The crowd-pleasing Kazakh is unhappy that a superfight with Canelo Álvarez has been tabled yet again, which could spell bad news for stand-in Danny JacobsStop me if you’ve heard the one about the middleweight who was too good to get a big fight, the prodigious talent who time and again found himself on the raw end of the elemental risk-versus-reward calculus at matchmaking’s essence. Once upon a time it was Charley Burley, described by no less estimable fistic minds than Eddie Futch and Ray Arcel as the greatest all-round fighter either had ever set eyes on, whose formidable ability and skin color in the 1940s cruelly conspired to earn him the unenviable title of best ever boxer to never be...
Mixed martial arts isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but Streep’s jibe at the Golden Globes was misguided. MMA is plenty diverse: it’s full of foreigners and outsidersIn her heartfelt speech at the Golden Globes on Sunday night, Meryl Streep found time to mention mixed martial arts, also known as MMA. Streep took aim at Donald Trump and defended the diversity that has made Hollywood, and America, great. “Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts – which are not the arts,” she said. Related: Dana White attacks 'uppity 80-year-old' Meryl Streep over MMA comments Related: Will Ronda Rousey's downfall kill female UFC? Don't...
Gutted beyond recognition and left for dead four years ago, the Big East is, improbably, back among college basketball’s best conferences The Big East’s fade to mediocrity was all but a foregone conclusion when realignment left the once-powerful conference gutted beyond recognition four years ago.Name-brand programs like Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Louisville and West Virginia had bolted to chase the football dollars of the power conferences, leaving Villanova, Georgetown, St John’s, Seton Hall, Marquette, DePaul and Providence to pick up the pieces. Related: Villanova celebrates NCAA championship with downtown Philadelphia parade – in pictures Continue reading...
The Giants receiver has drawn fire for a yacht trip before his team’s playoff loss. He should have stayed inside, turned off the lights and shut the curtainsThe impact of Odell Beckham’s Miami boat ride six days before the Giants lost to the Packers in an NFC wildcard game may never be fully known. There are those who believe his hands had lingering sea sickness and were unable to reel in football passes like they were South Florida marlin. Others believe it was Aaron Rodgers, cold weather and New York’s horrific pass defense that did the Giants in. Perhaps the truth, like proper weight distribution of an ocean-going vessel, is somewhere in the middle. What we do know is that...
Dak Prescott and Co are a balanced unit but on Sunday the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers showed they are only getting better as the season unfoldsAaron Rodgers is on a run like almost none he has had in his career and suddenly it feels like he might be taking Green Bay to the Super Bowl. All year people have talked about the decline of the NFL, suggesting the league isn’t the same because the quarterbacks are worse than in recent seasons. But 2016 ended with Tom Brady setting an NFL record with 28 touchdowns and only two interceptions, Drew Brees threw for 5,000 yards once more, Matt Ryan had an MVP year and, in his last seven games,...