■ Boxing
Eagle still the champ
Champion Eagle Kyowa of Thailand defeated Japan's Akira Yaegashi in Yokohama, Japan, on Monday with a unanimous decision to successfully defend his WBC minimum weight title. Kyowa, who is based in Japan, improved to a record of 18-1 with six knockouts. Yaegashi, taking his first shot at a world title, slipped to 6-1 with five KOs. Kyowa led after the first four rounds and sent Yaegashi to the canvas with a right to the jaw in the closing seconds of the 10th round.
■ Soccer
Heavily armed fans arrested
Brazilian police arrested two fans who allegedly planned to throw a grenade at a bus full of rival supporters following a Brazilian league match over the weekend, authorities said on Monday. The two Palmeiras fans were detained at a federal highway police checkpoint on Sunday night following the team's 3-1 loss to Cruzeiro in Sao Paulo, highway police said in a statement.
■ Boxing
Jailbird wins title, freedom
Convicted drugs dealer Samson Sor Siriporn is to be released from prison three years early as a reward for winning the women's WBC light-flyweight title, her promoter said yesterday. The Thai boxer, who in April became the first boxer to win a world title while serving a jail sentence, will be paroled on June 13 so she can prepare for her next fight. Siriporn, 24, is serving a 10-year sentence for selling methamphetamines. Under the close watch of dozens of prison guards at the notorious "Bangkok Hilton," Siriporn won a unanimous decision to beat Japan's Ayaka Miyano and take the vacant WBC belt. She has since vowed to turn her back on her life of crime and focus on a career in the ring.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
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