Thea Frodin, of the United States, left, greets Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, after Rybakina won their match during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
NEW YORK — Thea Frodin once had to hit like Serena Williams in a movie. On Tuesday at the U.S. Open, she showed some pretty good power of her own in real life.
The 17-year-old from California lost to No. 2 Elena Rybakina 6-3, 6-2 while playing her first WTA Tour match in a Grand Slam tournament.
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Frodin fired 11 aces, nearly doubling up one of the best servers in women’s tennis. She said her movie role in which she had to swing like Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, doesn’t mean she feels pressure to show extra pop off the racket.
“I feel I have always been an aggressive player. That’s always been kind of my game, just to be aggressive,” the 6-foot Frodin said. “Obviously my height gives me the chance to serve bigger.”
In the 2021 film “King Richard,” Frodin was the body double for actor Demi Singleton, who played the younger Williams sister. Frodin earned the opportunity to audition after winning singles, doubles and mixed doubles sectional titles at the 10-and-under level in California and then spent six months working on set.
Will Smith won an Oscar for his performance as Richard Williams, father to Serena and her sister, Venus. Frodin hasn’t met the sisters yet but said she noticed that Smith reposted one of her social media posts.
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Thea Frodin, of the United States, serves the ball to Elena Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Frodin played her way into the U.S. Open by winning the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships to earn a wild card. She quickly gained more attention than that type of player usually gets because of her “King Richard” experience, but thought she handled that well.
“I mean, I think it’s hard to get away from all of that. It’s kind of just about accepting it and not letting it get to you,” Frodin said. “I feel like I did a good job of that.”
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With fans in the Grandstand chanting her name, Frodin fired consecutive aces after facing match point trailing 5-1, then hit another to erase a third match point Rybakina had earned and eventually held serve. Rybakina finally finished the match on her fourth try by hitting her sixth ace.
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Rybakina didn’t know much about Frodin the player, but said during their scouting her team became aware of her Williams’ role.
“I think that she has great shots, and especially serve,” Rybakina said. “She has this powerful game, which is I think great and it’s just a matter of experience, be more stable, playing matches. But she has the game. She can be quite dangerous with these kind of shots.”
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Rybakina is guaranteed to take the No. 1 ranking from Aryna Sabalenka if she reaches the semifinals, or if the two-time defending champion doesn’t win the tournament.
Frodin said playing someone with Rybakina’s skills made it hard for her to show her normal aggressive style. Still in high school, she plans to return to junior tennis for now but hopes to have another chance at the top level.
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“I think it was a fun experience to kind of see how the best players in the world, how they hit their balls and their shots,” Frodin said. “Hopefully the next time I meet her, if I do, I can be more experienced and see what I can do.”
Alexandra Eala, of the Philippines, reacts during her match against Mary Stoiana, of the United States, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
There has been a lot of discussion about Alex Eala online—and the talk about her has been so polarizing.
Amid the love and adoration she has been getting, there have been questions, too, about why she gets all the attention, the big courts and a lot more perks than the many-time Grand Slam champions on the women’s tour.
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The postmatch conference after she disposed of Mary Stoiana in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, in her first match at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, provided a clue—the same one that has marked her interactions with sports journalists.
A lot of the questions she was asked were about Alex Eala the person.
“I’m constantly trying to be a better person, a more intelligent, more aware person,” she said on Wednesday (Manila time) after her victory.
“And yeah, [I’m trying to] be the best version of myself,” added the Filipino star when asked about being an idol for a lot of young girls. “And I don’t think my tennis would be as good as it is now if I wasn’t the person that I am off the court and I wasn’t as open-minded or, you know, eager to learn. So I think those two go hand in hand.”
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Sure, Eala fielded questions about her tennis. Early on, she discussed her service game against Stoiana.
“[L]ike I’ve been saying, the serve is just a constant effort … it’s constant work and trying to improve,” she said about the one facet of her game that always comes under intense scrutiny. “I’m always trying to improve something. So I’m happy with how I served today. Hopefully, hopefully we’re going up or maintaining the level in the next couple of matches.”
She also talked briefly about her next opponent, Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine, who beat her on clay during their first meeting last May in the Strasbourg Open in France.
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“There are a lot of things that I could have done better [against her],” the world No. 18 said. “I think I’ve developed a lot in those months. So yeah, all I can do is go into that match with the same mindset as today … or even better than the mindset I’ve been having these past couple of weeks, and try to do my best.”
But even as the tennis talk continued, there was a palpable effort by journalists to peel away the layers of Eala’s mystique in an effort to find what exactly makes her click among her fans and how she handles the rapid rise of her popularity. “I’m still so young, so I have so much to learn when it comes to managing, you know, there’s so much I feel I’m going to experience and so many challenges I’ve yet to encounter,” said the 21-year-old ace. “I don’t know, it feels like just yesterday that I was dreaming to be on [the Louis] Armstrong [Stadium], for example, or dreaming to play against the players that I’ve been playing against.”
“I just think it would be such a shame if I didn’t do my best to enjoy.”
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Eala returns to the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center on Thursday for her second match, where she is expected to have another strong crowd support as she did against Stoiana.
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And Eala will never get tired of basking in the love she is shown, no matter what opinions people have online.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy throws during first-half action against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. On Dec. 14, 2025, McCarthy continued his first season as Minnesota’s starting quarterback while facing another playoff contender on the road. The young passer remained one of the franchise’s most closely watched players. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images.
Does Nolan Teasley think that J.J. McCarthy is going to be on the Vikings’ roster in Week 1? His answer: “I do.”
A man of few words.
Earlier today, the Vikings’ GM chatted with the Minnesota media. Doing so allowed the newcomer in the front office to peel back the curtain on identifying talent, his view on the importance of the practice squad, and the impact of the young fellas. So, too, did get hit with several questions about the Vikings’ passer situation.
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The Vikings’ GM is Direct Yet Vague on J.J. McCarthy
In his debut preseason game back in 2024, J.J. McCarthy shined. It’s been downhill since.
After that Raiders game in August of 2024, McCarthy discovered he had a season-ending knee injury. He then recovered and became the full-time starter in 2025. His issues, though, were multiple. Most prominently, McCarthy has various other ailments come up. Worse yet, his on-field play was poor, to say the least. Part of what made all of that extra painful is that Sam Darnold led Seattle to the Super Bowl.
Minnesota responded in a few ways. For starters, the GM who drafted J.J. McCarthy — Kwesi Adofo-Mensah — got canned. The fill-in GM — cap wizard Rob Brzezinski — then signed Kyler Murray for a mere $1.3 million. Murray has been the starter for several weeks now. He’ll be given every opportunity to fully solidify the Vikings’ QB1 job for the 2026 season and onward from there.
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Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy drops back and delivers a first-quarter throw at U.S. Bank Stadium, Jan 4, 2026, in Minneapolis against the Green Bay Packers. The snapshot captured McCarthy operating within the structure of the offense early, as Minnesota looked to establish rhythm and tempo during a high-stakes divisional matchup. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images.
Where does that leave J.J. McCarthy? That’s reasonably uncertain.
Mr. Teasley isn’t nearly as chatty as his predecessor. Nor, for that matter, is he anywhere as close to as talkative as Kevin O’Connell. Maybe that’s a good thing even if it makes the media’s job a little more difficult.
How does he understand McCarthy’s job? “To continue to develop, to improve, and to support his teammates.”
Does the Vikings’ GM think that McCarthy is going to be on the roster in Week 1? “I do.”
Is he the main backup? “I wouldn’t really necessarily comment on depth.”
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Is McCarthy healthy? “He’s practiced fully the last two days.”
Have teams been calling about trading for McCarthy? “That’s something I’ll probably keep internal. We get calls all the time.”
Teasley, in short, knows how to keep his answers short. In a lot of these moments, he offered some more words but not a ton that is too revealing. In fact, Teasley’s final answer was about the passer, noting that “he has the hardest job in sport, he’s only started ten games, and his story is not written.”
Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) delivers a pass during first-quarter action against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 16, 2025 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. McCarthy stepped into his throw early in the divisional matchup as the offense opened its game plan. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images.
Getting Nolan Teasley to offer a bold, juicy quote isn’t going to be easy. His tendency appears to involve being restrained in his optimism while being avoidant with some political answers.
Best guess on this end of the internet is that McCarthy will be the top backup rolling into Week 1. But, to be sure, reasonable minds can disagree on that take. Carson Wentz is a rock-solid, tough game manager who has a history of playing strong football. Better yet, the veteran arm has a nice rapport with Justin Jefferson, so there’s something to be said for bumping the veteran up to that QB2 role.
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Kevin O’Connell is going to get the final call on the passer hierarchy. He wasn’t available to the media alongside Teasley.
When the Austrian women’s national ice hockey team took to the ice in the Women’s European Cup of Nations in Slovakia in August, they did so without 11 of their top players.
Captain Anna Meixner and the rest of her team were frustrated that the Austrian Ice Hockey Association (ÖEHV) still hadn’t responded to a list of grievances outlined in a letter to the organization last March. Meixner stresses that the players only went public with their complaints as something of a last resort.
Among the nine complaints on their list of demands were the standard of accommodation, having to change in unheated dressing rooms in the winter and not being paid per diems during training camps and international tournaments. They also said they had to make do with hand-me-down equipment from the men’s team.
“We really tried to respect the federation (ÖEHV) and we really tried to solve it from within, without outside noise,” Meixner told DW in a Zoom interview on Wednesday.
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“So we had been fighting for four or five months without going out to the newspapers. But when we realized that nothing had changed, we had to take the next step.”
“The final straw, if you want to call it that, was a camp last February. It was the no-heater-in-the-locker-room situation,” said the 32-year-old forward, who, after two seasons in North America’s PWHL (Professional Women’s Hockey League) with the Ottawa Charge and Vancouver Goldeneyes, is returning to her previous team, Swedish outfit Brynas, for 2026-27.
“Here were people that had been sitting on a train for 14 hours, who didn’t get food when they arrived. We had to go on the ice straight away. So, I think that was when it really became clear to us that enough is enough.”
Fighting for future generations of women in hockey
Meixner also stressed that their aim was primarily to improve things for the women’s national team in the longer term.
“We have this older generation right now and we’re not going to play for the national team forever. We really felt it’s time to give the next generation everything that we didn’t have over the last 10 to 15 years. We brought it up with the team and everybody was on board right away.”
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To rachet up the pressure on the ÖEHV, the players also threatened to boycott the Women’s Ice Hockey World Championship in Denmark in November ― a significant moment, as this is the first time Austria have qualified for the top IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) tournament.
Austrian captain Anna Meixner (94) played most of her two seasons in the PWHL for the Ottawa ChargeImage: Justin Tang/ZUMA/IMAGO
“Going to the newspapers,” as Meixner put it, seems to have worked.
In a press release following last month’s tournament in Slovakia, in which Austria came second out of the four teams, the ÖEHV said it had taken the opportunity to hold “constructive conversations” with the players.
Now, Meixner appears cautiously optimistic.
Demands starting to be met
“We have gotten some answers from the federation and we are just in the process of going over everything. But now, we’re happy about the direction things seem to be moving in,” said Meixner, who added that the players and federation were finally speaking on an equal footing.
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“It feels like they [the ÖEHV] actually want to change something. If it stays that way, I’m sure we can figure something out and make it work. Because obviously the last thing we want to do is to miss the World Championship.”
Indeed, in a letter to the team sent on August 31, the ÖEHV responded to each of their nine demands outlining specific steps that had either already been implemented or were in the works.
These include a pledge to implement “clear regulations regarding per diems/remuneration and the timely payment of bonuses and travel expenses,” to provide “adequate accommodation and reliable, needs-based catering” for training camps, “adequate cabin and gym facilities” as well as “sufficient time for travel and recovery.”
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Battling for ‘bare minimums’
It also notes that it would seek a “teamwear solution” as part of a new contract with the association’s equipment provider.
While this all seems promising, Meixner still finds it frustrating that in 2026, she and her teammates have had to battle so hard for what she termed “bare minimums.”
At the same time though, she said that if the players and the ÖEHV do actually manage to put aside their dispute, it will be bigger than everything she has achieved on the ice ― including winning the tournament in China last year that put Austria through to a first Women’s Ice Hockey Championship.
“I’m unbelievably proud of us for staying hard at it for many months. There are so many girls from other nations reaching out saying, ‘you know what? It’s great that you’re doing that and we should do the same,’” she said.
“We’ve heard the men’s team stepping up, cheering for us. I think this is bigger than hockey. Hopefully this will be a big step for Austrian women’s sports and Austrian women in general.”
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Unless an unforeseen hitch arises over the next few weeks, Austria will open their first-ever World Championship campaign against Czechia in Esbjerg, Denmark on November 6.
Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) champions Edo Queens have reached the final of the WAFU-B CAF Women’s Champions League qualifying tournament in impressive fashion.
Edo Queens secured their place in the final after recording a convincing 5-1 victory over Burkina Faso’s USFA FC in Ouagadougou on Wednesday.
The Nigerian champions controlled the game and produced a strong attacking display to comfortably defeat their Burkinabè opponents.
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The big win keeps Edo Queens’ hopes of reaching the CAF Women’s Champions League alive and further shows their strength as the reigning NWFL champions.
Edo Queens have continued to prove themselves as one of the leading women’s clubs in the WAFU-B region.
They will now turn their attention to the qualifying final, where they will fight for the regional ticket to the CAF Women’s Champions League.
Scottie Scheffler won the Tour Championship on Sunday at East Lake, earning $10 million in the process and adding that to the pile of money ($23 million) he won a week earlier by taking the top spot in the FedEx Cup bonus pool.
He didn’t win a major this year — the first time in the last three seasons he failed to win one — but his two-wins-in-three-starts tear in the playoffs made him the front-runner for PGA Tour Player of the Year yet again.
On this week’s Subpar podcast, hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz discussed what might be Scheffler’s game’s most impressive feature: his incredible consistency.
“The guy doesn’t play bad,” said Knost, who referenced a Kyle Porter tweet that mentioned Scheffler has 58 top-five finishes in his last 100 PGA Tour starts. “That percentage right there is just ridiculous. I have never seen anything like it other than Tiger Woods. To put yourself in there week after week after week — [Drew] played this game for a living, I played this game for a living — there’s days you show up, you feel like s—, your body hurts, maybe something is going on off the golf course, you are distracted, I don’t want to be here, and you just kind of go through the motions, go out there and play bad and call it a week. Scottie Scheffler doesn’t do that.”
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Knost said the missed cut at the Scottish Open earlier this year was essentially an outlier. The last time Scheffler missed a cut before then was the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship.
“His good golf, no one beats him,” Stoltz said. “And his bad golf, hardly anyone beats him.”
Stoltz added Scheffler’s life off the course sets him up well for success on the course.
“The guy’s made more money than God and he has none of the things that tempt the world-class players in all sports, [they aren’t] tempting to Scottie,” he said. “And I feel like you don’t find many guys like that.”
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You can listen to the latest Subpar episode, which recaps the 2026 season, on Spotify here or watch the YouTube video below.
Senegalese international Iliman Ndiaye has signed a contract with Manchester City that runs through 2031.
The end of the transfer window was eventful for AS Monaco and Olympique Lyonnais. French rider Bastien Tronchon caused a sensation at the Vuelta a España. The favorites are all set to compete at the US Open.
I asked my cellphone to play J.J. Spaun the other day, though I meant to say J.J. Cale, the Clapton whisperer from Tulsa. If I may: I was distracted, reading about Venus Williams playing U.S. Open tennis at 2 a.m. in my morning paper. The phone decided, all on its own, to play JJ Grey & Mofro — not a band I knew, but an enjoyable happenstance surprise. The internet traffics in happenstance.
My brother was born in Brooklyn in 1957, the year the Dodgers left the borough for Los Angeles. When David came of baseball age he fell under the spell of the New York Mets, and he’s been loyal to the Amazin’s (add air quotes to taste) ever since. Such devotion requires a sense of humor, and the irony gene helps, too. The internet, via its algorithmic magic, supplies him with a steady stream of curiosities, from baseball, from golf, from various cabinets. When Haotong Li went triple bogey-quintuple bogey on 12 and 13 at Augusta National on Masters Sunday this year I heard about it from David first, even though he was home and I was at the tourney.
The other day David sent me a black-and-white CBS clip from 1960, with Arnold Palmer in a suit and tie appearing on “What’s My Line?” The premise of the game show was that a contestant came on and four panelists asked a series of yes-or-no questions in an attempt to figure out the contestant’s line of work. If a panelist got a yes, the questioning continued. (Our home version of this show was a dinner-table game called 20 Questions. My brother is a lawyer and I’m a reporter, and this suppertime activity maybe greased the skids to our adult lives.) In fairness to the show’s standards, I should point out that the “What’s My Line?” host, a dignified gent in a bow tie named John Charles Daly, introduced Palmer with a pseudonym, Mr. X. Still, the panelists could see him, plain as day. Nobody recognized him.
Knowing a little about Arnold’s life and times, I guessed his visit to the show came early in 1960, because in April that year he won the Masters and in June he won the U.S. Open — the National Open, as Americans called it then. I figured after those two wins Palmer’s map-of-Pennsylvania forehead, to say nothing of his foghorn voice, would be too well known to be a legitimate “What’s My Line” contestant.
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But no. Palmer’s appearance was shot in August of 1960, after all four majors had been played. It was the year the modern professional grand slam became a thing. (When Bob Jones won the Grand Slam in 1930, the Grand Slam comprised the U.S. and British Opens and the U.S. and British Amateurs.) Arnold, in his 1999 biography and in other places, claimed credit for this new concept but I’m dubious. After a deep-dive of Newspapers.com a few years ago, I found that the Pittsburgh sportswriter Bob Drum used it in print on June 10, 1960, in the Pittsburgh Press. Drum spells it out, this new, pro-centric definition of the Grand Slam, the Masters, the National Open, the British Open and the PGA, won in the same year. In Arnold’s telling, he pitched the notion to Drum at 30,000 feet, as they flew to St. Andrews for the Open in early July, after Palmer had already bagged the first two majors. There’s some haze in that origin story.
Anyway, Arnold finished second at St. Andrews, and seventh at the PGA Championship, played that year at the end of July. In early August he won the Hartford stop and on that Sunday night flew down to New York City and to the CBS studio and wrote his name on a chalkboard as X.
Arnold Palmer, American golf’s leading money-winner, earned $80,968 in tournament play in 1960, along with a spot on “What’s My Line?” (On the show, Palmer’s two 1960 majors are cited in order of importance, not chronology: National Open first, Masters second.) When Palmer died in 2016, his estate had an estimated value of $875 million. His appearance on this popular, oh-so-civilized TV show, when he was on the verge of 31, had something to do with the immense fortune he gathered. If you watch the clip, you’ll see a person of spectacular natural modesty, along with distinct openness, honesty and a rugged, everyman charm. America liked him. America liked him!
“Have you distinguished yourself in sports?” asks a panelist, the publisher Bennett Cerf.
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“You might say that,” Palmer responds, without a hint of snark.
Palmer offers one answer that I imagine he would have responded to differently, had the same question been posed to him years later. I sent the clip to Arnold’s eldest daughter, Peg Palmer, and asked her the same thing: Was there one answer that her father gave in 1960 that doesn’t ring quite right all these years later? Peg immediately identified the same response that I had checked off.
In the spirit of game-show fun, you are welcome to send me an email with your candidate — the response for which Arnold Palmer might want a mulligan — and I’ll send you back a wee e-thing of no particular value.
(Some unnecessary pseudo-legalistic game-show language to make this feel like more of a real thing: Prizes are not transferable, not redeemable for cash, not exchangeable, not yada-yada-yada.)
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These random five minutes of network TV from 1960 are amazing. They show the upheaval in American popular culture over the past 66 years, to say nothing of the radical changes in our nation’s sporting life and our concept of celebrity, as well as matters related to manners and standards and decency. Nobody’s screaming in these five minutes, in this time-capsule from August 1960. How on brand: it’s the 11th year of the 1950s, after all, a sleepy and mannerly decade that went on for almost 14 years.
I’m not dismissing progress. Broadly, the world’s a far better place now, despite everything on the front page of your morning paper. This ease of connection — David to me to Peg for one thing — is a kind of miracle of technology. The actual clip, now in circulation, serves up an instant and delightful history lesson. How cool is that? When did that ever happen before?
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Enjoy the show and a few random things before I sign off here:
*JJ Grey & Mofro has a gig coming up in Pass Christian, Miss., later this month.
*I haven’t learned what Mofro means but I imagine the internet knows that, too.
*Bennett Cerf identified Mr. X as Arnold Palmer in six questions.
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*The touring pro Miller Barber became known on Tour as Mr. X about a decade later.
*The touring pro Jim Thorpe, on the scene a decade after Miller Barber’s prime, went by MoFo.
I could maybe tell you why but not in this space and not even by email. Decency standards are always changing but they’re still a thing.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments — and your answer to the Arnold Palmer mulligan response — at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.
Marcus Rashford has found a new lease of life at Manchester United after falling out of favour at the club, which led to loan spells at Aston Villa and Barcelona
Manchester United have been handed what Nicky Butt describes as a £70million Marcus Rashford boost, with the former midfielder outlining the rare situation surrounding the winger’s return. The England international has been given a fresh opportunity at the club, and fans responded with a warm welcome as he returned to Old Trafford for the first time in 18 months.
Being greeted by hordes of United supporters, wearing club colours and training with his teammates, is a scene many believed would never be witnessed again. The clearest sign that Rashford’s story at United looked finished came last summer, when his No. 10 shirt was handed to Matheus Cunha.
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Before this season began, Rashford had not played a competitive game for United since December 2024. But the club have opened the door to a reintegration during pre‑season, and he is now firmly part of Michael Carrick’s plans, featuring in their first two Premier League games.
Rashford will remain at the club until at least January when the window reopens when clubs can make an approach.
Speaking about the situation, former United midfielder Nicky Butt suggested he hopes this is the start of a redemption story for the winger. He told Midnite: “Are we witnessing the start of a good redemption story with Marcus Rashford? You’d like to think so.
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“It’d be a really nice story for someone to have had such a bad time for a couple of years at United. He’s come through the academy as a superstar and potentially could have been should be up there with the likes of [Kylian] Mbappe. He went away, did okay at [Aston] Villa, went away, did well at Barcelona, and then it went sour for him.
“The reception he’s got is amazing. You think about it because there’s not many clubs that give a player a reception like that when he’s walked away from the club for whatever reason. He’s back there now. He’s out and out on the one of the top players in Europe on his day.
“But the thing with Marcus is he has to be on it every single minute of the day because the minute he steps his foot off the pedal – there will be critics around the club. It will happen. Ex-players will be saying ‘Is he really going to be there? Is his heart there?’ But he is without doubt a 70 million pound signing to come back.”
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Rashford left United after falling out of favour under former manager Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese coach dropped him in December 2024 and fired a warning to the forward, saying: “Our team should be so much better with Rashford but he has to change.
“If he changes, we are more than welcome to put in a talent like Rashford and we need it.”
He then went on to enjoy success away from M16, joining Villa in search of first‑team minutes. A permanent move to Villa Park never materialised and he ultimately completed a switch to the Camp Nou.
Rashford thrived under Hansi Flick, but Barcelona chose not to make the move permanent, instead signing Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United.
Wladimir Klitschko retired in 2017 after having one of the most impressive reigns as a heavyweight world champion, but the Ukrainian superstar has now been called out for a clash with a fellow Hall of Famer.
No fighter in boxing history has spent longer as a heavyweight world champion than Klitschko, who reigned as a champion for a combined 12 years across his two reigns as champion, until Tyson Fury brought his era to a close in 2015.
Klitschko returned to challenge Anthony Joshua for the unified heavyweight world titles two years later, but ‘AJ’ got the better of the veteran in an instant classic which looked set to be Klitschko’s final pro bout.
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This year, talk of a comeback has emerged, where ‘Dr. Steelhammer’ could potentially break George Foreman’s legendary record as the oldest heavyweight world champion (47), if able to dethrone one of the four newly-crowned titleholders; Daniel Dubois, Filip Hrgovic, Murat Gassiev and Agit Kabayel.
Now, in an interview with ES News, fellow Hall of Famer James Toney shared his interest in a showdown with Klitschko, either in the boxing ring or in a bare-knuckle fight.
“I would be world champion [in bare-knuckle], when I fight, I fight to win.
“Make it happen [me vs. Klitschko in bare-knuckle]. I would knock his a** out, like I would have done in the boxing ring.”
“I don’t care [bare knuckle or boxing], whatever he wants to do.”
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Toney – who has also not fought professionally since 2017 – continuously called for a shot at the Klitschko brothers during his time in the ring, once stating that they have ‘no talent and no heart’ after the pair avoided a fight with him.
Olympic long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall says she is “lucky and blessed to be alive” after being involved in a car crash.
The 27-year-old American was on her way to training last week when she was involved in a “very scary” head-on collision, leaving her with a “severe” concussion.
While not ruling herself out of this month’s inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, the reigning world champion says she has been unable to train since the accident.
“Luckily I walked away without any major injuries,” Davis-Woodhall wrote on social media.
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“At this point I’m working with my team and doctors to get healthy, but I’m not sure if I will be ready to compete at Ultimate Championships next week. More updates to come.”
Davis-Woodhall said her injuries were not life-threatening but that both cars, which were going at about 20mph, were written off.
“It’s really unfortunate timing; I am at the peak of my training right now,” she said.
“I’m as fast as I’ve ever been. I’m as strong as I’ve ever been. So this decision is very difficult for me. I don’t know where I am right now.”
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The championships in Hungary start on 11 September, where athletes will compete for a top prize of £111,000.
The competition brings together Olympic, world and Diamond League champions, as well as the year’s leading performers in a three-day end-of-season event.
Davis-Woodhall won long jump gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, before winning the Worlds in Tokyo a year later.
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