Root and Stokes grind down weary India to stretch lead beyond 100

BIG Joe Joyce returns to the ring tonight at Wembley Arena in what has all the makings of a shootout against Carlos Takam.
At a time when England finds itself blessed with an abundance of world-class heavyweights, Joyce has found himself the victim of being grievously underappreciated. The 35-year-old, having only turned pro in 2017, has already racked up an impressive record of 12 wins in 12 fights with 11 victories by KO. In his last fight he forced the much-fancied prospect Daniel Dubois to retire with a fractured orbital, and is now knocking on the door of a world-title shot.
Takam is now all who stands between Joyce and that title shot in the form of a mandatory slot with the WBO, which would place him in line to face either Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk depending on which of the two emerges victorious when they meet on September 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Mary Kom’s fists made history in the boxing world. Malak Mesleh’s never got the chance. One story ends in glory, the other in grief — but both highlight the defiance of women who dare to fight, writes JOHN WIGHT

The Khelif gender row shows no sign of being resolved to the satisfaction of anyone involved anytime soon, says boxing writer JOHN WIGHT

When Patterson and Liston met in the ring in 1962, it was more than a title bout — it was a collision of two black archetypes shaped by white America’s fears and fantasies, writes JOHN WIGHT

In the land of white supremacy, colonialism and the foul legacy of the KKK, JOHN WIGHT knows that to resist the fascism unleashed by Trump is to do God’s work