing victory.

Dunlap’s parents were quickly on the green to celebrate with him, and his mother Charlene looked utterly delighted at her son’s rise to fame.

However, any hopes of an instant payday for the family were quickly dashed by a harsh rule.

in a long time.

Phil Mickelson

As an amateur, Dunlap was ineligible for the £1.18million prize money, which instead went to runner-up Bezuidenhout.

The only amateur on a 156-player field, Dunlap also missed out on 500 FedEx Cup points, but there were some other perks.

The youngster has PGA Tour exemption through until 2026, and he will also have exemptions to the Masters and PGA Championship if he turns professional.

Speaking still red-faced and full of tears, Dunlap said: “Nothing like I’ve ever felt.

“It was so cool to be out here and experience this as an amateur. Whether I had made that or missed that, if you would have told me Wednesday night I would have a putt to win this golf tournament, I wouldn’t believe you.

“I probably had a thousand different scenarios in my head of how today was going to go, and it went nothing like I expected. I think that was the cool part about it. That’s golf.”

Mickelson, the last amateur to win on the PGA Tour was quick to send his congratulations, writing on social media: “Such an impressive performance by Nick Dunlap.

“Congratulations on an incredible win. This is just the beginning.”

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CELEB NEWS

Amateur on cusp of breaking Phil Mickelson’s 31-year PGA Tour record having matched Woods

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Phil Mickelson

19-year-old college star Nick Dunlap is on the brink of becoming the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson 31 years ago in 1991.

Dunlap is in the field at this week’s American Express in California, and heads into Sunday’s final round three shots ahead of second-place Sam Burns at the top of the leaderboard. The youngster finds himself there after carding a remarkable 12-under-par round of 60 on Saturday.

Dunlap made 10 birdies and one eagle during his third round masterclass, to put himself 18 holes away from PGA Tour history heading into the fourth and final round.

The teenager is already no stranger to the limelight, after being crowned U.S. Amateur champion last summer. In doing so Dunlap became only the second golfer to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur, alongside the arguably the sport’s greatest ever player in Tiger Woods.

Now the 19-year-old has his sights set on matching Woods’ great rival Mickelson too, who won his first PGA Tour event at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open before turning pro. Unsurprisingly Dunlap enjoyed himself out on the course during Saturday’s third round.

Phil mickelson

Speaking afterwards, he said: “It was a blast. Honestly, like my caddie Hunter said it a million times today, there’s no time like the present. I think it’s easy — the putter felt so good. Everything — the hole looked like a funnel. You got a par-five next hole, I’m going to do this and this.

“He did a really good job of keeping me settled and keeping me where I was. Ultimately, just kind of kept putting shots together and ended up with a pretty good round.”

There is still plenty of work to do for the youngster, with two of the PGA Tour’s biggest names breathing down his neck.

Ryder Cup star Burns finds himself three shots adrift, whilst multiple major champion Justin Thomas is a further shot back after carding an 11-under 61 of his own. Asked what it would mean to get over the line come Sunday evening, Dunlap added: “Gosh, I don’t know that I can put it into words.

“I think it’s easy to go there, but I think — I don’t know. It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be something that I haven’t experienced yet, obviously, on the PGA Tour. We’ve got a good game plan for that golf course, and just kind of go out there and do us and stay in the present, like Hunter says, and go from there.”

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CELEB NEWS

Who Is Phil Mickelson Sponsored By In 2024? How Much Does The LIV Golfer Earn Through Brand Endorsements?

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Phil mickelson

Phil Mickelson is probably the second biggest name in the professional golf circuit after Tiger Woods. He has recorded 57 professional wins which includes 45 on the PGA Tour and 11 on the DP World Tour. His tournament wins stats also include 6 major titles.

The lefty golfer has recorded wins and garnered tons of money side by side. Although his net worth figures differ in different sources, it is yet estimated to be close to $400 million. His endorsement deals last year earned him around $2 million as per Forbes.

Phil Mickelson’s sponsors portfolio has some established brands in the market. It includes Grayhawk Golf Club, headwear company Melin, America-based clothing line Mizzen+Main, and Intrepid Financial Partners. He also has endorsement deals with premium watch manufacturer Rolex and an airline company VistaJet.

The six-time major champion also had endorsement deals with Ford Motors, ExxonMobil, KPMG, Callaway Golf, Amgen, and Enbrel. He also had a 15-year-long sponsorship deal with Barclays that ended back in 2016.

Phil Mickelson

Exploring Phil Mickelson’s Business Ventures

The lefty golfer does not just have brilliant short-game skills on the course, he also has a great business mind off the course. He has invested in several profit-making business ventures throughout his life. He has put a huge share of his money into six golf courses across Arizona which fetches him enormous profit.

Mickelson also started a coffee manufacturing company, For Wellness, alongside his long-time friend and Jon Rahm’s coach, Dave Phillipe. The company has a large variety of food and other beverages in its collection. He is often seen endorsing his brand on his social media handles.

Apart from business ventures, the 53-year-old American golfer is also fond of writing. He has written several books illustrating his professional golf career and personal life. His most famous book, ‘One Magical Sunday‘ focused a lot on how he managed his personal and professional life.

The former PGA Tour golfer, Phil Mickelson, has achieved everything a golfer would want from his life. His trophy cabinet is full of important tournament titles. His bank account is certainly full of money. There is nothing he would wish for in his career now.

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