Anthony Joshua eyes July return as Tyson Fury update emerges via Eddi… — and more

Anthony Joshua is working towards a return to boxing after a challenging end to 2025, marked by both controversy and personal tragedy.

In December of that year, he faced Jake Paul in a bout that drew widespread attention.

The fight ended with Joshua breaking Paul’s jaw and delivering a knockout, which had been expected to boost his standing heading into the new year.

However, Joshua was later involved in a car accident that resulted in the deaths of two teammates and deeply affected him.

Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua is eyeing a July return to boxing

After the incident, it was unclear if the 36-year-old would return to boxing or step away from the sport for good.

At first, a family member said ‘AJ’ had told his relatives he would not fight again, but since then, he appears to have reconsidered.

There has been talk of a Joshua vs Tyson Fury fight for years now. After Joshua’s win over Paul, there was hope it could finally happen in early 2026.

However, Fury lined up a different opponent for his next bout – Arslanbek Makhmudov – set for April 11th.

In light of that development, Eddie Hearn recently told Boxing Scene that Joshua is now working towards a summer return.

The boxing promoter stated: “Originally the plan with AJ was for him to fight in March and then fight Tyson Fury in August.

“That’s not happening. He’s not fighting Tyson Fury next. He’s going to come back, I believe, in late summer, but physically he’s not yet in a position to return to camp.

“So, I’m planning, but he’s resting and preparing. So for me, I’m looking at options to get him back in the ring in July time, but we’ll only know if that’s a real possibility when he returns to camp, which will hopefully be in the next couple of weeks or a month.”

Eddie Hearn leaves door open for Joshua vs Fury later in 2026 or 2027

Even though the Fury fight is not next on the cards for Joshua, Hearn has made it clear that they have not closed the door on it entirely.

“I think we’re open to the Tyson Fury fight, but probably that’s more likely end of the year – maybe early 2027,” he said.

Read more:

Former South Africa striker Benni McCarthy says Jose Mourinho should apologise for his "very wrong" comments after the alleged racial abuse of Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr.

The Brazil forward scored the only goal in Real Madrid's 1-0 Champions League win against Benfica on Tuesday.

Vinicius was booked for his goal celebration and the match was halted for 10 minutes shortly afterwards when the Brazilian reported alleged racist abuse from winger Gianluca Prestianni.

Uefa have since opened an investigation into the claims, which Prestianni denies.

Speaking after the match, Benfica boss Mourinho - who was sent off late in the game for arguing with the referee - said Vinicius had been "disrespectful" with his goal celebration and pointed to the club's legendary striker Eusebio as proof that Benfica is not a racist club.

But McCarthy, who won the Champions League under Mourinho at Porto in 2004, says the Portuguese made a "mistake" with his comments.

"The situation, he could have handled it better or chosen his words better but emotions got the best of him," McCarthy told BBC World Service presenter Isaac Fanin.

"I know the statement he made was very wrong. But we're all human, we all make mistakes.

"When it comes from somebody I know personally and I know how he feels about our continent and our people and the players that play for him, he's the most stand-up guy that any African player will ever play for.

"I think it was an emotional decision, tough, where he maybe made a call and it wasn't the right call which he will later, hopefully come out and say that he made a mistake because that's what I would like to think, that's the kind of man he is."

Vinicius, who has been a victim of numerous incidents of racist abuse during his playing career, later said in a post on Instagram: "Racists are, above all, cowards."

Benfica have defended Prestianni and claim there is a "defamation campaign" against the Argentine.

Prestianni, who could face a minimum 10-match ban from European competition if found guilty, denied directing racial abuse at Vinicius.

'People aren't open to talking about it'

On Thursday, Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior said there must be a zero-tolerance policy applied to anyone found guilty of racist behaviour in football.

He said: "If any player, any coach or any manager is found guilty of racism, they shouldn't be in the game. It's as simple as that."

The former Hull City boss added that the problems were not confined to football and that racism is a problem across society.

"A lot of things (need to change), this is a very complex situation when you speak about race or gender. There are a lot of things that need to change in society," said Rosenior.

"It sickens me to be honest. I think there's a wider debate than football. I think there needs to be more accountability for these things that need to be stamped out.

McCarthy agrees that the problem of racism extends far beyond football.

"In society today, people aren't open to talking about it. We still don't have these conversations," he said.

"There's one race that wants to have this conversation and the other race isn't ready. In anger, you can come out with a phrase like that but you're quick to say I'm not a racist.

"Yet you use the underlying racist thing when you're angry. For this problem to go away, both parties and both races have to be willing to talk about these things."

• Vinicius: Eight years at Real Madrid, 20 cases of alleged racist abuse
• Real Madrid tie halted over Vinicius racism allegation
• 'Anyone found guilty of racism should not be in the game'

• Latest Champions League table
• Champions League scores & fixtures
• Follow the latest Champions League news

• Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast
• Get football news sent straight to your phone

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.

After earning its highest quality win of the season over Iowa on Feb. 11, Maryland men’s basketball has entered a two-game skid. In its last contest against Northwestern, Andre Mills shined tremendously with 39 points, but his counterparts added on just 35 more in the defeat.

With five games remaining in the season, the Terps are still aiming to salvage some last-minute victories. Washington presents an opportunity for that.

The Huskies have a better record than both of the programs Maryland recently lost to, but they’re still just .500 on the year. In their last match, they picked up a home victory over Minnesota, but they lost by three to Penn State in the previous game.

Saturday’s game will begin at 3 p.m. and stream on Peacock.

Washington Huskies (13-13, 5-10 Big Ten)

Head coach Danny Sprinkle is in his second year at the helm of the Huskies. His first year was underwhelming, as the team finished 13-18. Most of Sprinkle’s commendable work as a head coach came during his time with Utah State — he led the Aggies to a Mountain West regular-season title and NCAA Tournament appearance. All-Big Ten honorable mention forward Great Osobor made the move to Seattle alongside Sprinkle, but the senior ran out of eligibility.

Before his time with the Aggies, Sprinkle spent four years as head coach of Montana State, where he guided the program to two NCAA Tournament berths. 

Players to watch

Hannes Steinbach, freshman forward, 6-foot-11, No. 6 — The loss of Osobor hurts a little bit less for Sprinkle and company, and it’s all because of the Germany native that has burst onto the scene. In what has been one of the best freshman classes nationally in recent years, Steinbach is undoubtedly near the top. He’s averaging an 18-point, 11.3-rebound double double — those 18 points per game lead the team.

Steinbach leads the Power Five with 16 double doubles and is fourth in the country in rebounds per game.

Zoom Diallo, sophomore guard, 6-foot-4, No. 5 — As a guard, Diallo sits 12th in the conference with a 48.8 field goal percentage. He’s second on the team in points per game (14.7). Despite what his name might indicate, Diallo’s strengths are his size and physicality, and he’s able to exploit vulnerable matchups consistently and get to the free throw line. 

Franck Kepnang, graduate student center, 6-foot-11, No. 11 — Though Kepnang averages just 6.1 points per game, his impact comes on the defensive end. He’s totaled 55 blocks this season — 30 more than the team’s next closest player — and is a dependable asset, starting 24 of 26 games. 

Strength

Rebouding. The Huskies pull down an average of 12 offensive rebounds per game, good for fourth-best in the conference and just behind Maryland. But they’re also equally as adept on the defensive glass, ranking fourth in the Big Ten in rebounds per game (37.3).

Weakness

Three-point shooting. This was supposed to be Northwestern’s weakness heading into Wednesday’s game, but they hit 12 treys on over 50% shooting. Washington currently has the fourth-lowest 3-point percentage in the conference (32.1), but the Terps can’t defend the arc complacently. 

Three things to watch

1. Andre Mills’ development. Over the past eight games, Mills has posted scoring totals of 16, 18, 24 and 39. His ascension as a player has been an extremely welcome sight for Terps fans in a down year. It will be worth watching whether the freshman guard can build off his supernova performance Wednesday.

2. Collin Metcalf minutes. The senior transfer from Northeastern has seen a serious uptick in playing time recently, starting and playing at least 15 minutes in each of the team’s last six games. His paint presence and rebounding chops will be vital in combating a staunch offensive rebounding team in the Huskies. 

3. Diggy Coit bounce-back? In Maryland’s two consecutive losses, Coit posted scoring totals of just 12 and 7, respectively. Coit’s high-scoring displays typically bode well for the Terps — his last three games with more than 15 points all resulted in wins. It will be interesting to see if the guard can get off to a hot start Saturday.

Vincent Kompany has issued strong criticism of Jose Mourinho over his reaction to Vinicius Jr’s accusation of alleged racist abuse in a Champions League play-off between Benfica and Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Kompany, the Bayern Munich manager, used a press conference to give an impassioned speech which drew on his own experiences of racism in football, and said Mourinho had made a “huge mistake” by “attacking the character” of Vinicius in the aftermath.

Vinicius accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni, a 20-year-old Argentina international, of calling him a “monkey” in the wake of the Brazilian’s second-half goal for Madrid. The claims were backed up by his teammate Kylian Mbappe, who said he heard the abuse by Prestianni, who could be seen holding his shirt over his mouth during an exchange with Madrid players.

Vinicius reacted furiously to something said by Prestianni and alerted the match officials. The French referee, Francois Letexier, paused the game for 11 minutes after activating Fifa’s anti-racism protocols, although the action later continued with Prestianni on the field.

Fans inside the Estadio Da Luz loudly booed and jeered Vinicius throughout the remainder of the game, as Real Madrid saw out a 1-0 victory.

Prestianni now faces an investigation by Uefa. He has denied racially abusing Vinicius and claimed to have been misheard.

After the match, Benfica manager Mourinho blamed Vinicius for the confrontation and said the Brazilian had incited his players because he did not celebrate in a “respectful way”. Mourinho also claimed Benfica could not be considered guilty of racism because the club’s greatest player, Eusebio, was Black.

“I told him that when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back,” Mourinho said, of his conversation with Vinicius after the game. “And then when he was arguing about racism I told him the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusebio] was Black. This club, the last thing it is is racist, so if in his mind it was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.

“There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. Every stadium that Vinicius plays, something happens. Always.”

Bayern Munich manager Kompany was asked for his take on the incident ahead of his team’s weekend game in the Bundesliga, and he responded with a long answer in which he defended Vinicius and tore into Mourinho’s response.

“When you watch the action itself and how Vini reacted, that reaction cannot be faked,” Kompany said. “You can see it was an emotional reaction. I don’t see any benefit for him to go to the referee and put all this misery on his shoulders. In that moment he saw that it was the right thing to do.

“Kylian Mbappe normally always stays diplomatic, but he was very clear about what he saw and heard. Then there’s the Benfica player who was hiding what he was saying in his shirt. In the stadium you can see there were people [Benfica fans] doing monkey signs, it’s in the video.

“And for me, what happened after the game is even worse. Jose Mourinho has basically attacked the character of Vini Jr by bringing in the type of Vini’s celebration to discredit what he was doing at that moment. It was a huge mistake in terms of leadership.

“On top of that, Mourinho mentioned the name of Eusebio. He said Benfica cannot be racist because their best ever player was Eusebio. Do you know what Black players had to go through in the 60s? Was he there to travel with Eusebio every away game and see what he went through?”

Kompany said Mourinho has a positive reputation in the game and is “deep down a good person”, but suggested the Benfica manager had made a serious misjudgement with his reaction.

“I met 100 people who worked with Jose Mourinho. I’ve never heard someone say something bad about Jose. All his players love him. I understand the person he is, I understand he fights for his club. I know deep down he’s a good person. I don’t need to judge him on that. But I also know what I’ve heard. I understand what he’s done, but he made a mistake. Hopefully it won’t happen again in the future, and we can move on together.”