US veteran Vernon Forrest will risk his World Boxing Council (WBC) light middleweight crown against Italy's Michele Piccirillo in the feature of three major 12-round fights today.
The showdown of former world welterweight champions gives the European fighter another chance at a title in the division. He lost a 12-round decision to Nicaragua's Ricardo Mayorga for the vacant WBC throne in 2005.
"It will be a tough fight for me, but it will be a tough fight for Vernon too," Piccirillo said. "I will come to put on a good performance. I have been training hard for this shot. It will be a difficult fight but a very good one."
Forrest, 39-2 with 28 knockouts, beat Argentina's Carlos Baldomir in July for the WBC crown and makes his first title defense against Piccirillo, 48-3 with 30 knockouts.
"This is a very tough fight and a very tough fighter," Forrest said. "He fights similar to how I fight. I'm looking forward to putting on a spectacular performance. I'll be prepared for whatever he brings."
Forrest beat Piccirillo as an amateur at the World Championships and has studied his newer moves as well.
"I pretty much know what this guy's going to do. He's a very, very skilled fighter. But we all have certain habits. I've studied his. I'll make him do what I him want to do. I'm always looking to make a statement," Forrest said.
Philippines star boxer Nonito Donaire, 18-1 with 11 knockouts, defends his International Boxing Federation flyweight title against Mexican Luis Maldonado, 37-1-1 with 28 knockouts, in another first-defense feature.
The "Filipino Flash" stopped Armenian Vic Darchinyan in July to claim the crown and has won 17 in a row since his lone professional loss came in 2003.
"I'll do what I can to take Maldonado out," Donaire said.
Also on the card is an all-US light heavyweight showdown between Antonio Tarver, 25-4 with 18 knockouts, and Danny Santiago, 29-3 with one drawn and 19 knockouts.
Tarver lost to Bernard Hopkins last year but bounced back in June by beating Albania's Elvir Muriqi. Santiago lost his most recent bout to Hungary's Zsolt Erdei in January.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
Jemimah Rodrigues on Thursday hit an unbeaten 127 as India pulled off a record chase of 339 against Australia to set up a Women’s World Cup final against South Africa. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare at DY Patil Stadium, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The hosts finished on a total of 341-5 in reply to Australia’s impressive 338 and ensured there would be a new name on the 50-over trophy tomorrow. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations
Jannik Sinner on Thursday eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital would return Sinner to No. 1 in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
RSS