Dubois v Joyce - 28/20/20 - London

[Master]

Joshua Buatsi confident he and Anthony Yarde will collide as he plots patient approach to summit of boxing

When discussing his trade, Joshua Buatsi insists boxing is one of those sports where you cannot afford to stick to one route - and where you can pay the price for looking too far down the line.

With the sport turned on its head due to the coronavirus outbreak, that philosophy is serving him well. Buatsi learned last Tuesday that his return to the ring, scheduled for the Saturday just gone at the O2 Arena, has been shelved, among the first fights on these shores to be postponed as the country battles an unprecedented pandemic.

It was meant to be the start of a big year. The Croydon fighter enjoyed a superb 2019 that saw him fight on the Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz Jr undercard in New York and extend his professional record to 12-0 with victory over Ryan Ford. Illness forced him to withdraw from what would have been his fourth fight of the year in November.

Those performances helped enhance his reputation as one of the next truly great talents from these shores - one he has carried since leaving Rio with a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Undefeated and moving into positions where world title opportunities will soon be within touching distance, he insists he will continue to listen to those around him and continue learning until those plans fall into place.

“I feel boxing is one of those sports where you can’t have one route that you are going to religiously stick to,” Buatsi told Standard Sport. “It’s all about keeping that record 100 per cent, keep winning and keep improving and learning so that when an opportunity does come that I and my team think I am ready for, then we will go for it.

“I don’t think it's all about sticking to a specific route, things happen in this game. But I'm healthy, I’m safe and I want to keep learning and keep winning so I am ready for when the opportunity comes.”



Buatsi is swiftly rising up the light heavyweight division and as of this month, holds a no.2 ranking with the WBA and no.3 with the IBF. A division overflowing with hugely competitive and compelling fights at the top end holds plenty of promise for the 27-year-old, but there is one name from a little closer to home that has UK fans most excited.

Anthony Yarde’s career had until last summer followed a somewhat similar trajectory to that of Buatsi - until the Hackney-born fighter stepped up to challenge former pound-for-pound great Sergey Kovalev for the WBO title in deepest darkest Russia last August.

Yarde was within one or two more punishing shots of dethroning the Russian before running out of steam, knocked out in the 11th round as a result.

Both Buatsi and Yarde, remain focused on their own respective journeys. But an all-London showdown at the top of the division seems inevitable.



“They say you need a dance partner. If there are two big names coming out from the same nation where there is mad interest and it is good for the fighters and the public, I guess so.”

Is that man Yarde? “I think so, I'm sure if I keep doing what I'm doing and he keeps doing what he's doing and at the right time, our paths will cross. Definitely.”

Buatsi is in no rush, however. He has been backed for greatness before he even flew out to Rio in 2016 and while he is still just three years into his professional career, managing expectation has become second nature.

"You have just got to listen to people that are closest to you. So in boxing it is whatever my trainer and my manager thinks, I'm trusting them to guide my career, giving me the right fights at the right time. I can't let it to get into my head too much, or take it too personally. There is expectation and pressure in this life. I don’t look to deep into it."

Religion plays a central role in the life of the Ghana-born fighter, who alongside the likes of Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha and grime king Stormzy, is part of a gifted generation of young Croydon men and women at the forefront of a wave of talent from the borough.

"I'm proudly from Croydon, I'm glad to be one of many coming from a place that is filled with talent. Zaha, Stormzy, the names speak for themselves so I am humbled to be on that list of people who are doing well and making a statement. There are many more out there and I hope they get the opportunity and the break they are looking for."

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/jos...031716863.html

[smashup]

Yardes dad died of Coronavirus recently.

[Master]

Anthony Yarde’s grandmother dies of coronavirus just days after father’s death

British light-heavyweight Anthony Yarde has announced his grandmother has died from the coronavirus just a few days after his father’s death as a result of the pandemic.

The 28-year-old fighter appealed to people to “just stay home” as he said his grandmother had died on Thursday.

“It’s serious!” Yarde wrote on social media. “People are still going out when they don’t need to. I know there’s a lot of opinions about Covid-19 and I have mine but I just know opinions ain’t worth risking your life and others. Just stay home.”



Yarde’s father, who the boxer said had been “fit with no health issues”, died last Friday.

Yarde’s promoter Frank Warren wrote on Twitter: “We are extremely sad to learn that Anthony Yarde has now lost his Nan to the Coronavirus.

“We can’t begin to imagine what Anthony and his family are going through and our sincere condolences go out to them.

“Please listen to his heartfelt personal plea, stay at home to save lives.”

Yarde’s next fight was set to be against Britain’s Lyndon Arthur on 11 April, but the event has been delayed until 11 July because of the pandemic.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/ant...195620689.html

[Master]

Joe Joyce and Dubois may have interim fights behind closed doors before meeting later this year

Frank Warren and Daniel Dubois have told talkSPORT that he and Joe Joyce may take interim fights before facing one another as originally planned.

The much anticipated fight between unbeaten heavyweights was originally due to take place on April 11 at the O2 Arena, but the coronavirus pandemic put an end to these plans.

Now, with the future of events in front of large crowds uncertain, the pair could return in separate bouts.

“At the moment we’ve pushed it back to late autumn,” Warren told talkSPORT Fight Night about Dubois vs Joyce.

“We’re waiting, it’s in the hands of the scientists and the government who will decide when and if we can put on an event before large gatherings.

“Until that happens, I cannot give you an answer. For me, it’s a fight that has to take place in front of a live audience, we were nigh on sold out at the O2.

“It’s a fight that deserves a live audience, two undefeated heavyweights.

“Everybody in the boxing world was really looking forward to the event and we hope to get it back on.

“In the meantime, we’ve gotta look and see what happens over the next couple of months.

“These guys, I’m quite sure, will want to get into the ring and want to do something.

“I hope it won’t be, but maybe they will wind up fighting [not against one another] behind closed doors.”

Despite admitting his frustrations at the delay, 22-year-old Dubois is able to take positives from the situation.

“It’s given us time to get everything right,” he told talkSPORT Fight Night.

“Last time out, things could’ve been better.

“It’s just given me more time to prepare really.

“Hopefully it does come off though.

“Martin Bowers [trainer] has been talking to Frank. I think we’ll both have a fight before that.

“That’s what I’ve been told, July or August, by then I should have another fight.”

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/7...-joyce-fights/

[smashup]

New date set for Oct.

https://britishboxingnews.co.uk/blog...s-vs-joe-joyce

[Dark Lord Al]

Best domestic HW dust up since Joshua v Whyte .

[smashup]

Daniel Dubois, Joe Joyce Set For Interim-Bouts Ahead of October Fight

Joyce will face Michael Wallisch, from Munich, on July 25. The 34-year-old, who is 6ft 5½in tall, won his first 19 fights as a professional, but has lost three of his past four, being stopped by Christian Hammer, Efe Ajagba and Tony Yoka, who controversially beat Joyce in the Olympic final in 2016.

Dubois, the British and Commonwealth champion, will take on unbeaten two-time Olympic Erik Pfeifer.
The Russian-born 33-year-old has only had seven fights as a professional. He twice won bronze medal at the World Amateur Championships, in 2011, when he lost his semi-final to Anthony Joshua, and 2013. He boxed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and boxed four seasons in the World Series Boxing, where he twice beat Yoka.


https://www.boxingscene.com/daniel-d...-fight--150066