■BOXING
Giardello dies aged 78
Boxing Hall of Famer Joey Giardello, a former middleweight champion who sued filmmakers over a depiction of a title bout against Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, has died. He was 78. Giardello died at a nursing home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on Thursday, the International Boxing Hall of Fame said in a statement. He had been suffering from congestive heart failure and diabetes, Giardello’s family told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Giardello won the middleweight belt with a 15-round decision over Dick Tiger in December 1963. Giardello retired in 1967 with a pro record of 101-25-8, including 33 knockouts. Born Carmine Orlando Tilelli in Brooklyn, New York, Giardello started his professional career after moving to Philadelphia in the late 1940s. He was inducted into the boxing hall in 1993. The December 1964 fight between Giardello and Carter was part of the 1999 movie The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington that told the story of how Carter served 19 years in prison after being convicted in 1967 of three murders. The conviction was later overturned. It was the movie’s depiction of the bout, which suggested that Giardello had won a unanimous decision unfairly, that sparked a federal defamation lawsuit from the former champ.
■AIR RACING
Pilot dies in practice
It’s billed as “the world’s fastest motor sport.” Critics have another label, calling the Reno National Championship Air Races “the world’s most dangerous motor sport” after three pilots were killed during competition last year and another racer was killed during a practice flight on Saturday. The crashes have prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration to place greater scrutiny on the races and local school officials for a time reconsidered whether to continue student field trips to the event. Mike Houghton, president of the races, insists that organizers go out of their way to make the event as safe as possible. “Safety, safety, safety is the one thing people get tired of hearing me talk about,” Houghton said. “But in every competition there is risk and ours is the same. If you did away with the risk, you’d have checkers and pingpong.” About 150 racing pilots will compete from tomorrow to Sunday for US$1 million.
■SUPERBIKE
Bayliss stretches his lead
Troy Bayliss moved closer to his third World Superbike championship yesterday with victory in round 11 at Donington. The 39-year-old Bayliss, who is retiring at the end of the season, stretched his lead over fellow Australian Troy Corser from 82 to 101 points with just three races left. The Ducati rider took race one on aggregate from British rider Tom Sykes after two stoppages for poor weather, before crashing out of race two. The second race was more typical of his previous luck at the British circuit. Bayliss first raced there in 1998, but had never won and even lost a finger in a crash last season.
■TRIATHLON
Bennett wins again in LA
Australian Greg Bennett won his third straight Los Angeles Triathlon on Sunday. Bennett finished the course from Venice Beach to downtown Los Angeles in 1 hour, 46 minutes, 4 seconds, beating second-placed American Andy Potts by 43 seconds. Australian Paul Matthews was third, Britain’s Stuart Hayes fourth and Brent McMahon of the US was fifth. Becky Lavelle, the 2003 champion and an alternate for the US women’s Olympic team in Beijing, led an American sweep of the women’s podium in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 46 seconds. Mary Beth Ellis was second and Julie Swail Ertel third.
Two people died on Thursday after fans and police clashed outside the Estadio Monumental in Santiago ahead of a game in South America’s Copa Libertadores, Chilean authorities said. The fatalities happened shortly before the match between Chile’s Colo-Colo and Brazilian club Fortaleza, when police blocked about 100 fans when they attempted to enter the stadium. There were conflicting accounts of how the fatalities occurred, with local media reporting that one of the dead was a 13-year-old boy. The other victim was an 18-year-old woman, according to a relative at the hospital where she was treated. The fans died after being caught underneath a
A potential European league could be a gold mine for the NBA as the top-flight North American league looks to muscle its way into a deep pool of talent across the Atlantic Ocean. The NBA is exploring the launch of a European league with world basketball governing body FIBA as a partner, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last week, with an eye toward a 16-team format made up of 12 permanent clubs and four qualifiers. The continent’s longstanding Euroleague quickly signaled its readiness to enter into talks with the NBA, even as it has balked at the idea of another league in
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
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