BOXING
Crawford, Postol to fight
Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol, both unbeaten 140-pound champions, are to meet in a title unification fight on July 23 in Las Vegas. Promoter Bob Arum announced the bout at a news conference on Tuesday in Los Angeles, where Postol played off the sound of his name by producing an oversized stamp with his image on it and Crawford said he would mail him back to his native Ukraine. Both fighters are 28-0 and will put their title belts and unbeaten marks on the line in a scheduled 12-round fight from the MGM Grand arena. “We are putting our belts and our fists up,” Crawford said. “Ukraine is going to feel Postol’s pain on July 23. There’s only room for one world champion in the 140-pound division.” Crawford, of Omaha, Nebraska, has been impressive in recent fights, winning four of his past five by stoppage. The Boxing Writers Association of America’s 2014 Fighter of the Year will be making his third defense of the WBO version of the title. Postol is coming off the biggest win of his career, stopping heavily favored former world champion Lucas Matthysse in October last year to win the WBC belt.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
UFC denies ‘for sale’ report
The head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s largest mixed martial arts organization, on Tuesday denied a report that the group is poised to be sold to a Chinese conglomerate. UFC president Dana White told the Las Vegas Review-Journal late on Tuesday that an ESPN.com report detailing a possible multibillion-dollar sale was wide of the mark. “The UFC is not for sale,” the Review-Journal quoted White as saying. “The ESPN story is overblown,” he said, adding that the facts of the ESPN story “could not be further off.” ESPN earlier reported that the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, was in “advance talks” to sell the company, valued at between US$3.5 billion and US$4 billion. Zuffa had attracted interest from at least four possible buyers, the report said. ESPN earlier reported that Chinese giant Dalian Wanda, owned by billionaire tycoon Wang Jianlin, was behind the possible takeover.
ICE HOCKEY
Germany stun Slovakia
Germany picked up their first victory at the ice hockey world championships on Tuesday with a 5-1 win victory over Slovakia that kept alive their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in five years. The win was Germany’s first in three games and left them sitting fifth in Group B, one point ahead of the US and one point behind France. Up next for Germany will be a clash today with defending champions Canada, who have outscored their opponents 20-2 through their first three games in Russia. In other action, France grabbed their second win with a 6-2 victory over winless Hungary to move into fourth place in Group B, while Norway beat Kazakhstan 4-2 to move into a tie for third place with Sweden in Group A. For Switzerland, it was third time lucky in overtime as they beat Denmark 3-2.
SOCCER
Indonesia lifts freeze on body
Indonesia has lifted sanctions on its national soccer body the PSSI, the sports minister said yesterday, hoping to end the country’s international exile by FIFA. The Indonesian Ministry of Sports froze the PSSI and the Southeast Asian nation’s soccer competition following a row over which teams could play in the top league. FIFA suspended Indonesia in May last year for government interference, which bars its teams from international competition.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but