■BASEBALL
La Russa supports law
St Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says he supports Arizona legislation calling for tougher enforcement against illegal immigrants. Opponents of the law have called for Major League Baseball to move next year’s All-Star Game out of the state. La Russa says Arizona has a problem that the national government has failed to remedy. The manager, who lives in northern California, spoke this week before a game in St Louis between the Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a state law in April requiring police officers to question a person’s immigration status if there’s reasonable doubt they might be in the country illegally.
■BOXING
Klitschko to defend title
Vladimir Klitschko will defend his IBF world heavyweight title against Russian challenger Alexander Povetkin in September, the triple world champion said on Wednesday. “I am very happy that we have won the bid and will promote the fight,” the Ukrainian, who holds the IBF, WBO and IBO belts, said on his official Web site. Klitschko’s decision to take on undefeated IBF No. 1 challenger Povetkin means the highly anticipated title unification bout with Britain’s WBA champion David Haye must be postponed until next year at the earliest. Povetkin’s win-loss record stands at 19-0 with 14 knockouts while Klitschko has 54 wins and three defeats with 28 knockouts. Klitschko’s team outbid the Povetkin promoters for the right to host the fight. The winning bid was worth US$8.313 million, well over the US$4.25 million that was offered by Povetkin’s team, Germany-based Klitschko said. The venue and the date will be announced by the Klitschko Management Group in the next three weeks, he added.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was