Odell demands a change of heart
ODELL BECKHAM JNR has demanded his team-mates show they care or forget about any chance of the Super Bowl.
The New York Giants have lost three of their opening four games and face a tough test on the road tonight against the Carolina Panthers.
They have a quick turnaround when they have to play again on Thursday night against defending champions Philadelphia. One defeat would hurt the Giants’ season, while two would likely finish it, but OBJ refuses to throw in the towel.
He said: “A lot of it has to do with the energy that we don’t have, that we don’t bring every single day. I’m a passionate, energetic person. I always have to have that. We just need to play with some heart.
“We’re only 1-3. The year we went 11-5, we were 2-3 after five games. You never know when you can go on a run.”
Beckham has proved a difficult character for previous coaches to work with and his latest outburst – which included questioning why he wasn’t getting more of the ball – was refuted by Giants head coach Pat Shurmur.
Shurmur was annoyed when asked if Beckham had a point and said: “That’s probably a better question for him – what he meant by it.
“But I do know this: our team has a heck of a lot of heart, our team plays with a lot of energy.
“We just haven’t executed quite as well as we need to.”
JOE JOYCE can’t wait to tackle two big bears in his next training camp – the Californian mountain city of that name AND Tyson Fury.
The Juggernaut will train alongside and spar with Fury in Big Bear in the San Bernadino Mountains as the two Englishmen prepare for their next outings on December 1.
Fury tops the bill at the Staples Center in Los Angeles against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. Joyce is set to fight Gerald Washington on the undercard.
He said: “Tyson has a very unpredictable and elusive kind of style. He punches from mad angles so sparring with him again is going to teach me a lot. We’ll have great sparring up there in Big Bear.
“Knowing I’m going to be fighting Washington certainly changes things in terms of training when you have a goal in mind, especially up there in Big Bear where there’s nothing going on.”
Joyce, 33, stopped Georgian Iago Kiladze in the fifth round in Ontario, California, last weekend in his first fight Stateside.
Exciting
And the former Great Britain star, who won the super-heavyweight silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, is champing at the bit to continue his progress through the heavyweight rankings. He said: “It was good to see how the Americans run things and to get out there and get my first win.
“My opponent was good and landed some shots. He was in all the Klitschko camps so he has that really good amateur style. I just had to close him down and take him out.
“It’s an exciting time to be involved in heavyweight boxing.
“There are plenty of exciting fights out there and it’s really good to be a part of it when boxing is booming and the fans are really getting behind it.
“I like the fact I’m boxing in America where I can become known by American fans.
“America is a big place and it’d be good to get my name around there – I know Anthony Joshua is a dominant force in the UK market.”
Joyce was already in his early 30s when he turned pro two years ago, so he is in no mood to take things slowly.
He added: “I don’t think I’ll hang around and try to fight for the British title. I’d like a shot at one of the world belts by the end of 2019. That would be good. If not, 2020.”