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It hasn’t been easy for boxing legend Mike Tyson to return to private life after his fight with Jake Paul.

‘Iron Mike’ returned to the boxing ring for the first time in two decades last month in Dallas. While Mike Tyson faced Roy Jones Jr. in 2020, that bout was an unsanctioned exhibition contest. His fight with Jake Paul last month was a professional bout, his first since a stoppage loss to Kevin McBride in June 2005.

Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson: Who is fighting on the undercard? | DAZN News CA

Heading into the bout, many were concerned for the legendary heavyweight. However, all that worry was for nothing. In the end, the eight-round boxing match didn’t feature much in the way of action. While Mike Tyson won round one, he quickly faded, and was outboxed by Jake Paul en route to a unanimous decision loss.

Over a month removed from that night in Texas, the 58-year-old has largely remained quiet. However, in a recent interview with Fox Sports Radio, Mike Tyson discussed the bout. There, ‘Iron Mike’ admitted that he doesn’t really remember much of the fight. In the interview, he also took aim at critics who alleged the contest wasn’t real.

While it’s often good advice not to follow the crowd, sometimes the crowd is on to something. That’s certainly the case this year, as heavyweight kingpin Oleksandr Usyk is almost universally being trumpeted as the premier professional boxer of 2024. There used to be a saying in Hollywood that script readers primarily look for reasons to reject a screenplay rather than to pass it along to higher ups. The same could frankly be said of boxing fans and journalists, many if not most of whom see the figurative glass as being half empty by default. Usyk, however, has come about as far as a fighter can to having a perfect year.

Oleksandr Usyk expected to take extended break into 2025 following  back-to-back fights against Tyson Fury - MMA Fighting

The truth is that no one out there has accomplished what Usyk has during these past twelve months. The man became undispute heavyweight champion of the world, after all, a feat which hadn’t been accomplished in decades, never mind years. What’s more, Usyk won his crown by defeating Tyson Fury, the man who it could be rightly argued is the second best heavyweight in the world. Usyk then went on to best Fury a second time just before Christmas. Make no mistake about it, Usyk is Boxing Insider’s 2024 Fighter Of The Year for good reason.

Most who are honest would probably admit they never saw Usyk emerging as king of the super sized post-Klitschko heavyweight era. It was supposed to be a three way contest between Fury, fellow Englishman Anthony Joshua, and American Deontay Wilder. Yet, as is often the case in boxing, the unexpected happened.

After 12 years with Mercedes, Hamilton announced that he would be leaving the F1 team to join rivals Ferrari for the 2025 season.

Having won six world titles with the German team, the news shocked Formula One fans and left many questioning who would replace the Brit at Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren And Rookies: What To Look For In F1 In 2025

And immediately after the news was announced, one shock driver immediately picked up the phone to speak with Mercedes boss Wolff

While speaking to The Guardian, Wolff revealed that he found out about Hamilton’s shock departure early due to his relationship with the father of Carlos Sainz Jr, the driver that Hamilton will replace at Ferrari.

Speaking about the day that Hamilton came to tell him the news, the Austrian revealed: “I wasn’t shocked at all.

The sports industry is a goldmine, with top athletes amassing wealth from salaries, a global fan base, TV broadcasting rights, ticket sales, sponsorships, and merchandise.

The emotional bond fans have with sports allows companies to charge premium prices for experiences and products, enhancing marketing and advertising opportunities across various platforms.

How Tiger Woods became friends with Michael Jordan

Consequently, professional athletes’ wealth has skyrocketed to unimaginable levels. But who tops the list as the world’s richest sports star?

Sportico analyzed the highest-earning athletes using research, earnings estimates based on conversations with industry insiders, and historical estimates by Forbes and Sports Illustrated, among others.

Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from this week’s WTA event in Auckland, saying a back injury she has been nursing in recent weeks had not improved as much as she hoped. (More Tennis News)

Raducanu was seeded sixth for the tournament and was due to play her opening match of the new season on Tuesday against American Robin Montgomery.

Auckland ASB Classic: Tennis star Emma Raducanu back in 'special place' |  RNZ News

The 22-year-old will now fly to Melbourne to continue her preparations for the Australian Open, which starts on January 12.

Second-seeded Elise Mertens also withdrew on Tuesday from the tournament, citing an ankle injury, with Jodie Burrage taking the Belgian’s place in the competition.

“Tried my best to be ready,” Raducanu said. “I love Auckland and the fans here, but unfortunately I picked up a back niggle and won’t be ready in time.”

Novak Djokovic made a winning start to his 2025 season on New Year’s Eve in Brisbane, cruising past Australia’s Rinky Hijikata in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round of the ATP 250 event.

It was the 1,125th tour-level win of Djokovic’s career, and kicked off his quest for the milestone 100th tour-level title of his career.

Novak Djokovic begins his pursuit of career golden slam at the Paris  Olympics | CNN

“To start off the new season with a win is very important,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “Also, Rinky deserves a round of applause for his performance tonight. Hopefully you guys enjoyed the match, and Happy New Year in advance for everyone!”

Djokovic came out swinging against Hijikata, winning the first seven points of the match and eventually building an early 3-0 lead. The two traded holds from there until Djokovic had the 39-minute first set.

ALBANY — Attorneys for famed heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson are questioning a key date in a federal lawsuit accusing the former New York resident of rape, based on the woman’s inability to remember exactly which year the alleged incident occurred.

Mike Tyson Teases 2025 Return with Unexpected Twist

The civil complaint against Tyson, which was filed at the beginning of a year-long grace period that waived the statute of limitations normally attached to sexual abuse claims, had alleged the victim was attacked by Tyson in the early 1990s, with a vague timeline provided for the incident.

The case was then moved to federal court in the Northern District of New York, where an updated court filing pinned the year the incident took place as 1991.

In a year-round, global sport like boxing, there’s a near-guarantee that every year will produce several great fights. That was no different in 2024, with several viable contenders emerging in the Fight of the Year race.

Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk rematch on 21 December says Saudi official -  BBC Sport

Making 2024 even more interesting was the fact that these great fights took place across a variety of weight classes and for both men and women — and many with the biggest stakes in the sport on the line. Ultimately, two undisputed championship fights led the field when the year came to a close.

UNDISPUTED CHAMPION CROWNED | Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk Fight  Highlights (Ring of Fire)

Our panel of CBS Sports experts sat down, debated and cast our votes for Fight of the Year. Let’s take a look at the results.

It speaks to the rivalry between these two generationally great fighters that their December rematch was also in contention for the top spot on this list. The first meeting between Usyk and Fury, which took place May 18, was to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.

LAUSANNE, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) — The International Sports Press Association (AIPS) on Monday announced that American gymnast Simone Biles and Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis are the AIPS Athletes of the Year 2024, as voted by 518 journalists from 111 countries and regions.

Simone Biles scores today: How Olympic star became most decorated USA  gymnast ever with eighth medal | Sporting News

Biles, who won three Olympic gold medals and one silver at Paris 2024, garnered 703 points to win the Best Female Athlete of the Year award for the fifth time, ahead of Spain and Barcelona footballer Aitana Bonmati, who was recently named the Best FIFA Women’s Player for a second consecutive year. Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, the nation’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist in the 100m and silver medalist in the 200m, rounded out the top three with 263 points.

Duplantis dominated the Best Male Athlete of the Year category with 603 points. The Swede, who had finished second in the 2022 and 2023 editions of the AIPS poll, finally secured the top prize for the first time. Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic, who at 37 became the oldest Olympic gold medalist in men’s singles and just the fifth tennis player to achieve a career Golden Slam.

Charlie Woods may only be 15 years old, but the golf prodigy is already showing uncanny signs that, when it comes to mentality and motivation, he’s just like his famous father, Tiger, 49.

Tiger Woods' son Charlie Woods, 15, hits hole-in-one at PNC Championship -  BBC Sport

Having Charlie around the golf scene appears to have given Tiger a new lease on life as he can barely contain a smile whenever his son is around, and that was evident this month, when the teenager sunk a blind, 176-yard hole-in-one at the PNC Championship in which he and Tiger formed a team that pushed Bernard Langer and son Jason all the way to a playoff, before eventually succumbing to the Germans, who won with a -28 score.

Young Charlie has uncanny ability for his age, but it’s also the mental side of the game that he appears to have inherited from Tiger