At 32 years old, Anthony Joshua should be enjoying the prime of his career, but in his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk on August 20 he faces the prospect of his status as a truly top-echelon attraction coming to an end.
Joshua, an Olympic gold medallist and maybe the most physically imposing heavyweight in boxing, will contest his 12th consecutive world title fight when he steps into the ring in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with nine wins and two losses over that span.
The Watford-born star has lost before – in a shocking upset via seventh-round knockout against Mexico's Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden – which he proceeded to avenge in style, with a dominant unanimous decision victory in the rematch, also in Saudi Arabia.
He will be hoping the story repeats itself after his convincing defeat at the hands of Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September, as he again prepares for his rematch on the other side of the world, away from all the distractions of friends, family and the celebrity that comes with being the heavyweight champion of the world.
But Usyk is a very different proposition than Ruiz ever was.
Ruiz was a late replacement opponent when he faced Joshua, and it was clear the towering, muscle-bound Brit underestimated the stout, stocky Mexican, as he was shocked early by the challenger's power and never truly recovered.
With a full camp and a renewed sense of focus, Joshua picked apart Ruiz in the rematch, with the fight leaving even the most passionate Ruiz fans questioning how he ever pulled off the upset in the first place.
Usyk, on the other hand, is no late replacement for anyone, and he has been on the same path towards the heavyweight throne as Joshua since their amateur days. At the London 2012 Olympics, where Joshua collected the super-heavyweight gold medal, Usyk ran through the heavyweight division, and has since put together a perfect record in the cruiserweight weight class.
After building a record of 16-0, including going 7-0 in cruiserweight world title fights, Usyk made the decision to make the jump up to heavyweight, and after wins against Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora, he earned his shot against Joshua, and took it with both hands.
For Joshua, this time there was no lack of planning, and there was no reason to underestimate Usyk's world-class ability – in other words, there were no excuses. So how can he make sure the rematch is nothing like the original, and become a three-time world champion in the process?
Exploit Usyk's weaknesses
Usyk is a near-perfect heavyweight fighter, with power in his hands to sting anyone, while retaining the foot speed and agility of a much smaller cruiserweight – but like every boxer, he has flaws, and tendencies that can be exploited.
Without a doubt, Usyk fights best as the aggressor, taking the centre of the ring and marching forward to force his opponents to fight with their back near the ropes and nowhere to run.
But Joshua is the bigger (six-foot-six against six-foot-three), longer (82 inch reach against 78 inch reach) and younger (32 against 35) fighter, meaning he has the physical tools necessary to deny Usyk his desired position as the ring general dictating the pressure.
Also, in Usyk's two most competitive world title fights – a majority decision win against Mairis Briedis and a unanimous decision against Murat Gassiev – he showed his defence is far from impenetrable, particularly against left hooks and body shots. The left hook in particular, including feints, seem to draw out the biggest reaction from Usyk, who usually opts to retreat and reset as opposed to firing back a counter.
He is also far from a quick-starter, instead opting to remain relatively cautious through the opening few rounds as he measures his distance and timing, before increasing his pace and volume in the second half of the fight to overwhelm his tiring opponents.
If Joshua is able to hold the centre of the ring early, rely on his length advantage to keep Usyk on the outside, and make a concerted effort to focus on body shots whenever the Ukrainian closes the distance, he could find himself with a healthy early advantage and the momentum heading into the middle stages of the fight.
Identify what went wrong in the first fight
Both Gassiev and Briedis fought in an orthodox stance, just as Joshua does, while Usyk fights out of the southpaw stance – meaning Joshua will have his left foot forward, and Usyk will have his right foot forward.
In orthodox versus southpaw matchups, the fight is often decided by the footwork battle, and Usyk dominated in that department for all 12 rounds in his first look at Joshua.
Whoever controls the 'outside' foot position is able to fire straight shots to the body and head with their rear hand, while also being able to easily circle away from their opponent's straight shots as they try to punch across their body diagonally.
While Usyk has the advantage as far as foot speed goes, the problem in the first fight was more about Joshua's willingness to concede the positioning battle and try to punch his way out of it, which led to plenty of flailing swings and a lack of clean connection.
One way to dissuade the southpaw from taking the preferred position is to aggressively use the left hook early – to the head, as Joshua loves to do, but more so the body – as it will come from the direction Usyk is constantly trying to move, lean and escape to, while his southpaw stance naturally exposes the vulnerable liver area.
If Usyk begins to feel like that left hook is coming every time he moves towards it – or absorbs an uncomfortable blow to the liver – he could be more willing to hold a neutral stance and level the playing field, completely changing the dynamic from their first meeting and opening the door for Joshua's power and size advantage to come to the fore.
"In comparison with war, boxing is child's play."
Those were the words uttered by Oleksandr Usyk in April after he left Ukraine's front line to prepare for the rematch against Anthony Joshua, which takes place in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Eleven months ago, Usyk placed himself on top of the boxing world with a stunning victory over Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium – where he dominated what was only his third fight at heavyweight level.
The aftermath saw talk of a unification bout against Tyson Fury, while questions were also raised as to whether Joshua would walk away, but both of those discussions were irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
In February, Russia stunned the world with the invasion of Ukraine and citizens took to the frontline to defend their nation, with Usyk travelling back to Kiev to fight.
Boxing, understandably, was far from the mind of Usyk, who told CNN: "I really don't know when I'm going to be stepping back in the ring. My country and my honour are more important to me than a championship belt."
Usyk will this weekend put his WBO, WBA Super, and IBF titles on the line against Joshua and shoulder the hopes of a nation who have had to cope with unthinkable trauma.
Sport, in situations like this, is largely irrelevant and few would criticise Usyk if he were to struggle in his rematch given the experiences he has endured – but he may find extra encouragement from Joshua's comments ahead of the bout.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Joshua described the months since he lost his belts to Usyk in north London as a "nightmare", words that may sting Usyk's camp given what has transpired away from the ring.
Many would suggest Usyk, having been the underdog in the initial bout and still with limited heavyweight experience, has nothing to lose – but he would be the first to argue that is not the case.
In terms of preparation, Usyk, like Joshua, has made significant adjustments and, having been at the lower-end of the heavyweight scale for the first clash has bulked up for the rematch, while the Brit has done the opposite.
Joshua had the weight, height and reach advantage for the first bout but did not put it into effect, with it clear after the opening five rounds that he was on the back foot and his best chance of winning was a knockout – but he never pushed for a stoppage.
Usyk, now displaying added bulk, may look to be more aggressive and to take the sort of chances that Joshua passed up back in September, though that is an approach he has not shown yet in the heavyweight division.
The champion's past two bouts have gone the distance and he earned unanimous decisions but, in the heavyweight game, it is a brave approach to look to stand firm, as just a single punch can change the picture entirely.
With additional weight behind him, Usyk should be able to hit Joshua harder this time around, but the full force of his strikes may well come from a different source – the support of his nation.
Promoter Alex Krassyuk told Sky Sports that Usyk travelled across Ukraine to visit high-ranking army officials, fans and injured combatants while supporting the resistance of the Russian invasion, where he received significant support and backing to return to the ring for the rematch.
"People want him to fight. People want him to win. They all want the Ukrainian flag to be risen and the Ukrainian anthem to be heard throughout the planet," he said.
That level of support can inspire Usyk when he faces a rejuvenated Joshua.
We are just three weeks into the new Premier League campaign and already fantasy football managers are getting twitchy over their team selection.
While a number of big-name players have made a fast start to the season, others have yet to get going and some tough decisions have to be made.
Whether you're looking to make up ground on the leaders or consolidate your position among the early pacesetters, matchday three presents a chance to get points on the board.
With the aid of Opta data, Stats Perform has picked out a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and striker for your consideration.
DEAN HENDERSON (Everton v Nottingham Forest)
David de Gea's shaky start to the season at Manchester United has coincided with Henderson's good form at Nottingham Forest, where he is spending the season on loan from Old Trafford.
Henderson conceded twice against Newcastle United on the opening weekend, but he starred in last week's 1-0 win over West Ham to give Forest lift-off on their top-flight return.
No goalkeeper has made more saves (11) or prevented more goals (2.2) in the Premier League than Henderson this season, while his save percentage of 75.52 since the start of 2019-20 is the best of any keeper to have recorded at least 50 saves.
RAYAN AIT-NOURI (Tottenham v Wolves)
Wolves are seeking their first win of the season at the third attempt this weekend, having so far struggled to find a way past opponents with just one goal in two games.
That is not down to a lack of trying from Ait-Nouri, as only Trent Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Cresswell (six) have created more than his four chances among defenders.
Ait-Nouri's expected assists (xGA) return of 0.53, meanwhile, is bettered only by Alexander-Arnold (0.97) and Reece James (0.48) in the same positional category.
KEVIN DE BRUYNE (Newcastle United v Manchester City)
Picking up from where he left off last term, De Bruyne has assisted a goal – and scored one of his own – in each of City's opening two Premier League matches.
The Belgium playmaker's three direct goal involvements this term is bettered only by former team-mate Gabriel Jesus, who has scored two and assisted two for Arsenal.
De Bruyne has been involved in 24 goals in his past 22 games in the competition, and he is one of four players to have scored and assisted in 20 different games since 2015-16.
OLLIE WATKINS (Crystal Palace v Aston Villa)
England international Watkins may be seeking his first goal of the campaign, but he chipped in with two assists in last week's victory over Everton.
The 26-year-old has now been involved in six goals in his past seven Premier League matches, scoring three and assisting three, having also ended last season strongly.
That form could spell bad news for Palace, as only against Liverpool (five) has he been involved in more top-flight goals than he has against the Eagles (three).
Albert Pujols produced a career-first as he blasted his 690th home run with a pinch-hit grand slam in the St Louis Cardinals' 13-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday.
The 42-year-old slugger, who will retire at the end of this season, came off the bench to deliver the slam at the bottom of the third inning to extend the Cards lead to 10-0.
The 374-foot blast was Pujols' 11th home run of the season and his 16th career grand slam, tying him with Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Dave Kingman at 10th overall, but it was his first ever as a pinch-hitter.
Pujols drove in five for the game, with two hits from three at-bats, as the Cards flexed their muscle with their fourth win in a row and 12th from their past 13 games.
The victory improved the Cards' record to 66-51, to lead the Milwaukee Brewers (63-54) by three games in the National League Central division.
Right-hander Adam Wainwright helped shut out the Rockies on the mound with seven strikeouts across seven innings, allowing only three hits.
Bregman career-high in Astros barrage
Alex Bregman led the way as the Houston Astros made an emphatic statement with a 21-5 barrage over the Chicago White Sox.
Bregman had a 12-total base day, going four-for-six at-bats with two home runs and two doubles, with a career-high six RBIs.
Houston scored in seven of the nine innings and tied a franchise record with 25 hits, while the 21 runs was joint second-most in Astros history.
Springer and Vlad lead Jays past Yankees
George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr starred to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-2 win over the slumping New York Yankees in a key victory for their American League Wild Card hopes.
Springer went five-for-five with two runs and one RBI, while Guerrero blasted a three-run homer in a five-run second inning as the Jays improved to 63-54.
Jose Berrios impressed on the mound with nine strikeouts across six-and-two-third innings, allowing two runs as the Yankees lost for the 13th time in their past 17 games.
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was limited to five games last season, and it is looking like he may not be able to even match that total this upcoming season.
Price, 35, underwent knee surgery last summer and sought help from the NHLPA/NHL player assistance program in October for substance abuse.
Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said the news about Price’s knee is "discouraging" and that the veteran goalie may not play this season.
"The news about Carey’s knee is pretty discouraging in the sense that there hasn’t been any improvement throughout the rehab process," Hughes said. "All last season it obviously continued to create problems for him. This summer he went through the process of a shot to the knee, seeing if that would help. It did not.
"At this point, we don’t expect Carey to be available for the start of the season, quite frankly I don’t know if there’s a path for Carey to return this season through the rehab process."
Hughes said that Price will likely require surgery in order to play again, and that rehab work alone won’t be enough. Hughes expects to have further information on Price’s playing status next month.
Price made his season debut on April 15, 2022 and lost his first four starts before finishing the season 1-4-0 with a 3.63 goals-against average.
He is the Canadiens’ all-time wins leader with 361 and ranks third with 49 shutouts.
Keegan Bradley rode a hot putter to the outright lead after 18 holes of the BMW Championship, finishing Thursday's play with a seven-under 64.
Bradley entered the week ranked 44th in the FedEx Cup standings, outside the top-30 who will qualify for next week's Tour Championship, but put himself in a great position thanks in large part to his work on the greens.
He collected six birdies on the front nine, and according to Data Golf's strokes gained stats, Bradley was the top overall putter in the opening round, picking up 4.00 strokes with the flat stick, while also coming in seventh in the approach category (2.02 strokes gained).
It was a similar story for Adam Scott in outright second at six under, finishing third in putting (3.30 strokes gained) and 11th in approach shots (1.82 strokes gained).
In a tie for third at five under is the trio of Harold Varner III, Shane Lowry and Justin Thomas – but they all made it there in different ways.
Varner excelled in the tee-to-green category, putting a gap on the field as he gained 5.28 strokes, with Lowry in second-place at 3.32. While Varner was the third-best driver on the day, Lowry was actually a negative off the tee, but led the field in the approach category.
Meanwhile, Thomas was solid just about everywhere, finishing on the fringe of the top-10 in tee-to-green, around the green and putting categories – despite lipping out a four-footer for his only bogey on the 15th hole.
The logjam at four under includes Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young, and there is a star-studded group one further back at three under featuring Patrick Cantlay, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. McIlroy will be left ruing a calamitous showing at the par-three 15th hole, where he found the water to triple-bogey when he was one stroke off the lead.
U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick headlines the group at two under, Hideki Matsuyama and Will Zalatoris are at one under, and recent 20-year-old winner Joo-hyung 'Tom' Kim is at even par.
Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm will be disappointed with their rounds at two over, and the previously red-hot Tony Finau is likely out of the hunt as only two players shot worse than his six-over 77.
Promoter Bob Arum is "confident" Tyson Fury will come out of retirement to face the winner of Saturday's heavyweight title rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua.
Fury retained his WBC world title with a victory over Dillian Whyte at Wembley in April and stated that was his last fight.
The Brit appeared to backtrack this month by stating he would be returning to the ring and wanted to face Dereck Chisora for a third time, having already been victorious over his compatriot in 2011 and 2014.
Fury then announced once again that he has retired in a social media post on his 34th birthday last week.
Joshua and Usyk will do battle once more this weekend in Saudi Arabia, after the former undisputed cruiserweight champion took the Brit's IBF, WBA and WBO belts with a unanimous decision victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.
Arum believes the 'Gypsy King' can be tempted back into the ring to face whoever comes out on top.
He told Sky Sports: "Absolutely - it's really the only fight that makes sense for Tyson Fury.
"I've discussed this with my co-promoter of Fury, Frank Warren, and once this fight is over we're going to put together a total unification match between the winner and Tyson Fury.
"Now, if Usyk wins the fight, which I expect, that will be quite easy to do because we're very close to the Usyk people as they're the same people who manage Vasyl Lomachenko who fights for us. If Joshua wins, Eddie Hearn is his promoter. We've talked many times with Hearn about various matches and I'm sure we'll be able to come together on this one.
"I've talked with him [Fury] and every day is different, but he's a fighter and if the right fight is there then Fury will be up for that fight. The right fight is the unification fight against the winner of Usyk and Joshua and I think - based on my conversations with Fury - he'll be up for that challenge.
"How much longer he will go after that, god only knows and I'm not sure, but I'm confident at least that he'll answer the bell for that major fight."
New York Jets coach Robert Saleh laid it out bluntly when addressing Zach Wilson's availability for the NFL season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens on September 11.
In his first public comments since Wilson had successful arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday in Los Angeles to repair a torn meniscus, Saleh did not rule out Wilson taking the field against the Ravens.
''If Zach is ready to play, he's going to be the Week 1 starter,'' Saleh said on Thursday. "'If he's not, Joe [Flacco] will. That's no secret."
Wilson was injured while scrambling in the Jets' preseason opener last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the original diagnosis was he would be sidelined for two to four weeks.
The timeline remained the same after the surgery, and his availability will come down to if he is healthy enough to take the field.
"It's really going to dictate on how he feels and when he's ready to go," Saleh said. "We're going to make sure we do right by him in terms of making sure that he's 100 per cent healthy. Whenever that is, that's when he'll hit the field."
The Jets plan to be cautious with the 23-year-old, who they selected second overall in last year's draft, as they hope he will be the franchise's long-term answer at quarterback.
When Wilson hurt his knee last Friday, some feared his injury could miss the upcoming season. However, he has already returned to the team facility after a cross-country flight and eager to get back to work.
'"Zach flew back last night and he's here today,'" Saleh said. "'He's already walking. He's in really good spirits. And he's champing at the bit to get to rehab."
Anthony Joshua insists he will not be driven into retirement if he fails to defeat Oleksandr Usyk in his world heavyweight title rematch this Saturday.
Joshua, 32, suffered only the second defeat of his 26-fight professional career when he met Usyk for the first time last September, going down in a convincing unanimous decision to the talented Ukrainian.
While it was considered an upset, Usyk dominated the Brit in a masterclass to claim the IBF, WBA and WBO belts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Usyk has built a 19-0 professional record, including a perfect 7-0 in cruiserweight world title fights before deciding to move up to heavyweight.
Joshua has shown his ability to respond to adversity before when he successfully reclaimed his belts from Andy Ruiz Jr after the Mexican had pulled off a stunning stoppage victory six months prior, with that rematch also taking place in Saudi Arabia.
The Englishman has dismissed suggestions he may have to quit if he fails to dethrone Usyk this weekend.
"It’s up to me at the end of the day, it’s not up to anyone else what I do with my career," he said. "I don’t have to do this. Why do I do it? It’s because it’s all I know.
"This is also my 12th consecutive world title fight. I’ve been in world title fights back-to-back 12 times.
"It happens – if you’re fighting people at world level, you’re meeting people of world-level quality. I’m not fighting people who are below par."
Madison Keys stunned top seed Iga Swiatek 6-3 6-4 to book her place in the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open on Thursday.
Keys arrived in the contest seeking a first career victory over a reigning world number one in six attempts, having failed to win a set in each of the previous five.
The 2019 champion had also lost her previous two showdowns with Swiatek, including a resounding 6-1 6-0 defeat in the Indian Wells Open quarter-finals earlier this year.
After the first games went with serve, Keys went into overdrive; reeling off nine successive games to take full command of the contest at 6-3 5-0.
Swiatek rallied as she rescued match point to avoid the bagel, winning 11 of 12 points to reduce the second-set deficit to 5-3.
The winner of six WTA titles this season, the Pole saved a further match point in the ninth game before claiming what appeared to be another crucial break of serve.
However, former US Open finalist Keys responded magnificently to make it third time lucky against Swiatek, who is now 4-4 since her 37-match winning streak ended with defeat by Alize Cornet at Wimbledon.
Last Thursday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said Tom Brady was taking some planned time off and was scheduled to re-join the team after their preseason game against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday.
A week later, Bowles admitted he didn't know exactly when the future Hall of Fame quarterback would return.
"We'll see. We'll talk about it next week," Bowles said, via The Athletic. "I'm not concerned about it right now. We're trying to practice against Tennessee and play a game. I said sometime after Tennessee. There's no definitive date for me. We'll keep in touch and find out."
That update seemed to contrast what Bowles said a week ago, when he revealed Brady left training camp to "deal with some personal things" and implied everything was worked out.
"This is something we talked about before training camp started," Bowles said last Thursday. "We allotted this time because [Brady] wanted to get in and get chemistry with the guys and go through two weeks of training camp."
Brady was not slated to play in Tampa Bay's first preseason game against Miami last weekend or the Titans matchup, so the absence isn't entirely shocking for a 45-year-old quarterback who has had plenty of practice reps over a pro career that began in 2000.
However, Bowles' uncertainty as to when his first-choice QB will return is somewhat curious.
Brady famously retired briefly this past offseason before announcing in mid-March that he would return for a third season with Tampa Bay and 23rd in the NFL after leading the league with a career-high 5,316 passing yards in 2021, while also ranking first in passing touchdowns with 43.
He led the Buccaneers to a 13-4 regular-season record and NFC South crown last year, but their season ended with a 27-20 loss to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Tampa Bay begins this season at Dallas on September 11, and Bowles said last week Brady's absence would not affect the seven-time Super Bowl champion's availability for the opener.
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