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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...

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

Kevin Brown breaks his silence on Orioles suspension.

Chelsea are close to finalising a £55m agreement with Southampton for the transfer of Romeo Lavia. Liverpool are also interested in the midfielder.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. is shutting down its sports betting app in eight states, becoming the latest company to

Eight additional criminal complaints were filed Thursday in connection with an investigation into alleged student-athlete gambling at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, court records show.

A look at Erling Haaland's scoring credentials in the 2023/24 Premier League season, whether he will break more records and who could rival Manchester City's striker for the Golden Boot

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith explained why the Big Ten was eventually able to add Oregon and Washington, resulting in the hostile takeover and eventual death of the Pac-12.Mo money, mo problems...It was all a dream. I used to watch Pac-12 After Dark! Now we are left with a Pacific...

The Minnesota Vikings opened preseason Week 1 with a loss to the Seahawks. But three players earned their roster spots, while one is now a cut candidate.The Minnesota Vikings opened up the preseason on Thursday night, traveling to the Pacific Northwest for a date with Drew Lock -- a lot of Drew ...

MLB standings since the All-Star break have set the stage for the most important stretch of the season. Who is taking their chance and who has missed it?We're about a third of the way through the second half of the MLB season and rolling towards a dramatic September finish.With the All-...

Chelsea are expected to match Liverpool's British-record £111m offer for Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo over the next 24 hours.