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Saturday, March 31, 2018
EXTRATIME
T
he scales tipped in favour of Britain’s world heavyweight champion as Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker weighed in for their title unifier in Cardiff - with both the unbeaten champions coming in significantly lighter than for their preceding fights. Joshua, at 17 st 4lbs, was down almost 12 lbs from when he beat Carlos Takam last autumn while Parker, coming in at 16 st 12 lbs, has shed almost 9 lbs since defeating Hughie Fury. Joshua looked magnificent and says he feels it: ‘Taking that bit of weight off makes this fight a little easier.’ Parker was accompanied by New Zealand Haka dancers and Samoan singers. Joshua marched in to a Guards band leading the crowd in ‘Oh, Anthony Joshua.’ The fascination with Joshua keeps growing. No fewer than 215 countries around the world are taking live TV transmission of the fight, led by Sky in Britain and Showtime in the US. In Cardiff almost 4,000 paid £1 a head to watch the weigh-in, with the proceeds going to a fund for Scott Westgarth, the latest British boxer to die from brain damage. After successfully weighing-in and taking
Anthony Joshua weighed in a stone lighter than his last fight at the Motorpoint Arena on Friday
After weighing in the pair locked eyes for the final time before meeting in the ring on today
Ahead of tonight’s fight
Joshua weighs almost half a stone heavier than Parker part in the ceremonial final stare down with Parker before he meets him in the ring on Saturday, the opportunity ‘to create history’ - as Joshua put it - seem to hit home. ‘When I go back years ago and watch boxing you see fighters drop to their knees crying when they win world titles and I have never really done that,’ Joshua said. ‘But I think this will be a real emotional time as we are creating history. If I secure this win we are
on to make history late 2018.’ The undefeated WBO champion Parker stands in his way with the same goal of taking a huge step towards becoming the undisputed champion of boxing’s grandest division by winning on Saturday. Judging from the look on Parker’s face when the pair locked eyes for the final time, he is confident and ready to do exactly that. Despite being the overwhelming favourite, Joshua is wise enough to
respect Parker and praised him for coming into the fight in ‘good’ condition like a true champion. The 28-year-old, who has won all his 20 professional contests by knock out, refused to make a final prediction but promised that there ‘will be blood’. Nothing more can be done now. On Saturday, there will be one unified heavyweight champion, either hailing from Britain or from New Zealand.
Joseph Parker came in nearly half a stone lighter than the WBA and IBF champion at 16 st 12 lb
Gomez’s must appear in World Cup - Klopp J oe Gomez’s hopes of reaching the World Cup remain alive after Jurgen Klopp revealed the ankle injury he sustained playing for England will not end his season. The Liverpool right back was forced off after 10 minutes of last Friday’s 1-0 win over Holland and there were fears that his campaign would be over. He was sent back to Merseyside, rather than staying with England, and underwent scans to ascertain the damage. Though Klopp estimates Gomez will miss the next ‘three to four weeks’ – ruling him out of Premier League games against Crystal Palace, Everton and Bournemouth, plus the Champions League quarter-final with Manchester City – he expected the 20-year-old to be ready for action by the end of April. In the meantime, Gomez’s absence will be offset by the return to the squad of Nathaniel Clyne – he has not played since the first friendly of pre-season on July 12 – and Liverpool’s manager was happy to give an upbeat assessment about both players. ‘The good news about Joe Gomez is that it could have been everything,’ said Klopp. ‘But from the bad news we could have got the best is it is serious enough to leave him out for
Joe Gomez was forced off through injury just 10 minutes into England’s 1-0 win over Holland
a couple of games but not for the rest of the season. ‘So it’s difficult to give a time schedule for that but we hope he is back in training in three or four
weeks. That will give us the option to use him and play. But Clyney is fine now. That’s good. He played during the international break for the U23s. He’s in good shape so he
will be part of the squad for tomorrow at least. ‘That’s good for us because we cannot have enough players. It’s not easy for players when they
play come back from injuries. Clyne played pretty much all the time and then he had this injury and was away for a while. ‘But now he is back and that’s
good, and with the expectations for the England squad I cannot think too much about it. What I can guarantee is we make them all as fit as possible and they can make the choice. Yes, we have three of the most interesting fullbacks in our squad. That’s nice for us. But they cannot play altogether, maybe two of them.’ Liverpool face Crystal Palace on Saturday, aiming to tighten their grip on a place in the top four. They are seeking to secure back-to-back Champions League qualification for the first time since 2009. The game against City on Wednesday is dominating but Klopp has made it clear where priorities lie. ‘Crystal Palace this weekend,’ said Klopp. ‘City will be very important then, but not at the moment. No balance. We play Crystal Palace with all we have, with all intensity, with all concentration. ‘For a player or manager of Liverpool, everything is at least about qualification for the Champions League. Both games are about qualifications for the Champions League -- one is for next and one is for this year. That’s the only difference. They have the same importance, [so] no difference for us.’