BOXING
Frampton retires after loss
Carl Frampton on Saturday announced his retirement from professional boxing after failing in his bid to become Northern Ireland’s first three-weight world champion. The 34-year-old was stopped in the sixth round of his WBO super-featherweight fight in Dubai by defending champion Jamel Herring of the US. “I said before [that] I would retire if I lost this fight and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Frampton said from the ring. “I just want to dedicate my life to my family now. Boxing has been good to me, it’s also been bad to me.” Frampton held the WBA and IBF super-bantamweight titles from 2014 to 2016 and the WBA featherweight title from 2016 to 2017. He leaves the ring with a professional record of 28 wins and three defeats.
RACING
X44 top Extreme E qualifier
Lewis Hamilton’s X44 team on Saturday set the fastest qualifying time for the inaugural race of the Extreme E championship, which features electric sports utility vehicles racing in remote parts of the world. X44, led by nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez — the second woman to win a Dakar Rally stage — came ahead of triple Dakar winner Carlos Sainz and Laia Sanz in the deserts of Saudi Arabia after the two qualifying runs. Former Australian rally champion Molly Taylor and Swede Johan Kristoffersson, a three-time world rallycross winner, took third place for 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg ahead of the semi-finals and final today.
RUNNING
Potter clocks possible record
British triathlete Beth Potter on Saturday clocked a time of 14 minutes and 41 seconds in a low-key 5km road race in Barrowford, England, a time that will set a world record if ratified by global athletics officials. Whether the 29-year-old’s time is ratified by World Athletics depends on a variety of factors, such as the presence of anti-doping officers at the event, the size of laps and the accuracy of the course measurement. Potter’s previous best for the distance was 15 minutes, 24 seconds, set at a similar event in August last year. Wearing new running shoes developed by Japan’s Asics, Potter took advantage of still conditions on a flat course to surpass Beatrice Chepkoech’s official world record of 14 minutes, 43 seconds, and also shave 10 seconds off Paula Radcliffe’s British record of 14 minutes, 51 seconds.
SOCCER
Sociedad win Copa del Rey
Real Sociedad on Saturday won the Copa del Rey for only the third time by beating Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao 1-0 in a historic final postponed from last season. Mikel Oyarzabal, La Real’s captain who joined their youth academy aged 14, scored the penalty that proved the winner in Seville, where the biggest ever game between these two famous clubs had to be played without fans. “It’s an incredible day,” said a tearful Oyarzabal afterward. “You remember everybody, all the people who would have loved to be here, people who have left us. This is for everyone, my family, my friends. It means everything.” Oyarzabal’s strike secures Real Sociedad their first Copa del Rey triumph in 34 years while at the same denying a 24th success for Athletic Bilbao, who must now try to recover in time for a second attempt in two weeks’ time.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB