Joseph Parker: Last News

Louis Greene gets the chance to put his name back in the mix for top titles on the biggest stage of all.

BILBAO, Spain: On a “mission” in Spain, Palestinian national team coach Ehab Abu Jazar and his players will play symbolic friendlies against the Basque Country and Catalan national teams in the hopes of working toward safety and freedom for their people. Dressed in a black tracksuit, whistle in mouth, Palestinian coach Abu Jazar leads the team’s training session with authority at Lezama, Athletic Bilbao’s training ground on Friday. On one of the pitches offered by the top-flight club he tries to prepare his players as best he can for what will be much more than just a match at the grand San Mames stadium, in front of 50,000 spectators supporting the Palestinian cause on Saturday. As seen during the pro-Palestinian protests that heavily affected cycling’s Vuelta a Espana Grand Tour this summer, there is heavy support for them in the region as they play their first match in Europe. They are 98th in the FIFA rankings, and their dream of playing in their first World Cup vanished this summer in the third round of the Asian qualifiers. Abu Jazar has lost many family members to the Israel-Hamas war and some of his relatives are still at risk, a situation always present in his thoughts. “I am from the Gaza Strip, from a large family in the Gaza Strip. We have almost 200 martyrs from the family.

LONDON: Former heavyweight champion Joseph Parker denied taking any prohibited substance and said his failed drug test from last month’s loss to Fabio Wardley was “a real surprise.” The New Zealander’s voluntary anti-doping test conducted on the day of the bout returned an adverse finding, promotions company Queensberry announced on Friday. Wardley stopped Parker in the 11th round at the O2 Arena in London on Oct. 25 in a fight to determine who would become the WBO mandatory challenger to undisputed world champion Oleksandr Usyk. “Before my recent fight I took a voluntary test and have now been informed that it returned an adverse result.

Undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has warned Jake Paul he would be “waiting in the cage” if the YouTuber-turned-boxer had the courage to face him once the Ukrainian eventually retires from the ring.

The WBO has ordered negotiations for a bout between its interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and the unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, the ruling body said on Thursday.

LONDON: Tyson Fury says Oleksandr Usyk “knows” he is the only fighter who can beat him after the Ukrainian crushed Daniel Dubois to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion. Usyk produced an emphatic fifth-round finish against his British opponent at Wembley on Saturday to reclaim the IBF title, further cementing his status as one of boxing’s all-time greats. The undefeated 38-year-old added the IBF belt to his WBC, WBA and WBO belts when he beat Fury by split decision in Riyadh in May last year before he was forced to vacate his IBF title. The British boxer retired after he lost to Usyk, again in Saudi Arabia, by unanimous decision in December, but he signaled his intention to return to the ring earlier this month. The “Gypsy King” has angrily questioned the two defeats and remains confident he can get the better of Usyk. Fury, 36, posted a video of himself on his Instagram account during a run, which was laden with expletives. “Massive shout-out to Oleksandr Usyk, he said. “He did a fantastic performance tonight over Daniel Dubois, a good, young, game lad who came for a good tear-up, so congratulations to both men but Oleksandr Usyk knows there is only one man who can beat him.” “I did it twice before and the world knows it ... I took it like a man.” He added: “No matter what anyone wants to say, I won ...

LOS ANGELES; The Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics became the latest teams to book their places in the second round of the NBA playoffs on Tuesday as the Detroit Pistons thwarted the New York Knicks to keep their postseason hopes alive.

SEOUL: Former world No. 1 Jon Rahm said Wednesday he had not done himself “any favors” in his winless start to the season ahead of LIV Golf’s South Korea debut.

LONDON: Paris Saint-Germain seized the advantage in their Champions League semifinal against Arsenal as Ousmane Dembele sealed a 1-0 win in the first leg on Tuesday. Dembele struck in the opening minutes at the Emirates Stadium and Luis Enrique’s side held on to the lead with a composed display that kept Arsenal at bay. PSG will head into the second leg at the Parc des Princes on May 7 as favorites to reach the final against Barcelona or Inter Milan as they look to win the tournament for the first time. But the French champions should take nothing for granted given their history of epic European collapses. Arsenal’s first defeat in 18 home European matches was a painful blow to their own bid to win a first Champions League crown. Mikel Arteta had labelled Arsenal’s run to the semifinals a “beautiful story.” The last chapter might make for frustrating reading, but they aren’t dead and buried just yet. The Gunners had beaten holders Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate to reach their first Champions League semifinal since losing to Manchester United in 2009. They could not replicate the swaggering display that blew Madrid away 3-0 in the first leg, despite a frenzied atmosphere as kick-off approached. When Arsenal’s players gathered for a pre-match huddle in the tunnel, Declan Rice implored his team-mates to give everything as he roared “if we don’t have the ball we die.” A video message from Arteta played on the Emirates screens struck a similarly rousing chord as the Spaniard urged fans to raise the roof. But PSG had already eliminated Premier League champions Liverpool in the last 16 and Aston Villa in the quarter-finals, after coming back from two goals down to beat Manchester City in the league phase. Arsenal were the one