BOXING
Frampton wins slugfest
Carl Frampton defeated Mexico’s Leo Santa Cruz by a majority decision in New York on Saturday to claim the WBA featherweight crown and become the first boxer from Northern Ireland to win titles in two divisions. Frampton improved to 23-0 with 14 knockouts, overcoming a height and weight disadvantage in one of the few times in his career he has moved up to fight at 126 pounds. “It is a dream come true,” said Frampton, who was born in Belfast. “I had a dream of winning a world title and I won it. I won it with my heart, not with my head. I got my hand raised.” Frampton controlled the early rounds, landing a punishing left hook in the second that sent the champ backpedaling across the ring. He held on for the win as Santa Cruz gained steam in the middle rounds before they closed it out exchanging heavy blows as the final bell rang. One judge scored it 114-114, while the other two gave it to Frampton 117-111 and 116-112.
OLYMPICS
President expects boos
Brazilian interim President Michel Temer on Saturday said he is fine with the likelihood that he will be booed when he attends the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Friday. “I am totally ready. As [Brazilian writer] Nelson Rodrigues used to say: In Maracana [Stadium] even the moment of silence gets booed,” Temer told local media on a visit to Porto Alegre ahead of South America’s first Olympics, which he is to open at the soccer facility. Temer is to preside over the opening ceremony and declare the Games open amid the country’ contentious political situation. Suspended Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has said she would boycott the ceremony.
SOCCER
Zlatan scores for United
Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Saturday needed only 195 seconds to score in his first game for Manchester United. The 34-year-old Swedish forward met Antonio Valencia’s cross with an acrobatic scissor-kick to score in the fourth minute against Turkish side Galatasaray in Gothenburg, Sweden. Ibrahimovic, who was substituted at halftime of the pre-season friendly, joined the 20-time English champions at the start of last month on a one-year deal with an option for an additional year. Wayne Rooney got two goals for United, while Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata also scored in the 5-2 win.
SOCCER
Liverpool defeat AC Milan
Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino scored as Liverpool beat AC Milan 2-0 in an International Champions Cup exhibition game on Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium in California. Origi opened the scoring in the 59th minute off an assist from Alberto Moreno. Firmino scored 14 minutes later on a sliding kick off a deflected pass from Sheyl Ojo.
GOLF
Jaeger adds to records
Stephan Jaeger on Saturday broke yet another Web.com Tour record in the Ellie Mae Classic and shot a six-under 64 at TPC Stonebrae to increase his lead to seven strokes. Two days after opening with a 12-under 58 to break the Web.com mark and match the lowest score on a substantial tour, the 27-year-old German reached 23-under 187 to break the tour’s 54-hole record for strokes and fall one short of the mark for relation to par. “There’s one more. I guess I got to break the record for 72 holes,” Jaeger said. “It’s been a good week, it really has. I’m going to try to keep it going. The game plan doesn’t change.”
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