Deontay Wilder (pictured) accused Eddie Hearn of not looking after Anthony Joshua's best interests.GETTY IMAGES
The prospect of boxers Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder meeting in the ring any time soon "seems even more remote" after Wilder declared he would not agree to face Joshua "for anything less than a 50-50 split of the purse." Wilder said that he had agreed to a deal offered by Eddie Hearn, Joshua's promoter, for a fee of $15M "plus a rematch clause" for a bout in the U.K. later this year, but when Wilder had not returned the contract by last Tuesday, Hearn said that Joshua was forced by the WBA to face mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (LONDON TIMES, 7/2).
The Irish Rugby Football Union confirmed it will act as an official supporter of the 2019 Union Cup, a rugby tournament for the LGBTI community that will be hosted by the Emerald Warriors Rugby Club at Dublin City University in June of next year. It is the biggest int'l gay rugby 15-a-side tournament in Europe (IRISH TIMES, 6/29).
GAA President John Horan said that the association will try to keep Croke Park "free of non-GAA events for July and August." Galway and Kilkenny must travel to Thurles on Sunday for the replay of the Leinster hurling final because of a Michael Bublé concert at Croke Park on Saturday. Horan insisted both teams were "happy" to play at Semple Stadium, but said that "it is a situation he would like to avoid in the future" (RTÉ, 7/2).
The Brisbane Cycling Festival aims to entice visitors to the city when it takes place from March 26-April 14, 2019. The festival, which was secured for three years, will include a "unique range of professional, amateur and mass participation events for riders and fans alike" and will feature the final of the Six Day series, for which "the world's best track cyclists will descend on Brisbane" (CIM, 7/2).
