The who’s who of pugilism gathers in London to breathe new life into the ‘Bible of Boxing’. While Anthony Joshua sees the end of his career looming and makes the fight against Tyson Fury a priority, heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk wins at the “Ring” awards.
The scene was dressed up. The greats of boxing came together at the “Painted Hall” of the Old Royal Naval College in London at the weekend.
The venerable magazine “The Ring” had loaded.
The bible of boxing has recently been owned by boxing mogul Turki Al-Sheikh from Saudi Arabia and has presented itself on the Thames in a new look: the print edition of the magazine, founded in 1922, is back, and there is also a new app a freshly painted website.
Al-Sheikh didn’t miss a beat: For the first time, the magazine’s annual awards were presented as part of an Oscar-worthy ceremony.
Boxing: Everyone wants to see Joshua against Fury
Anthony Joshua didn’t concede. His defeat in the fall earned Daniel Dubois an award: “Knockout of the Year.” Nevertheless, Joshua walked the red carpet in London in a fine tuxedo and left no doubt about what he has in mind for 2025 – the long-awaited duel with Tyson Fury.
The British blockbuster is “a fight that I want to see because I’m a boxing fan. I want to get that out of the way,” said the 35-year-old on the sidelines of the gala. Joshua is aware that there is not much sand left in his career clock.
“I don’t have many years left (in boxing). I have more years behind me than in front of me. I want to leave boxing with a bang,” Joshua stressed. Only really big fights are to come: “Tyson Fury is one of them.”
Anthony Joshua and the constant Fury question
The former world champion said he was constantly asked about the fight against his English rival. “Every time people say, ‘When are you fighting Fury?’ The Irish community, the English community, the Nigerian one – everyone asks me the same question. As a fighter I have to deliver. I think we can definitely do this fight this year.”
Although both Joshua and Fury (twice against Oleksandr Usyk) have lost their last fights, the “Battle of Britain” is still considered the best-funded fight possible in boxing at the moment. In an interview with former super middleweight world champion Carl Froch, mastermind Al-Sheikh put the duel on his wish list for 2025.
Oleksandr Usyk wins “Ring” awards
Fury, absent from London, has not yet commented. The “Gypsy King” is apparently still licking the wounds left by his second defeat against heavyweight king Usyk at the end of 2024.
Usyk won three awards at the “Ring” gala: Boxer of the Year, Event of the Year (Part 1 against Fury) and Round of the Year (Round 9 in the first Fury fight). The Ukrainian spoke his usual short, funny words of thanks – and thanked his rival: “I would like to say to my opponent, my best friend, Tyson Fury, the greedy belly (greedy belly in English, editor): Thank you very much, you You were a great opponent.”