Former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury said Monday he had retired from boxing just weeks after suffering a second straight defeat at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk. “I’m going to make this short and sweet,” the British fighter said in a social media post. “I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing.” “It’s been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it,” added Fury, who has, however, previously quit only to return to the ring. The “Gypsy King”, 36, last fought on December 21 when he lost his rematch against WBA, WBC and WBO champion Usyk in Riyadh.

Asked after the fight whether the public would see him fight again, Fury said: “You might do, you might not do. Who knows?”

Fury enjoyed two stints as heavyweight champion and retires with a record of 34 wins, two defeats and one draw.

He announced he was quitting after beating Dillian Whyte in April 2022 but returned to action later that year.

Frank Warren, who promotes Fury, told the BBC he had not spoken to the boxer prior to his retirement announcement.

“I’ve said all along that there is no way I will be trying in any way to influence him,” Warren said.

“If that what he wants to do, that’s great. He’s done everything he can do. Probably been the best British heavyweight of his generation by far.

“Two-time world champion, two closely fought fights against Usyk. He’s got plenty of money, got his wits about him, got a lovely family. God bless him, enjoy.”

All three judges scored last month’s fight in Saudi Arabia 116-112 in Usyk’s favour.

The Ukrainian won their first fight in May 2024 by split decision.

Fury’s retirement appears to mean he will not take on another former world champion, Anthony Joshua, in a long-anticipated all-British showdown.

Joshua said Saturday that a fight with Fury “has to happen this year”.

And Joshua’s promoter, Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn, said he doubted it was the end of the road for Fury.

“If you haven’t got a heart for it anymore and you don’t want to compete anymore, I think retirement is the best option,” Hearn said.

“Disappointing obviously for British fight fans because we’ve got the chance to make the biggest fight in boxing but if that is the last we see of him, he’s had a great career. I doubt it (is the last time we will see him box).”

Fury became world champion for the first time when he shocked Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, becoming WBA, IBF and WBO champion.

He was then out of the ring for more than two-and-a-half years, during which he tackled mental health issues.

Fury returned to action in 2018 and became a two-time champion by beating Deontay Wilder to claim the WBC belt in 2020 in the second of a trilogy of fights against the American.

He overcame a big scare against converted MMA fighter Francis Ngannou in 2023, before losing twice to Usyk last year.

Reigning champion Shiva Thapa began his title defence with a commanding win over Enayat Khan in welterweight (60-65kg) category at the 8th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship in Bareilly on Thursday. Representing Assam, Thapa, who made history as the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics at 2012 London Games, defeated Enayat 5-0 in his opening bout, setting a strong tone for his campaign. Former world youth champion Sachin Siwach also opened his campaign with an emphatic 5-0 victory for the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) against Akshay, displaying his readiness to compete for top honours.

The second day also witnessed a thrilling opening bout with Devansh Solanki of Rajasthan defeating Uttar Pradesh’s Vikas Singh with a unanimous decision in the flyweight (47-50kg) category.

In the same category, Ashutosh Yadav of Chhattisgarh delivered a dominant Round 1 performance to overcome Gujarat’s Akleem Khan, setting the stage for thrilling action across the day.

Team SSCB reinforced their dominance with victories across multiple categories.

Hitesh Gulia, Deepak, Jugnoo, and Vishal secured wins in the light middleweight, welterweight, cruiserweight, and heavyweight divisions, respectively.

Rajasthan also demonstrated impressive form, with Priyadarshi Singh Ashiya (light middleweight), Pushpendra Singh (cruiserweight), and Harsh Choudhary (heavyweight) all emerging victorious against their opponents.

Nearly 300 boxers, representing state units across India, are competing for supremacy in various weight categories in the week-long event, organised by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Uttar Pradesh Boxing Association.

Representing their respective state units, each team features up to 10 boxers in bouts structured under the World Boxing Technical & Competition Rules, with three three-minute rounds and one-minute rest periods in between rounds. A 10-points-must scoring system is in effect throughout the championship.

Team SSCB (Services), the two-time defending champions, continues to pose a formidable challenge as they aim for their third consecutive title.

File image of Lovlina Borgohain.© AFP

Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury were locked in a bad-tempered face-off for a full 11 minutes on Thursday as preparations for their heavyweight rematch turned serious. Defending champion Usyk and Fury, who suffered his first career defeat to the Ukrainian in May, stared each other down just inches (centimetres) apart and mostly in silence, before the Briton began taunting his rival. Fury, stung by his split-decision loss, has appeared laser-focused during fight week in the Saudi capital as he seeks to hand Usyk his first professional defeat.

“Talking’s been done… I’ve talked and joked all my career,” the stone-faced Fury told the press conference earlier.

“This time I’m serious. I’m going to do some damage here, on Saturday night.”

“I’m going to dish out a whole lot of pain. I’m going to put (Usyk) in the hurt locker, for sure,” added Fury.

Usyk refused to indulge in trash-talk and shrugged off the hoopla of the packed press conference at VIA Riyadh, a swanky mall in the Saudi capital.

“Now we have just a performance, those cameras, lights,” he said, in comments translated by his promoter Alex Krassyuk.

“Everything’s going to take place on Saturday night.”

Usyk, 37, takes a 22-0 record into Saturday’s fight at Kingdom Arena, including six victories since the former undisputed cruiserweight champion stepped up a division.

“Gypsy King” Fury, 36, is 34-1-1 and bidding to avenge his sole career loss suffered seven months ago at the hands of the skilful Usyk.

British media have reported a prize purse of £150 million ($190 million), with Usyk expected to receive the bigger share.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in sport to raise its profile, prompting accusations of “sportswashing”, or using sport to distract from its human rights record.

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Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul date and time: The highly anticipated heavyweight showdown between legendary boxer Mike Tyson and YouTuber Jake Paul will take place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Friday (Nov 15). The professional bout, sanctioned by the Texas Licensing and Regulations Department, was initially scheduled for July 20 but was postponed after Tyson had a medical scare on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on May 26. After receiving medical attention, Tyson was advised to rest and not go ahead with the bout, at least for a few months.

Tyson vs Paul stats

Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs), will be returning to a professional boxing arena after 19 years when Kevin McBride beat him in 2005. Tyson did fight Roy Jones Jr. in 2020 but it was an exhibition match. Tyson became the youngest heavyweight to win a world title at the age of 20 when he defeated Trevor Berbick in 1986 via a second-round TKO.

As for Paul (10-1, 7 KOs), the YouTuber-turned-boxer started professionally fighting in 2020, having mostly fought against former MMA fighters, Paul secured six straight victories to start his boxing career before being beaten by Tommy Fury in February last year.

Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight card

Main card:

• Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul, 8 rounds, heavyweight title
• Title fight: Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano, 10 rounds for Taylor’s undisputed women’s junior welterweight championship
• Neeraj Goyat vs. Whindersson Nunes, 6 rounds, middleweight
• Title fight: Mario Barrios vs. Abel Ramos – WBC welterweight title

Where to watch Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight?

The Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight will not be broadcast on any TV channel. It will be exclusively live-streamed on Netflix which has promoted the fight since it was first announced.

When to watch Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight?

The fight starts at 8 PM ET on November 15 (6:30 am IST on November 16). While the undercards will start at 6:30 am IST, the bout between Tyson and Paul will take place around 9:30 am IST.

What are the rules of the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight?

Owing to the huge age gap between the two participants, a series of rules have been implemented for the standalone fight. Both Tyson and Paul will be mandated to use 14-ounce gloves instead of the regular 10-ounce gloves used by heavyweight pugilists.

The heavier gloves will lessen the power of the punches and also slow down the fighting. Additionally, there will be a total of eight rounds instead of 12 and each round will be only two minutes long not three.

Watch: Boxing Great Mike Tyson Slaps YouTuber Jake Paul During Final Staredown, Video Viral

Tyson slaps Paul

During the weigh-in on Thursday (Nov 14), Tyson slapped his opponent, Paul, as the two squared off against each other. Tyson, who weighed in at 228.4 pounds after stepping onto the scales wearing only a pair of Versace briefs, hit Paul flush on the cheek with his right hand.

“Talking’s over,” Tyson said before making his exit from the stage with members of his entourage.

“I didn’t even feel it — he’s angry. He’s an angry little elf…cute slap buddy,” said Paul, who weighed in at 227.2 pounds.

It wasn’t her day, acknowledged Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen dwelling on her shocking medal-less Olympic campaign but asserted that she would be back stronger with the help of a personal coach that she is currently trying to find. Nikhat, who was a strong medal contender, bowed out of the 50kg women’s boxing competition following an unanimous decision loss to top seed and reigning Asian Games champion Wu Yu of China in the preliminary stage. She was the first of six Indian boxers to qualify for the Olympics, where she made a maiden appearance.

“Nobody is perfect, It was not my day. I was unseeded and had to face a very good boxer in the early rounds. What really hurts was that boxers who I had already defeated (in past competitions) they won medals, that was heartbreaking,” she told PTI Videos.

“But we have to accept the reality and keep going. I don’t want to plan anything, and want to go with the flow. I didn’t have a personal coach,” she added.

Nikhat, a two-time world champion, said she is currently hunting for a personal coach.

“I want a personal coach to train with, I was training at the Inspire Institute for some while. I am trying to find a good coach who can help me become a better boxer. Once I find someone, I will let you know,” she said.

“I want to train abroad because change is always good. After all, internationally I get better practice opportunities as those boxers push me to come out of my comfort zone.

“I will also try to train with different style of boxers, one needs to have the quality to fight different style of boxers on any day,” she added.

Asked the areas that she would try to improve in her game, Nikhat said she would look to “improve on my strength.” Boxing’s Olympic future is hanging by a thread due to the International Boxing Association’s suspension for governance and financial mismanagement related issues. India has broken ranks with IBA to join World Boxing, which has the backing of the International Olympic Committee.

Nikhat said said she is awaiting the weight categories that World Boxing might unveil in the ear future.

“…they might change weight categories. If there is 52kg category, I will be the happiest because that is my most comfortable weight,” she said.

File photos of Taapsee Pannu (left) and Imane Khelif.© Instagram – @Taapsee and @jeuxolympiques

The kind of bullying and abuse Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has been subjected to makes one thing crystal clear: in the age of social media, misinformation is easiest to amplify when it’s rooted in misogyny, transphobia and racism, and amplified by verified, blue-ticked accounts on X. It has also made it clear that trans-hate will eventually come to haunt all women who do not fit traditional, conservative definitions of femininity.

Now that Imane Khelif has refused to take the online abuse in silence and is suing the key amplifiers – J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk – let’s revisit the brutal online hate campaign unleashed against the Olympic gold medallist, all for being a ‘non-feminine’ woman of colour. 

The Prime Purveyors Of Hate

On August 1, after facing Khelif for a whopping 45-second battle, Italian boxer Angela Carini forfeited the match. Later, she would tell the press, “I have never been punched so hard” and shed tears in front of the camera, as anyone would have in her position. However, seeing a white woman cry on television was, of course, too much to bear for champions of women’s rights like author J. K. Rowling, who has had a history of making transphobic comments. Rowling cried foul on X about a “man” punching a woman and about men’s rights activism having gone too far. Even the owner of X, Elon Musk, could not resist chiming in. It’s another story that Musk’s own views about transgender persons are worth some scrutiny and may be best described by his estranged daughter who he refuses to acknowledge.

The Imane Khelif case underlines a hard but unsurprising truth: we are not as progressive in 2024 as we would like to believe. Sure, there are more people today who are accepting of queer rights, gender equality, and just human rights in general, but in the country called the internet, this population is sparse.

Trans Hate Is Misogyny

When two people with a combined following of over 200 million people put out such derogatory posts against a woman, their legions of followers are bound to spew out the same misinformation, often with vile language. But Rowling and Musk’s comments also fanned the fire of deep-rooted transphobia and misogyny that still burns in all stratas of human classes, races, and nationalities. 

Trans hate is just another catalyst for overall misogyny. Groups abound on Reddit and Facebook where people aligned with the Rowling ideology simply attack any female celebrity they don’t think is “woman enough” and must therefore, be a transsexual or transgender; there is a word for this group too, “transvestigators”.  For example, if you like to lift weights and be muscular, then you are not feminine, and hence make for a perfect target for these ‘tranvestigators’. Like sports? Big cars? Not dainty, petite, blonde, and light-eyed enough? Wear too much makeup as if to hide male appearance? Wear too little makeup because you are a man trying to pass off as a ‘sporty woman’? Well, women who exhibit such traits “aren’t women”, according to tranvestigators. 

Coming back to the hate campaign against Khelif. Soon after her win in Paris and its fallout, conservative-leaning media outlets and social media handles started talking about her 2023 disqualification by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for failing a ‘gender eligibility test’. No matter the fact that the IBA itself was questioned by the Olympics for their ‘methods’ and that there have been accusations of corruption as well. The International Olympic Association (IOC) banned the IBA last year over its governance and finance issues, with the Olympic body allowing the boxing competition to be held in Paris. But alas, this grain of truth was buried deep under the rubble of misinformation that flooded the internet. 

A number of questions have been raised amid this storm. “How can ‘he’ be a woman?”, “IBA must have banned ‘him’ for a reason!”, “XY is a man! Only men have Testosterone!”, “He clearly looks like a man. He is built like a man.” 

Let’s try to answer them. 

Man, Woman, Other?

Khelif’s story is very Dangal-like. Indian audiences, if they read her full interview with UNICEF, may relate to the story of a young girl joining a sport that’s dominated by men. But unlike Dangal, she did not have a father ready to fight the world. She fought mostly alone in her childhood, while her family battled poverty to feed their children and sustain the family.

There’s also the fact that Algeria is a deeply religious Islamic country, where being trans may invite a host of legal challenges. If any of the ‘tranvestigators’ like Rowling or Musk followers had bothered to do a simple Google search, they would know Algeria would probably never send a ‘trans’ person to represent their country in the Olympics.  

XX or XY?

Doesn’t matter, honestly. Anyone who has studied genetics and chromosomes can answer this: the set of chromosomes that define sex (not gender) are named so based on their shape. Zoya Fatima, a teacher at Jamia Senior Secondary School, explains that women have two chromosomes shaped like ‘X’, while in men, one of them is shaped like a ‘Y’. “Genetic mutation can cause a foetus with XX to have a Y-shaped chromosome,” she explains, “They can have all female genitalia, even uterus in some cases, but ovaries in almost all cases are non-functional. But they can be mothers via IVF and have normal pregnancies. So it is incorrect to say that all XY automatically classify as male and man.”

If we were to go by the definitions recommended by conservative social media, then millions of women would immediately lose their right to be called a woman for having elevated testosterone levels. While testosterone is considered the ‘male hormone’, women produce it too – many with hormonal disorders, such as PCOS, tend to produce too much of it. Will these conditions void a woman’s right to be called a ‘woman’? 

If we consider science for our definitions, the majority of women with XY or XXY or XXYY chromosomal structures have one common denominator: a non-functional ovary. So that begs the question, is a perfectly functional ovary fundamental for being classified as a ‘woman’? If yes, what about a few thousand women who have ovarian insufficiency? Will they cease to be known as women? 

The Question Of Race

Women of colour who don’t fit conservative definitions of femininity have always had it worse. Barely a day before her match, Khelif’s Hungarian opponent, Luca Hamori, posted an incendiary picture on Instagram that showed Khelif as a ‘beast’. For centuries now, Black women have been mocked for their ‘masculinity’. Not too far in India itself, sprinter Duttee Chand had been on the receiving end of primitive gender tests. “In 2014, I challenged the IOC’s rule that a person with a higher testosterone level should not participate in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. It was noted that hormonal levels cannot increase athletic performance. I suffered a lot at that time. I faced a lot of controversy regarding my gender,” Chand told PTI after the Imane Khelif controversy erupted.

The abuse and attacks Imane Khelif has faced online will be remembered for years to come. The key takeaway is this: misinformation driven by racist, misogynist ideologies often travels much, much faster than the truth. 

(Anwiti Singh is Assistant Producer, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

The kind of bullying and abuse Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has been subjected to makes one thing crystal clear: in the age of social media, misinformation is easiest to amplify when it’s rooted in misogyny, transphobia and racism, and amplified by verified, blue-ticked accounts on X. It has also made it clear that trans-hate will eventually come to haunt all women who do not fit traditional, conservative definitions of femininity.

Now that Imane Khelif has refused to take the online abuse in silence and is suing the key amplifiers – J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk – let’s revisit the brutal online hate campaign unleashed against the Olympic gold medallist, all for being a ‘non-feminine’ woman of colour. 

The Prime Purveyors Of Hate

On August 1, after facing Khelif for a whopping 45-second battle, Italian boxer Angela Carini forfeited the match. Later, she would tell the press, “I have never been punched so hard” and shed tears in front of the camera, as anyone would have in her position. However, seeing a white woman cry on television was, of course, too much to bear for champions of women’s rights like author J. K. Rowling, who has had a history of making transphobic comments. Rowling cried foul on X about a “man” punching a woman and about men’s rights activism having gone too far. Even the owner of X, Elon Musk, could not resist chiming in. It’s another story that Musk’s own views about transgender persons are worth some scrutiny and may be best described by his estranged daughter who he refuses to acknowledge.

The Imane Khelif case underlines a hard but unsurprising truth: we are not as progressive in 2024 as we would like to believe. Sure, there are more people today who are accepting of queer rights, gender equality, and just human rights in general, but in the country called the internet, this population is sparse.

Trans Hate Is Misogyny

When two people with a combined following of over 200 million people put out such derogatory posts against a woman, their legions of followers are bound to spew out the same misinformation, often with vile language. But Rowling and Musk’s comments also fanned the fire of deep-rooted transphobia and misogyny that still burns in all stratas of human classes, races, and nationalities. 

Trans hate is just another catalyst for overall misogyny. Groups abound on Reddit and Facebook where people aligned with the Rowling ideology simply attack any female celebrity they don’t think is “woman enough” and must therefore, be a transsexual or transgender; there is a word for this group too, “transvestigators”.  For example, if you like to lift weights and be muscular, then you are not feminine, and hence make for a perfect target for these ‘tranvestigators’. Like sports? Big cars? Not dainty, petite, blonde, and light-eyed enough? Wear too much makeup as if to hide male appearance? Wear too little makeup because you are a man trying to pass off as a ‘sporty woman’? Well, women who exhibit such traits “aren’t women”, according to tranvestigators. 

Coming back to the hate campaign against Khelif. Soon after her win in Paris and its fallout, conservative-leaning media outlets and social media handles started talking about her 2023 disqualification by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for failing a ‘gender eligibility test’. No matter the fact that the IBA itself was questioned by the Olympics for their ‘methods’ and that there have been accusations of corruption as well. The International Olympic Association (IOC) banned the IBA last year over its governance and finance issues, with the Olympic body allowing the boxing competition to be held in Paris. But alas, this grain of truth was buried deep under the rubble of misinformation that flooded the internet. 

A number of questions have been raised amid this storm. “How can ‘he’ be a woman?”, “IBA must have banned ‘him’ for a reason!”, “XY is a man! Only men have Testosterone!”, “He clearly looks like a man. He is built like a man.” 

Let’s try to answer them. 

Man, Woman, Other?

Khelif’s story is very Dangal-like. Indian audiences, if they read her full interview with UNICEF, may relate to the story of a young girl joining a sport that’s dominated by men. But unlike Dangal, she did not have a father ready to fight the world. She fought mostly alone in her childhood, while her family battled poverty to feed their children and sustain the family.

There’s also the fact that Algeria is a deeply religious Islamic country, where being trans may invite a host of legal challenges. If any of the ‘tranvestigators’ like Rowling or Musk followers had bothered to do a simple Google search, they would know Algeria would probably never send a ‘trans’ person to represent their country in the Olympics.  

XX or XY?

Doesn’t matter, honestly. Anyone who has studied genetics and chromosomes can answer this: the set of chromosomes that define sex (not gender) are named so based on their shape. Zoya Fatima, a teacher at Jamia Senior Secondary School, explains that women have two chromosomes shaped like ‘X’, while in men, one of them is shaped like a ‘Y’. “Genetic mutation can cause a foetus with XX to have a Y-shaped chromosome,” she explains, “They can have all female genitalia, even uterus in some cases, but ovaries in almost all cases are non-functional. But they can be mothers via IVF and have normal pregnancies. So it is incorrect to say that all XY automatically classify as male and man.”

If we were to go by the definitions recommended by conservative social media, then millions of women would immediately lose their right to be called a woman for having elevated testosterone levels. While testosterone is considered the ‘male hormone’, women produce it too – many with hormonal disorders, such as PCOS, tend to produce too much of it. Will these conditions void a woman’s right to be called a ‘woman’? 

If we consider science for our definitions, the majority of women with XY or XXY or XXYY chromosomal structures have one common denominator: a non-functional ovary. So that begs the question, is a perfectly functional ovary fundamental for being classified as a ‘woman’? If yes, what about a few thousand women who have ovarian insufficiency? Will they cease to be known as women? 

The Question Of Race

Women of colour who don’t fit conservative definitions of femininity have always had it worse. Barely a day before her match, Khelif’s Hungarian opponent, Luca Hamori, posted an incendiary picture on Instagram that showed Khelif as a ‘beast’. For centuries now, Black women have been mocked for their ‘masculinity’. Not too far in India itself, sprinter Duttee Chand had been on the receiving end of primitive gender tests. “In 2014, I challenged the IOC’s rule that a person with a higher testosterone level should not participate in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. It was noted that hormonal levels cannot increase athletic performance. I suffered a lot at that time. I faced a lot of controversy regarding my gender,” Chand told PTI after the Imane Khelif controversy erupted.

The abuse and attacks Imane Khelif has faced online will be remembered for years to come. The key takeaway is this: misinformation driven by racist, misogynist ideologies often travels much, much faster than the truth. 

(Anwiti Singh is Assistant Producer, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author