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WATCH LIVE : Dillian Whyte vs Franklin Live Stream Heavyweight Title Champion Full HD

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Dillian Whyte is not in the habit of shirking a challenge, and the hard-hitting heavyweight contender will continue that trend when he faces unbeaten American Jermaine Franklin at the Wembley Arena in London on November 26.

In April, Whyte (28-3, 14 KOs) succumbed to a sixth-round stoppage defeat to WBC heavyweight king Tyson Fury. Eager to return to action, Whyte now seeks a statement win over Franklin before targeting a rematch against fellow Brit Anthony Joshua, who handed him his first loss in 2015.

Before Whyte gets his shot at redemption with Joshua, he’ll have to get by the 21-0 Franklin. Despite a resume devoid of any real top-shelf talent outside of Jerry Forest, Whyte understands that an undefeated opponent still presents a unique challenge.

“He’s the best opponent at the minute… It’s very hard to defeat someone that is undefeated. He doesn’t know how to lose. For me, it’s going to be an exciting fight.”

Ever since the six-time World Footballer of the Year fell out of favor at English Premier League club United, it has been a whirlwind. The kind of whirlwind that only a guy who is one of the most famous people on Earth, with an Instagram-record following of 502 million, can generate.

After his relationship with club manager Erik ten Hag deteriorated, Ronaldo launched into an explosively critical interview with Piers Morgan days before the World Cup. Unsurprisingly, the surrounding ruckus has comprehensively overshadowed the lead-up to Portugal’s campaign.

Try as they might, Portugal head coach Fernando Santos, Fernandes and even Ronaldo himself have been unable to shift the focus onto the team’s efforts to contend for the title as one of the fringe favorites.

“(People) usually make a huge noise about things that are going on and with Cristiano being so famous, it happens,” Fernandes told reporters. “But the strongest group is the one that wins.”

It is not entirely unprecedented for national team captains to miss their pregame public appearances. In 2014, the United States’ Clint Dempsey sat out his team’s availability ahead of a World Cup group match against Portugal, and was replaced by colleague Jermaine Jones.

Yet in Ronaldo’s case it was inevitable that his no-show would be connected directly with the furor surrounding his United exit and speculation about where he might end up next.

Even in his absence, the Ronaldo circus continued. Each of the first 10 questions, perhaps inevitably, was about him, much to the visible annoyance of Santos.

Santos, a little unconvincingly, denied the Ronaldo saga had been a distraction.

“I don’t think so,” Santos said. “I think this is something that hasn’t even been discussed. There’s been no comment about that in our time together, on the pitch or whenever we are resting. The conversation has not come up at any moment, not even from him.

“If the players are talking in the rooms when they are alone, I can’t say. They have the time to do whatever they want. For me, the important thing is the players are very focused and have great spirit.”

MLS commissioner Don Garber joined Jenny Taft and Alexi Lalas to discuss whether MLS might be interested in grabbing Cristiano Ronaldo.

The press event Ronaldo skipped became quite a scene.

Fernandes looked uncomfortable, Santos fluctuated between looking mad and being jocular, and reporters from various continents got angered by the translation service malfunctioning. When Fernandes chose to only answer questions in Portuguese, the whole thing had an element of farcical comedy about it.

If you were wondering how this might affect Portugal on the field, who knows? It is worth bearing in mind that Ronaldo has been on the national team for nearly two decades, so they are mostly used to it. In some ways his status and all that comes with it can be an advantage, as it takes the spotlight and pressure off everyone else.

The squad suffered disappointment in 2018, messing up a chance to top Group B by conceding in the last minute to tie Iran, then losing in the round of 16 to Uruguay. In 2014, they failed to get out of the group, the USA beating them to second place behind Germany.

With Lionel Messi and Argentina having stumbled in their opener against Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo – always compared with his rival – will be especially keen for a strong start against Ghana, the lowest-ranked and youngest team in the World Cup.

“We know what the World Cup means to Cristiano and his focus has always been there,” said Fernandes, who was teammates with Ronaldo at United. “It was good for me while it lasted (with Ronaldo in Manchester). Now Cristiano has taken a different decision for his career and his family and we have to respect that.

“As for Cristiano, I don’t believe what he has done or decided will have any impact on the national team. Our focus in 100 percent on Portugal.”

In the week that the Bulls lost their most famous ex-player, FA Cup legend Ronnie Radford – 50 years on from his iconic match-winning goal against Newcastle – it briefly looked like there might be some left-over magic in the air.

For seven minutes, the sixth-tier outfit led after Miles Storey’s goal against the team 81 places above them in the English football pyramid in League One.

But Pompey hit back, with Reeco Hackett quickly levelling before second-half goals from Colby Bishop and substitute Joe Pigott earned the twice FA Cup winners a safe passage to Monday’s second-round draw

Making their first trip to Edgar Street in 38 years, Pompey were given a good first-half workout by the fired-up hosts.

Although home keeper Dale Eve had to keep out Hackett’s left-foot curler bound for the top corner, Pompey had a first real scare when Bishop’s challenge on Hereford’s former million-pound marksman Tyrone Barnett in the visitors’ penalty box went unpunished.

And there was worse to follow for Pompey when Hereford took the lead on 26 minutes.

Sean Raggett played a loose pass inside to Hackett, who was immediately closed down and robbed by Storey – and the former Pompey player raced away down the inside-left channel before keeping his cool to nutmeg on-loan West Bromwich Albion keeper Josh Griffiths.

Fittingly, just two days on from the announcement of the sad passing of Hereford’s legendary number 11, their modern-day number 11 emulated his predecessor.

There had already been a minute’s silence, which cascaded into applause from the whole ground, followed by chants of ‘there’s only one Ronnie Radford’ when the clock showed 11 minutes.

But this goal was destined not to prove so famous.

Ronan Curtis headed down Connor Ogilvie’s far-post cross for Hackett to bring down and fire home coolly from six yards.

On 63 minutes, Portsmouth took the lead when, from Clark Robertson’s in-swinging right-foot corner from the left, Bishop timed his run to get there first and head his 10th goal of the season.

And Pigott wrapped up victory 10 minutes from time when, again from a corner by skipper Robertson, Bishop won the initial header before Pigott reacted sharpest to sidefoot home

Hereford FC boss Josh Gowling told BBC Sport:

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“I’m really disappointed because we should have got something out of it, but goals change games – and the quality of the delivery they have changes games.

“In the first half we were excellent. We were in the ascendancy and they looked nervous.

“We were on top and looked like we could go on and win, but we’ve made one mistake, it has cost us a goal and that’s the difference in levels.

“We’ve given them a leg up and a little lift and you could see their performance raise after that.”

Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley told BBC Sport:

“I was so sad to hear the news about Ronnie Radford. He was such an iconic figure and he had that iconic moment. For a lot of people my age, his famous goal was their first memories of the FA Cup. But what a brilliant night to celebrate his life

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