Anthony Joshua laughs off Jermaine Franklin knockout threat before London bout

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Anthony Joshua has laughed off Jermaine Franklin’s threat of a knockout on Saturday and insisted this is the “worst time” to face him.

The former heavyweight champion will make his long-awaited return to the ring this weekend at the O2 Arena but for the first time since 2015 no world title is on the line.

Joshua is looking to bounce back following consecutive defeats by Oleksandr Usyk and he faced his American opponent on Wednesday afternoon at a press conference in Portland Square.

“It is the worst time to face me,” Joshua said.

“The more he talks, the bigger grave he digs for himself but it is what it is. I could say a lot of things about him but I respect my opponent.

“It is not for me to talk, it is for you to do all the talking and for me to do my job on Saturday. That is really honestly what I am focused on from round one to round 12.

“I am prepared for a 12-rounder but I do believe in my ability, my counter-punching and all that type of stuff to definitely put a dent in Jermaine.

“But I am not here to talk, I am here to do what I have to do because I really want to win.”

Joshua (24-3, 22KOs) has changed trainers ahead of this fight, with Robert Garcia ditched in favour of Derrick James, who housed the Briton at his World Class Boxing Gym in Dallas over the winter.

While the two-time heavyweight champion has 22 knockouts on his record, he was adamant entertaining his home crowd was not a motivation ahead of Saturday’s clash in London.

He instead insisted it was simply great to be back in the ring after watching rivals Tyson Fury and Usyk recently fail to arrange a unification clash.

“In terms of entertaining, we don’t play boxing, but at the same time people from years back and the empires, they love people coming together and fighting,” the Finchley boxer added.

“There will be entertainment regardless. I think we will see blood and I just really look forward to getting in there again.

“I’m so happy I’m fighting again because when you look at the champions now, it is just a shambles when you are trying to compete with mandatories and negotiations.

“Honestly I can’t believe no fights have been made at championship level.

“I am so happy I can get back to work, get on with my job and I am looking forward to this assignment. I can’t wait honestly. I am really looking forward to it.”

Franklin (21-1, 14KOs) lost narrowly to Dillian Whyte at Wembley Arena in November but juggled preparing for that fight with work commitments and promised a better version to walk out at the O2 on Saturday.

He said: “In the beginning I was on a health journey, changed my habits, changed stuff I was consuming and my body weight has just started falling off.

“I’m more ready, I’m more in shape and I’m ready to let the fireworks go.

“I will get the win by any means possible, but if I can put him on his a***, that’s what I’m going to do.

“Anything is possible. I come from a place where there are not a lot of possibilities and I made it this far so anything is possible.”

Published: 29/03/2023 by Radio NewsHub

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Governments pledge to ban trail hunting in spotlight as Boxing Day hunts meet

The Government is under pressure over its manifesto pledge to ban trail hunting as hunts gather for the traditional Boxing Day meet. Anti-hunting campaigners are urging them to deliver on the promise to ban trail hunting – a practice in which a scent is laid across the countryside for hounds and riders to follow as an alternative to banned fox hunting, but which has been criticised as a “smokescreen” for illegal activity. But the Countryside Alliance has warned further changes to the law are “completely unjustified”, as people were carrying out a legitimate, legal activity that brought the rural community together. Tim Bonner, the alliance’s chief executive, also said the issue of trail hunting was irrelevant to most people and it would be “extraordinary” for Labour to focus on it given the poor state of relations with rural communities. Labour, which introduced the original ban on hunting with dogs in 2004, pledged in its manifesto this year to ban trail hunting, as part of what it says are measures to “improve animal welfare”. A spokesperson for the Environment Department (Defra) confirmed the Government planned to ban trail hunting, telling the PA news agency: “This government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious animal welfare plans in a generation and that is exactly what we will do. “We are committed to a ban on trail hunting, which is being exploited as a smokescreen to cruelly kill foxes and hares.” The League Against Cruel Sports said figures compiled by its intelligence team found that since the beginning of August, 186 foxes were reported being pursued by hunts and there were 220 reports relating to suspected illegal hunting incidents. There were also 553 reports of “hunt havoc”, in which hounds caused disruption such as chasing other wild animals or pets, worrying livestock or causing traffic incidents, or disturbing the public, the organisation said. Emma Judd, head of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “It’s 20 years since the Hunting Act was passed but, since then, figures we compile consistently suggest hunts still chase and kill foxes as they did before the ban. “Hunts may claim they are following a pre-laid animal scent trail, known as trail hunting, but this has been shown to be nothing but a smokescreen to conceal old-fashioned illegal hunting.” She said trail hunting and loopholes in the Hunting Act made it “all but impossible” to enforce the law, and called for the Government to strengthen the legislation and introduce custodial sentences for those hunting wild animals with dogs, and to set out a timetable for doing so. Dan Norris, Labour MP for North East Somerset and Hanham and chairman of the League Against Cruel Sports, urged ministers to “listen to the majority view, including in rural areas, to close the legal loopholes that allow needless cruelty to animals, and implement a proper ban on hunting once and for all”. But Mr Bonner accused parts of the Labour Party of the politics of “perceived class and prejudice” and said: “It’s very sad that we may be going back to a point where we have to waste even more parliamentary time on this irrelevant issue. “If they are claiming that somehow this law needs to be changed to address illegal behaviour, then it needs to be very carefully thought through, and any proposals are brought forward do just need to address that. “Because what there can’t be any any case for is stopping people going into the countryside with a pack of hounds or dogs, and carrying out a completely benign activity, which is what hunts are doing.” He said there were 12,000 hunting days carried out each year which were legal and legitimate. While he said moves to require hunts to lay non animal-based scents and bring in a “recklessness” element to the offence would be survivable for most hunts, he warned Labour against “opening Pandora’s box” by revisiting the legislation, as he said it could become a toxic political battle. In the wake of widespread anger with Labour in rural communities over issues such as changes to inheritance tax for farm businesses and an acceleration of the phaseout of farming subsidies in favour of environmental payments, Mr Bonner also said it would be extraordinary to push a ban. “Given where the government is in its relationship with the countryside already, frankly it would seem extraordinary that they’d want to double down on an issue which really doesn’t matter.” While there are hundreds of jobs supported by hunting, it is a relatively niche activity, he said, but added it plays a key role in parts of rural Britain where farming is tough and mental health and loneliness are big issues. “It’s one of those elements that brings the rural community together and to remove that through an act of spite, if that was to happen, would be something which I think people would react extremely badly to,” he said. Joe Emmett, master and huntsman of the South Devon Hunt, said: “The hunt plays an important role in our local community and meets like Boxing Day are the perfect opportunity for locals and visitors to the area to come together.” The League Against Cruel Sports said polling earlier this year showed more than three quarters (76%) of the British public supported strengthening the Hunting Act, but the Countryside Alliance pointed to a survey over the weekend of more than 2,000 people in which just 5% put it in their top three issues for voting in the next election. Published: 26/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub

Train reliability hits the buffers as annual cancellations exceed 360000

More than 360,000 train services across Britain were fully or part-cancelled in the past year as reliability is at a joint record low amid major staffing shortages. PA news agency analysis of the latest Office of Rail and Road data found 208,000 services were fully axed in the year to November 9. A further 161,000 were part-cancelled, meaning they did not serve at least one of their scheduled stops. The rail industry produces a cancellations score – counting full cancellations as one and part-cancellations as half – which shows the equivalent of 4.0% of the 7.3 million trains planned in that period were cancelled. That is the joint worst reliability performance in figures dating back to March 2015, when the annual cancellations score was just 1.9%. Services are being particularly badly disrupted on Sundays as many operators rely on train drivers or guards volunteering to work paid overtime on that day. Great Western Railway, Northern and ScotRail are among the operators affected. Rail journalist Tony Miles, of Modern Railways magazine, said: “Much of (the poor performance) is to do with a failure of successive governments to really resolve the staffing issues on rail, and that includes getting a proper seven-day railway in the terms and conditions (of train crew) – and recruiting enough staff – so they don’t have to rely on overtime and rest-day working. “This is putting people off trains and back onto the roads, which is completely contrary to what Government ambition should be.” Mr Miles claimed some train drivers have opted out of extra shifts since the Labour Government offered a multi-year pay deal to their union Aslef without changes to terms and conditions. He predicted cancellation figures are “probably going to get worse” because drivers are retiring faster than they are being recruited, describing the situation as a “ticking time bomb”. Mr Miles said Network Rail “struggling” to maintain its infrastructure because of inadequate funding is also partly to blame for the high number of cancellations. He added there is an increase in the number of train staff off work because of sickness as the coronavirus pandemic means many people with a virus now think staying at home to avoid spreading it is better than struggling into work. Michael Solomon Williams, of pressure group Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Delays and cancellations erode passengers’ faith in the railways. “The rail industry and Government must work together to invest in both the workforce and infrastructure to improve reliability across the whole network.” The operator with the highest cancellations score in the year to November 9 was Avanti West Coast at 7.8%. It was followed by CrossCountry (7.4%), Northern (5.7%) and Govia Thameslink Railway (5.2%). The best performing operator was c2c – which runs services between London and Essex – with a score of 1.6%. In November, then-transport secretary Louise Haigh said train operators have been asked to prepare for their performance statistics to be displayed at most stations to boost transparency. Her successor, Heidi Alexander, told PA earlier this month: “We are clear that we need to move to a seven-day railway. “We are too over-reliant on rest day working and so that’s a big priority for me as we move into the new year.” A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Passengers are being let down by poor services, which is why we are committed to delivering the biggest overhaul of the railways in a generation. “Bringing services back into public ownership will put passengers at the heart of everything we do and allow us to reinvest into our railways. “We have been clear we will not tolerate poor performance and will continue to hold all operators to account, regardless of ownership.” A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said: “We know how much passengers rely on the railway and the importance of reliable and punctual services. “Rail staff work hard to enable five million journeys every day and the industry is working together to address the main causes of delays and cancellations. “Delays and cancellations can occur due to various factors like weather and flooding, industrial action, infrastructure issues such as track or signalling faults, train faults and external incidents such as trespass. “When this happens, we are raising awareness of delay repay compensation to ensure passengers can easily claim what they are entitled to.” Published: 26/12/2024 by Radio NewsHub

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Anthony Joshua laughs off Jermaine Franklin knockout threat before London bout

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