Joshua starts on comeback trail April 1
LONDON — Former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua will launch his comeback with a fight against American boxer Jermaine Franklin in London on April 1.
Joshua hasn’t fought since August, when he lost for a second straight time to Oleksandr Usyk. The British fighter had relinquished his WBA, WBO and IBF belts to the same opponent in September 2021.
Jágr scores record 1,099th goal
PRAGUE — Jaromír Jágr celebrated his 51st birthday about a week early by scoring his 1,099th goal to overtake Wayne Gretzky at the top of the chart. Jágr scored for the Kladno Knights in 5-4 loss at Trinec in the Czech league.
The winger, who was the NHL’S second highest point scorer in 2018 when he was released by the Calgary Flames, got his 1,099th goal in pro games and international tourneys.
Jágr completed his career in North
America with 844 regular-season and playoff goals. He added 93 goals in the Kontinental Hockey League, 107 in the Czech leagues and 55 at international competitions, including the Olympics, World Cups, world championships and Euro Hockey Tours.
Gretzky, the record scorer in the NHL with 894 goals, had 1,072 regular-season and playoffs goals in the NHL and WHA, and 26 at international tournaments.
Iowa OC Ferentz can recoup pay
Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz is taking a pay cut as part of a new contract that will reward him if the Hawkeyes average 25 points and win at least seven games next season — and make it easier to fire him if they don’t.
The amended contract calls for Ferentz to receive $850,000 this year, a $50,000 pay cut, and his two-year rolling contract has been put on hold.
But if Iowa wins seven games and increases its scoring average to 25 points, he will be paid a lump sum of $112,500, have his salary raised to $925,000 and go back to having a two-year rolling contract.
Brazilian tennis player banned
LONDON — Brazilian tennis player Gilbert Klier Junior, a bronze medalist at the 2018 Youth Olympics, was banned for 12 months for doping.
Man City accused of violations
LONDON — The Premier League charged its reigning champion, Manchester City, with engaging in years of financial rules violations in its pursuit of trophies, accusations that could result in the most severe punishments in league history — including being ejected from England’s top division.
Atsu missing after earthquake
Former Chelsea and Newcastle forward Christian Atsu is missing and believed to be trapped under rubble following the powerful earthquake that struck Turkey on Monday and left more than 2,500 people dead.