Oleksandr Usyk has confirmed he is preparing for his rematch with Anthony Joshua despite having returned to Ukraine to defend his country.
Usyk outclassed Joshua to claim the WBA Super, WBO and IBF titles in a unanimous points decision at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.
Joshua activated his rematch clause, but the contest was initially thrown into doubt when it appeared a step-aside deal that would have allowed Usyk to face Tyson Fury instead was in place, but that reportedly fell through when money could not be agreed with Joshua's camp.
There were further complications added when the Ukrainian fighter returned home following Russia's invasion.
However, Usyk took to Instagram on Friday to confirm the rematch will take place and that he is preparing, posting a video accompanied by the words: "I decided to start preparing for a rematch with Anthony Joshua, a large number of my friends support me, all the rest of the good and peace, Thank God for everything."
Promoter Eddie Hearn recently said Joshua could take an interim fight if he is made to wait for another bout with Usyk, but was confident the two would face each other at the end of June.
"I do think Usyk will take that fight next, we're looking at the end of June for that fight and that’s when the fight has got to take place by," Hearn said on the DAZN Boxing Show.
"If he's not ready, we'll push for an interim fight, but my gut feeling right now, and this could change is that you will be seeing Anthony Joshua v Oleksandr Usyk for the unified world heavyweight championship next."
Lewis Hamilton is eager to get his teeth stuck into another Formula One title challenge as soon as possible, but his Mercedes continues to struggle in 2022.
New regulations in F1 this season, introduced to encourage "closer racing", have already shaken up the grid – to Hamilton's detriment.
Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez would both have finished ahead of Hamilton, too, had Red Bull not suffered a dramatic double retirement.
The seven-time champion has been honest enough to acknowledge his W13 car lacks the pace of its rivals, but that does not mean he is happy to take a back seat.
"I don't currently feel too stressed, but I want to get in the fight as soon as possible," Hamilton said ahead of FP1 at the Saudi Arabian GP on Friday.
"The last race was an amazing feeling for us, given where we thought we were going to be, to come out with the result that we did.
"But we can't rely every weekend on that to happen, so we need to move fast, and move forward as fast as we can."
Hamilton would likely have been frustrated then by his performance in the first practice session later in the day, running in an alarming ninth as Leclerc and Ferrari again set the pace.
While Red Bull are confident they have mastered the issues that prompted their Bahrain DNFs, there is little evidence so far of Mercedes getting to grips with the porpoising that has caused Hamilton such problems.
Mercedes team-mate George Russell was down in 15th on Friday, but he at least appears a little more patient in his first year with the team.
"In Formula One, things change incredibly quickly," Russell said. "We are very fortunate that the calendar is not very dense at the start of this season, and even if it's a couple of months, we're only six or seven races down out of a 23-race season.
"If you come out of the blocks incredibly fast after the summer break, even as Mercedes and Lewis did last year, you're still in with a shot.
"So, we need to be in almost damage limitation mode at the moment, pick up the pieces where there's an opportunity, and don't throw away unnecessary points."
Mercedes have not failed to take either a pole position or race win through two grands prix of a season since 2013.
Meanwhile, Russell could become the second Silver Arrows driver – after Michael Schumacher in 2010 – to complete three races without reaching the podium, having deputised for Hamilton once while with Williams.
Red Bull say they have located and fixed the problem that forced the team into a double DNF at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez saw their respective challenges falter in the final laps after both suffered mechanical malfunctions.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, along with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, instead made up the podium as their rivals were left empty-handed.
But ahead of this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Red Bull revealed they have identified the issue as a lack of fuel pressure late on, and have now rectified the problem.
"The correct amount of fuel was in both cars, but a vacuum prevented the pumps from drawing fuel and delivering it to the engine," said a team spokesperson.
"We've taken the necessary steps to correct this issue and we expect no problems this weekend."
Red Bull will look to get their first points of the season on the board in Jeddah, where Verstappen took a second-place finish behind Hamilton last year.
The race will proceed without Sebastian Vettel, as the Aston Martin driver and four-time world champion continues to recover from COVID-19.
Max Stassi has committed to the Los Angeles by signed a three-year extension, the team confirmed on Thursday.
The 31-year-old catcher has signed a new deal worth $17.5 million, which includes a "$7.5m club option with a $500,000 buyout for the 2025 season", according to an official announcement on the team's website.
Stassi had previously agreed to a $3m contract for the 2022 season to avoid arbitration, though this new deal enabled the Angels to buy out two free agency years, with the possibility of three should they pick up the club option.
Since joining the Angels from the Houston Astros in 2019, Stassi has proven himself to be one of the better catchers in Major League Baseball, particularly impressing in his offense.
During the shortened 2020 season he batted .278/.352/.533, with nine extra-base hits in 105 appearances at the plate, before hitting .241/.326/.426 with 13 homers and 35 RBIs in 87 games in 2021.
The Angels beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-4, on Thursday at Tempe Diablo Stadium in a Cactus League Spring training game.
Devin Booker demanded respect and the recognition he considers overdue as the Phoenix Suns clinched top spot in the Western Conference.
With a 60-14 record so far, the Suns will finish the regular season with the NBA's best win-loss record, and now they can start to think about chasing the franchise's first championship.
Defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks in last season's NBA Finals has only served to galvanise Monty Williams' Phoenix team this time around, and Booker made his appeal after scoring a season-high 49 points in a 140-130 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Booker was annoyed when at the pre-game arena team announcement on Thursday, his face was not shown on screen. Booker said that, instead, the screen showed Clippers guard Amir Coffey.
"That was disrespectful. I was laughing. I know that was purposefully done," he said.
"It's all fun and games, but we got the last laugh and every other laugh for the last few games against them. It's a good team they've got over there to put that up there because it got me going for sure."
The Arizona Republic newspaper said a Nuggets official had denied that error was deliberate.
Booker said the Suns would continue to talk themselves up, even if they consider there is insufficient attention on their achievements from elsewhere.
The Suns have secured the NBA's best record for the third time in franchise history, following on from 1992-93 and 2004-05.
"The vibes are there, man," he said. "Everybody's proud of each other.
"We're not the type of team to act like we haven't done nothing. We always talk about celebrating everything, and 60 wins is something I never even thought of."
Booker spoke of "day-to-day grind" and the hunger to keep improving and progressing.
"It's turned into something really nice," he said. "Now we have the one seed locked up, been winning basketball games for two years straight now.
"This team needs some flowers. Coach Monty should have been coach of the year last year. There's so much that I feel doesn't get talked about in this team.
"We've done a good job of not worrying about what people say about us, but it needs some recognition."
Sebastian Vettel will miss this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he continues his COVID-19 recovery.
The Aston Martin team announced on Friday that Vettel would be replaced for a second successive race by Nico Hulkenberg.
He missed the team's deadline to show he was race fit, after it was disclosed on Thursday that Vettel had yet to test negative for the coronavirus.
Four-time world champion Vettel had been hoping for a significant upturn in his recent fortunes this season, but it has begun in disappointing fashion for the German.
He had to sit out last weekend's opener in Bahrain after testing positive, and now he will have to watch from afar again as racing goes ahead in Jeddah.
Reserve driver Hulkenberg finished 17th in Bahrain, with Lance Stroll 12th, as the Aston Martin team failed to finish in the points.
Aston Martin said in a Twitter statement on Friday: "@HulkHulkenberg will practice, qualify and race alongside @lance_stroll. Despite lack of mileage in the #AMR22, Nico coped well in Bahrain and we are sure he will do likewise in Jeddah. We expect Sebastian Vettel to be fit for the #AustralianGP."
Vettel, 34, won his world titles consecutively from 2010 to 2013, and he joined Aston Martin ahead of the 2021 season.
The Australian Grand Prix weekend runs from April 8-10 in Melbourne.
DeMar DeRozan sat out the Chicago Bulls' 126-109 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday due to a groin strain which they feared may turn into "something bigger".
The loss meant the Bulls have suffered their fifth loss from their past six games, sliding to a 42-31 record and hanging on to fifth spot in the Eastern Conference.
DeRozan had been feeling some tightness in his groin recently, with a modest return of 21 points, four rebounds and two assists in Tuesday's 126-98 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks before sitting out against the Pelicans.
"DeMar knows his body better than anybody else," Bulls head coach Billy Donovan told reporters before Thursday's game.
"I think he felt like, 'Okay, this could get into something else a little bit more significant if I don't take care of this.'
"We just don't want it to turn into something bigger."
Donovan said the Bulls would know more on DeRozan's status on Friday ahead of their next game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his second game in the Milwaukee Bucks' past three as they won 114-102 over the Washington Wizards but head coach Mike Budenholzer insists there is nothing to worry about.
The reigning NBA Finals MVP missed the game with a sore right knee, leaving Jrue Holiday to star with 24 points and 10 assists as the Bucks improved to 46-27.
Antetokounmpo also missed Saturday's 138-119 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves with knee soreness.
"I don't think it's anything long-term or anything significant, but we'll see whether he travels tomorrow and make decisions on the game Saturday as we kind of see how he feels and learn more," Mike Budenholzer told reporters before Thursday's game.
Khris Middleton has missed Milwaukee's past two games with a sore left wrist but Budenholzer was bullish he would be available to face the in-form Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
"I fully expect him to travel with us to Memphis," Budenholzer said. "I think I'd go as far as to say we're hopeful he'll play against Memphis.
"We'll see how he does in the next day or two, but as of now, I'd expect him to be on the flight and we're hopeful that he'll play."
Memphis Grizzlies ascending superstar Ja Morant will be out for at least two more weeks as he recovers from knee soreness, according to head coach Taylor Jenkins.
Morant has missed the Grizzlies' past three games with the complaint, with the injury perhaps being more serious than first thought as he is scheduled to miss perhaps the entirety of the remaining regular season.
While the Grizzlies are notorious for playing their cards close to their chest when it comes to reporting player injuries, there is likely no hurry to rush Morant back as the team has compiled a staggering 16-2 record in his absences this season.
Speaking before Memphis' 133-103 win against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night, Jenkins said he was confident of Morant making a full recovery, even if the timeline is unclear.
"We expect him to make a full recovery before the playoffs, and we're excited about that with two and a half weeks left in the season," he told reporters.
"We'll offload him early, then he'll start reloading pretty soon here with that two weeks in mind to reevaluate."
Morant is the odds-on favourite to take home the NBA's Most Improved Player award, and will likely also receive some votes MVP further down the ballot.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski's fairytale ending is alive and well after Duke came from behind to knock Texas Tech out of March Madness 78-73 and move on to the Elite Eight.
Krzyzewski – affectionately known as 'Coach K' – is in the last season of his 42-year run as Duke's head coach, and is searching for his sixth national championship.
It was far from easy for the Blue Devils against a Red Raider side in their third Sweet 16 from the past four tournaments, trailing 33-29 at half-time.
In the final 15 minutes, neither team was able to build a lead of more than five points as it seesawed back-and-forth before two clutch Jeremy Roach jump shots gave Duke a 73-68 buffer with 1:33 remaining.
Duke's top NBA Draft prospect Paolo Banchero showed exactly why he is going to make plenty of money at the next level, scoring a team-high 21 points on seven-of-12 shooting to go with four assists and three steals as the best player on the court.
Devin Booker put on a show with 49 points as Chris Paul returned from a broken wrist as the Phoenix Suns clinched top spot in the Western Conference with a 140-130 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Booker's 49 points was a season-high, while 36-year-old Paul returned for the first time since February 20 with 17 points, including 15 in the first half, and 13 assists as the Suns secured their sixth straight win.
Three-time All-Star Booker shot 16-of-25 from the field and also had 10 assists, with Mikal Bridges contributing 22 points from eight-of-nine shooting.
The win means the Suns have secured the NBA's best record for the third time in franchise history, following on from 1992-93 and 2004-05.
Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic had 28 points with six rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets, who are 43-31 and holding on to sixth spot in the Western Conference.
Grizzlies and Bucks win without stars
The Memphis Grizzlies won again without Ja Morant with a 133-103 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Desmond Bane scored 30 points with five assists and five rebounds as the Grizzlies improved to 16-2 without Morant.
The Milwaukee Bucks triumphed without Khris Middleton (wrist) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) with Jrue Holiday starring with 24 points and 10 assists in a 114-102 win over the Washington Wizards.
Pascal Siakam equalled his season-high 35 points as the Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-104 in a crucial game in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
DeRozan out as Bulls slide continues
The Chicago Bulls slipped to their fifth defeat from their past six games, going down 126-109 to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Bulls are fifth in the east with a 42-31 record, just ahead of the Cavs and Raptors (both 41-32).
The Bulls, who were without DeMar DeRozan due to a left groin issue, were dominated 40-24 by the Pels in the fourth quarter, led by Devonte' Graham (30 points including five three-pointers) and Jonas Valanciunas (16 points and 19 rebounds).
Zach LaVine was Chicago's best with 39 points in DeRozan's absence, going 12-of-23 from the field, while Coby White added 23 points off the bench including five triples.
Naomi Osaka is through to the third round of the Miami Open after beating former world number one Angelique Kerber in straight sets.
Osaka won the first three games of the match to jump out to an early lead, securing the set with a double-break before breaking early in the second to cruise to a 6-2 6-3 win.
The story of the match was Osaka's ease in winning points against Kerber's serve, winning 41 per cent (15/37) of Kerber's successful first serves, while the German could only win 11 per cent (3/27) in the same category.
Britain's top-ranked woman Emma Raducanu suffered another early exit, on the wrong end of Katerina Siniakova's comeback 3-6 6-4 7-5 win.
Deshaun Watson was not charged by a second grand jury after it considered evidence of sexual assault and misconduct allegations.
The Cleveland Browns quarterback faces 22 civil lawsuits.
However, earlier in March, Harris County jurors did not find enough evidence for criminal proceedings, and Watson was again not indicted on Thursday after a Brazoria County grand jury also assessed the case.
"After a careful and thorough review of the facts and evidence documented in the reports prepared by the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office and the Houston Police Department, as well as hearing testimony from witnesses, the grand jury for Brazoria County has declined to charge Deshaun Watson with any crimes," Brazoria County District Attorney Tom Selleck said in a statement.
"Accordingly, this matter is closed."
Watson has strenuously denied the accusations since they emerged last year, overshadowing his attempts to push for a trade away from the Houston Texans.
He got his move to Cleveland after the first grand jury did not charge him.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said last week: "Our organisation did a tremendous amount of background on Deshaun.
"We understand the concerns and questions that exist but are confident in the extensive work Andrew [Berry, executive vice-president of football operations and general manager] and his staff have done to feel confident about him joining our organisation."
Daniil Medvedev will have to go through two-time Miami Open champion Andy Murray to quickly reclaim the world number one ranking.
Medvedev's first stint at the top of the ATP rankings ended swiftly when he lost in the third round at the Indian Wells Masters and was displaced by Novak Djokovic.
But the Russian has the opportunity to leapfrog Djokovic once more by making the semi-finals in Miami.
Before thinking about the latter stages of the Masters 1000 tournament, however, Medvedev first must master Murray, who looked in good nick on his return to Miami.
Murray has twice won this tournament but has not played it since 2016, meaning Thursday's match against Federico Delbonis was his Hard Rock Stadium debut.
Delbonis had won the pair's only prior meeting yet was outclassed 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 after a steady first set.
Medvedev and Murray have also only met once before now, with the world number two coming out on top, but the wild card is looking forward to the challenge.
"It's a big challenge for me, a big test," Murray said. "I've got a big training block after this tournament and it'll be a really good test for where my game's at and the things I need to work on as well against him. I'm looking forward to that."
That is not the only mouthwatering second-round tie, with Nick Kyrgios through to face Andrey Rublev.
However, Stefanos Tsitsipas has a slightly more straightforward task on paper after qualifier J.J. Wolf advanced past Daniel Altmaier.
Several of the biggest names on the PGA Tour continued strong starts at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on Thursday, but Bryson DeChambeau was not among them.
Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka have all enjoyed 2-0-0 starts in Austin as they aim to top their four-man groups and reach the weekend.
Yet DeChambeau had only been able to tie with 49-year-old Richard Bland – bidding to become the oldest professional to qualify for the Masters – on Wednesday, with even that result requiring a little luck.
Up against Lee Westwood on Thursday, DeChambeau knew he must improve but did not. Westwood finished 1 up to leave DeChambeau bottom of Group 9 with just half a point.
DeChambeau at least has the excuse he is struggling with a wrist injury; world number four Patrick Cantlay will do well to explain away his below-par performances.
Cantlay lost his narrow lead over Keith Mitchell late on Wednesday and was well off the pace when play resumed in round two, beaten 5 and 4 by Seamus Power.
That result tied the biggest of Thursday, with Rahm and Justin Thomas also 5 and 4 winners against Cameron Young and Marc Leishman respectively.
Nothing quite compared to Maverick McNealy's sensational 8 and 6 defeat of Joaquin Niemann from the previous day – and McNealy could only tie with Kevin Na on Thursday, despite twice being 3 up.
Elsewhere, at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship, the tournament got under way with Ben Martin moving to the top of the leaderboard with a six-under 66, enough for a one-stroke lead.
The Kansas City Chiefs are signing free agent Marquez Valdes-Scantling to a three-year, $36million contract as they seek to rebuild their offense following the departure of Tyreek Hill.
Six-time Pro Bowler Hill failed to agree terms on a new deal with the Chiefs and so was traded to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks on Wednesday.
That left the Chiefs without their number one wide receiver – and it remains to be seen how exactly they replace the game-breaking attributes of Patrick Mahomes' top target.
Their first move – according to ESPN and NFL Network – has been to sign a receiver familiar with elite quarterback play, bringing in Valdes-Scantling after four years with Aaron Rodgers on the Green Bay Packers.
However, Valdes-Scantling played second fiddle to Davante Adams – now with the Chiefs' AFC West rivals the Las Vegas Raiders – in Green Bay.
He last year ranked as low as third among Packers receivers for targets (55) and receiving yards (430) and fourth for catches (26) and receiving touchdowns (three), albeit he played only 11 games due to a hamstring injury.
Valdes-Scantling was used primarily by Rodgers as a deep-ball threat, leading all NFL receivers with 50 or more targets in consecutive seasons in terms of depth of target – 17.6 yards downfield on average in 2021, slightly down on 18.3 yards in 2020.
That approach was less effective last year, as Valdes-Scantling got open on just 54.7 per cent of his targets – the third-worst rate in the league.
By contrast, in 2021, Hill's average depth of target was only 10.3 yards, yet he got open 82.7 per cent of the time and tallied 824 receiving yards at the point of catch, ranking sixth among receivers.
Valdes-Scantling alone is highly unlikely to plug the hole he leaves, with the Chiefs set to turn to the draft with two first-round picks. They have also signed JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Paul George has given the Los Angeles Clippers a lift with his return to practice on Thursday for the first time since December.
The Clippers have seen their season wrecked by injuries but have still managed to hover around .500, entering Thursday's games eighth in the West with a 36-38 record.
They are set to finish the regular season in that position, securing a place in the play-in tournament – an impressive achievement given the absence of key players.
Kawhi Leonard is yet to play in 2021-22 due to the partial tear of the ACL in his right knee that curtailed his playoff campaign last year.
George carried the Clippers in his stead, averaging 24.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals until he tore a ligament in his right elbow late last year.
A trade for Norm Powell sought to breathe new life into the Clippers' season, yet he lasted just three games – scoring 21.0 points per game – before fracturing a bone in his left foot.
The team's competitive results have given the trio time to recover, though, and now George is back in the mix, cleared for practice even if he remains out on gameday.
"He is doing good," coach Ty Lue said on Thursday. "He hasn't felt any pain, so that is a positive thing.
"He is just working on his conditioning and just making sure he can continue to go through the minimal contact without having any issue. So as of right now, it hasn't been a problem."
The Phoenix Suns' All-Star guard Chris Paul is "probable" to return to action on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets.
The 36-year-old suffered an avulsion fracture in his right thumb in a 124-121 win over former team the Houston Rockets on February 16, though he still played two minutes for Team LeBron in the All-Star Game four days later.
Paul has missed the past 15 games for the Suns, his absence coinciding with a slight wobble from the 59-14 league leaders as they lost four of their next nine games.
However, Phoenix have won six in a row since then, and the return of Paul will be a welcome boost with the playoffs on the horizon.
Paul had been a key part of the season up to his injury, averaging 14.9 points and a league-leading 10.7 assists.
Even with his injury, only Atlanta's Trae Young (634) has more total assists this season than Paul's 619, having played nine games more.
Former national champion Sean Morris pulled off a commanding victory during Sunday’s final round of the Constant Spring Golf Classic at the Constant Spring Golf Club while being the only player to record an under-par score on the par 70 course.
Morris shot a three-under-par 67 to win by 11 shots over runner-up William Knibbs. Aman Dhiman was further back in third in the Men & Men Senior 0-6 category.
Morris scored 72 on the opening day for a combined score of 139. Over the two rounds, he carded nine birdies, six bogeys and a double-bogey at the 15th hole on opening day. He was at his best on the front nine on Sunday when he shot three birdies to be three-under.
"I am on my way back with some new equipment so the journey is going to be a hard one,” Morris said afterwards.
“After the tournament I played at Caymanas, I knew there was something in these clubs but I still have some adjustment to do so I am still not as confident as I would like to be with them. The score was 72 on the first day and 67 on the second day which is a total of one-under par. An under par round on any golf course in Jamaica is a commendable score, so I am really happy with it."
He said he was satisfied with the playing conditions.
“The course was in pretty good shape,” he said.
“The greens were a little bit inconsistent but it’s the same course that everybody plays so everybody has to figure it out. I am happy to be the one who came out on top this weekend."
Knibbs, meanwhile, carded a three-over-par 73 one day one and was seven for a 77 on Sunday for a total 150. Dhiman scored 83 and 79 for a combined score of 162.
The top performers in the various categories were as follows:
Men & Men Senior 7-12 - Vikram Dhiman 153 (74, 79), Philip Gooden 164 (80, 84) and Clive Newman 171 (88, 83).
Men and Men Senior 13-24 - Courtney Cephas 175 (81, 94) and Mitchell Watson 215 (108, 107).
Men Super Senior 0-12 - Wayne Chai Chong 156 (73, 83), Radcliff Knibbs 158 (82, 76) and Bert Tomlinson 160 (81, 79).
Men Super Senior 13 -24 - Vivian Monteith 186 (84, 102), Linval Freeman 188 (90, 98) and Howard Lau 192 (97, 95).
Boys 16-17 Noah Azan 165 (84, 81) and Zaniel Knight 178 (93, 85).
Boys 14-15 - Lek Drummond 191 (100, 91).
Girls 14-15 - Samantha Azan (73, 80)
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