A WEEK has passed since Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk and their respective teams finally pulled the plug on the heavyweight superfight.

In a way, it’s almost a relief that, this weekend, we get a contest free from such complications when Anthony Joshua embarks on the next stage of his career against Jermaine Franklin. Surely Joshua won’t slip up, will he?

We examine those two talking points, look back on David Benavidez beating Caleb Plant, Lawrence Okolie’s return and, in This Week, go back to 1998 and the collision between Lennox Lewis and Shannon Briggs.

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RECORDED on the morning of Wednesday March 22, the signs for Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk were not looking good.

Boxing News editor and Alex Steedman  examine the reasons why and wonder if there is any hope at all of the two best heavyweights of their generation settling their differences in a prize ring.

We reflect on other news, including Joshua Buatsi’s move to Boxxer, look back on recent action and ahead to a busy weekend.

This Week goes back to 1990 and the historic collision between Julio Cesar Chavez and Meldrick Taylor.

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THIS week’s episode was recorded before the latest round of Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk ‘negotiations’ so forgive the upbeat mood on that particular saga.

Alongside the usual review of recent action - featuring Tony Yoka, Dan Azeez and Diego Pacheco - one of the most brutal fights of recent years is remembered.

Timothy Bradley goes in-depth about his war with Ruslan Provodnikov, 10 years on, and what he has to say is simply unmissable.

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TYSON FURY versus Oleksandr Usyk is the most important fight to be made in boxing but it’s looking increasingly unlikely to happen anytime soon.

We explore the reasons why, outline what this means for the sport, and look on the bright side because fights like Fulton-Inoue and Davis-Garcia will surely showcase boxing at its best. 

Conor Benn being interviewed by Piers Morgan is also up for discussion alongside reviews and previews.

This Week features some vintage Jeff Fenech.

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CONOR BENN this week released a statement explaining his side of the story regarding those two failed tests. Yet again, we’re left with more questions than answers.

We explore what might come next, what it will take to reach the Court of Arbitration for Sport and how the saga can come to a satisfactory end.

Meanwhile, out in Saudi Arabia, Tommy Fury outpointed Jake Paul over eight scrappy rounds. And that was that.

This Week features a crossroads battle between Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas.

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IT was this week announced by the WBC that Conor Benn can return to their rankings even though he doesn’t appear to have a licence to fight with any governing body or boxing commission after failing two drug tests last year.

The statement from the WBC is examined, so too what it says about the structure of boxing and the organisation’s ‘Clean Boxing Program.’

There is also an attempt to offer a balanced view on Benn’s claims that eating eggs was the reason for failing tests…

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HOURS before the WBC revealed their ruling on Conor Benn, we recorded a happy podcast, one that waxed lyrical about the wonderful Mauricio Lara-Leigh Wood contest and highlighted why, on Wednesday morning, boxing was one of the greatest sports on the planet.

The smiles even remained while we previewed the eight-rounder between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury.

We were delighted, in This Week, to go back to the barnburner between Michael Katsidis and Graham Earl.

For those tuning in to hear our view on contaminated eggs, you won’t have to wait too long - there will be a bonus pod before the end of the week.

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THE death of Ron Lewis was a horrible, sobering shock. In this week’s episode the extent of his impact on boxing, and how much he’ll be missed, is abundantly clear as the fraternity gather to pay tribute.

We preview a fight he was scheduled to attend, the sumptuous featherweight showdown between Leigh Wood and Mauricio Lara. A genuine 50-50 that’s oh so hard to call, yet we nonetheless attempt to pick a winner.

There’s news of Chris Eubank Jnr, Dec Spelman and, in a real treat for fans of a certain vintage, we look back on arguably James Toney’s greatest ever performance.

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THIS week it was confirmed that Anthony Joshua’s next opponent, on April 1 at the O2 Arena, will be Jermaine Franklin. The announcement coincided with DAZN increasing their monthly cost. What to make of all that?

We look back on the performances of Amanda Serrano and Emanuel Navarrete, and ahead to this weekend’s action featuring Adam Azim and Rey Vargas.

This Week goes back to the glorious year of 1997 and Naseem Hamed taking on Tom ‘Boom Boom’ Johnson.

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IN this week’s episode we examine the latest news regarding Conor Benn and the WBC and BBBofC  following recent conversations with Mauricio Sulaiman and Robert Smith.

On a far brighter note is the fight between Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde, largely because of the latter exceeding all expectation as he handed an established world champion his toughest fight to date.

This Week goes back to a time when the light-heavies were ruled by another fearsome banger, Sergey Kovalev.

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