List of All Articles with Tag 'sports'

The long reign of the boxing queen, Katie Taylor, ended late on Saturday night in Dublin. At the end of ten truly heroic rounds, Taylor dropped her head when Chantelle Cameroon had her hand raised in front of nearly 10,000 people at the 3Arena. On the night and in the fight, Cameron was just a bit bigger, stronger and busier and she left the ring with her four world title belts. And a face full of bruises. It was one of the finest victories by a British boxer in a world title defence overseas. Cameron, the champion, had been the underdog all week, selected by Taylor personally to lose. Taylor had dared to dream, moved up in weight, challenged an unbeaten woman and on the night that was meant to be her crowning glory, she fell just short. One judge scored it a draw, the other two returned identical scores of 96-94; Cameron, they believe, had won six of the ten rounds. I agree, by the way. On a night of raw emotion, Taylor had taken in every second of her ring walk, prowling the stage at the back of the arena and lifting her devoted flock to a howling frenzy. In the ring, Cameron had bounced on her toes during the expected delay, laughing and joking with her trainers, Jamie Moore and Nigel Travis. They had been a solid unit all week here in Dublin, seemingly immune to the media attention and most definitely not phased by the crowd. At ringside, Conor McGregor led the chorus of approval as Taylor finally stepped through the ropes. It was an unbelievable noise, an unforgettable scene of devotion and respect for Taylor. And then the boxing started and Cameron moved her feet to cut Taylor down and let her hands go. In the opening rounds, Taylor was trapped repeatedly on the ropes and caught with body shots. I think that Taylor finished the first five rounds trapped in a corner at the bell, her hair free of the braids and covering her face as Cameron landed to body and head. The crowd did their bit, but they are a boxing-wise flock and they knew what was happening. Cameron was on fire. Taylor tried to create a bit of distance by stepping back and letting her own hands go with her trademark combinations; Cameron just eased forward, jabbed, let the right go and then switched to the body. Cameron had a great plan and was slowly dominating a hard fight. At the end of five rounds, Taylor was trailing heavily. “We never came this far to be out-hustled by this girl,” Ross Enamait, Taylor’s trainer, told his fighter before the start of the sixth. There was a sense of shock in Taylor’s corner. In previous tight fights, Taylor has simply had the desire and ability to dig her feet into the canvas and fight her way from the ropes to the centre of the ring. It was Taylor’s 17th consecutive world title fight. In the Dublin ring, Cameron was smart enough to adjust when Taylor started the inevitable comeback from round six. It was desperate stuff, a heroic stand and Taylor’s homecoming army added to the drama. McGregor was still pounding the canvas with his palms and screaming. Taylor was back in the fight, losing but still swinging. This is what the faithful had been waiting for; Katie was back. There was no panic at any point from Cameron, no drastic changes in her plans and she stuck to her tactics. Cameron’s right cheek was starting to swell and Taylor was starting to read her. Cameron was still landing with rights, then switching to the body, but in rounds six and seven Taylor was countering and leading the crowd in song. It was a brutal fight, a savage struggle by Taylor to remain unbeaten. Taylor was, finally, starting to put her fast combinations together. At the final bell, Sparkle Lee, the referee, had to jump between them. It was the only possible ending to the fight. Cameron and Taylor knew they had each played a special part; they had both been unbeaten before the first bell and at the end, it was Cameron who acted like the winner. However, it was Katie Taylor’s homecoming, her night, her coronation and boxing is scarred by unjust decisions. The correct verdict was returned, Taylor picked up her head and congratulated Cameron. It was expected and classy. “Let’s do it again,” Taylor said. There is a rematch clause for Taylor and she will inevitably invoke it. Taylor hates to lose; Cameron will not refuse. Read More Katie Taylor chases rematch after decision loss to Chantelle Cameron Devin Haney edges past Vasiliy Lomachenko to remain unbeaten and undisputed Katie Taylor chases rematch after decision loss to Chantelle Cameron Chantelle Cameron outlasts Katie Taylor in Dublin Katie Taylor beaten by Chantelle Cameron on Irish homecoming

Joey Gallo homered for the fourth time in seven games, Trevor Larnach hit an RBI triple that turned into a Little League home run and the Minnesota Twins defeated the Los Angeles Angels 6-2

Katie Taylor suffered the first loss of her professional career on Saturday, as she was beaten on points by Chantelle Cameron in Dublin. Taylor entered the 3Arena unbeaten and as the undisputed lightweight champion, while her British opponent was also undefeated and put the undisputed super-lightweight titles on the line. In what was, remarkably, Taylor’s first pro fight in her native Ireland, the Olympic champion lost a majority decision to Cameron, who emerged victorious 96-94, 96-94, 95-95 on the judges’ scorecards. The bout was contested at an intense pace, with Cameron, 32, fighting on the front foot and applying heavy pressure throughout. Taylor’s every punch was greeted with a roar in Dublin, but the 36-year-old seemed to lose the contest in the middle rounds, as Cameron landed the harder shots and with greater frequency. Taylor, cheered on by UFC star and compatriot Conor McGregor from ringside, landed several eye-catching flurries in the final frames, but her quick, straight punches did not appear to faze Cameron. In contrast, Taylor seemed to be worn down somewhat by her opponent’s frequent body shots. Taylor expressed her desire for a rematch as the fighters spoke in the ring after the main event, before her promoter Eddie Hearn reiterated that a rematch clause would allow a second clash between the women. He added that it would likely take place in Dublin in autumn. Re-live updates from the fight, below. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Katie Taylor beaten by Chantelle Cameron on Irish homecoming Conor McGregor cheers on Irish boxers from ringside before Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron Devin Haney edges past Vasiliy Lomachenko to remain unbeaten and undisputed

Devin Haney remained unbeaten and undisputed with a narrow points win over Vasiliy Lomachenko on Saturday. The American, 24, entered Las Vegas with an undefeated record of 29-0, and he improved that tally by edging out Lomachenko 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 on the judges’ scorecards, retaining his lightweight titles in the process. For Lomachenko, who was the smaller, older fighter at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the only adjective that mattered was ‘undisputed’ – a status that has eluded the Ukrainian throughout a storied career. Lomachenko, 35, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and has held world titles at featherweight, super-featherweight, and unified gold at lightweight. Yet he has never been undisputed, and Haney denied the veteran that accolade on Saturday (20 May), narrowly outpointing “Loma”. A highly-competitive fight featured numerous rounds that were almost too close to call, though Haney was favouring an effective right hook to the body in the first half of the bout. Meanwhile, Lomachenko could not muster the same power but was intermittently stinging the “Dream” with flurries of short, straight punches, with his jab also piercing Haney’s defence. Lomachenko seemed to secure the clearest rounds – the 10th and 11th – but could not quite take the final frame, which all three judges scored in favour of Haney, preventing a majority draw. For Haney, it was a second straight successful defence of the undisputed gold. The American outpointed George Kambosos Jr in the Australian’s home country in June to unify all the belts, before repeating the result in October – in Melbourne once again. Meanwhile, Saturday’s main event marked a third professional defeat for Lomachenko, who last suffered a loss in 2020 when he was surprisingly outpointed by Teofimo Lopez. Lomachenko responded to that result with three straight wins, the third coming in December after the 35-year-old spent much of 2022 in Ukraine, aiding his country’s defence against the Russian invasion. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Katie Taylor beaten by Chantelle Cameron on Irish homecoming Joe Rogan is right: Tyson Fury has ‘no chance in hell’ against Jon Jones McGregor Forever: The problem with the new Conor McGregor documentary

Emmanuel Valdez hit a three-run homer and Chris Sale allowed just three hits including two homers in seven innings for the Boston Red Sox who beat San Diego 4-2 to send the Padres plummeting to their fourth straight loss and 11th in 13 games

Undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney retained his titles by winning a controversial unanimous decision over former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden

Jamal Murray scored 37 points, Nikola Jokic added 24 points and eight assists, and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals with a 119-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers

Matthew Tkachuk finished a feed from Sam Reinhart at the 1:51 mark of overtime to help the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 for a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference final

Right-hander Logan Gilbert recovered from a rocky first inning to retire 15 consecutive hitters, Eugenio Suárez hit a two-run homer, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Atlanta Braves 7-3

Ercan Kara and Martín Ojeda both had a goal and an assist to power Orlando City to a 3-1 victory over Inter Miami

Nolan Gorman hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Victor González in the eighth inning, boosting the St. Louis Cardinals over the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 and out of the NL Central cellar for the first time in nearly a month

PGA club professional Michael Block's storybook run at the PGA Championship will finish with Rory McIlroy and a potentially big payday