List of All Articles with Tag 'in'

The New York Knicks will look to build on their postseason success with a few key additions. Tom Thibodeau found plenty of success with the starting five last season, but these players could force him to change it up in 2023-24.The New York Knicks are maybe the perfect New York team. Scrappy, bl...

This year's Women's World Cup is very much reaching the business end of things, with two more quarterfinals to be played.

The Las Vegas Aces rebounded nicely from a loss to the New York Liberty earlier this week, and now they find themselves as massive favorites against the Washington Mystics on Friday night.Washington is in a tough spot, with star Elena Delle Donne injured, and it’s led to the team catching ...

Wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown took a shot at his former team, the Baltimore Ravens when discussing the Arizona Cardinals offense heading into this season.When it comes to expectations heading into the 2023 NFL season, the Arizona Cardinals don't have much when it comes ...

NBA Rumors: Former Warriors GM Bob Myers to join NBA CountdownBob Myers stepped down from his role as President of Basketball Operations for the Golden State Warriors in late May after failing to agree to terms on an extension. Myers won four rings as the ringleader in Golden State, becoming well-...

Former USWNT star Sydney Leroux responded to Lineth Beerensteyn's comments about the US' exit from the World Cup.

Player ratings and match report from Burnley 0-3 Manchester City in the Premier League.

Running back Kareem Hunt's free agency tour continues, as he's scheduled to visit with an NFC North team.Training camp is underway, and teams are ready to play in their first preseason games this week. Even so, there are still some big-name players left in free agency, looking for an o...

Diamond Sports Group, the bankrupt owner of local sports channels, is racing to formulate a Chapter 11 exit

NFL Rumors: Ravens, J.K. Dobbins working on an extension?Baltimore Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins is currently on the PUP list as he recovers from a knee injury, but could a contract extension be in order for the 24-year-old?It's a well-known fact that the running back market is ice col...

The Braves have one of the most talented teams in the MLB, but they still have players that are playing their way out of 2024 roster spots.There aren't a lot of teams in recent history that have the talent that the 2023 Braves have. They are incredibly loaded from top to bottom. But even a ...

Anthony Joshua was expecting to fight a familiar face this weekend, just not this one. Until last Saturday, the former two-time world heavyweight champion was on course for a clash with Dillian Whyte, who outpointed Joshua when the Britons were amateurs, but who “AJ” knocked out brutally in a professional rematch in 2015. The trilogy bout was set for this Saturday, at London’s O2 Arena, which hosted the rivals’ last meeting. But then Whyte completed his own trilogy, returning an adverse drug-test finding for the third time in his career. Whyte served a two-year ban from 2012 to 2014 in the first instance, before being exonerated during his 2019 episode, and now fans await the outcome of this latest saga. Stepping in for the 35-year-old, in any case, is Robert Helenius, who Joshua also knows well. The pair sparred in 2017, as Joshua prepared for his fight with Wladimir Klitschko, and Helenius recalled of AJ this week: “[He was a] hard hitter, good technicals, a little bit robotic. I felt pretty confident.” Those comments are put to Joshua. “A bit robotic? Maybe,” he said. “But I became a champion being robotic. It’s true, right? It’s paid off.” Helenius, 39, also said he would not have accepted a short-notice showdown with Joshua, 33, if he didn’t think the Briton was “vulnerable”. “I’m gonna take my chances and say now is the best time to fight him,” said the Finn. Regardless, Joshua is not taking Helenius lightly. “I can’t fail,” he said gravely. “That’s good pressure. “It’s the wrong mindset [to underestimate] Helenius. He’s gonna roll the dice, what’s he got to lose? But then I’m gonna go in there and have to f*** him up myself as well. It’s gonna be a good fight, may the best man win. I can’t afford to think it’s a light, late replacement, that I’m gonna take him 12 rounds; no, I want to take him out in round one if I can.” Deontay Wilder did just that in October, detonating a short, counter right hook to put Helenius out cold in the first round. The Finn has since bounced back, beating Mike Mielonen just last Saturday, but it was Wilder’s performance against Helenius that made Joshua hesitant to accept him as a late-notice opponent. “It’s just the comparisons,” Joshua says, “but this is my fight with Helenius – my own fight, not Wilder’s fight, no one else’s.” Joshua has always been aware of comparisons between his and Wilder’s performances against mutual opponents, and he notes Dominic Breazeale, Eric Molina and Jason Gavern as examples. AJ stopped Breazeale in round seven; Wilder stopped him in round one. Joshua beat Molina in round three; Wilder beat him in round nine. Joshua stopped Gavern in round three; Wilder stopped him in round four. But the Briton argues: “You never know until I step in the ring, potentially, with Wilder.” That may yet happen next year, though many are sceptical, given such a clash was in the works for the end of 2023 and has in fact been discussed for several years. As rumours swirl and talks rumble on, Joshua insists that his best approach is to “ignore, ignore, ignore it, ignore it”. “One step at a time,” he says. “Yeah, ignore it – I think that’s better.” And so, Joshua’s focus remains on Helenius – and staying focused was essential this week, even when AJ did not know what he was focusing on. “There was one session where I was like: ‘What are we training for?’” he says. “But we just had to flip the script. Due to this late replacement, whoever it may be, I couldn’t put my energy into complaining. I changed the screensaver on my phone from Dillian at a weigh-in to me and Klitschko.” Having Whyte as his screensaver was a tactic that Joshua picked up from Jarrell Miller, ironically, ahead of his cancelled bout with the American in 2019. Miller tested positive for numerous banned substances, leading him to be replaced by Andy Ruiz Jr, who famously stunned Joshua with a TKO win. “I just wanted to visualise what my life’s focused on at the minute,” Joshua explained. “When you’re psyched up about fighting someone, you want them on your mind. When I was slacking, I wanted to think about Dillian; if I was gonna eat a piece of chocolate, I wanted to think about Dillian. “I’ve had to flip the script now. I gave myself until 12 August to be committed. That was the date, so I’m gonna stay focused. On 13 August, I’m gonna relax a bit, but I just thought: ‘Even if I don’t fight on 12 August, I’m gonna stay committed to training this week.’” Helenius wants to do more than flip the script when the action starts at around 10pm; he wants to tear it up. It is Joshua’s job to ensure that does not happen. Watch Joshua vs Helenius live on Dazn by clicking here. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Read More It’s time to stop taking Anthony Joshua for granted Robert Helenius on accepting Anthony Joshua fight: ‘Nobody will remember a coward’ ‘We need to get it at the root’: Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius on boxing’s doping ‘problem’ Anthony Joshua weighs in ahead of bout against Robert Helenius ‘Have you got a problem?’ Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius share intense staredown Campbell Hatton talks next steps of his career and being part of a boxing dynasty