Boxing

Boxing: Chantelle Cameron to face Mikaela Mayer in August unification bout

Briton Chantelle Cameron will meet American Mikaela Mayer in a light-middleweight world title unification bout in Birmingham on 29 August.

Cameron, 35, beat Michaela Kotaskova to win the vacant WBO title in April and is aiming to add Mayer’s WBC and WBA belts to her collection.

Fellow Briton Caroline Dubois is also on the all-female Most Valuable Promotions card at BP Pulse, when she defends her WBC and WBO lightweight belts against American Amelia Moore.

Northampton fighter Cameron has 22 wins from 23 fights as a professional, including a victory over Ireland’s Katie Taylor in 2023.

“I’ve always said I want the biggest fights in women’s boxing, and there isn’t a bigger fight right now than me against Mikaela Mayer,” Cameron said.

“We’re both top-five pound-for-pound fighters, we’re both world champions, and we’re both coming to win.”

Mayer, 35, last fought in October when beating Mary Spencer and has a record of 22 wins in 24 bouts.

Dubois, 25, is yet to lose in 14 fights – winning 13 and drawing one – and has picked up five stoppage victories along the way.

The Londoner put on a classy performance to become a unified lightweight champion when beating fellow Briton Terri Harper on points in April.

“I am looking forward to representing the UK on this card and defending my unified title,” Dubois said.

“The goal is to fight for more belts at the end of the year so I need to focus and take care of business with a big win in Birmingham.”

Moore, 36, will be aiming to pull off a major upset in just her fifth fight as a professional.

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Zuffa Boxing plans to proceed with Chris Billam-Smith fight despite legal challenge from rival promoter

Zuffa Boxing’s first show in the UK, featuring Chris Billam-Smith, appears set to go ahead on Saturday despite legal action from rival promoter Boxxer.

Former WBO cruiserweight champion Billam-Smith is scheduled to fight Canadian Ryan Rozicki at the Bournemouth International Centre as the headline bout, with fellow Britons Jack Massey and Sam Hickey both on the undercard.

The event is due to be shown on Sky Sports, but promoter Boxxer claims to have contractual rights involving fighters on the bill and says they are appearing without “consent or authorisation”.

BBC Sport understands that Zuffa does not accept the claims by Boxxer and plans to proceed with the event as planned.

“Boxxer can confirm it is seeking urgent injunctive relief against Zuffa Boxing and Sky Sports concerning the promotion and proposed participation of fighters who remain subject to binding contractual obligations to Boxxer,” said a statement from Boxxer.

“Boxxer have ensured that all parties involved are fully aware of the contractual obligations owed to Boxxer by the fighters being promoted for Saturday’s event. Despite this, those fighters continue to be advertised and promoted without Boxxer’s consent.

“As a result of the conduct it has witnessed in recent months, Boxxer has been left with no option but to seek further relief from the English courts.”

Zuffa Boxing, which was founded by UFC president Dana White and backed by Saudi Arabian funding, is looking to rival the sport’s established promoters.

Billam-Smith signed a multi-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing in April after previously being promoted by Ben Shalom’s Boxxer.

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Pakistan’s Lyari defies Bollywood’s gangland label to rise as boxing haven | Media News

Karachi, Pakistan – Over a few breezy winter weeks in Karachi, boxing coach Younus Qambrani sent a steady stream of WhatsApp messages from his neighbourhood of Lyari – videos, photos, old newspaper clippings that together formed an extensive archive of how he teaches girls to throw a punch.

In one of the videos, the bearded and skullcap-clad Qambrani, 60, uses the palms of his hands and ducks as his young students practice throwing their punches. The thuds of the colliding boxing gloves and the scuff of the sneakers against the concrete floor of Qambrani’s Pak-Shaheen boxing club mask the din on the street.

Outside, motorcycles speed and sputter on narrow, labyrinthine roads, past omelettes sizzling on outdoor skillets in the many kebab bun stalls that pepper the neighbourhood of nearly 950,000 people: that is the population of Amsterdam packed into about three percent of the Dutch city’s land area.

To millions of followers of Bollywood, the Indian film industry across the border, Lyari is synonymous with brutal gang warfare waged against a perpetually grey background. It is where Bollywood’s highest grossing film of all time, Dhurandhar and its recently released sequel, Dhurandhar The Revenge are set.

The films — about a fictionalised covert mission conducted by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) on Pakistani soil — have each earned more than $100m. In the first film, an Indian spy infiltrates Lyari’s criminal underworld and neutralises threats to India’s national security. In the sequel, the same agent continues his deep-cover operation inside Pakistan’s crime networks, again moving through Lyari’s streets.

But to Lyari locals, the neighbourhood is much more than the backdrop to blood and gore: It is a melting pot of cultures and tradition, rooted in history far deeper than Bollywood has dared to explore. It has an emerging rap and hip-hop scene, launching acts such as hip hop group, Lyari Underground, and masked rapper, Eva B, onto the national stage. The neighbourhood has also earned the nickname of Mini Brazil for being Pakistan’s mecca of football.

To be sure, Lyari has had a past rife with gang violence and unrest. Armed groups held significant influence from the mid‑2000s into the early 2010s, when battles between rival syndicates were at their peak. Gangs led by figures such as Rehman Dakait and, later, Uzair Baloch – both depicted in the Dhurandhar film and its sequel – turned parts of the neighbourhood into a militarised conflict zone. At the height of the violence, human rights groups reported about 800 people killed in Karachi in a single year, many of them in and around Lyari.

In 2012, the government launched what became known as Operation Lyari, a major crackdown in which police, backed by the Sindh Rangers paramilitary force, moved against armed groups in the area. The operation, and subsequent security campaigns, dismantled the main gang hierarchies and largely ended the era of open, large‑scale gang warfare in Lyari, even if other forms of crime persisted.

But Lyari, said social anthropologist Adeem Suhail, has always been about much more than that period of violence.

“Think of Naples or Sicily in Italy, which are among the major cultural hubs of the country (food, literature, music, etc) despite having long been associated with Mafia violence,” Suhail, an assistant professor at Pennsylvania-based Franklin and Marshall College, told Al Jazeera.

qambrani
An undated picture of Qambrani’s membership card for Pak National Boxing Club. [Courtesy of Younus Qambrani]

‘Preparing for war’ — of a different kind

Qambrani has been boxing alongside his brothers for as long as he can remember. He began when he was five years old, and was introduced to the sport by his father, uncles and brothers — all boxers. Throughout his childhood, Qambrani says he was a sick and frail child. But he was determined to build muscle and throw punches like the men who had inspired him as he was growing up.

Boxing is so popular in Lyari that in 1989 boxing legend Muhammad Ali visited the neighbourhood, when he was a special guest at the Asian Games in the capital, Islamabad.

Qambrani’s high school, Haji Abdullah Haroon Government College, opened its own boxing club while he was there. He joined, but the club shut down in a few years. So he found another club a little further away and began cycling there to train.

After honing his skills there, Qambrani founded Pak Shaheen Boxing Club in 1992. “I wanted to open a club in my own area,” Qambrani said. At Pak Shaheen, he started out by teaching young boys, aged seven to 16, how to box.

Qambrani
A recent photo at his boxing club. [Courtesy of Younus Qambrani]

A sports enthusiast, Qambrani built friendships with coaches across the city, often visiting their training centres. At a friend’s karate classes at the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) in central Karachi, he noticed young girls practicing kicks and elbow strikes shoulder-to-shoulder with boys. “If girls can do karate, why not boxing?” he wondered.

IMG_7530
Qambrani’s students train to spar [Wania Farhan/Al Jazeera]

Soon he began voicing this question to his peers in the local boxing community, saying he wanted to start training young girls. One of them told him that “little girls have weak brains” — a remark that left Qambrani silent.

Then he went home and began looking through news reports featuring stories of girls and women boxing internationally. He would cut out the news clippings and paste them into a notebook. “My eyes were on the whole world,” he recalled. “Girls are boxing in the outside world, why not here?” he would wonder.

So he started at home: when his daughter Anum turned three, he began playfully sparring with her. She would gaze at the many photos of her father and uncles at boxing championships, slip on his medals, and traipse into the living room, mimicking the victorious poses he struck in those pictures. “She couldn’t even run properly, but she would box,” Qambrani said.

Then, in 2013, he opened the doors of his club to young girls. Anum was 16 at the time, and became its first female member.

In 2015, several of Qambrani’s students participated in the South Asian Games, the biennial multi-sport event where athletes from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka compete against each other.

A year later, Anum won a district level championship called the Jinnah First Ever Karachi Women Boxing Championship held at a Lyari stadium. In the same year, she attended a training camp for women organised by the Sindh Boxing Association. Local media reports described this camp as the country’s first government-supported boxing event held for women.

It was Qambrani’s club where Aliya Soomro, Pakistan’s first woman to win a world boxing title, began her training. Last year, Soomro took a mere 45 seconds to knock out her opponent from Thailand to win the WBA (World Boxing Association) Asia 105-pound category.

For Qambrani, though, boxing is about more than medals and trophies. To him, it’s a vital defensive skill.

“Whoever is prepared for war is prepared for peace,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that the defenceless are the ones most likely to be attacked.

With its legion of young boxers, Lyari’s not defenceless. As its reputation and image are mangled by Bollywood, those who know the neighbourhood also turn to its history for support.

anam and munir
An undated childhood photo of son, Munir (L) and daughter Anam [Courtesy of Younus Qambrani]

Lyari’s colonial history

It is not just the Dhurandhar films and Bollywood that Suhail, the social anthropologist, blames for what he describes as “terrible and exploitative” representations of Lyari. Journalistic and scholarly literature have been guilty too, he said.

Lyari is Karachi’s oldest recorded settlement — the earliest inhabitants of the neighbourhood came in 1728. The neighbourhood has survived British colonialism, the partition of the subcontinent, and nearly eight decades in independent Pakistan.

Suhail said Lyari had been a diverse working-class cultural hub since before the 1947 partition of British India.

Some of those working class communities were Baloch and Sindhi, because Karachi is at the tip of the southern Sindh province, which neighbours Balochistan province. Others were Marathi, Gujarati, Afghan and Siraiki migrants from labouring and artisan classes.

“This was because the British required labourers and artisans to develop Karachi into a burgeoning Indian Ocean port city.”

Suhail said that most of these labourers settled on the unplanned sides of the Lyari river, a small 50km-long seasonal river originating in the hills of Sindh, which flows through Lyari before emptying into the Arabian Sea.

“These cosmopolitan working class populations brought with them culinary traditions, dances, religious practices (multi-religious, multi-caste), songs, sports and more,” Suhail said.

He added that Lyari has a “strong cultural memory of East Africa and the Arabian Gulf, which adds to its uniqueness.” The neighbourhood is home to both Baloch and Afro-Baloch communities—people of African ancestry living in Balochistan.

Suhail explained that Lyari’s long history as a cultural hub of Karachi is often forgotten “because, after partition, the city’s demographics shifted drastically and Karachi became an Urdu-speaking Muhajir-majority city.” Muhajirs are Urdu‑speaking Muslims who migrated to Pakistan from India during and after the 1947 partition.

Sarwat Viqar, a professor of humanities at John Abbott College in Montreal, Canada, echoed Suhail’s views.

“Because Lyari has been represented one-dimensionally in the media as only a hotbed of criminality, drugs and the gang wars, what has been overlooked are the rich cultural practices that have always been part of life here,” Viqar told Al Jazeera.

Suhail added that Lyari had also consistently been at the heart of labour movements, and a base of support for reformers, anti-colonial activists and later campaigns for the rights of Pakistan’s various ethnic groups, including the Baloch, Sindhi and Pashtun communities.

“Lyari — because it was the first, most diverse, and most vibrant working-class zone as Karachi was becoming a city — also became the hub of working-class politics,” he told Al Jazeera.

But the neighbourhood’s own fortunes have also oscillated over the years.

“The degree of ‘development’ in Lyari has always been a function of how strong the working-class movement in Karachi was,” Suhail said. “When it was strong—such as in the 1930s and again in the 1970s—Lyari saw development. When ruling elites were strong, it did not.”

What Dhurandhar gets wrong

In the film, Lyari first comes into focus when a long-haired Ranveer Singh, playing undercover Indian RAW [Research and Analysis Wing] agent Jaskirat Singh Rangi, eyes the “Welcome to Lyari town” gate.

The gate looks very similar to the real one in Karachi. Other elements on screen ring familiar too: juice shop owners chanting idiosyncrasies to cajole customers; quick and garbled salams; and the somewhat unkempt colonial era architecture of old Karachi.

But then, the three-hour film’s dusty colour grading seems to wash out Lyari’s cultural depth and its vibrant subcultures.

“We can see how the obscene fetishisation of Lyari and the Baloch with violence and criminality is evident” in the film, Suhail said.

Describing Dhurandhar as “mediocre”, he said it lacks the depth of other Indian gangster films.

For example, in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya 1998 and Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur 2012, we see “culturally dense but non-apologetic depictions of Mumbaikar or Bihari gangs that understand the political economy of colonial and post-colonial state formation and how it crystallises in the gangsters portrayed,” Suhail opined.

Satya unpacks the criminal underworld of India’s metropolis Mumbai, following the titular character who arrives in Mumbai seeking a job but is falsely imprisoned and subsequently introduced to the underworld. Gangs of Wasseypur is set in a time before India’s independence in 1947 and follows power struggles, mafias and generational cycles of revenge in India’s eastern state of Jharkand.

In contrast to these films, Dhurandhar, has “heavy-handed homophobic, Islamophobic, hyper-masculine jingoism” and “the characters themselves appear to have no history at all,” Suhail added.

Unlike Lyari

Back at Qambrani’s club, 10 girls aged eight to 16 gather for an hour of sparring every day except Sunday, training for city tournaments that they compete in every two months.

Qambrani is looking to buy a folding, portable boxing ring to take school to school. His dream: to make boxing accessible to as many girls in the neighbourhood as possible. His challenge: he is struggling to find a portable ring in Pakistan and needs funding.

Dhurandhar and Bollywood do not matter at his Lyari club. Qambrani has a new generation of girl boxers to train.

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‘Service is the rent we pay’: Muhammad Ali remembered 10 years on | Boxing News

Muhammad Ali’s legacy extends far beyond his world titles and Olympic gold, his widow has said, as his hometown prepares to mark 10 years since the boxing icon’s death with a global “Day of Compassion”.

Ali, who died on June 3, 2016, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, is being honored this week at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, which is encouraging people worldwide to mark Wednesday’s anniversary with acts of service and care.

“He transcended boxing into every space you can imagine,” Lonnie Ali said in an interview at the centre. “Muhammad lived by this mantra: Service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on Earth.

“He showed up every day with kindness and empathy in his heart for people who are in need.”

Known in his hometown as the “Louisville Lip”, Ali rose from a modest background to become a three-time heavyweight champion and 1960 Olympic gold medallist.

As his fame grew in the 1960s, he became an outspoken voice on civil rights and the Vietnam War, cementing his status as one of the most influential athletes of all time.

The Ali Center, where Lonnie Ali serves as lifetime director, hopes the “Day of Compassion” will grow into an annual event highlighting volunteerism and service.

“The day will focus on one of the core values that made up Muhammad Ali,” she said, warning that the United States is “losing touch with our humanity and with each other”.

“We’re becoming increasingly polarised and separated, and sort of retreating to people who think like us, look like us – and not really reaching out,” she added.

Lonnie Ali also challenged political leaders to “lead with compassion”, criticising moves that have weakened the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. “We should always be thinking about how we can uplift a community, not how we can make it harder for them.

“You can’t have equal representation when you’re denying people voting rights,” she said.

She said she still draws hope from how Louisville came together during a weeklong celebration of Ali’s life in 2016, when thousands lined the streets as his funeral procession passed his childhood home and millions watched the service online.

A decade later, Ali’s face now appears on a US postage stamp – another sign, she said, that his message of courage, faith, and service still resonates “from kings and princes to ordinary fans who never met him, but felt they knew his heart”.

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Ex-champ Fury sets Dublin fight before ‘Battle of Britain’ against Joshua | Boxing News

Tyson Fury returns to the ring after his defeat by Oleksandr Usyk as he prepares for a rematch with Anthony Joshua.

Tyson Fury says he plans to return to the ring in Dublin on August 1, one week after fellow former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua makes his comeback.

The pair are heading for a long-awaited “Battle of Britain”, probably in November, although it appears that both boxers will first have a warm-up fight.

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Joshua will face unheralded Albanian Kristian Prenga in Riyadh on July 25 in his first bout since being involved in a car crash in Nigeria in December that killed two of his close friends.

Fury posted a video in an Instagram story showing him back in training in Thailand alongside the caption: “Let’s go August 1, Dublin, Ireland.”

The fight could take a place on a card being put together by veteran promoter Frank Warren in Dublin on that date.

No opponent has been named although Warren has ruled out Fury fighting Andy Ruiz Jr, who dethroned Joshua as world champion in 2019 before losing the rematch later that year.

Fury marked his return from a 16-month retirement with a dominant points win over Russia’s Arslanbek Makhmudov in April, after which he immediately called out Joshua, who was present at ringside.

Rather than face off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a verbal exchange followed in which Joshua taunted Fury by declaring: “I’m the landlord. Remember that. You work for me.”

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has since stated: “Signed, sealed, delivered! AJ v Fury is on.”

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My trip to the US city famous for beating the Brits… and the best boxing film ever

Collage of Philadelphia landmarks and food including Independence Hall, a decorated pub, a cheesesteak sandwich, and a statue with City Hall in the background.

THE American city of Philadelphia may be known as the home of brotherly love – but loves a good fight.

Its name combines the ancient Greek words philos, which translates as love or friendship, and adelphos, meaning brother, because founding father William Penn envisaged it as a haven of tolerance and peace.

The American city of Philadelphia is where the American Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 Credit: Sean Pavone
As you step inside Independence Hall you are transported back 250 years Credit: Lucio Rossi

But the US state of Pennsylvania’s largest city is also, of course, where the Rocky movies were filmed — and everywhere homage is paid to cinema’s most famous boxer.

Philly also has another claim to fame, though, as the place where the American Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 — and this year marks the 250th anniversary of that treaty. So there is plenty to explore.

Our base was the Loews Philadelphia hotel, a 20-minuite drive from the airport and just yards from the City Hall — topped by a 37ft statue of William Penn.

The hotel is also handy for many a fine restaurant and bar — including the historic McGillin’s Old Ale House bar and restaurant.

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The beer taps here have been pumping out ale since 1860 and the kitchen cooks up the city’s most famous dish — Philly cheesesteak.

This feast was the perfect introduction to my stay in town — layers of finely cut beef and sauteed onions shaped into a long roll and drenched in melted cheese.

Just forget that your arteries are closing as you eat it — and enjoy.

We did.

The Philly cheesesteak is the city’s most famous dishCredit: Refer to source
The historic McGillin’s Old Ale House bar and restaurant Credit: Photo by K. Huff for PHLCVB

Less than a 20-minute walk from here is Independence Hall, where that treaty was born.

Before entering, do swing by the Liberty Bell, just opposite, which rang out as America’s founding fathers, also including George Washington, finalised America’s break from mother country Great Britain.

Sadly, the 3ft-high bronze bell, which weighs nearly a ton, no longer rings out due to a crack that opened up in the 19th Century.

But on special occasions, it is tapped with a mallet.

Bell ticked off, as you step inside Independence Hall you are transported back 250 years, with history all around you.

It is free to enter but tickets at busy hours are limited so make sure you book your time slot well in advance.

Number one attraction is the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed, as well as the US Constitution 11 years later.

For a spot of culture, not far from Independence Hall is the Barnes Foundation — possibly the greatest art museum that, er, no one has ever heard of.

The Liberty Bell, which rang out as America’s founding fathers finalised America’s break from mother country Great Britain Credit: SeanPavonePhoto – stock.adobe.com
Pennsylvania’s largest city is where the Rocky movies were filmed, featuring Sylvester Stallone Credit: Rex

And then just a 15-minute walk up the road is the place for your must-have Philly holiday snapnext to the Rocky statue.

This 8ft 6in bronze tribute of Rocky Balbao stands at the foot of the 72 steps up to the Museum of Art which the underdog slugger played by Sylvester Stallone famously ran up as part of his gruelling big-fight training.

If all the sightseeing leaves you working up an appetite, there are plenty of fabulous eating places to choose from.

One such is the Reading Terminal Market, which is home to more than 75 stalls selling every food delicacy you can possibly imagine — and then some.

Or, for a proper sit-down feast, the Gran Caffe L’Aquila is a good bet — and particularly renowned for its award-winning gelatos.

I called it posh ice cream — and got a glare.

If, on the other hand, you want to find out what the locals really eat, book on to a Streats of Philly Food Tour and open your eyes, and mouth, to no end of tasty treats.

There are several tours to choose from, many led by chef Jacquie who grew up in the area and seemingly knows everyone in town.

I opted for the Italian Market tour and, over the course of two and a half hours, sampled fare including pork sandwiches, local cheeses and cannolis.

But do just remember not to eat anything before you go — the helpings were so generous that, after I later made for the airport to return home, I had to practically roll on to the plane.

GO: PHILADELPHIA

GETTING THERE: British Airways flies from London Heathrow to Philadelphia, with fares from £648 return. See britishairways.com.

STAYING THERE: Rooms at the Loews Philadelphia hotel cost from £146 per night. See loewshotels.com/philadelphia-hotel.

OUT & ABOUT: Admission to Independence Hall is free but tickets must be booked in advance, from the National Parks Service. Check out nps.gov.

Entry to the Barnes Foundation art museum (barnesfoundation.org) is 30 dollars per adult, five dollars for under- 18s. Chef Jacquie’s food tour is 99 dollars (streatsofphillyfoodtours.com).

MORE INFORMATION: Check out discoverPHL.com.

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Molly Mae and Tommy Fury spotted out together day after he skipped Venezuela’s wedding for ‘boxing camp’

MOLLY Mae and Tommy Fury have been spotted out together a day after his niece Venezuela’s wedding to groom Noah Price.

The lavish nuptials took place in the Isle of Man with both Molly and their daughter Bambi, 3, in attendance – but Tommy was forced to skip the family affair due to ‘boxing camp’.

Molly Mae and Bambi reunited with dad Tommy Fury after his niece’s wedding Credit: Splash
Tommy wasn’t present at Venezuela’s nuptials due to a boxing camp commitment Credit: Splash

The two were seen walking with their daughter Bambi, who had a special role on the big day as one of Venezuela’s bridesmaids.

Pregnant Molly, 26, who is due to give birth soon, stepped out in a casual look, donning black tracksuit bottoms and a black coat, with a grey t-shirt that struggled to contain her bump.

The expectant mum finished her look with sunglasses and some UGG boots for maximum comfort.

Tommy also dressed down amid the reunion, in joggers and a hoodie, with Bambi looking sweet in a candy striped co-ord as she held on to her parents’ hands.

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WEDDY TO GO

Molly Mae gets off private jet with bridesmaid Bambi before Venezuela wedding

Pregnant Molly went for maximum comfort as she wore tracksuit bottoms and UGGs the day after the nuptials Credit: Splash
The couple are getting ready to welcome their second child together very soon Credit: Splash

Despite Tommy’s absence it’s clear that Molly enjoyed Venezuela’s special day as she shared a number of sweet photos from the event afterwards.

Taking to her Instagram Stories, the Maebe founder shared some adorable snaps of Bambi in her pale blue bridesmaid dress.

Bambi was one of 13 bridesmaids, who matched Mother of the Bride Paris Fury in the same blue hue.

In one sweet photo, Bambi is seen being held by Venezuela who Molly dubbed ‘beautiful bridey’ in the caption.

Bambi cuddled up to Venezuela during her special day Credit: Eroteme
Bridesmaid Bambi was seen sharing a kiss with mum Molly who wowed in a chic black jumpsuit Credit: Instagram
Bambi looked mesmerised by the couple’s five-tier blue cake Credit: Instagram

Another photo saw Bambi pucker up for a kiss with her mum, who wore ablack jumpsuit, with a floral mesh style top for the occasion.

The tot was also seen looking with awe at Venezuela and groom Noah’s incredible blue cake that was almost three times the height of her.

The cake boasted five tiers and was accompanied with an impressive blue and yellow floral display.

“WOW,” read Molly’s caption as Bambi gazed up at the towering creation.

Venezuela stunned in a lace fishtail wedding dress with elaborate sleeves and a train spanning 50ft.

Venezuela and her groom Noah after saying ‘I Do’ Credit: PP.
She was escorted down the aisle by her famous father Tyson Credit: PP.

In a sit down chat with Sun Club ahead of the nuptials she told us exclusively how she designed the gown herself at Ava Rose Hamilton bridal boutique in Colne.

“I described what I wanted and it was as if they could see what was in my mind.

“You slip on these big sleeves and then they flare out and they’re like wings.”

Of the dress, mum Paris added: “I told her she was being eccentric, but the seamstress made her these beautiful big draped sleeves, they are like wings, they’re beautiful.”

Dad Tyson donned a black Tuxedo for the day, while Venezuela’s husband stood out in an ivory tux.

Clearly ready to become a married woman, the bride changed her surname from Fury to Price a mere hour after tying the knot.

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Dubois stops Wardley in 11th round to take WBO heavyweight boxing title | Boxing News

Daniel Dubois recovered from two knockdowns to win a second world heavyweight title with a stoppage of Fabio Wardley.

Daniel Dubois ⁠came back from two ⁠knockdowns to deal Fabio Wardley a brutal and bloody first defeat as a professional and take the WBO heavyweight title in a thunderous all-British clash in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Referee ⁠Howard Foster finally stepped in at the start of the 11th round to signal the end of the fight at the Co-Op Live Arena on Saturday. Wardley was bleeding heavily from the bridge of the nose, with his right ⁠eye almost closed .

Dubois rose twice from the canvas, including being dropped by a right hook in the first 10 seconds of the fight, to pulverise Wardley and become a world heavyweight champion for the second time in his career.

“It was a war. We came through the sticky moments. Thank you Fabio for that,” ‌said Dubois, who was previously IBF champion after the belt was vacated by Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, with the Ukrainian winning it back in July 2025.

“What a great fight. What a great battle, man”.

Boxing - Fabio Wardley v Daniel Dubois - WBO World Heavyweight Title - Co-Op Live Arena, Manchester, Britain - May 9, 2026 Daniel Dubois in action during his fight against Fabio Wardley Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Wardley was left with a bloody nose by Dubois [Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters]

The win was Dubois’s 23rd as a professional in 26 fights while Wardley now has a 20-1-1 record.

Veteran promoter Frank Warren, who manages both men, said it was the best heavyweight fight he had ever put on and confirmed there was a rematch clause in the contract.

For ⁠some viewers, however, it was also an uncomfortable watch that could have ⁠been stopped earlier.

The 31-year-old Wardley, who was promoted to WBO champion last November after Usyk vacated the title, was making his first defence and showed immense heart as he took a tremendous beating yet refused to capitulate.

He had his opponent ⁠on the floor, a blow Dubois, 28, later dismissed as a ‘flash knockdown’, almost with the opening bell still sounding.

Dubois was back on one knee in ⁠round three but came close to a stoppage in the ⁠sixth with the reigning champion bleeding heavily and on the ropes.

The Londoner continued to land blow after blow on Wardley, who wobbled but refused to give up.

His corner inspected the facial wounds after the eighth and doctors and the referee took a ‌look in rounds nine and 10 but still the fight continued, with Wardley increasingly struggling to stay on his feet and fighting on instinct.

“You witnessed something special tonight,” Warren told the BBC. “Two men baring ‌their ‌hearts and souls in the ring, gave everything, didn’t leave one bit outside the ring.

“They were getting hit with bombs that would take people out and they stood it.”

Britain's Daniel Dubois reacts after beating Britain's Fabio Wardley during their WBO World Heavyweight boxing title bout in Manchester, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Dubois is now the WBO heavyweight champion of the world [Dave Thompson/AP]

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