The Opening Bell Matt Christie and Alex Steedman

In a special bonus podcast we examine the rematch between Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall.
It’s been two years since boxing fans lost their minds over the decision of fight one when Taylor, despite being dropped and outworked, won on a split vote.
We examine what’s happened since, where each of the fighters are now compared to where they were, and who is the likeliest winner.
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Four days have passed since Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury to become the ‘undisputed’ heavyweight champion.
The magic of that victory and occasion still fills the air in the boxing world but, already, one of the sanctioning bodies is hinting that Usyk might be stripped.
Which begs the question: What really is the point of those sanctioning bodies?
We take a deep dive into the fight, re-examine the scoring, the momentum swings, the voices in Fury’s ear and wonder if a rematch is really the best idea.
In This Week, we go back to 1981 and a fight when Wilfred Benitez scored one of the greatest KOs against Maurice Hope.
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Oleksandr Usyk last night scaled the highest of mountains when he defeated Tyson Fury in a truly great contest to become the one and only king at heavyweight.
Here, at The Opening Bell, it’s the morning after the night before and through bleary eyes we attempt to make sense of what we witnessed.
The momentum shifts, the intelligence, the sheer excitement and incredible skill level combined to create a contest that somehow exceeded all expectations.
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Happy Sunday, folks.
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Pinch yourself folks, it’s here. Or at least we hope it is! Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are at last mere days away from deciding the best heavyweight on the planet and, cor blimey, are we excited.
Let’s try and forget the problems that piled up to make us wait 25 years for a fight like this and ignore, if we can, the idiotic actions of John Fury and his bloody noggin. Because this is all about the fight, the occasion, what it means to the sport and, at this stage, predicting a winner.
Given this is widely viewed as a 50/50 fight, it should be no surprise that Alex Steedman and Matt Christie have a difference of opinion when it comes to who will have their arms raised. Which means one of us will be right, right? Not necessarily given the dreaded draw has been known to gatecrash the biggest of fights.
We also have time to revel in the brilliance of 36-year-old Vasily Lomachenko and, in This Week, we focus on one of the most stunning moments in history. It occurred when one left hand from Antonio Tarver forever removed the superpowers from Roy Jones Jr.
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Go well, one and all.
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What a week it was for the sport of boxing. It had a bit of everything that we’ve come to expect in this incredible sport. From masterful showings by Naoya Inoue and Canelo Alvarez to Ryan Garcia failing a drug test after sucking on some tree bark capsules, it certainly gave us plenty to talk about.
 
The performances of Canelo and Inoue take centre stage following their respective victories over Jaime Munguia and Luis Nery. Both were impressive for different reasons.
 
Garcia’s failed test(s) reminded us not to get too giddy with the state of boxing today. We dip into that story for about as long as we can stand it.
 
There’s the latest Vasily Lomachenko fight to preview – George Kambosos surely has no chance, right? - and in This Week In History we relive the violence that occurred when Julian Jackson and Gerald McClellan had a memorable ‘who can hit the hardest’ competition back in 1993.
 
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WELCOME you lovely people! Thank you for joining us as The Opening Bell flies the nest to go it alone. Your company is hugely appreciated.
It’s fight week in Las Vegas where Jaime Munguia is the latest fighter to try to prove that Canelo Alvarez has seen better days. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Naoya Inoue is readying himself for Luis Nery. What a few days approaching!
Meanwhile, the Texas commission have decided to give a boxing licence to 57-year-old Mike Tyson. What’s all that about?
Finally, we remember the bout between Paul Ingle and Junior Jones in This Week In History.
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