■BOXING
Pacquiao to take on Clottey
WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao will put his title on the line against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey in March after talks on a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr fizzled out this week, the Filipino’s promoter said on Friday. The planned fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr broke down when negotiations between the two sides hit a snag over the American’s demand for a rigorous dope testing procedure. Pacquiao’s new opponent beat Zab Judah of the US for the IBF welterweight title in August 2008 and lost a split decision to Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto last June. “This is a better fight,” Bob Arum of Top Rank, Pacquiao’s promoter, said in a telephone interview. “[Clottey’s] a real strong, aggressive and hard-punching African from Ghana and he poses a real test for Manny.” Arum said a location for the fight would be decided tomorrow.
■SKELETON
Hollingsworth breaks record
World Cup leader Mellisa Hollingsworth of Canada won a skeleton race on Friday in Koenigssee, Germany, after setting a track record in the second run. Hollingsworth clocked 49.48 seconds and 48.78 seconds for an aggregate of 1 minute, 38.26 seconds, beating first-run leader Kerstin Szymkowiak of Germany by 0.24 seconds. Shelley Rudman of Britain was third, 0.47 seconds behind. Martins Dukurs of Latvia, who also leads the overall standings, won the men’s race in 1 minute, 35.29 seconds after runs of 47.74 seconds and 47.55 seconds. Dukurs beat two Germans. Sandro Stielicke was 0.34 seconds behind and Frank Rommel 0.55 seconds back.
■SOCCER
Faubert targets Algeria spot
West Ham United’s French midfielder Julien Faubert has applied for an Algerian passport in a bid to achieve his dream of playing at this year’s World Cup in South Africa, the player told the AS sports daily on Friday. Faubert, whose wife is Algerian, has played only one match for his native France, although that was a friendly. Algeria qualified for the World Cup after a dramatic two-leg playoff with north African giants Egypt. The Desert Foxes will play in Group C alongside England, the US and Slovenia. West Ham loaned Faubert to Real Madrid last season, where the player had a bitter experience — playing a total of one hour in the last few months of the season before returning to England.
■SOCCER
Dossena moves to Napoli
Defender Andrea Dossena joined Italian club Napoli on a four-year deal from Liverpool on Friday. Napoli, who are fourth in Serie A, paid 4.25 million euros (US$6.1 million) to buy the Italy international, Liverpool said. Since joining Liverpool in 2008, Dossena has scored one goal in 18 Premier League games. He also appeared in eight Champions League matches. Dossena has also played 10 times for Italy and wants to secure a spot in the Azzurri squad for this year’s World Cup in South Africa. He previously played in Italy with Verona, Treviso and Udinese.
■SOCCER
Liverpool sell Voronin
Liverpool have agreed to sell striker Andriy Voronin to Dynamo Moscow. The Premier League club said on Friday that they had negotiated a fee of 2 million euros with Dynamo and the Ukraine international had agreed personal terms. Liverpool expect the deal to be completed over the weekend. Manager Rafa Benitez says he is selling Voronin, who was on loan at Hertha Berlin last season, because he cannot be guaranteed regular action.
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
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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