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MLB Rumors: Let's take a spin around Major League Baseball and look at some of the latest MLB rumors surrounding the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals.MLB rumors: Boston Red Sox tried to trade Raimel TapiaPrior to a series of roster moves that eventually led to t...

The Denver Nuggets now have a championship to defend and the competition will be stiff. Here are three teams that will challenge them next season.For the first time in franchise history, the Denver Nuggets have won the NBA Championship. They beat the Miami Heat fairly easily winning the series 4...

USA vs. Mexico: Complete head-to-head record

United States vs. Mexico - Nations League semifinal preview: TV channel/live stream,

Where will Shannon Sharpe end up now that his "Undisputed" reign has come to an end?

The latest NHL rumors involve Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, and Ottawa Senators winger Alex DeBrincat.The NHL Stanley Cup Final has yet to conclude, but many NHL teams are already moving on their offseason plans. In the past week, the Philade...

The Angels took the first game of an AL West measuring stick series against the Rangers behind the excellence of Shohei Ohtani at the plate.Ohtani hit two homer runs in Monday's win, can the Angels keep it up as the team tries to force its way into AL West contention? The team will start Ja...

Chris Eubank has opened up on his split from his son’s team, claiming that Chris Eubank Jr ‘has never listened’. A rift emerged between Eubank and his son in October, ahead of a planned fight between Eubank Jr and Conor Benn – a bout that collapsed after the revelation that Benn had failed two drug tests. Eubank Jr went on to lose to Liam Smith via fourth-round TKO in January, with the pair’s scheduled rematch then falling through due to an injury sustained by Smith. As such, Eubank Jr, 33, is currently without a fight. Addressing the current state of Eubank Jr’s career, his father – a British boxing icon – told Talksport on Tuesday (13 June): “David Haye called me the other day and said [Eubank Jr] doesn’t spar, he does everything that he wants to do, he’s got ‘yes men’ around him. “And so it seems to me, by what David Haye tells me, that he’s still not listening. If you won’t listen, then life will teach you what it taught many of the other fighters. It is arrogance when you shut your ears, and what arrogance gets you is what it got him in his last fight. “The calibre of Liam Smith does not beat Chris Eubank Jr on my watch. Junior on my watch is not supposed to lose to Liam Smith; on the watch of these PE teachers anything can happen, and anything did. He has never listened. “My son could have been a tremendous fighter, he electrified me when watching him, but he hasn’t because he doesn’t listen, and if you don’t listen then you have to feel. The truth will set you free. I did not go missing, he sent me away, you gave me the ability to go away and live my own life. Of course I will accept anything he asks me, but you have to have the humility to ask. Dad is no longer chasing you.” Addressing a past comment made by Simon Jordan, in which the Talksport host labelled Eubank Jr a ‘charlatan’, Eubank Sr said: “In the world of honesty, how can I disagree with you? I guess my silence says it all. Truth is truth.” Discussing the role he played in helping his son secure significant paydays, Eubank, 56, added: “Without me, you can’t make the money that he’s made. “There were three fights he had [...] with fighters who were like [Avni] Yildirim; $9 million, I got him that. He can’t make that kind of money without someone like me, they’re paying these guys $60,000 a fight.” Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith rematch postponed for second time Josh Taylor plunged into the unknown as Teofimo Lopez earns redemptive win Dmitry Bivol hits out at ‘unfair’ WBC ban on Russian boxers

Dmitry Bivol has labelled the World Boxing Council’s ban on Russian boxers ‘unfair’, as he looks ahead to his next fight. The Kyrgyzstani-born Russian holds the WBA light-heavyweight title and has been linked with a bout against Artur Beterbiev, who holds the WBC, WBO and IBF belts. Russian-born Beterbiev represented his country of birth until last year, when he opted to represent Canada – where he has lived for 16 years – amid sporting sanctions relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Among those sanctions was a decision by the World Boxing Council (WBC) not to recognise Russian and Belarusian fighters, including champions. That decision also precludes Bivol, 32, from fighting Beterbiev, 38, in a unification bout at light-heavyweight, despite strong demand from fans. “Of course it’s not fair,” Bivol told Seconds Out on Monday (12 June). “How could [someone] say, ‘I am the champion of the world,’ if somebody from some country couldn’t fight for your belt? But this guy could be better than you. “It’s not fair. And this guy is just training, spending his time in the gym, and he’s not allowed to fight. He’s the same [as] you, he’s just living in a different apartment in a different place, but he’s working the same [as] you. “He’s training, he’s fighting, his mentality is similar, but why is he not allowed to fight? It’s not fair.” Bivol last fought in November, comprehensively outpointing Gilberto Ramirez to retain the WBA light-heavyweight title, which he also retained in his previous fight, against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in May 2022. Meanwhile, Beterbiev most recently fought in January, stopping Anthony Yarde in the eighth round. He is next due to box in August, defending his titles against another Briton, Callum Smith. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Teofimo Lopez and his father share emotional exchange during Josh Taylor fight Josh Taylor says move up to welterweight is ‘imminent’ after first career defeat Jake Paul agrees to 10 rounds in Nate Diaz fight

For someone who is such a monolith of a man, there are a surprising number of layers to Joe Joyce. At certain points during our half-hour conversation, Joe Joyce the heavyweight boxer is speaking; at others, it’s Joe Joyce the fine-art student, the swimming instructor, the cheerleader, or the trumpet player. “When I was a swimming and diving teacher, it was a really great feeling to have someone who was really afraid of the water and to get their head under the water – or have them swimming three, four strokes by the end,” the Londoner tells The Independent. “To have people who have spent their life not being able to swim, and to get them to even put their head under the water in their late sixties and seventies, that’s something I found really rewarding. “I also played trumpet for quite a few years, I was in the choir at school. I could do a little bit of percussion; I used to go on music holidays. My little brother is the more musical one; he’s at uni doing something musical and was in the Brit School; he was also in Thriller Live. My dad’s an art teacher, he restores antique mirror frames, and my mum was into pottery; she does a series of African-esque heads. Growing up, music and sport was encouraged, as was art. I did my first oil painting when I was seven years old. “It would be nice to make more art and create more things, be more creative than the destructive boxing side.” These other sides to Joyce are all “authentic” elements of the 37-year-old, as he puts it. “I wake up Joe Joyce, I go to sleep Joe Joyce. I’d like to inspire the next generation coming up and teach them, lead by example. It’s good to give back. I’d like to lead a movement, like how Muhammad Ali transcended boxing and is one of these pivotal names in history – like Bruce Lee, Bob Marley, Michael Jordan. That’s the kind of thing I’d like to leave behind, or at least something close to that.” They are huge aspirations for a man who comes across so humbly, but while there is some way for Joyce to go in achieving such status, his profile swelled significantly in the aftermath of his knockout of Joseph Parker in September 2022. “Overnight I saw the change, where people were kind of putting me in the top five [at heavyweight] and were interested and excited about certain match-ups with these top fighters,” he says. Joyce, who claimed silver for Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, hammered Parker to the canvas with a left hook in the 11th round in Manchester to become interim WBO champion. “When I was in there, I couldn’t remember what shot I stopped him with; it wasn’t until I got back to the changing room and they showed me the clip of it. I was like, ‘Woah!’” The final shot capped off an indefatigable performance from Joyce, who marched down the New Zealander relentlessly and was unperturbed by Parker’s best strikes. “He did his best, he put his best effort in, and it wasn’t enough,” Joyce says matter-of-factly, before morphing his voice into a fine impression of a 1970s professional wrestler: “And it’s gonna take a wrecking ball to take me down, I’ll tell you that much!” he bellows, making a whipping motion with his index finger, before his voice cracks into a laugh. Unfortunately for the Briton, Zhilei Zhang became that wrecking ball in April. While the Chinese heavyweight did not quite take down Joyce, he battered the “Juggernaut”’s right eye to the point of closure, forcing the referee to wave off the bout in Round 6. With the result, Joyce lost the WBO Interim belt and saw his professional record fall to 15-1 (with 14 of his wins having come via knockout). The clashes with Parker and Zhang, similar to Joyce’s bout with rising heavyweight Daniel Dubois in 2020, were risky affairs on paper. But in a business in which the best rarely do battle with one another, Joyce has shown no trepidation in confronting tough combatants. At 37, he cannot afford to waste time on tune-up fights or meaningless match-ups. “I’m not out here just to earn money or be heavyweight champion of the world,” he insists. “It’s about taking them challenges on and overcoming them. I think some of that can be lost in the sport. It’d be good to bring back those good times of everybody fighting everybody. People don’t wanna lose their ‘0’. I don’t know where that mentality came from... Maybe from Floyd Mayweather? That’s why a lot of the [big] fights don’t happen.” It is a trend that is at odds with what fans want – one that goes against basic fighting instinct, Joyce argues. “There’s that excitement when you’re at school, and someone in the playground shouts, ‘Fight!’ It kicks off, and the whole school gathers around... It’s that primordial excitement that people get, it’s that kind of raw entertainment. When I was in primary school, I had quite a few fights – two on one, or they’d start the fight and I’d finish it. I was always a head taller than everyone. Early days of rugby, there’d be five or six guys hanging on to me, trying to slow me down.” Ironically, a criticism of Joyce has been his perceived lack of speed, but if that is a valid critique then it has not prevented the Juggernaut from building momentum in fights through his pressure and the volume of his output. Before Joyce’s meeting with Zhang, there was a clamour for the Briton to face the likes of Tyson Fury and fellow Olympian Anthony Joshua. The visual of Joyce being scaled by school students on the rugby pitch, coupled with discussions around Fury and Joshua, leads us naturally onto whether Joyce would rather fight five smaller Furys or one gargantuan Joshua. “Five little Furys would be a pain in the ass, wouldn’t it?” he laughs. “That’d be so annoying, being surrounded by them! They’d be coming from all angles, you can’t hit them, the head movement... But imagine the punch on a massive-sized Joshua... ” Before long, Joyce might not even have to imagine the punch on a life-sized Joshua, who – as the 37-year-old acknowledges – is an intriguing enough proposition as is. Joyce’s eagerness to embrace such challenges is an endearing element of his personality – and of his approach to his profession. That dichotomy, between the gentle Juggernaut’s personality and profession, will only make his journey all the more enthralling. Read More Joe Joyce arrives at boxing’s top table with brutal knockout of Joseph Parker Tyson Fury: Joe Joyce ‘couldn’t lace my boots’ but beats Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk Tyson Fury to record ‘Sweet Caroline’ cover for mental health charity Jake Paul agrees to new stipulation in Nate Diaz fight Josh Taylor says move up to welterweight is ‘imminent’ after first career defeat Teofimo Lopez and his father share emotional exchange during Josh Taylor fight

Jake Paul has agreed to extend his fight with Nate Diaz to 10 rounds, as he prepares to test the UFC veteran’s ‘cardio’. YouTuber star Paul is due to box the mixed martial arts icon in Dallas on 5 August, with their bout originally scheduled for eight rounds. However, Paul, 26, has now agreed to a stipulation of 10 rounds against his fellow American, 38. “Nate Diaz wants 10 rounds,” Paul tweeted on Tuesday (13 June). “I guess he has good cardio. “Ok Nathan, 10 rounds it is.” Diaz, who left the UFC in September after submitting Tony Ferguson, will be making his professional boxing debut when he faces Paul. The YouTuber, meanwhile, is 6-1 as a pro boxer, having beaten former UFC champions Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva, among others. Paul outpointed Woodley in their first clash before knocking him out in a rematch, and the 26-year-old dropped Silva en route to a points victory over the MMA legend. He also holds a first-round knockout win over ex-UFC star and former ONE champion Ben Askren. Most recently, Paul boxed Tommy Fury – half-brother of heavyweight boxing champion Tyson – in February, losing on points. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More MMA great Amanda Nunes retires after win over Irene Aldana at UFC 289 Amanda Nunes took ‘coward’s way out’ by retiring at UFC 289, says Julianna Pena Meet Charles Oliveira, the UFC’s miracle man Jake Paul makes startling Conor McGregor claim in intense rant at UFC star Josh Taylor says move up to welterweight is ‘imminent’ after first career defeat Teofimo Lopez and his father share emotional exchange during Josh Taylor fight

Tottenham Hotspur are close to agreeing personal terms with David Raya, but they are still way off Brentford's asking price for the goalkeeper.