Bernard Hopkins, 46, became the oldest man to win a boxing world title on Saturday when he defeated Canadian Jean Pascal by unanimous decision to claim the WBC and IBO light-heavyweight belts.
The bout was a rematch of the duo’s controversial majority decision draw in Quebec City in December last year, in which Hopkins thought he had done enough to win, but only one of the three judges awarded him a win.
On Saturday in Montreal, however, all three judges awarded the canny, former undisputed world middleweight champion the fight, with Hopkins claiming 116-112, 115-114 and 115-113 majorities.
Although Pascal was the younger man by 18 years, he appeared to tire surprisingly early in the fight and took advantage of every second of the one-minute rest between rounds to catch his breath on his stool.
CLEVERLY V KUZIEMSKI
AFP, LONDON
Nathan Cleverly’s first defence of his WBO light-heavyweight title ended with a fourth-round stoppage win on cuts against Poland’s Aleksy Kuziemski in London on Saturday.
The Welshman had been due to face previous title-holder Juergen Braehmer at the O2 Arena, but the German pulled out and was stripped of his title, with Cleverly promoted to champion.
The 24-year-old Cleverly was then due to face Tony Bellow, only for his fellow British boxer to be ruled out after problems making the weight.
Eventually, the Welshman was paired against the 34-year-old Kuziemski.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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
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
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