Sports

Aug 9, 2022 Henry Cejudo. Cody Garbrandt. Urijah Faber. Those are some top-shelf bantamweights, and Marlon Vera has a chance to join their exclusive club this weekend. The 135-pounders named above are the only three fighters who own victories over Dominick Cruz. All three of those losses came in title bouts for Cruz, who ruled

8:48 AM ET Mark KriegelESPN RINGOES, N.J. — The last time Teofimo Lopez fought it was with a condition later diagnosed as pneumomediastinum, a balloon-like intrusion of air in his thoracic cavity, the likely result of a tiny tear in his esophagus that developed as he rehydrated after the weigh-in. “How he breathed, I can’t

5:52 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Coco Gauff outlasted sixth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4) in windy conditions Thursday to reach the National Bank Open quarterfinals. Sabalenka tossed her racket in frustration after surrendering the deciding point in the match that took 3 hours, 11 minutes. Both players struggled with the wind at

8:45 AM ET After some drama about who would and who would not be in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, the field is set. Now, the three-week sprint to the finish begins, starting with the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The top 125 players in the standings are in the field. After this week, the

11:29 AM ET Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Basketball has picked its 12-man roster for the opening second-round window of World Cup qualifying, as the Americans look to move closer to clinching a spot in the field for next year’s event. Jim Boylen will return as coach, assisted again by Ty Ellis and

7:00 AM ET Pete ThamelESPN We are in an environment where college sports can no longer pretend to be considered amateur, a truism obvious for decades but only recently deemed appropriate to say out loud. A flurry of court rulings, the impotence of the NCAA and seismic realignment moves have removed the final layers of

6:01 AM ET HOUSTON — WEARING BLACK Crocs accented with two Fast U buttons, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris shuffles through the doors of O Athletik just after 9 a.m. Muhammad Ali’s likeness stretches across the back of his black T-shirt. A black Nike boxing backpack is slung over a shoulder. Inside the cavernous

6:53 AM ET The World Junior Championship is a holiday hockey tradition like no other. This year is an exception. The tournament is still coming your way during peak vacation time, only now it’s happening mid-summer, rather than post-Christmas. Confused? Let’s recap. The 2022 WJC was set to be played as usual last December. Due

10:51 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Boston Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale broke his right wrist in a bike accident last week and underwent season-ending surgery Monday, the team announced, ending his year after a myriad of injuries

8:57 PM ET Associated Press BROOKLYN, Mich. — Kevin Harvick got his groove back, fittingly at one of his favorite tracks. Harvick ended a 65-race winless drought that lasted nearly two years with his sixth victory at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. “Good timing, for sure,” he said. Harvick’s win shakes up the playoff race

1:57 PM ET LONDON — Welcome to the Premier League, Erling Haaland! The big summer arrival from Borussia Dortmund scored both goals — including a penalty — to give Man City a 2-0 win over West Ham in the defending champions’ season opener. – Report: West Ham 0-2 Man City | Premier League table |

3:01 AM BST Beaten 2-1 by England last month, the Wallabies open their Rugby Championship away to Argentina in Mendoza in front of what will no doubt be a hostile crowd. The South Americans, too, are buoyant after a series victory over Scotland, the 2-1 triumph clinched in dramatic fashion after the final siren to

7:35 PM ET Associated Press EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Cool Papa Bell scored the biggest upset in the history of the Hambletonian, charging late to edge filly Joviality S by three-quarters of a length in a wild finish to the most prestigious race for 3-year-old in trotting. The stunning victory by the 52-1 shot gave

4:04 PM ET UFC welterweight Josh Quinlan was pulled from his UFC Fight Night bout Saturday due to an atypical drug finding, the UFC announced. USADA, the UFC’s anti-doping partner, detected a trace amount of the long-term metabolite (or M3 metabolite) of the steroid dehydrochloromethyltestosterone (DHCMT) in a Quinlan urine sample, the promotion said. The

7:35 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show After getting knocked out of the ring in a jarring defeat five months ago, Michael Conlan would have been forgiven had he chosen an

6:37 PM ET LOS ANGELES — LeBron James and the Lakers had a “productive” discussion about their future together on Thursday, Rich Paul, CEO of Klutch Sports Group, told ESPN. No new deal has been agreed upon yet, however, sources said. James and Paul met with Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager

7:00 PM ET As soon as the PGA Tour suspended players who competed in the rival LIV Golf Invitational Series, it seemed inevitable that the circuits’ battle for the best players in the world would end up in a courtroom. On Wednesday, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and nine other LIV Golf players field an antitrust

5:00 PM ET Editor’s note: This originally ran Monday and has been updated with the news the NFL is appealing Deshaun Watson’s six-game suspension, seeking a tougher penalty for violating the league’s personal conduct policy based on accusations ranging from inappropriate behavior to sexual assault during massage sessions. More than two years after the first

6:30 AM ET ESPN staff Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention, and starting in 2020, the pandemic made a sport tethered to longstanding traditions and norms reconsider almost everything. From recruiting via video chat to scheduling games on a few days’ notice, decision-makers around college football were forced to be open-minded about new

3:31 PM ET Juan Soto is a San Diego Padre. In the biggest blockbuster of the 2022 MLB trade deadline, the Washington Nationals dealt the 23-year-old megastar for a treasure trove of top prospects. Now that Soto will be playing his home games at Petco Park, what does it mean for the Padres and the