BOXING
Charlo defends title
Unbeaten American Jermall Charlo on saturday defended his International Boxing Federation super welterweight title with a fourth-round stoppage of Haitian-born American Wilky Campfort. Charlo knocked down the challenger four times before the contest was halted after 76 seconds of the fourth round. Charlo improved to 23-0 with his 18th victory inside the distance, while Campfort saw his 20-bout win streak snapped, falling to 21-2 after his first world title fight. “I started out with my game plan, stay with my jab and see what he would do, how he would take it,” Charlo said. “I’ve got the best jab in the business and I’m going to keep using it because it feeds my family.” The larger Charlo knocked down Campfort with a straight left jab in the middle of the second round, and dropped him to the canvas again only one minute into the third round, a right uppercut toppling the challenger onto his rear in the corner. Early in the fourth round, a left uppercut by Charlo to Campfort’s face caused right eye damage and sent the 31-year-old to the canvas a fourth time. Campfort rose, but said: “I can’t see anything out of my eye,” and the fight was stopped.
RUGBY UNION
Toulon thump Clermont
European champions Toulon emphatically demonstrated that rumors of their demise had been exaggerated as they thumped Top 14 leaders Clermont 35-9 on Saturday. Toulon came into the match on the back of a stuttering start to the season in which they started the day in the bottom-half of the table, while they had begun the defense of their European crown last weekend with a chastening 32-6 thrashing by Wasps. However, with Australia World Cup finalists Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell in the starting line-up, Toulon inflicted a rare home defeat on a strangely subdued Clermont.
RUGBY UNION
Carter sees Racing win
New Zealand star Dan Carter was presented to his adoring new fans before Racing 92 gave their latest recruit something to cheer in beating Toulouse 28-13 in the French Top 14 on Saturday. That result was enough to prise second place away from the visitors and move Racing to within one point of leaders Clermont. “With this unusual end of the week in which every conversation subject turned to Dan Carter’s arrival, we wondered whether the group, who were excited, would be perturbed or by contrast invigorated,” Racing backs coach Laurent Labit said. “That’s why it’s so satisfying to have beaten a direct rival for qualification.”
RUGBY UNION
Ashton helps Saracens win
Chris Ashton gave new England coach Eddie Jones food for thought after scoring two tries in Saracens’ 48-18 demolition of Worcester on Saturday. Ashton crossed in each half in the first match of the day’s double header at Twickenham.
MOTORSPORT
Mercedes seek clarification
Formula One’s Mercedes have denied targeting Ferrari in seeking clarification from the governing FIA about how much teams can work together to develop their cars. “We haven’t launched anything against a particular team,” Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff said at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a ruling was sought from race stewards. “What we have sought from the FIA is a clarification to understand what you could do within the rules. It is about transparent information for all teams about what was within the rules and not at all about pointing a finger at anybody.”
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS