Sports
Fury Agrees Terms To Fight Wallin
British former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has agreed terms to fight Sweden’s Otto Wallin.
Fury, 30, looks set to compete in Las Vegas for his second consecutive fight after his impressive stoppage win over Tom Schwarz in June.
The bout has not been officially confirmed but has been slated to take place on 14 September.
Wallin, a 6ft 5in southpaw, has 20 wins, 13 via knockout, and one no contest on his record.
This will be Fury’s second bout on his lucrative contract with ESPN and he will be a heavy favourite against an opponent who has not mixed in the same class.
But managing risk while again showcasing Fury to an American television audience was always likely to be a balance struck given a win could pave the way for a highly lucrative rematch with WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in early 2020.
Former IBF, WBA and WBO world champion Fury is currently in a training camp in Marbella.
Of boxing’s four major global sanctioning bodies, IBF, WBA, WBO and WBC, Wallin is ranked fourth in by the WBA and 11th by the IBF.
His last bout in April was judged a no contest when an accidental first-round head clash with Nick Kisner left the American cut and unable to continue.
The bout in Atlantic City was the first Wallin had contested outside of Europe. Facing Fury in Las Vegas will prove an altogether different spectacle with a dramatic peak in interest and pre-fight media demands.
Fury, who has 28 wins and a draw to his name – was initially expected to have a prompt rematch Wilder following their thrilling draw in Los Angeles in December.
But his decision to sign a multi-fight deal with ESPN left him and Wilder on rival broadcast networks, a move which was expected to complicate negotiations.
Fury told Tidesports source leading up to his Schwarz bout that Wilder no longer responds to his text messages but in the weeks after the bout he stated an agreement was in place for the pair to meet again on 22 February, assuming both come through matches in the interim.
Promoter Bob Arum, whose Top Rank organisation work with Fury in the US, has repeatedly expressed his desire to build the Briton’s profile in the country in the early stages of his ESPN deal, heightening demand and earning potential for any Wilder bout in the process.
Perhaps the person to be most satisfied with the way things have played out will be Fury’s trainer Ben Davison, who oversaw his dramatic 10st weight loss before taking on Wilder first time around.
Davison was one of few voices who said he would prefer Fury did not jump into an immediate rematch with the WBC champion and instead wanted his fighter to work on shaking off ring rust given he had been inactive from November 2015 to June of 2018.
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.