In the aftermath of such a chaotic night, it is easy to focus only on the flaws and forget the bigger picture. Joshua was returning from one of the darkest periods of his life and carrying an immense emotional burden into the ring.

After his hand was raised, he struggled to get through his interview. His voice cracked as he spoke about his two friends and the impact their loss has had on him.

“Boxing once saved him and he needed boxing to get through this. That camp allowed him to focus his mind while he was in so much grief and pain,” promoter Eddie Hearn said.

“You don’t know what he was going through in that camp because he doesn’t talk about it.”

Whatever happens next, his place in British boxing history is already secure. He is an Olympic gold medallist, a two-time heavyweight champion and one of the biggest sporting stars this country has produced.

He has taken boxing to places few British fighters ever have. He has filled stadiums, headlined global events and become a household name far beyond the sport.

But in the build-up to his comeback, Joshua and his stablemate Oleksandr Usyk spoke about the ambition of becoming undisputed heavyweight champion.

After Saturday night in Saudi, the reality is that even reclaiming a world title would be a tough ask.

Joshua has always spoken about legacy, and there would be something fitting about walking away after overcoming one of the toughest periods of his life and producing a dramatic comeback victory.

The danger with ageing fighters is chasing one more night. Boxing history is filled with champions who stayed that one fight too long.

But then again Fury-Joshua is not one more fight. It is the fight. The one that has loomed over their careers for the best part of a decade.

The sight that brought it home was the slender figure of Valentin Paret-Peintre, slumped against the barriers on the summit of Alpe d’Huez, sobbing and mourning the loss of his polka dot jersey.

With the Tour lacking a French stage winner for the first time since 1999, the king of the mountains award was one of the country’s final hopes of bringing honor to Paris.

For many years, the mountains classification has not been the most storied of jerseys. A design loved by fans, yes, a novelty, but a footnote in the race, a way for broadcasters to fill dead air time at the beginning of Alpine stages. For four of the past six years, with highest-value points saved for mountain finishes, it has been won by the yellow jersey — three times to Tadej Pogacar (2020, 2021, 2025) and once by Jonas Vingegaard (2022).

This year’s winner, 33-year-old Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, was not originally supposed to be at the Tour. His original goal was the Giro d’Italia this spring, a race he had almost won the previous year, only for an operation on a perineal cyst to rule him out of the battle for pink. He was unable to sit on the bike to train for three weeks.

That injury has long healed — but Carapaz is still seemingly incapable of sitting in his saddle, permanently on his pedals and on the attack, chasing rivals, stages, and the polka dot jersey.

With Pogacar all but sealing yellow less than a week into the race, the Tour’s Alpine denouement could have been anticlimactic. Instead, the battle for the other three jerseys — polka dot, white, and green — have animated this race, with the trio finally and only settled on stage 20.

“It’s been incredible this year,” said a beaming Carapaz, having become the first rider to win a stage in the polka dot jersey since Julian Alaphilippe in 2018, atop Alpe d’Huez no less.

“Not only this fight, but for the green and white as well. There have been many interests — and that has made the race harder and harder.”

Carapaz has now won the King of the Mountains competition in two of the last three editions of the Tour de France (Jeff Pachoud/Getty Images)

Mads Pedersen and his Lidl Trek team have resolved to push the pace even on easier sprint stages. For Pedersen, the green jersey was a non-negotiable, the team built around his pursuit of the points classification. GC climbers Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose were largely left to their own devices; talented riders such as Quinn Simmons and Mathias Vacek requisitioned in support of their sprinter — aiming to become the first Dane to ever win the green jersey.

Knowing he was not the fastest man in the bunch, Pedersen aimed to capitalize on the intermediate sprints — efforts midway through every stage worth fewer points (25 for the first rider) than the finishes — and backing his ability to climb better than the other sprinters in order to access the points on offer during hilly or mountainous stages.

It meant that Lidl-Trek ramped up the pace on any sprint stage with only a small bump, hoping to drop the likes of Tim Merlier and Olav Kooij, and leading to attacking racing from the front of the bunch.

Though his lead was briefly cut to seven points by Jasper Philipsen after stage 18, Pedersen’s intermediate sprint wins over the next three days secured his green jersey. The 30-year-old won 68 percent of his points in intermediate sprints — and 80 percent of the total number of intermediate sprint points on offer.

For much of the race, his fight with Philipsen and Merlier was a battle of opposites; the true fast men against one of the most versatile and powerful riders in the peloton.

There is a debate over whether it is right that a rider who was not, truly, amongst the five fastest sprinters in the race should be awarded the ‘sprinters’ jersey’ — but Merlier failed to finish the race because of his lack of climbing legs, while Philipsen was out of form. Pedersen was the deserving winner; at times, a worthy successor to the legendary Peter Sagan.

Pedersen worked heroically in the week three mountains to secure his green jersey (Loic Venance / AFP via Getty Images)

Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas’ duel was a battle for third place, in the main, but also for the white jersey — a prize which both riders mentioned when discussing the motivations behind their own races.

“We’re in the running for the yellow jersey and then also the white jersey,” Pogacar said of his support for Del Toro.

On the mountain finishes, Del Toro finished in front five times, 19-year-old Seixas three. This was the next generation duking it out, wrestling in the mud into the final competitive stage.

Seixas, trailing by 24 seconds entering the stage, knew that one decisive attack would deliver him to Paris in white, a jersey he wore for a single stage after Le Markstein. Del Toro looked in trouble approaching the summit of the Col du Galibier, the race’s highest point, urgently speaking into his radio and dropping back.

Seixas wore the white jersey for one day only but is surely destined to win it in future editions of the race (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP via Getty Images)

The young Frenchman reacted, with his domestiques Nicolas Prodhomme and Matthew Riccitello upping the pace, ready for Sexias to attack. And yet, when the teenager hit the front, he finally discovered his own limits, grinding and toiling through the afternoon sun as Del Toro countered, dancing up the road to seal the white jersey by over two minutes.

The Mexican revealed after the stage that he had been struggling with illness, like several others in his team, for the past three days.

The defeat will hurt and gnaw Seixas for now — a scarcely believable fact for the youngest rider to finish in the top 10 for over a century. But when the analytical teenager looks back, he will reflect on the improbability of the yellow jersey, and likely the greatest rider of all time, being pressed into domestique duties in a bid to resist his challenge.

“I tried to be stronger than usual and, in the end, I blew up,” said Seixas. “But that’s what we’d agreed with the team, we had nothing to lose.”

Yellow and white jersey, Pogacar and Del Toro, embrace as they cross the line on stage 20 (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP via Getty Images)

And so to Carapaz, the most attacking rider in the race, who will surely see off Quinn Simmons, Baptiste Veistroffer, and Tom Pidcock to win the super combativity award on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday.

The battle for polka dots raged throughout the race — with Spanish ProTeam Caja Rural securing the jersey in emotional circumstances through Alex Molenaar in the Tour’s opening days, before first Alex Baudin, and then Paret-Peintre, battled to wrest the jersey from Pogacar’s grasp.

Carapaz knows he comes on strongest in the final week of Grand Tours; though faster than Paret-Peintre up the climbs, he lacks the Frenchman’s raw kick. His solution was to ride at a frightening pace from the outset of stages, hoping to shed his rival from his back wheel — an approach which rewarded him with king of the mountains points throughout the Tour’s final week.

After winning at Orcières Merlette on Thursday, Carapaz let an opportunity on Alpe d’Huez slip away the next day, hauled in by Pogacar in the closing kilometres. Many riders would have accepted taking a stage and the polka dot jersey, but Carapaz’s fable is the paradigm of the man unafraid to fail.

He unashamedly pursued stages and jerseys over the lower placings on GC — for him, it was clear that 15th place and a stage win would be better than seventh place without one. Several other riders could follow his lead, and in the end Carapaz has secured a top 10 finish anyway.

This Tour may have begun with yellow being decided in the race’s first week but featured arguably the most thrilling minor classification competitions of the decade. It is details that make a race and this edition of La Grand Boucle was crafted with an artist’s eye.

LOS ANGELES — The sun-splashed sidewalk into the player facility at this year’s Los Angeles Rams training camp served as a red carpet as players reported on Saturday.

There was Matthew Stafford, the league’s reigning MVP, dressed casually in shorts and a black T-shirt with sunglasses. Then came Trent McDuffie, the two-time All-Pro cornerback, in a white cutoff to arrive back in his hometown after a blockbuster trade from the Kansas City Chiefs. Then came Myles Garrett, the other blockbuster and two-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner, who arrived ahead of Puka Nacua, the NFL’s reigning leader in receptions and receiving yards per game.

The NFL’s reigning receiving touchdowns leader, Davante Adams, rolled through on a skateboard.

As if the Rams didn’t have enough big names to roll through a mundane checkpoint for training camp orientation, the buzz simmered about a player who isn’t here — yet.

That’s Aaron Donald, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year who is contemplating a return after two years of retirement from the Rams.

“He is putting himself in a position to make a decision, and he’s earned the right to be able to do that,” coach Sean McVay said. ” … He’s going through a very strict regimen and process that is similar to when he played to see how his body responds and feels.

“If that is something that he wants to do, we’re going to try to make that happen.”

Donald presents a potential final swing for a franchise that has spent much of this offseason getting back to its all-in ways in pursuit of a second Super Bowl title in six seasons. After a quieter offseason last year that featured just the signing of Adams, the Rams recouped their draft picks to start making big trades again after Stafford proved he had an MVP season in him despite a degenerative back issue that left the Rams just a few yards short of the final game. That’s how Garrett and McDuffie arrived through two of the biggest moves of the NFL offseason.

Those defensive additions, and particularly Garrett’s, have reenergized Donald on the idea of playing again, two years after he hung up the cleats with a first-ballot Hall of Fame case. In those two years, Donald has still lived in the weight room, resisting the fade into a retirement body that hits many players after the games stop.

The door cracked open just enough to get his former team excited while offering the space for him to decide on his own.

“Two all-time greats? That would be hard to go up against and figure out where you’re going to shift your line,” new outside cornerback Jaylen Watson said. “I would love for him to come back.”

It’s more complicated than just carrying out a weight room routine, of course, as Donald would have to get into game shape and also decide on what a return could look like on a few different levels. He left with one year and $25 million remaining on his contract, and that would be set to renew if he returned, though the Rams could and would likely need to amend it given where they stand now. They have $18.9 million in available cap space for this season, according to Over The Cap.

Donald would also have to figure out the timing. At age 35 and potentially returning to one of the most physically grueling positions of defensive tackle, he could be incentivized to wait rather than to try to put 17 games in addition to a playoff run on his body. The potential role is also in question, as Donald would join a defensive line loaded with Garrett, a Pro Bowl edge rusher in Byron Young and two productive interior rushers in Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske.

“I think if AD makes the decision to come back, he’s going to want to play the whole year,” said left guard Steve Avila, who played with Donald his rookie season in 2023. “Just knowing how he is and the mindset he has, I don’t think he’d be halfway in and halfway out with being a part of the team. That’s just what you expect from someone as great as him.”

The expectations for this team will be as high as ever, whether or not Donald returns. They were Super Bowl favorites even before the blockbuster trade for Garrett.

Only four times in the past 30 years has a preseason Super Bowl favorite actually hoisted the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season. That list includes the Indianapolis Colts in 2006, the New England Patriots in 2016 and 2018, and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023.

It’s not just an opportunity with expectations but a clear window. Stafford chose to return for an 18th season but is 38 years old. Adams is entering his 13th season and will turn 34 in December. If Donald does return, the roster would include three stars who could be staring down their final season in the league.

“What I won’t allow us to do is to say that this season is going to be determined successful or a failure based on whether we win a Super Bowl,” McVay said. “I’m not living that way. I’ve gotten caught up in things like that before.”

The Rams aren’t totally shying away from the expectations, though, because they match a goal that is burning inside all of them, from the players who watched the Seattle Seahawks celebrate after a 31-27 victory over the Rams in the NFC Championship Game to the biggest newcomer on the squad.

That’s why, when asked at the team’s alternate uniform reveal at SoFi Stadium on Thursday which NFC West team he’s looking forward to playing, Garrett didn’t hesitate.

“I want the champs,” Garrett said, referring to the Seahawks. “They won it all last year. I’ve got to see what that’s about. They feel like they’ve got the pieces to run it back and I feel like we’ve got the pieces to take over. It’s time.”

To get there, much will have to fall into place.

The offense will have to fight off the regression that naturally comes to units after finishing No. 1 in the league in scoring. The Rams have every starter back, but they did lose offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur to the Arizona Cardinals, leading to the promotion of passing game coordinator Nathan Scheelhaase. They experienced very strong injury luck as a group last season, including getting 20 total games each out of running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, who combined for 1,996 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground.

Matthew Stafford led the NFL in both passing yards (4,707) and passing touchdowns (46) in 2025. (Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)

Depth questions persist at wide receiver and offensive line, and the Rams are also monitoring a couple of legal situations that could cut into both. Left tackle Alaric Jackson was arrested last month on a domestic battery charge, and though charges have not been filed as of now, he could still face a suspension as a repeat offender under the league’s personal conduct policy. The same policy will take a look at Nacua, who faces a lawsuit from a woman who alleges that he bit her while intoxicated on New Year’s Eve.

To mitigate the risk of both, the Rams plan to lean more into the three-tight end sets that revolutionized last season’s approach. They’ll look to last year’s second-round pick, Terrance Ferguson, as a potential breakout to lead the way and to help fill what appears to be a void in the No. 3 wide receiver spot behind Nacua and Adams.

The defense has flipped from the lowest-paid unit in the NFL last season to a group headlined by Garrett and McDuffie. Depth appears strong at most positions, but a battle will take place to find a better coverage linebacker than the Rams had last season. The secondary is loaded with the additions of McDuffie and Watson, and new contract extensions for safeties Quentin Lake and Kam Curl, but they will need training camp to gel as a group and to define roles for players who are at their best moving around to different spots in McDuffie and Lake.

The special teams will need to show massive improvement after miscues factored into nearly all of the team’s six losses last season. The group didn’t add many headline names this offseason, but it has new leadership in coordinator Bubba Ventrone and assistant Kyle Hoke and made some key signings in long snapper Joe Cardona and coverage players Tomon Fox and Grant Stuard. Return man Xavier Smith will have to prove that he can move past the botched punt that helped swing the NFC Championship Game.

The Rams will play a league-high seven prime-time games this season, starting with the league’s first-ever trip to Australia in Week 1, when they’ll take on the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne. They will play in an NFC West that features the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks as well as a 49ers team that also won 12 games last season.

The journey starts Sunday on the practice field at Loyola Marymount University.