Conor Benn confirmed he is in discussions with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) but claimed he cannot comment amid reports he has been provisionally suspended.

The boxer twice tested positive for the banned substance clomifene last year ahead of a scheduled bout with Chris Eubank Jr in October that was subsequently scrapped.

Benn's reinstatement to the WBC rankings in March appeared to pave the way for a return, but he remains without a licence from the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC).

Reports on Tuesday from Boxing News suggested he has been provisionally suspended since March 15, to which Benn responded on social media with defiance while acknowledging he could not say much else on the matter.

"I can't comment on anything to do with UKAD other than to say that I am in touch with them," he wrote on Twitter.

"Someone at the BBBoC or UKAD obviously wanted to create a headline, unlike the [Amir] Khan case where it was kept quiet for 14 months.

"But this is nothing new. I remain free to fight outside the UK. This isn't even about my innocence anymore, it's all politics. You can't keep a good man down."

Benn had been plotting a comeback bout abroad in Abu Dhabi later this year, with multiple options such as Eubank Jr and Manny Pacquiao apparently touted by his promoter Eddie Hearn.

However, any such bout would risk the British licences of all involved regardless of it taking place on foreign soil if Benn is suspended by UKAD.

Damar Hamlin has been fully cleared to resume all football activities.

Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane confirmed on Tuesday that safety Hamlin was working out at their facility after receiving clearance from three doctors. 

Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest in the Bills' game with the Cincinnati Bengals in January, collapsing on the field in the first quarter of the Week 17 encounter.

He received CPR and automated external defibrillation on the field, with his heart successfully restarted.

Hamlin has subsequently made a remarkable recovery, and after saying on a visit to the White House to meet US president Joe Biden he planned to play football again, he has now been permitted to do so.

"They're all in agreement [the specialists]. It's not two to one or anything like that; they're all in lockstep of what this was and that he is cleared to resume full activities just like anyone else who was coming back from an injury or whatever, so he's fully cleared," Beane said at his pre-draft press conference. 

"He’s here, and he’s in a great headspace to come back and make his return.

"Damar is preparing to play."

Novak Djokovic's right elbow is "not in an ideal condition" just over a month before the French Open gets under way.

The world number one wore strapping at the Monte Carlo Masters last week and suffered a shock 6-4 5-7 4-6 defeat to Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.

Djokovic, who had an elbow operation in 2018, will be back in action at the Srpska Open this week, facing Frenchman Luca Van Assche in the first round of the tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As he steps up his preparations to try and win a record 23rd grand slam title at Roland Garros, the 35-year-old revealed he is being hampered by his elbow.

"The elbow is not in an ideal condition, but let's say it’s good enough. I hope it will be fully ready for the first match," he said.

Djokovic expressed his gratitude for the way he has been received in Banja Luka this week.

"The people welcome me wholeheartedly with a great reception and so much love and support," he said.

"So I'm super excited to be here because I think it's one of the best places for us Serbian tennis players and athletes in general to be able to perform where we have so much love and support from local people."

Djokovic has a 16-2 record this year, winning a title in Adelaide before matching Rafael Nadal's haul of major triumphs at the Australian Open.

Ferrari have lost their appeal to the FIA over a time penalty handed to Carlos Sainz at the Australian Grand Prix.

Sainz was punished following a collision with Fernando Alonso during the race on April 2.

He was demoted from fourth to 12th place after making contact with Alonso's Aston Martin in a chaotic penultimate-lap standing restart.

There were another two crashes prior to a red flag being waved for a third time in Melbourne, where Red Bull's Max Verstappen triumphed.

Ferrari appealed the decision, but on Tuesday it was confirmed the Italian team had been unsuccessful.

"There is no significant and relevant new element that was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned. The Petition is therefore dismissed," an FIA statement read after a hearing on Tuesday.

"We considered the fact that this collision took place at the first corner on the first lap of the restart, when, by convention, the stewards would typically take a more lenient view of incidents.

"However, we decided that notwithstanding that it was the equivalent of a first lap incident, we considered that there was sufficient gap for SAI to take steps to avoid the collision and failed to do so. We therefore imposed a five-second time penalty."

Ferrari said they were "naturally disappointed" with the decision, adding they felt "that we had provided sufficient significant new elements for the FIA to re-examine the decision especially in the context of the particular conditions and multiple incidents that occurred during the final restart."

Their statement concluded: "We are however respectful of the process and of the FIA decision. We are now looking forward to entering broader discussions with the FIA, Formula One, and all the teams, with the aim of further improving the policing of our sport, in order to ensure the highest level of fairness and consistency that our sport deserves.

Draymond Green pleaded his innocence for the stamping incident that led to his ejection from Monday's 114-106 loss to the Sacramento Kings, calling on referees to help him out.

Green was called for a flagrant-2 foul and subsequently ejected in the fourth quarter of the Game 2 loss in the Golden State Warriors’ playoffs first round loss after an altercation with Kings center Domantas Sabonis.

The Warriors big man stamped on Sabonis’ chest, after the latter fell to the ground and appeared to grab Green's leg as Golden State tried to launch a fast break following Stephen Curry's rebound from Malik Monk's missed two-point attempt.

Lithuanian center Sabonis was on the floor in pain for several minutes. While Green was ejected, Sabonis was called for a technical foul for the grab.

The Warriors All-Star claimed it was the second time in two games that he had been grabbed, citing a similar incident in Game 1 involving Monk and calling for more assistance from the officials.

"My leg got grabbed," Green told reporters. "Second time in two nights. Referees just watch it. I've got to land my foot somewhere.

"I'm not the most flexible person, so I'm not stretching that far. I could only step so far in pulling my leg away. It is what it is."

Green said the referees told him he had been ejected because he "stomped too hard", while he was not surprised Sabonis stayed down injured given the impact.

Sabonis refused to be drawn on the incident, nor whether there was any animosity between him and Green as a result.

"It's playoff basketball," Sabonis told NBA on TNT. "This is it, we're here to fight. Every time we step on the floor, we're going to give everything for our team-mates and the franchise.

"We're both fighting for the rebound. We fell on each other, stuff happens, it's basketball, we've got to move on, next play."

Doc Rivers' "cursing" had the desire effect as the Philadelphia 76ers stepped it up in the second half to take a 2-0 lead over the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference playoff series.

The Nets led Game 2 at Wells Fargo Center on Monday by five points at half-time and Rivers decided just over a minute into the third quarter it was time for him to unleash some verbal volleys.

Sixers head coach Rivers' intervention sparked his side into life and they went on to win 96-84.

Tyrese Maxey top scored with 33 points, including six three-pointers, while Joel Embiid finished with 20 points, 19 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.

Tobias Harris also weighed in with 20 points and 12 rebounds as Philadelphia took command of the first-round series before travelling to New York for Game 3 on Thursday.

Asked what Rivers said during a huddle early in the third quarter, James Harden said: "Cursing us out. That's it. Just cursing us out.

"The first possession, we didn't run a play that he drew up, for whatever reason. But we got it right."

Rivers felt the Sixers made life difficult for themselves before raising their game to dominate the second half.

"We got guys to the right space," Rivers said. "Joel was patient. James was patient. We moved the ball, we got every shot we wanted.

"That was a hard game, because we got outside of ourselves in the first half. I thought we were forcing it. We were trying, nothing selfish, but we're trying to score all of us, instead of being there giving you the answers with their traps. Trust your stuff, trust your spacing, move the ball and the right guys are going to end up with the ball.

"And if we do it enough, eventually, Joel, you're gonna get one-on-ones, and then you're going to dominate the game. And I thought we did that in the second half."

Cam Johnson led the Nets with 28 points but they were unable to level the series.

The Boston Bruins continued their historic season with a 3-1 Game 1 victory in the first-round series against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on Monday.

Boston put together the greatest regular season record in NHL history at 65-12-5, beating the previous record held by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (62-13-7) by three wins.

Kicking off their Eastern Conference playoff campaign, the Bruins jumped ahead in the first period through a David Pastrnak goal, before Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk added one each in the second period either side of Matthew Tkachuk's lone Panthers score.

While the Bruins came out with the win, they finished on the wrong end of the total shot count 32-29, also trailing slightly in hits (44-43).

Head coach Jim Montgomery said the score was not indicative of the general play, but at this time of year they will take whatever they can get.

"Results matter more than the process right now," he said. "When we look at our five-on-five game, we were not very happy with our process. 

"So we can get better there, but the result was really good, and I think the result comes from we had some players play really well, especially our goaltender. 

"The intensity of the playoffs, it surprised us a little bit, and I think we had a little bit of nerves."

Marchand is no stranger to playoff hockey, winning the Stanley Cup with the Bruins back in 2011, and he made it clear Boston are not happy with just the regular-season record.

"I don't think we've ever been satisfied with any game we've had this year," he said. "It's always good to start the first game with a win, but we haven't accomplished anything yet."

Tkachuk credited the Bruins with the way they improved the longer the game went on.

"There were parts of our game that were good, and I feel like [the Bruins] got a little bit better as it got on," he said. "Especially when you have a two-goal lead, it's easier to play. 

"You're playing safer, and they packed it in pretty good on us, but I'm confident in our team, in our game, and seeing a lot of things that I think we could hang with these guys."

Game 2 will also take place in Boston on Wednesday before the series heads to Florida.

Shohei Ohtani helped his Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing streak on Sunday, igniting a 5-4 road win against the Boston Red Sox.

Ohtani started on the mound at Fenway Park, giving up one run while striking out three batters across the opening two innings. 

He also collected a base hit in the first frame, and followed it with another single in the second, before rain arrived and forced a weather delay.

With his arm cooling down during the lengthy break, Ohtani was replaced by Tucker Davidson upon resumption, but the five runs the Angels put up in the first two innings proved to be enough.

The catalyst for their bright offensive start was Hunter Renfroe, connecting on a three-run homer with the game's fourth at-bat. Renfroe then added his fourth RBI of the contest an inning later with a ground-out.

Red Sox star Rafael Devers tried to ignite a late comeback in the bottom of the ninth, with his RBI single bridging the gap to 5-4 while runners remained on first and second base with one out, but Rob Refsnyder and Masataka Yoshida could not muster a hit from either of the final two at-bats.

After the win, Angels manager Phil Nevin said the team would discuss moving up Ohtani's next start due to his limited workload this time out.

Rangers pitch combined one-hitter 

There was an injury scare for Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom, but it could not sour their terrific 4-0 shutout of the Kansas City Royals.

DeGrom was withdrawn after four innings of work with what the team called a precaution due to wrist soreness, but he held the Royals hit-less during those four innings, and the bullpen only allowed one hit the rest of the way.

Dane Dunning came in and tossed four innings in relief, allowing one hit and one walk in a great showing, while the bulk of the offensive damage was done by a three-run homer from Josh Jung in the first inning.

It was Jung's third home run of the season, and team-mate Marcus Semien joined him with three for the campaign after a solo homer of his own.

Rays keep home run streak alive in loss

The Tampa Bay Rays suffered a disappointing 8-1 road defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, but not before keeping their historic home run streak alive.

The Rays were down 8-0 in the last inning when Josh Lowe hit a consolation home run, but with it, he marked the 17th consecutive game Tampa have hit a home run in to start the season.

Tampa Bay slipped to a still league-leading 14-3 record with the loss, but they are now just three games with a home run away from tying the 2019 Seattle Mariners for the longest streak to start a season in MLB history.

Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes revealed he is still rehabbing the high ankle sprain that he battled through during last season's playoffs.

Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to the Super Bowl LVII title with an MVP display in their 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on February 12.

The Chiefs QB dealt with the ankle issue throughout the postseason after sustaining the injury in their divisional round playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Mahomes said he is back throwing to receivers and running backs but still working through the issue as the Chiefs commenced their offseason program on Monday.

"It's been more about just kind of managing it, getting the mobility back as best as I possibly can," Mahomes told reporters.

"I wouldn't say I'm 100 per cent. ... It's just when you go through a grind of a week of training and you're trying to push it and go through the rehab process.

"But at the same time you want to make sure you're still building, you might be a little sore on the weekends. But I think we've done a great job of pushing it to the right limit to where now I'm throwing.

"There will still be a little bit of limitations going the next few weeks, but I'm going to be happy with where I'm at and we'll keep pushing it and getting me to the right spot before the beginning of the season."

Mahomes did not require surgery on the high ankle sprain, which was different to a toe/foot injury two years ago that impacted his start to the corresponding season.

"The foot, with having the surgery and having that cast on it, it just really cut my mobility down a lot and so I had to really work through that even into the season that next year," Mahomes said.

"With the ankle, I've felt like we've improved, especially these last few weeks, a ton as far as the swelling. That went down finally. I don't have that soreness just as much as I was having it after a few days of work.

"With the improvements that we're making these last few weeks, I have a great feeling that by the time we get to training camp, it wouldn't even be any question at all. We'll continue to work through it.

"By OTAs [starting in May], I don't think there'll be any limitations on reps or anything like that, especially if I'm not running around a ton.

"But at the same time, we'll continue the rehab process and making sure by the time we get to training camp, I can just roll out there and feel perfectly fine."

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is itching to get into the 2023 season after an injury-riddled campaign as reigning Super Bowl champion.

After winning it all in Super Bowl LVI, Stafford went into his offseason program dealing with a lingering elbow issue that would not allow him to throw. He ended up being held out from throwing altogether in the offseason program and was still limited during training camp.

Stafford's spotty preparation led to one of the worst statistical seasons of his career. In his nine starts before a season-ending spinal cord contusion, Stafford led the Rams to a 3-6 record with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

His 10 touchdowns were the fewest in any of his 13 seasons where he has made at least eight starts, while his 10.1 yards per completion was also a career low, and his 231.9 yards per game were the fewest since his rookie year back in 2009.

After two concussions and his spinal cord injury, while also playing on a Rams team seemingly trending in the wrong direction looking forward, there was plenty of speculation if Stafford would play on in 2023, but he told reporters on Monday that he is raring to go.

"I'm not 25, but I definitely feel good," Stafford said after turning 35 in February. "It's fun to be as refreshed as I am coming back into this building.

"I'm in a good head space as far as how I'm feeling [and] what I'm able to accomplish while I'm here, and that puts me in a good mood.

"It gets me excited to be here and kind of helps me make sure that my attitude, my energy level, is at the correct place every single time I come in here – and I feel like it's there right now."

While admitting he is not able to throw every day with reckless abandon like he once could, Stafford said he is "ready to go [and] ready to play".

"It's kind of nice that I'll be able to go out there and have a much more normal offseason experience and be able to be out there and do what I love to do," he said.

"I'm probably not a human Jugs machine like I used to be, [but I] can still get it out there and throw it around a bunch.

"So, it'll be a process as it always is to try and stay as healthy as you possibly can at all times. But I definitely feel like I can go out there and compete and do everything I want to do, which is fun and exciting for me."

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr has been rewarded for his spectacular shot-blocking season by being named the 2022-23 Defensive Player of the Year.

The first of the NBA's annual regular season awards was announced on Monday prior to Game 2 between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets, with more to follow in coming days.

Jackson, 23, was drafted fourth overall by the Grizzlies in the 2018 NBA Draft as an 18-year-old, showing a rare skill-set during his time at Michigan State.

Standing at six-foot-10 with a seven-foot-five wingspan, Jackson was the only player in all of college basketball during his draft year to average at least three blocks per game and a made three-pointer per game.

He struggled mightily with foul trouble early in his professional career – leading the league in fouls per game in each of his first two seasons – but after injuries derailed his third campaign, he returned in his fourth season as a new player.

In the 2021-22 season he began to fulfil the potential he promised on the defensive end, playing a career-high 78 regular season fixtures while leading the league in blocks per game (2.3) for the first time. 

Entering this campaign as the reigning blocks king, Jackson took things a step further, posting a career-high 3.0 blocks per game while boasting one of the gaudiest block rates of all time.

While Jackson was on the floor, he blocked 9.58 per cent of all opponent shots – the seventh-highest rate of all-time – and an even higher figure than Myles Turner's 8.85 per cent when he averaged 3.4 blocks per game in the 2020-21 season.

Among full-time starters, no player in the NBA this season boasted a better individual defensive rating than Jackson's 106.6, turning the Grizzlies into the league's best defense during his minutes on the court.

Meanwhile, during the 19 games Jackson has missed this season, the Grizzlies' defensive rating of 114.8 would rank them 21st, between the Charlotte Hornets and the Washington Wizards.

While it does not go into consideration for his Defensive Player of the Year award, Jackson also had a career-best season on the offensive end, scoring a career-high 18.6 points per game while averaging career highs in field-goal makes (6.6), field-goal percentage (50.6) and free-throw makes (3.8).

He is currently in the first year of a four-year, $105million extension – which has turned into a bargain deal due to his rapid ascension into fringe All-NBA status.

Also receiving votes were Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez, Cleveland Cavaliers second-year star Evan Mobley and Golden State Warriors future Hall-of-Famer Draymond Green.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's MRI came back clean, leaving Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer "mostly optimistic" over his availability for Game 2 on Wednesday.

Antetokounmpo exited Sunday's 130-117 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series after landing heavily on his back in the first quarter.

A post-game X-ray came up clear, and Monday's MRI has given his team hope the two-time MVP can return for Game 2 in Milwaukee on Wednesday, with Budenholzer thankful for the two days of rest between games.

"He's still sore, but I think progress," Budenholzer said. "He's getting some treatment, and we'll just continue to monitor him for the next day or two.

"[We're] probably fortunate there's two days between games.

"I think still mostly positive, mostly optimistic. But we'll see how he feels over the next day or two."