Team News

Tyson Fury has declared he’d like to see Joseph Parker rematch Anthony Joshua after naming four potential opponents for his close friend, who comfortably stopped Faiga Opelu in the first round to win the Commonwealth heavyweight title in Australia. The Gypsy King flew Down Under to support his stablemate in Melbourne and the trip was seemingly made worthwhile following a spectacular TKO victory.

Opelu was left dancing around the ring helplessly as Parker continued to bludgeon his opponent with a series of savage combinations.

The Kiwi looked incredibly heavy-handed once again as he continued his comeback trail following his brutal knockout defeat to Joe Joyce last September.

Parker has since defeated Jack Massey and now Opelu to reposition himself in the heavyweight division and Fury said ringside that his mate should now be eyeing the big fights once again.

The Gypsy King said: “I’d like to see the rematch with Andy Ruiz, Joe Joyce, Dillian Whyte or even AJ. F**k ‘em all, Joseph Parker is back!”

Back in March 2018, Parker became the first man to ever go the distance with Joshua in the professional ranks despite defeat in Cardiff.

But since then, both have endured rocky patches to say the least having both suffered a series of losses.

Yet Fury evidently feels Parker has the sharpness to challenge AJ once again while there are other big fights out there on the table for the 31-year-old, who to his credit has remained active.

Parker also previously beat Andy Ruiz Jr for the vacant WBO world heavyweight title in December 2016 before later losing the belt to AJ.

Fury also made it clear he would never fight Parker, who is coached by his cousin and team member Andy Lee.

“Definitely not. No,” he said, when asked if he’d consider a fight with Parer. “I’d rather give him the belt than fight him for it. We’re too close for that fight, and there’s plenty of heavyweights out there.”

New Zealander Parker, who now resides in Morecambe Bay with Fury, has won 32 of his 35 professional bouts.

Speaking to SecondsOut last December, Parker made it clear he was willing to pursue rematches with Whyte, Joyce and Joshua before declaring he’d already reached out to AJ’s team but received no response.

“It would be nice to get a rematch with Joshua, a rematch with Dillian Whyte and probably in the future, a rematch with Joe Joyce,” Parker said.

“I like to fight those guys that I lost to. Before I flew here and before I locked in this fight, my manager put in a message to Joshua’s team and asked if they wanted to have a rematch.

“We had no reply but we’re still trying to chase those fights, those rematches and it would be awesome if we can. It’s just up to each fighter and their team.”

Yesterday afternoon, the “galacticos” of Real Madrid faced the rivals of Valencia, in a match where, in addition to losing 0 to 1, they already have to suffer the absence of their winger, Vinicius Junior for the next match, after the exit with a card red at the end of the game.

However, the Brazilian’s premature exit from the blue field can be justified, with the red card that came after Vinicius’s reaction, when the racist calls towards him continued to intensify in the stadium, this episode is not the first time this season has happened. La Liga.

After the match, Vinicius told the media that racism has become a “habit” in La Liga, with the leaders of the championship and the Federation, who according to the Brazilian do not react at all to such situations, unpleasant for the players.

“It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is now the norm in La Liga. The League thinks it’s normal, the Federation too, and the opponents encourage it. I am very sorry. The league that once boasted players like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, today belongs to racists.

A beautiful nation, which has welcomed me and which I love, but which has agreed to export the image of a racist country to the world. I’m sorry for the Spaniards that I don’t agree, but today in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists and unfortunately, for everything that happens every week, I can’t defend it, I agree. But I am strong and I will go to the end against the racists, even if it is far from here”, said the Brazilian winger.

This weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola has been cancelled after widespread flooding in the Italian region, which has left five dead and areas of the paddock under water.

This weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has been cancelled by Formula 1 after the “tragedy” of mass flooding in the region, which has left at least eight people dead and 10,000 evacuated.

The Imola circuit was also affected, with pictures showing the already-built TV compound flooded. Some staff who work for AlphaTauri were evacuated from their own homes and spent the night at the Faenza factory, 10 miles down the road from the circuit.

AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda, highlighted the worsening conditions in Faenza and urged followers to donate to the town’s flood relief fundraising campaign. “The town is heavily impacted,” he wrote on Instagram. “Dust, mud and the smell of gasoline everywhere. Currently people are struggling to find food and especially places to stay, after many have ben evacuated from their homes.”

F1’s announcement leaves the option of rescheduling the race open: in a statement, F1 said that it had taken the decision “not to proceed with the Grand Prix weekend”, after discussing the situation with national and regional politicians. “It is not possible to safely hold the event for our fans, the teams and our personnel. It would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time.”

“It is such a tragedy to see what has happened to Imola and Emilia Romagna, the town and region that I grew up in and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the flooding and the families and communities affected,” said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.

“The decision that has been taken is the right one for everyone in the local communities and the F1 family as we need to ensure safety and not create extra burden for the authorities while they deal with this very awful situation.”

The decision followed calls by senior Italian politicians for the race to be postponed so that emergency services could concentrate on the rescue efforts and avoid crowds of spectators on the roads, heading towards the 78,000-capacity circuit. It’s likely that the cancellation will free up thousands of hotel rooms that could be used for evacuated households.

Hosting a race requires significant resources, with 14 ambulances and 70 staff deployed on site at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as well as a large police presence.

Transport Minister Matteo Salvini released a statement saying it was “imperative to concentrate all efforts on coping with the emergency.” He added: “Let’s dedicate ourselves to relief efforts.”

More than 20 rivers in the Emilia-Romagna region, including the Santerno, which runs past the circuit, are reported to have flooded, affecting 37 neighbourhoods, some of which received half the average annual rainfall in 36 hours. Sections of motorway are under water and a bridge has collapsed, along with several houses.

Teams had already begun setting up in the Imola paddock when they were evacuated on Tuesday as heavy rain fell. They will have to assess any damage quickly ahead of the following weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.