When Jake Paul and Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. meet on Saturday in California, Julio Chavez Sr. predicts that his son will leave him “like a chicken without a head.”
In a 10-round cruiserweight fight at the Honda Center will Paul, 28, take on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, 39.
Chavez Jr., the son of a legendary Mexican fighter, won eight of his last 13 fights, earning him a middleweight title, but he has endured a turbulent past.
A “title run” will be started by Paul and Chavez Jr., but Sr ridiculed the American at a Thursday press conference.
In reference to Paul’s drab fight against 58-year-old Mike Tyson in November, he said, “Jake Paul just fought against Mike Tyson, who didn’t even throw one punch.”
“This is not Mike Tyson,” he said. You’re going to get your femur shot by [Jake].
You’re going to be running like a chicken without a head, Julio says, “and he’s going to go in throwing some serious punches.”
Losing to UFC legend and 46-year-old Anderson Silva in 2021 was one of Chavez Jr’s last three fights, with the latter having taken place against former UFC fighters.
Chavez Jr.’s 62-fight career has been plagued by weight issues and addiction issues, and he has only won three fights since 2021.
Chavez Jr. disagreed, though Paul called himself a “great boxer.”
No, I don’t believe he’s any good. He said, “I believe he tries, he trains hard, but he’s not a good fighter.” Without a doubt, he isn’t a good boxer.
Amari Williams, a British player, was chosen with the 46th overall pick and chosen by the Boston Celtics to join the NBA.
Tosan Evbuomwan, the Brooklyn Nets’ forward, and OG Anunoby of the New York Knicks, the 23-year-old becomes the third English-born active player in the NBA.
Williams was born in Nottingham, moving to the United States to study at Drexel University and the University of Kentucky before enrolling at Myerscough College in Lancashire.
The 7-foot center was named CAA Defensive Player of the Year three times during his five-year college career with the Drexel Dragons.
Chris Harris, who played for the St. Louis Hawks and Rochester Royals in 1955-56, was the first NBA player to play for the team of British descent.
Jeremy Sochan, the San Antonio Spurs star, was born and raised in the United States, and has played for a number of English clubs, most notably Southampton’s Solent Kestrels.
The Celtics, who are the most successful team in NBA history with 18 championships, now have some much-needed front-court depth.
The former owner of Rangers, Sir David Murray, has apologised to fans for his part in the financial calamity that befell the club more than a decade ago.
Sir David, who sold the Ibrox side for £1 to businessman Craig Whyte, presided over Ibrox when the club gave £47m in tax-free loans to players and staff between 2001 and 2010.
Under Mr Whyte’s ownership the Rangers business went into liquidation in 2012 – a year after the sale.
“Of course I’d apologise,” he said. “I’m not one of these people who run a company and hide.
“It was a terrible moment, and I apologise to all the staff, good people, and I know many of them to this day.
What were the facts?
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What was known as the “big tax case” centred on the club’s use of Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs).
EBTs, which were also used by other clubs, enabled Rangers to pay £47m to players, managers and directors between 2001 and 2010 in tax-free loans.
HMRC argued the payments were earnings and should be taxable.
Two tribunals in 2012 and 2014 had previously found in Rangers’ favour but the Supreme Court ruled in favour of HMRC after an appeal in 2015.
The case unfolded against a backdrop of financial meltdown for Rangers.
Years later, Mr Whyte was charged and cleared of taking over the club by fraud.
A court heard that his takeover of Rangers was sealed with a pound coin being tossed across a table in Sir David’s office.
At the time, Mr Whyte had agreed to take on obligations which included paying an £18m bank debt and £5m for players.
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Challenged on whether it was morally acceptable to deprive the NHS and other public services of funds so millionaire footballers could pay less tax, Sir David replied: “They didn’t do anything illegal.”
“Footballers are getting paid too much. Not just at Rangers, everywhere,” he went on, adding: “It’s avoidance. People do that.”
Sir David denied that the trophies Rangers had won in this period were tainted by the tax arrangements and also denied that the scheme amounted to buying success, or financial doping.
Sectarianism, steel and Sir Sean Connery
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Sir David made his name in the steel industry, forming the company Murray International Metals Limited by the age of 23.
In 1988, he purchased Rangers for £6m and went on to see the club win 15 league championships and 20 domestic Cups.
He and manager Graeme Souness signed the club’s first high-profile Catholic player since World War Two – Mo Johnston, who previously played for Celtic – in 1989.
Reflecting on sectarian tensions in Glasgow, which he described in his book as “vitriol”, Sir David said the continued singing of sectarian songs at Ibrox was not acceptable.
“There’s no place for that in society,” he said. “I don’t think it’s right and I’ve said that and I lost some of the support of the Rangers fans by saying that.”
He also told BBC Scotland News about a business proposal offered to him by media mogul Robert Maxwell in a phone call one day.
Murray told BBC Scotland News: “He said I am thinking of buying Celtic, we could put Rangers and Celtic together as one and they would be a big force.
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The businessman also called for an inquiry into the Scottish government’s involvement in the sale of two steel processing plants in Lanarkshire to the tycoon Sanjeev Gupta.
The sale was backed by a £7m support package from the Scottish government.
Sir David claims ministers rejected his rival bid to purchase the business because it was potentially incompatible with state aid rules, and criticised Mr Gupta’s management of Liberty Steel in the years since.
The Scottish government it had “acted quickly” to support the transaction, adding: “This intervention sustained over 100 jobs at Dalzell and retained steelmaking capacity in Scotland.”
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Elsewhere in his book, Sir David describes in detail the car accident in 1976 that led to his legs being amputated at the age of 24, a year after founding his metals business.
On the way home from a game of rugby in his fibreglass Lotus, a tyre blowout sent him off the road and into a tree.
Sir David described how fellow rugby players stopped to help him, using their ties as tourniquets before he was taken to hospital for life-saving surgery.
“None of us know how tough we are until the time we find out how tough we are,” he said.
“I had a young son of several months old and a boy of two. I’d a young wife. My father had just passed away. I could only go one way. I couldn’t fail. I have a responsibility,” he added.
Another chapter in the autobiography is dedicated to Sir Sean Connery, who was a close friend of Sir David’s.
The book describes how the pair travelled to Dunblane in the aftermath of the murder of 16 children and their teacher in the Scottish town on 13 March 1996.
“It was after the terrible news up there that Sean wanted to visit it. And I took him up with some flowers, and quietly he stood for a minute and put some flowers at the school gates. A very difficult moment,” said Sir David.
Fighters are set to receive compensation payments ranging from $100,000 to more than $1m from the UFC’s antitrust lawsuit settlement, according to the law firm handling the case.
In October, the UFC agreed to pay £281m to former fighters who competed in the MMA promotion between 2010 and 2017.
The lawsuit claimed the UFC supressed athletes’ ability to negotiate other promotional options and estimate 1,100 fighters were affected.
Of that total figure, 97% of them have applied to receive funds from the settlement, Berger Montague announced.
“It is anticipated that 35 fighters would net over $1m (£727,755); nearly 100 fighters would net over $500,000 (£364,000); more than 200 fighters would recover over $250,000 (£182,000); and over 500 fighters would net in excess of $100,000 (£73,000),” a statement said.
The UFC are in the midst of another antitrust lawsuit, Johnson v. Zuffa, led by more of their former athletes.
Fighters from 2017 to the present day are seeking damages and a change to the UFC’s business practices, including the contracts they insist on.
The antitrust lawsuits had sought up to $1.6bn (£1.25bn) in damages.
The UFC merged with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) in 2023 to form the TKO Group.
The UFC’s international fight week is currently under way in Las Vegas, with Ilia Topuria fighting Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight title at the T-Mobile Arena.
