BOXING
Alvarez signs fights deal
Canelo Alvarez has agreed to a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season, with the Mexican superstar leveraging a widely speculated bout with Jake Paul for a much bigger contract. Turki Alalshikh, the head of Riyadh Season and the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, announced the deal on Thursday on social media. “Don’t mess with the lion,” Alalshikh said. Alvarez quickly replied: “Let’s go brother.” The first fight under Alvarez’s new deal would be in May in Riyadh. Ring Magazine, citing a source with knowledge of the details, said that a bout against Terence Crawford was planned for September in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium. Alvarez has spent years as the biggest moneymaker in boxing, and the 34-year-old super middleweight champion used the threat of a stunt fight against Paul to leverage a major commitment from the Saudi Arabian government arm that has flooded the sport with money in the past few years.
Photo: AFP
RUGBY UNION
Etzebeth’s symptoms return
South Africa star forward Eben Etzebeth has had a return of concussion symptoms and has been sent to specialists, ruling him out of action for the immediate future, his club the Sharks said. The lock forward is a two-time World Cup winner with the Springboks and his performances last year saw him nominated for World Rugby’s Player of the Year for a second successive time. Etzebeth has not played since being diagnosed with concussion in the Sharks’ 39-21 home win over the Exeter Chiefs in the European Champions Cup on Dec. 7 last year. Etzebeth had “suffered a return-of-symptoms of his recent concussion,” the Sharks said. “The Sharks take this injury very seriously and player welfare remains our top priority. Eben is being managed by concussion specialists. He will be cleared to return once they are fully satisfied that his injury has completely resolved.”
Photo: Reuters
CRICKET
Iyer cuts movie short
India middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer had to cut short a movie night and turn in earlier than planned on Wednesday, but a match-defining half-century against England the next day made it all worthwhile. Iyer’s belligerent 59 off 36 balls set up India’s comfortable chase of 249 in the one-day series opener, which the hosts completed inside 39 overs to go 1-0 up in the three-match series. The previous evening, a call from captain Rohit Sharma informed Iyer he would be playing the series opener as Virat Kohli had been laid low by a knee niggle. “I was watching a movie last night, I thought I could extend my night, but then I got a call from skipper saying that you may play because Virat has got a swollen knee,” Iyer told broadcaster Star Sports after India’s four-wicket victory. “And then [I] hurried back to my room, went off to sleep straightaway.”
Photo: AFP
TENNIS
Andreescu’s return delayed
Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu will delay her start of the season after undergoing an emergency appendectomy, the 24-year-old said on Thursday. After withdrawing from the season-opening Auckland Open and the Australian Open for a second straight year, the 2019 US Open champion was set for her comeback at the Merida Open in Mexico, running from Feb. 24 to March 2.
Photo: AFP
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
Inter’s defense of their Italian Serie A title was hit with a setback on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma, while Scott McTominay netted a brace as SSC Napoli beat Torino 2-0 to go top of the table. No fixtures were played on Friday or Saturday because of the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, meaning the full round of Serie A matches took place on Sunday and yesterday. Matias Soule’s first-half strike for Roma knocked Inter off top spot earlier in the day before new Napoli opened up a three-point buffer with victory in Sunday’s
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa yesterday set a women’s only world record of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds as she won the London Marathon, while Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe put a star-studded men’s field to the sword. For 28-year-old Assefa it was ample compensation for finishing runner-up in London and the Paris Olympics last year — especially as bitter Dutch rival, the Ethiopia-born Sifan Hassan, finished third. Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei as the race, played out in blazing sunshine and with thousands lining the route, entered its business end. She came home almost three minutes clear of the Kenyan. Hassan, who beat her in
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