List of All Articles with Tag 'sports'

Gareth Southgate will likely rotate his England squad when they take on North Macedonia in a Euro 2024 qualifier at Old Trafford tonight. England romped to a 4-0 win against Malta on Friday to keep up their 100% winning run in qualifying. They sit top of Group C ahead of North Macedonia’s visit. The Three Lions can now claim a fourth successive win in Euro 2024 qualifying having already beaten Italy and Ukraine too. Questions remain over Bukayo Saka’s fitness, after he left the field at half-time against Malta, and there are a number of squad players hoping to start this evening’s game. Marcus Rashford is one, but he faces competition from Jack Grealish and James Maddison, while Gareth Southgate must decide whether to utilise Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield once again after his superb performance in Malta last time out. Follow all the action as England take on North Macedonia at Old Trafford: Read More Marcus Rashford’s complicated England relationship could be at turning point Gareth Southgate sees a tougher test for his team at Old Trafford Midfield role my best shot of becoming England regular – Trent Alexander-Arnold

Presumptive No. 1 NHL draft pick Connor Bedard has been honored as the International Ice Hockey Federation's first male player of the year

“One month before the fight, we were so happy; it was a dream,” Ciryl Gane reminisces. Then comes a laugh. “One minute after the fight, it was a nightmare.” It is easy to forget, but the hype around Gane’s title fight with Jon Jones in March was not based on the latter’s long-awaited return alone. There was genuine anticipation for what could have been an intriguing contest between a light-heavyweight great, in Jones, and a heavyweight contender who moves like a welterweight, in Gane. Once the fight started, however, that intrigue was extinguished within moments. Gane, failing to do himself justice – as he would tell you – was taken down early and submitted as the clock ticked past the two-minute mark. “My coach told me every day, every time, every training [session]: ‘Don’t throw the backhand,’” Gane tells The Independent. “‘If you want, [throw] the jab – maybe the uppercut – but not the backhand.’ I threw the backhand, he caught me.” Indeed, Jones dipped his head off the centre line as Gane overcommitted to a left cross, then engulfed the 33-year-old, hauling him to the canvas – weighing down on Gane with every ounce of his new, 248lbs heavyweight frame. Once Gane had been forced to the fence, there was no escape. Jones locked in a guillotine choke, and before the fans in Las Vegas had time to comprehend what had happened, the American had forced his opponent to tap. The vacant heavyweight title was vacant no longer. To many onlookers, Jones’s status as the greatest ever was confirmed within those 124 seconds. And what of Gane, the former interim champion who was sitting with his back against the cage, staring up at his victorious opponent, and coming to terms with a second loss in an undisputed-title fight? The Frenchman was, suddenly, no longer an example of the ‘modern’ heavyweight, and instead a kickboxer with a gaping hole in his game – a gap that Jones had exploited mercilessly. “I was confident in this position [on the mat],” Gane insists, “but I did [something] wrong. When we went back to the gym after the fight, we did only wrestling and grappling, every day. I was already confident, but I know it’s really normal to be more confident and have better reflexes when you do something every day. This is gonna help me for sure.” Technical faults can be addressed, of course, but fighters sometimes suffer from intangible issues in bouts of this magnitude – in moments of this magnitude – that can define results and careers, and that are less easily expelled. “It was really difficult to explain,” Gane says. “People asked me if I felt a lot of pressure during the fight, during the press conference, the waiting... Did you see me afraid? No, I was really happy to be there! I wanted to fight against the GOAT and prove that I’m a good fighter. In the cage, in front of the opponent, everybody saw me really confident. But when we started, and during the fight, something switched – I don’t know exactly why. I couldn’t manage the distance, I was not there. I think when you have a bad feeling, it’s harder to be good technically. “I was not ‘here’,” Gane stresses again. “It was not me, it just was not me – everybody knows that. That’s why today, when everybody asks me if I want revenge: Yes, I want revenge, just because I want to prove that I’m better than that and can put Jon Jones through more adversity.” It is unclear whether Jones will still be around by the time Gane earns a prospective third shot at the UFC heavyweight title. The American, 35, was absent from the Octagon for three years before returning to fight Gane, and his plan to face heavyweight ‘GOAT’ Stipe Miocic before the end of the year looks fragile. Jones has also continually exchanged verbal barbs with Francis Ngannou – his predecessor as UFC heavyweight champion, and a former teammate and opponent of Gane. But while Jones’s next step is ambiguous, Gane’s is clear. The Frenchman, a year on from headlining the UFC’s first-ever French card, will once again fight in a main event in Paris this September. Sergey Spivak, the Moldovan heavyweight with three stoppage wins in his last three fights, will be the tormented tourist at the Accor Arena. “This is my mindset: Every time people ask who I want to fight next, it doesn’t matter who,” Gane says. “I just want to fight, do my job, my mission. I’m a competitor, so any opponent you put in front of me is going to be my mission. Spivak is well rounded – good ground game, good wrestler – so yes, it’s gonna be a test. I’m really happy about that. We’re gonna work on [what we need to work on], and I’m gonna do my best.” In undisputed-title fights, Gane has struggled to do his best; in every other bout, his best has been more than enough. That bodes well for “Bon Gamin” – the “Good Kid” – as he wakes from his Jon Jones nightmare and begins to dream of UFC gold again. Ciryl Gane headlines the UFC’s second ever Paris event, against Sergey Spivak, on 2 September. Tickets will go on general sale at 9am BST on Friday 23 June, via Accor Arena. Read More Tyson Fury claims UFC has offered him ‘hybrid fight’ with Jon Jones Joe Rogan is right: Tyson Fury has ‘no chance in hell’ against Jon Jones Jared Cannonier breaks UFC record in win over Marvin Vettori Topuria vs Emmett live stream: How to watch UFC Fight Night online and on TV this weekend Jared Cannonier breaks UFC record in win over Marvin Vettori Topuria vs Emmett and full UFC Fight Night card this weekend What time does Topuria vs Emmett start in UK and US this weekend?

Eight-time major champion Tom Watson is the latest to want answers on the PGA Tour’s new business partnership with Saudi backers of LIV Golf

The US Open wrapped up on Father’s Day

Folarin Balogun and Chris Richards scored their first international goals, both off assists from Gio Reyna, and the United States beat Canada 2-0 for the Americans’ second straight CONCACAF Nations League title

Bradley Beal is being traded to Phoenix, where he will form a new power trio alongside Kevin Durant and Devin Booker

Netherlands forward Quincy Promes has been convicted of stabbing his cousin in the leg and has been sentenced to 18 months in prison

Thibaut Courtois has left Belgium's training camp ahead of a qualifying match for next year’s European championships amid reports in Belgian media that the Real Madrid goalkeeper was frustrated not to be handed the captain’s armband in his team's previous game

The heavyweight division is a bad pantomime now with Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, a chorus of fighters, a few promoters and some hefty backers all trying to work out what part of the dancing horse they are. Moving away from the ugly sisters, there is every chance that the gap between the last championship fight and the next will be the longest in over 50 years. This break is not common, ignore people telling you that. Fury defended his WBC title last December against his old, old friend, Dereck Chisora, and Usyk beat Anthony Joshua for the second time last August in Saudi Arabia to retain his IBF, WBA and WBO titles. Fury has no date, just social media plans, and Usyk is due to defend in Poland in late August against Daniel Dubois. It is hard to find a solitary reason for the break and even more difficult to put the blame on just one single person. There are a lot of people on the stage, and they all have a role to play. And to be honest, during the last six months they have all said too much. Sure, greed, rivalries, stupidity, lies and ego are at the very core of the problem, but boxing at the highest level has always had the same flaws, the same fluid obstacles. The standard excuses are there to overcome - that is how boxing works. Fury and Usyk for all the tarnished marbles was meant to have been signed and sealed last September. It was scheduled for April and is now a plan for December. Both boxers have insulted the other, and the theme of their mutual abuse is simple: greed. Obviously, both deny they are the greedy, money-grabbing party in the sad affair. Actually, the righteous outrage from both sides is comedy gold at times. Fury’s father, the unstoppable “Gypsy John” Fury, has demanded that Usyk apologise for his criticism. He has warned that if there is no apology, there might be a straightener in a field somewhere, man-to-man. There is honour at stake. It is endless mirth, it really is. c. Some of boxing’s wisest, richest and smartest brains have been involved in this ongoing lunacy. The men and women in the Fury camp blame Usyk, and the men and women in the Usyk camp blame Fury. The two main players in the Fury business, Bob Arum and Frank Warren, have a combined total of 98 years of promotion; they are both battling this madness. There is, according to some insiders, a one-off offer on the table from the government of Saudi Arabia for Fury and Usyk to fight there at the end of the year. Usyk has signed his deal. This offer is non-negotiable, and we know this because the media flown out to Saudi by the Saudi government have reported it as fact. As a guide to the way boxing works, there are seldom any facts involved when deals are being made, broken and made again. The real insiders are furious that Usyk and Fury, the biggest fight in boxing, is not yet across the line. The sanctioning bodies, who get paid a fee for fights, have promised to get tough with their heavyweight champions, but have not said a word or done a thing; everyone is holding out for a slice of the Saudi cash pie. ‘Hey, it’s a business,’ they will say, but that little claim is wearing very thin. Fury, meanwhile, has mentioned 10 possible opponents in his social media rants in the last few weeks, including a plan to fight two UFC icons in one night. Usyk and Dubois went to purse bids, which is one of boxing’s ancient rituals, and Usyk’s team won. The fight is scheduled for August. Looking in from the side of the crowded stage is Joshua. His fight with Fury was announced by Fury on 10 June, 2020; it would have been a fight for the ages, for all the belts and all the bragging rights. It never happened and it has come close a couple of times since then. Joshua, meanwhile, will fight in August and it might be Dillian Whyte. There is a rumour that Whyte wants too much for the fight; the flip side of that rumour is that Whyte was offered too little. In America, Deontay Wilder, twice beaten in classics by Fury, has not fought since last October. There is a plan, under the Saudi deal, for Wilder to fight Joshua in Saudi Arabia on the same night as Usyk and Fury fight. There is, so the paid publicists insist, a total purse of $400million on the table for the four boxers to split. It must be a strong table. There are bold plans right now for the deadlock to be broken soon and some concrete dates and fights to finally be announced. The traffic, as they say in the world of espionage, is heavy. Let’s hope for some fights – the old game needs the best heavyweights back in action and out of the back end of that horse suit. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Tyson Fury claims UFC has offered him ‘hybrid fight’ with Jon Jones Joe Rogan is right: Tyson Fury has ‘no chance in hell’ against Jon Jones Why has Saudi Arabia become big player in world sport and what does future hold? Tyson Fury claims UFC has offered him ‘hybrid fight’ with Jon Jones Tyson Fury promises ‘imminent’ announcement of ‘big fight’ Joe Joyce on knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim

Two people hunched over a black and white checkered board, deliberating what moves they will make, how their opponent might counter and how they might counter that counter, with barely a flicker of emotion passing over their faces.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are calling up heralded prospect Henry Davis