Richie1, Author at US Celeb

Simone Biles made her comeback into international gymnastics on the 2nd of October this year, in Belgium, where she bagged three golds and a bronze as well. This is apparent in the immaculate routines that she performed and yet she had withdrawn from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics because of “the twisties”. Their seventh consecutive gold included Team America’s win and Shilese Jones’ bronze.

Just a few days ago, Simone Biles unveiled her latest holiday collection in partnership with Athleta, showcasing a fusion of comfort and strength that diverged from her previous affiliation with Nike. However, recently the decorated gymnast surprised fans with an unexpected and amusing talent—juggling avocados! And now, she had something more to share.

Light-hearted Moments

Simone Biles treated her followers to a hilarious reel on Instagram that showcased her playful and humorous side. So, basically it was a reshared post of Shelly. The video started with a witty remark: “If someone speaks another language, I’ll speak theirs.” She capped it off with a sassy caption: “When I get told ‘no’.” Simone’s caption read, “bc I’m just a girl,” added an extra touch of humour, highlighting her relatable and witty personality.

Nevertheless, Simone Biles showed exceptional strength of mind when she withdrew from the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games on account of her mental health problems. At the 2023 world championships she returned, it wasn’t only a beautiful comeback but also demonstrated her mind coming back to overcome the internal obstacles she faced and showed that she is one of the best fighters who ever lived. As she said, “Whenever you get in a high-stress situation, you kind of freak out. I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being.”

Simone Biles’ home construction saga

Simone Biles recently shared updates about the frustrations she’s facing during the construction of her new home in Texas with her husband Jonathan Owens. In a series of Instagram Stories, she expressed her dismay over renovation setbacks, including issues discovered during the construction process. She said,” “I thought it was going to be a 30 minute thing bc I had no clue what I was walking into.” She also posted about concerns regarding stained floor tiles in what seemed to be a bathroom, expressing, “I cannot deal anymore.”

Despite these setbacks, Biles previously shared a more optimistic update on November 17th, displaying glimpses of the progress in constructing larger rooms and sliding doors for the house. She captioned it as,”eeeeeeeppppp.” Her emotional reaction to the progress, “We have drywall,” indicated her excitement and emotional investment in the project.

BOXING

Miller warns Joshua ahead of Wallin’s bout

American heavyweight boxer Jarrell Miller has warned Anthony Joshua, a former heavyweight champion, not to underestimate Otto Wallin ahead of their December fight.

Joshua will fight Wallin on the same card as Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker on December 23 in Saudi Arabia.

Wallin has a record of 26-1 and he has recorded some impressive victories over fighters such as Murat Gassiev and Dominic Breazeale.

But, perhaps the most impressive fight of his career came in his only defeat when he pushed Tyson Fury all the way, leaving him with a nasty cut, before losing on points.

Wallin is also a southpaw, the same stance as Oleksandr Usyk, that Joshua struggled with in their two fights.

As such, Miller believes that Wallin could present a tough test for Joshua, telling SecondsOut: “I feel honestly that ‘AJ’ might have made a mistake with picking Otto Wallin.

“Even though Otto Wallin is not a one-punch knockout kind of guy, he is durable, he comes to fight, he is not a quitter and it is going to be a tough fight for ‘AJ’. I don’t think that it is going to be easy at all.”

Miller continued: “The mental mind state that ‘AJ’ has, is he going to hold up?

“When he fights in the UK, he has a little more oomph in his step a little bit, but when he fights outside of the UK, we don’t get the same fiery person, the playing ground is going to be a little bit more even out in Saudi.

“I wish all of the luck to Otto Wallin, I want to be the one to knock out ‘AJ’, but may the best man win, it is what it is.”

With that being said, what Miller says about AJ has to be taken with a pinch of salt, as the pair share a mutual dislike for each other.

They were supposed to fight back in 2019 before it was cancelled due to Miller testing positive for multiple banned substances, but this was not before both men had a chance to start a beef.

They almost came to blows in the build-up and even more recently at the press conference for the December 23 event that Miller will also be fighting on, they threw a few insults back and forth.

BOXING

Former Three Weight World Champion Says Anthony Joshua Is ‘Totally Shot’

A retired fighter who knows what it takes to become a three-time world champion doubts whether Anthony Joshua has the ability to repeat his feat.

Joshua is about to fight for the third time in a year for the first time since 2016. The contest is out in Saudi Arabia on December 23 against Swede Otto Wallin and, following wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius already, represents AJ’s toughest fight of the year.

Southpaw Wallin pushed Tyson Fury hard and inflicted a huge cut above his eye in their 2019 contest and has since had solid wins over the likes of Murat Gassier and Dominic Breazeale.

Should two-time world champion Joshua come through that test, many are hoping that all roads will then lead to a fight with Deontay Wilder in 2024. A former champion himself, Wilder fights on the same bill against Joseph Parker.

One man who has already secured his legacy by becoming a three-weight world champion is James Toney, who held multiple world championships including the middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight titles.

Speaking to ESNEWS, Toney was asked who would win should Joshua and Wilder come to blows.

Toney is likely subscribing to the theory that the Brit’s mindset has change since his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, with many fans saying he is now a tentative fighter. The man himself disagrees, claiming he is just a better, smarter boxer.

Should he and Wilder win this month in Riyadh, the a match-up with the hard-hitting American will be the ultimate test of ‘AJ’s fortitude.

BOXING

LIVE NOW: Ryan Garcia vs. Oscar Duarte results: Ryan Garcia finishes Oscar Duarte with 8th round knockout

Ryan Garcia returns to the ring for the first time since suffering a knockout loss to Gervonta Davis when he faces Oscar Duarte on December 2 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

Garcia’s last fight was a blockbuster event that sold over 1.2 million pay-per-view buys, making it the biggest PPV of 2023 and cracking the top 10 highest-grossing PPV boxing events of all time. Unfortunately, Garcia was stopped in the seventh round by “Tank” and found himself in the loss column for the first time in his professional career.

Now comfortable at 140 pounds, and with a new trainer in Derrick James, Garcia will look to bounce back and return to form against Duarte. Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) remains one of the biggest stars in the sport but will have to avoid falling short a second time against an opponent who is looking to pull off a massive upset.

Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) has won his last 11 fights by stoppage since losing a split decision to Adrian Estrella in 2019. It’s a huge step up in competition for him, but he’s more than up for the task of taking down the social media superstar and knockout artist.

Stay tuned as The Sporting News will provide live updates of Garcia’s return to action.

Ryan Garcia vs. Oscar Duarte live updates, results, highlights

Round Eight: Duarte continues to apply pressure as Garcia begins moving a lot more than he has. The crowd wants more action. Duarte crowding Garcia but allowing him to escape. Duarte lands a punch behind the head. Left hand from Garcia lands and Duarte is in trouble! Big combination and Duarte goes down! He can’t beat the count and it’s over!

SN Unofficial Scorecard: —

Round Seven: Duarte still chasing Garcia but is having a hard time getting inside. A pair of right hands get through for Garcia. Garcia cracks Duarte coming inside. Garcia offers a lot of movement that is keeping Duarte from setting his feet to throw. Counter left from Garcia. Not a busy round for either fighter.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (69-64 Garcia)

Round Six: Duarte has finally managed to get in close with ease but gets smacked with a left uppercut and a right hand. Right hook from Garcia lands as Duarte draws close. Hard left hand from Duarte on the inside. right hand over the top from Duarte. Garcia continues to jab and lands a right hand when Duarte tries to rumble inside.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (59-55 Garcia)

Round Five: Two hard right hands from Garcia as Duarte continues to pressure. Duarte unloads and is trying to land anything everywhere. Hard uppercut from Garcia and a left hand follows. Duarte banging away when he gets close. Not landing clean. Big combination from Garcia. Hard left hand from Duarte. Garcia turns away as Duarte gets close. Low blow from Garcia and he gets a warning. Garcia lands a left hand and moves away. Close round.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (49-46 Garcia)

Round Four: Duarte with some body work and roughs him up in the corner. The referee warns Duarte again. The referee is getting a little too involved. Duarte getting closer but not throwing enough and Garcia picks him off with a combination. Low blow from Duarte. Duarte with more pressure and it seems to be working. Garcia lands a pair of lefts to close the round but this may be Duarte’s first round he has won.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Duarte (39-37 Garcia)

Round Three: Right hand from Duarte to open the round. Duarte with a lot of pressure. Hard right hand from Garcia and he follows with a left hook. Duarte is taking the punches well but he can’t keep getting hit clean. Another hard right hand from Garcia lands clean. Garcia opening up more and landing with higher frequency. Straight right hand from Garcia. Duarte gets warned for punching the back and behind the head.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (30-27 Garcia)

Round Two: Garcia opens with the jab and lands a right hook. Duarte trying to corner Garcia. Left hook from Duarte lands flush. Garcia takes it well. Left hook from Garcia lands off the ropes. Duarte with a right hand over the top. Garcia pushing forward now. Right hand lands clean for Garcia.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia (20-18 Garcia)

Round One: Garcia takes the center of the ring and starts probing with the jab. Hard right to the body from Garcia. Duarte barely misses a left hook. Garcia circles off and jabs. Hard left uppercut by Garcia. Duarte lunges and misses with a body shot. Garcia’s movement is keeping Duarte off balance. Another uppercut from Garcia. Good opening round.

SN Unofficial Scorecard: 10-9 Garcia

10:08 p.m. ET: The main event is up next as Ryan Garcia is preparing to head to the ring with Hip Hop artist Lupe Fiasco by his side for his comeback fight against Oscar Duarte. We’re going to round-by-round coverage from here on out.

9:46 p.m. ET: Good lord. Schofield throttled Lopez with four knockdowns in the first round to get the TKO victory. Behind a lightning-fast jab, Schofield wrecked a seasoned veteran in an eyebrow-raising fashion. Schofield said he was ready for the biggest and best lightweights in the world and it’s going to be hard to deny him if he keeps performing like this.

BOXING

Ryan Garcia Bounces Back, Knocks Oscar Duarte Out in Eight Rounds

In a catchweight bout at 143-pounds, Ryan Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) bounced back in force with an eight round knockout of a determined Oscar Duarte (26-2-1, 21 KOs).

In the first, the taller Garcia was jabbing to keep Duarte at bay and to set up other punches. He would Duarte when the puncher would charge in with punches. Garcia also stayed on the move at all times. The second round saw Garcia continue the same trend. He got tagged with a hard left but took it very well. Duarte was also looking to get to the body, with Garcia doing his best to stay away from those shots.

Duarte started the third with a right hand over Garcia’s jab. Duarte was also tagging the body to slow Garcia down. Garcia was moving and picking his spots with hard hooks. In the fourth, Duarte was pressing hard and was making things rough for Garcia. The fifth saw a lot of trading at close range. Both fighters were having success. Duarte was connecting often to the body of Garcia, who for some reason kept turning to a weird angle.

Garcia landed two bombs early in the sixth and Duarte was able to take them. Duarte was going to the body often and hitting Garcia when he turned to his side. A lot of back and forth success for both. In the seventh, Garcia went back on the move and was throw pot shots when Duarte walked in. Garcia was moving a lot during the round.

The eight had Garcia continue to move around the ring a lot without throwing. Duarte was following around and also not moving, but then out of nowhere Garcia landed a heavy left hand that rocked the legs of Duarte. Garcia followed up with a few more shots to send Duarte down. Duarte got up on unsteady legs and the fight was waved off.

BOXING

Derek Chisora Reveals What He Told Joshua And Dubois About Usyk: “They Didn’t Listen”

Derek Chisora believes he provided some inside information about Oleksandr Usyk that wasn’t heeded by Anthony Joshua or Daniel Dubois.

Chisora took on the mighty challenge of the technical Ukrainian southpaw back in 2020. He pushed him hard in a physical to and fro that tested Usyk’s mettle in the division when he was still finding his feet having not long since come up from being the undisputed cruiserweight king.

Chisora ultimately lost a unanimous points decision and Usyk went on to twice beat Joshua over the distance to take then retain three of the four world titles before defending them against another Brit in Dubois earlier this year – a stoppage win.

Speaking to Up Front with Simon Jordan, Chisora claims he told Joshua and Dubois how to fight Usyk but they didn’t listen.

He then outlined exactly what the advice was.

Finally, he heaped praise on the current WBA, WBO and IBF champion.

Whether Tyson Fury will heed Chisora’s advice when he faces Usyk for the undisputed title on February 17, 2024, we shall soon find out.

BOXING

Top Trainer Says Anthony Joshua Has A Better Chance Of Beating Fury Than Usyk Does

One of the UK’s top trainers believes Anthony Joshua has got more chance of defeating Tyson Fury than Oleksandr Usyk, despite the fact that Joshua lost to the Ukrainian on two occasions.

Fury and Usyk have announced their undisputed title clash which will crown a first four-belt champion in the history of the division and a first sole title-holder since Lennox Lewis in 1999.

Meanwhile, Joshua has mounted a comeback to the heavyweight throne and will be eyeing up a showdown with the winner over the next eighteen months should he defeat Otto Wallin in December and either Deontay Wilder or Filip Hrgovic in 2024.

Adam Booth, who trained former world champions David Haye and George Groves, told the ‘Up Front’ podcast that Joshua has more chance in a bout with Fury that Usyk does.

Fury-Usyk takes place on February 17, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in one of the heavyweight division’s most hotly-anticipated showdowns since the turn of the millennium.

BOXING

‘Joshua punches like Mike Tyson’

Whilst many have accused Anthony Joshua of holding back the fearsome shots that sent him to the top of the heavyweight division in quick time, one of his opponent’s trainers has now compared the Brit’s shot selection to Mike Tyson’s.

Joshua knocked out all of his first 20 opponents, including the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Carlos Takam and Charles Martin in five world title fights.

Joseph Parker in 2018 was the first man to take him the distance and since then he has lost three times, had two more points wins and just two knockouts.

Speaking on TalkSport, Deontay Wilder’s trainer and former heavyweight, Malik Scott, was musing on Joshua’s size and power just days after Eddie Hearn confirmed terms have been agreed for both men to face each other.

“[People in America think that] he’s a big guy that can fight, he’s got too many muscles. It seems like Stateside people talk more about his build than his skillset. In my opinion, Joshua puts together punches more than any heavyweight in the last 10-15 years, I mean combinations.”

He went on to make a comparison with one of heavyweight boxing’s most legendary names.

“With AJ’s build and his size, I’ve seen him put together punches like an early Mike Tyson put together shots.”

He was then asked to asses where his charge Wilder sits in the pantheon of heavyweight greats and he put him right up there alongside just two other modern fighters.

“I think in any era Deontay Wilder’s presence would have been felt by [Muhammad] Ali, [George] Foreman, everybody. I believe he would be a force to be reckoned with in any era. I think the same with Tyson Fury, but I’m not too sure about the too many of the other guys. Oleksandr Usyk also, he’s better than he gets credit for.”

Fans might say the difference in eras is poor matchmaking, with Wilder and Joshua still unable to put pen to paper and make a fight. That took another hit recently.

CELEB NEWS

It’s Simone Biles’s Most Daring Move — and You Can Do It, Too

Simone Biles entered the 2020 Olympic Games with a record 25 World Championship medals and four moves so difficult that she alone out of all the world’s gymnasts could perform them.

But what took place on the competition floor made history in a way no one could have expected. On the first event of the games, which were held in July 2021, the athlete, who has an unparalleled ability to flip and twist, suddenly could no longer find herself in the air. Simone had “the twisties” — a complete loss of ability to perceive her body in space. The condition is known to lead to devastating injuries, as it nearly did for her that day. When she returned to the competition floor, it was to put on her warm-ups, give her team a pep talk and withdraw from competition.

I’ve witnessed many incredible moments in athletics, but as I watched from home that day, I knew I was watching a victory that redefined the others: Simone’s decision to value her own safety, on her own terms, above the voracious demands of an abusive and toxic athletic system. It was a moment so many of us had fought for, for so long.

I’m not just a fan. I’m a former competitive gymnast myself (though let’s be clear — Simone and I occupy entirely different stratospheres). In 2016 I became a whistle-blower, telling the story of how Larry Nassar, the former doctor for U.S.A. Gymnastics, sexually assaulted me. By the time he was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison, over 200 gymnasts had spoken up, and Simone was one of them. But we all knew that Mr. Nassar was a symptom of a much deeper problem — a broken and abusive system that valued money and medals over the health and safety of its athletes.

CELEB NEWS

Simone Biles: “You represent the best of America” says President Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden has called Simone a “trailblazer” and someone who “represents the best of America.”

It comes after she won her eighth all-around title at the US Gymnastics Championships at the weekend, breaking a 90-year gymnastics record!

This win means that Simone beats the previous record holder – Al Jochim – who claimed his seventh US title in 1933.

Simone is the US’s most decorated gymnast, having won more than 30 Olympic and world championship medals to date.

When we see Simone compete, we’re witnessing unmatched power and grace,” Joe Biden wrote on his social media.

“Not only is she the first in history to hold all eight U.S. gymnastics titles, but she’s a trailblazer who spoke up for those who couldn’t speak for themselves.

“You represent the best of America,” he said.

Simone Biles

Mental Wellbeing

The win comes after Simone took a two year break from competing in gymnastics tournaments following the Tokyo Olympics where she pulled out of five of her six finals.

She later explained she had been suffering from the ‘twisties’ – a mental block where gymnasts can lose their sense of space in the air, which can be dangerous.

After pulling out of her events at the Olympics to put her mental wellbeing first, Simone became a champion for other athletes who had been struggling to find space for their mental wellbeing.

Classic where she won with an all-around score of 59.100 points.

“Everything has fallen into place. I feel really good about where I am now mentally and physically,” she said.

“I still do therapy weekly and it has just been so exciting to come out here and have the confidence I had before.” she said.

Her next possible competition could be the World Championships in Antwerp, in Belgium from 30 September to 8 October, where she would have the chance to add to her tally of 25 world medals, including 19 golds.

We don’t know yet if she’ll be going to the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.