BASEBALL
Taiwan team take bronze
A Taiwanese team made up of 16-to-18-year-olds trounced the Philippines 10-0 yesterday in the bronze-medal match in the Asian AAA (under-18) Baseball Championship. A strong performance on the mound by Taiwanese starter Li Kang-sheng and reliever Li Yen-chang ushered the team to a victory in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Coach Wang Yi-min said his team, made up mainly of players from Taoyuan County, could have won the championship if they had performed well during extra time at the semi-finals on Wednesday. Wang said staying calm during the excitement of a match is what his team needed to improve on.
BOXING
Marquez trains for Pacquiao
Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez has started training and promoting his November fight with Manny Pacquiao in Manila. Fans snapped pictures of Marquez jogging in a downtown Manila park only hours after arriving from Los Angeles yesterday. His third matchup with Pacquiao in what has already been an epic series is set for Nov. 12 in Las Vegas. Marquez said he’s preparing mentally and working on his speed and power. The Mexican told reporters he’s friends with Pacquiao outside the ring and “inside the ring he’s a great fighter.” The two are scheduled to hold a joint news conference on Saturday.
BOXING
Geale retains IBF title
Australian Daniel Geale retained his IBF middleweight crown with a unanimous points decision over American Eromosele Albert over 12 rounds in Hobart, Australia, late on Wednesday. It was 30-year-old Geale’s first successful defense since winning the title from Sebastian Sylvester in a split points decision in Germany in May. The victory improved Geale’s record to 26 wins (15 KOs) with one defeat in 27 bouts, while Albert fell to 24 wins (12 KOs), five defeats and a draw. Geale said he would take some time off before deciding on his next title defense.
BOXING
De La Hoya hits bottom
Former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya said in Los Angeles he has contemplated suicide and has been going to rehabilitation to treat drug and alcohol dependency. In an interview with Spanish-language network Univision that aired on Tuesday, De La Hoya said he has been sober for three months after hitting rock bottom over the past two years. “Rock bottom was recently,” De La Hoya said, according to an English-language transcript provided by the network. “Within a couple of years, just thinking if my life was even worth it. I don’t have the strength, I don’t have the courage to take my own life, but I was thinking about it.” De La Hoya says he has been sober for three months after undergoing treatment and joining Alcoholics Anonymous. He said he was unfaithful to his wife and that they temporarily separated. “We are obviously not talking a Tiger Woods here, but I was unfaithful,” De La Hoya said. De La Hoya retired in 2009 after a 16-year career in which he won 10 world titles in six divisions and became boxing’s most popular fighter. De La Hoya was thoroughly beaten by Manny Pacquiao in his last fight. “There were drugs, my drug of choice was cocaine and alcohol. Cocaine was recent. The last two years, last two-and-a-half years, and I depended more on the alcohol than the cocaine,” De La Hoya said. “It took me to a place where I felt safe, it took me to a place where I felt as if nobody can say anything to me, it took me to a place where I just can reach out and grab my mom.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB