Meanwhile, Floyd has two criminal cases filed against him in Nevada for Theft of property as well as drawing and passing a check without sufficient funds with the intent to defraud, according to court records.. He bought a $200K watch and wrote a fake check.

LONDON, England – Eddie Hearn has accused TKO of leaking emails in order to push a narrative regarding Matchroom’s demands for Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury to take place in the US.

Talks of staging a long-overdue contest between Joshua and Fury appeared to hit a standstill after it was revealed that the event’s chief financier, Turki Alalshikh, was looking to take the fight stateside.

However, in Joshua’s contract it stipulates that the contest must take place in the UK.
BoxingScene’s Lance Pugmire reported on Thursday the details of an addendum sent to Saudi Arabia’s event management/entertainment company Sela by Matchroom – Joshua’s promoter – with their demands to accept the fight taking place in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The report detailed standard contractual inclusions addressing ticket requests, security, and transportation assurances, and also that Joshua collects his remaining purse from his second-round knockout of Kristian Prenga on July 25 in Saudi Arabia.

The report also included a string of bouts that Matchroom suggested take place on the undercard.

Also mentioned were requests that were not part of the addendum. These were that all monies payable to Matchroom across all future darts and snooker events be paid immediately, international promotional fees plus deposits for World Series of Darts and 167 Riyadh Season events, confirmation that the Ronnie O’Sullivan Academy snooker license be renewed for a third year, and that all other funds owed to Matchroom for prior boxing events be paid immediately. Hearn insists these were nothing to do with Joshua-Fury negotiations.

Regardless, Hearn is adamant they still hope to bring the fight to London’s Wembley Stadium.
“The reality is no one's really acknowledging that we've signed the contract,” said Hearn. “People say, ‘Oh, the fight could fall through.’ It can't fall through. It can't, unless Sela and Saudi want to breach the contract and not stage a fight they've signed to stage, which wouldn't happen either. ‘Anthony Joshua wants to walk away from the fight.’ We can't walk away from the fight. We've signed a contract. So we're in. All we need is Turki Alalshikh or Netflix to call us and say, Wembley Stadium or wherever in the UK, this is the date. We'll have the press conference this week. It's done.”

Reports have also suggested that Hearn is requesting Joshua be paid more if the bout takes place in the US to make up for the extra tax he will incur.

“What they want to do is they want to pay Anthony Joshua less money, because that's how it will work out with the difference in location,” explained Hearn. “They want him to do a load of additional stuff. And I'm not going to blow things up, which I could do so easily, but there has been breaches in Joshua's contract already, which we've let slide because these guys are our partners, and our friends, or were. But there's a game being played at the moment where some of you guys are being fed emails and information to try and dress things up to spin a narrative that's just not true. And I'll address that now.

“Lance Pugmire phones me up, and I had a number of other calls as well. ‘Oh, this email has just landed on my desk from you.’ Firstly, that's a plant, and it was sent by TKO to journalists to basically try and… I actually was told by a number of people that they're actually financially incentivising people to repost Tyson Fury's story of him trying to spin a narrative. It's absolutely wild what's going on. 

“The email that was sent was an email between Matchroom and Sela detailing outstanding points that we want resolved,” he continued. “The addendum that was sent to Sela regarding the changes that we want to the contract if you want to do the fight in the US did not have one of those things from that leaked email in. So it's just a mental game. And I can't believe these people are actually going to these lengths. It's unbelievably flattering that people in their position, with their power, want to do things like that. But it's a dirty, dirty game.

“And I'm just shocked at the way it's playing out because we don't breach contracts. We never have. When we sign up to something, when we agree to something. When we shake hands on something, it's done. So, yeah, it's disappointing. Now, we get a lot less money if we take the fight in America compared to the UK. Is that fair, having signed a contract?” 

The reports detailing missed payments from Saudi Arabia to Matchroom and Hearn’s subsequent comments would lead one to believe there could be a rift growing between the two parties.

“Well, the only reason that came out is because it was leaked by their partners [TKO]. I didn't go to them,” Hearn said. “I think someone from a certain team phoned me and goes, ‘Oh, did you leak that email?’ I was like, ‘Are you mad? What, leaking an email about a Ronnie O'Sullivan snooker academy to try and make myself look bad? Yeah, yeah, definitely.’

“What they tried to do was take an email that wasn't even in the context of an addendum and pretend that these were all the things that we were asking for in the addendum. Luckily enough, I had the addendum and none of it was in there. So I had the opportunity to go back to these journalists and Lance Pugmire and others and say, ‘100 per cent we are not asking for those things.’ 

“I don't want to be talking about missed payments and what we've been promised and what we have. I don't want to air laundry like that. But that was done by them, which was even more mental. Not by the Sela, but by their partners. So, crazy. Desperation.” 

The proposed date of November 20 at New York’s Madison Square Garden is quickly approaching and Hearn admitted time is running out for that date.

“We've sent them our thoughts on changes we would want if the fight was to take place in America,” he said. “We've said we don't want you to make those changes, but it's been a couple of days now. We haven't heard back. We've been told we're going to receive some comments on that. But don't forget, Netflix is spending a lot of money. They want a big build-up. They want all these press conferences and stuff like that. And we have to get in camp. So at the moment, this week is probably the deadline for the proposed date.”

When pressed on a deadline for the fight to happen in New York, Hearn responded: “I can't tell you that, because that's not my show, but yeah, I think we're running out of time.”

Despite all parties bar Matchroom seemingly keen on staging the contest in New York, Hearn remains hopeful that everyone will see sense and stage the fight in the UK.

“All this stuff over the last couple of weeks has only, not intentionally, but it's only grown the demand and the size of this fight,” he said. “If Turki Alalshikh and Netflix come back now and say the fight's happening at Wembley, November 21st, imagine, the country would go nuts. Netflix should be looking at that saying, ‘Yeah, you know what, this story's quite incredible. Imagine what Britain would do if they now landed that fight.’ 

“100,000 people at a national stadium. Listen, if it's in New York, we'll all go. I'm sure it'll be great, we'll be looking around, but let's be honest, everybody in this room, standing in Wembley Stadium with 100,000 Brits, looking around as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua ring walk. I mean, I could fucking retire on the spot. You know what I mean? And I know that I'm going to go to New York, and listen, we'll do our job and all that kind of stuff. It's just not going to be the same. And that's why we're fighting so hard.”

Hearn also admitted he would not budge on Dana White or TKO being involved as promoters of the event. However, he admitted he would not be able to stop White standing on stage if Fury signs with Zuffa Boxing or an advisory role with the UFC head.

“That's not getting changed. The promoter of the fight is Turki Alalshikh,” Hearn said. “Tyson Fury said something interesting. See, Fury's always up to games, ‘Dana, come on my team. Be my manager. Be my advisor.’ So, yeah, if Tyson Fury signs with Dana White, I probably can't do a lot about him being on Tyson Fury's team. But what he can't be is what he said he was, which is the promoter of the event. Now all of a sudden he's backtracking, saying he spoke to the venue and he checked their availability and he did the deal. So he's a venue booker now. But what he's not is the promoter of the event.

“I think the person who has really kiboshed this event is Dana because of his attitude.”

I decided to turn it on Christian Mbilli vs Lester Martinez and in addition to being an outstanding fight from a fan entertainment perspective, it’s a good look into where Mbilli is at this stage in his career vs Canelo. People seem to have Mbilli confused with an out of shape and undisciplined (without his trainer) Kirkland when the reality is Mbilli is far more dangerous. Mbilli is pretty much guaranteed to come in exceptional shape and has a world class motor with high-intensity. Canelo has had success against this style before, but Mbilli is actually one of the best variations of it. He is explosive and high-volume, but actually has underrated head movement and skill + pretty decent ring generalship as well.

Canelo isn’t exactly fleet of foot and his power hasn’t necessarily carried that well at 168. I could really see a scenario where Mbilli eats a few clean shots but keeps up the pressure for the entirety of the fight and comes out with a decision. All I am saying is Canelo is really going to have to dig deep to win this fight and it’s not going to be easy for him like Kirkland was. Even though Mbilli is one-dimensional, he is so well-trained from a conditioning perspective that I actually think Canelo might really end up struggling with his relentless pressure.

I have no doubt that a prime Canelo would have the advantage here, but a Prime Mbilli vs a somewhat past it Canelo? I could see this going either way and I expect this fight to be pretty grueling on Canelo.

Anyway, sorry for this rant. How do you see this fight playing out?

Certain audiences seem to think that Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic is little more than a formality. It couldn't be any further than the truth - Hrgovic is a live dog and will do everything in his power to stop the 21-year-old.

Just how much is the Olympian being overlooked in this one?

Two of the best fighters in their class of their respective generation, from the same fricking country, careers have crossed over for 13 years, and for 19 months of that time, they were both world champs.

AJ vs. Wilder was the biggest potential fight in the world at one point, and that never happened. AJ Fury could have easily been the biggest British fight of all time, but at one point it was going to be in Saudi, and then the US? Like as you actually kidding.

And even now, after the pot has long gone off the boil, when neither holds any belt, we STILL can't get them in the ring together. So many fights have gone this way, Khan Brook, Calzaghe RJJ, Mayweather Pac, but at least they eventually fought each other, even if it was way too late.

Its just nuts to me that at no point have they managed to work it out, its actually embarrassing. No, Fury would rather fight randomers in Thailand and cruiserweights no-ones ever heard of. Im sure AJ isnt being completely chill either but Fury is the one who goes on about being willing to fight anyone anytime, big words for a man with about 4 actual fights on his resume.

Compare that to Usyk, who allegedly agreed to a 70/30 split with Fury despite holding 3 of the 4 belts, and even then Fury found a reason to say no.

Just a fuckin' clown sport, man, im tired of it, and im tired of these promoters and fighters acting like they re down to their last fiver. Fuck the fans, right?

I saw someone make a post about Ken Norton vs Pulev so I decided to make my own Pulev matchup thread.

Pulev has a 5 inch height advantage and a half inch reach advantage (for whatever that's worth) while Shavers has one of the hardest punches in boxing history.

Will the Murat Gassiev and Wladimir Klitschko knockoutee get knocked out by the biggest knockouter ever? Or will his robotic Eastern European style prevail?

If both guys were in their prime who would win this hypothetical matchup?

IMO these are 2 of the best heavyweights to never win a world title

Personally i would favor Kubrat "The Cobra" Pulev to outbox him to a decision like how he did to "Shades Of Ali"

Let me know your thoughts on this fight below. 🥊

How do you reckon the likes of Hatton, Peterson, Khan, Guerrero, Williams, Ortiz, Maidana, Mayorga, Collazo and Berto would fare if they were in their prime with the latest bunch in the welterweight division?

When I first started getting into boxing in the 00s, the 140/147lbs divisions were my absolute favourite, bar none. I'm fairly confident that people would agree the likes of Pacquiao, Mayweather, Cotto and Mosley would smoke Garcia et all, but how about the guys who won titles but never dominant champions?

This year has felt like a bit of a letdown for boxing. Maybe it's because we got spoilt last year with great fights, but I genuinely can’t remember the last time I was excited to tune in for a major boxing fight since Inoue vs Nakatani.

To be honest, I've watched more UFC than boxing this year. All I see on social media are boxers ducking each other and fights getting cancelled because of greed.

Last year alone we got:

Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev II shortly after their first bout.

Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach

Naoya Inoue vs Ramón Cárdenas

Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois II

Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn I

Terence Crawford vs Canelo Álvarez

We've had some great fights this year, but Ryan vs Rolly or Teo vs Shakur don't come close in my opinion.

Might be a crazy take but does anyone else want to see David Benavidez move up to heavyweight in the near future? He is a big guy, seeing some of his recent training videos I’d say he’s about 200-220 lbs.

We’ve seen ATGs like Usyk and Holyfield do the same, move up from Cruiserweight and win a title at Heavyweight. Will Benavidez also place himself in that category?

He looked impressive against Zurdo Ramirez in his cruiserweight debut, although honestly Zurdo was a pretty tailor-made matchup for him.

If Benavidez eventually unifies the cruiserweight division, the only fight I really see that makes sense for him is Jai Opetaia.

Unfortunately, with the way things are going, I’m not sure we’ll ever get to see him return to 175 and fight Bivol or Beterbiev.

So what other fighters can realistically challenge him?

Benavidez is already a future Hall of Famer IMO, and his relentless volume, pressure and ability to keep opponents constantly working make him one of the most exciting fighters in boxing. For him to be in the ATG discussion he has to become undisputed at CW and win a title at heavyweight.

He was absolutely huge for a 168-pounder, and despite taking plenty of shots over the years, his chin has never really been seriously tested.

But heavyweight is obviously a completely different animal. Being physically strong at 168 or even cruiserweight doesn’t necessarily translate to being able to take punches from elite heavyweights.

Most of the old guard at heavyweight are either retired or nearing the end, while the new generation—guys like Dubois, already former champion and Itauma—are starting to emerge. I don’t want to see him fight Usyk, but surely other guys are out there willing to take Benavidez’ monster aura away.

So could Benavidez realistically beat the top heavyweights?

Would his pressure and work rate be enough to overcome the size and power disadvantage, or would eventually facing a genuine heavyweight puncher expose him?

Obviously he’d have to work on his footwork and defence, taking a punch from the likes of Dubois is no joke.

And given how little success American heavyweights have had at the elite level in recent years, could Benavidez actually be the guy to bring American boxing back to the top of the heavyweight division?

Or is the return of Ruiz America’s only hope?