Britain’s Joshua stops Povetkin in 7th, keeps 3 heavyweight titles

British boxer Anthony Joshua retained his WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight titles with a seventh-round stoppage of Alexander Povetkin at London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Joshua, who fought with a suspected broken nose from the second round, sent the Russian to the canvas with a big right midway through the seventh and was unloading a flurry of punches before the referee stepped in to end the fight.

Joshua (22-0, 21 knockouts) passed his latest big test in front of an estimated 80,000 fans at Wembley — just like 17 months ago when he recovered from getting knocked down against Wladimir Klitschko to win an epic fight.

Joshua, whose popularity sees him packing stadiums, is booked to return to Wembley on April 13 for his next bout, and the plan is for the opponent to be either WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder or former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Those two boxers confirmed Saturday that they will fight each other Dec. 1, likely in Las Vegas.

On a rainy night that forced spectators at ground level to wear plastic ponchos as protection from the wet conditions, Joshua struggled in the early rounds and was rocked by a three-punch combination from Povetkin in the first.

Blood poured from Joshua’s right nostril and he might have lost rounds two and three, too, with Povetkin dangerous from close in and with his fierce left hook.

“A few years ago,” Joshua said, “maybe I wouldn’t have won that fight.”

ELSEWHERE

U.S. beats Senegal in Cup opener

Elena Delle Donne scored 19 points and former Stanford forward Nneka Ogwumike added 16 as the United States opened play in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup with an 87-67 win over Senegal in Tenerife, Spain.

The Americans, who beat Senegal by 51 points six days earlier, closed the first half with a 20-6 run keyed by Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi to take a 14-point lead at the break.

The United States faces China on Sunday.

NHL: The Sharks lost for the first time in three preseason games, falling when Vegas’ Erik Brannstrom scored in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Golden Knights a 5-4 win at SAP Center. Trailing 4-2 at the start of the third period, Vegas forced overtime behind Oscar Lindberg’s second goal of the game, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s short-handed score. The Sharks’ exhibition schedule resumes Tuesday in Calgary.

Tennis: In the Laver Cup in Chicago, Kevin Anderson downed Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Novak Djokovic 7-6, 5-7, 10-6 as Team World trimmed Team Europe’s lead to 7-3. The event continues Sunday.

 U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka relied on a dominant serve to reach the final of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Camila Giorgi. Osaka will face fourthseeded Karolina Pliskova, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 winner over Donna Vekic, in Sunday’s final.

Golf: Tom Lewis came within two shots of tying English countryman Oliver Fisher’s European Tour record on another day of low scoring at the Portugal Masters. Lewis shot a 10-under-par 61 in the third round, just 24 hours after Fisher carded the first 59 on the circuit. Lewis moved to two strokes behind leader Lucas Herbert, who was at 19-under 194.

 Steve Stricker and Brandt Jobe topped the Sanford International leaderboard again in the inaugural PGA Tour Champions event at Sioux Falls, S.D. After matching Jerry Smith and David McKenzie with first-round 7-under 63s, Striker and Jobe each shot 67 to get to 10-under 130.

 Sepp Straka moved into position to earn a PGA Tour card in the Web.com Tour Championship, shooting a 7-under 64 to take the third-round lead in Atlantic Beach, Fla. Straka birdied the final three holes to reach 18-under 195 — a stroke ahead of Curtis Luck, former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and Denny McCarthy. The top 25 earners in the fourevent Web.com Tour Finals will get PGA Tour cards Sunday.

Brent Burns, Timo Meier, Barclay Goodrow and Logan Couture had goals for host San Jose. Goodrow scored on a penalty shot at 6:33 of the second period after he was hooked by Brannstrom, and Couture’s short-handed goal with 58 seconds left in the period pushed the lead to 4-2.

Martin had 27 saves for the Sharks.

Figure Skating: Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu made a successful return from an ankle injury that sidelined him after the winning gold at the Pyeongchang Games by winning the Autumn Classic figure skating competition at Oakville, Ontario.

Chan Junhwan of South Korea took silver with 259.78 points. Canadian Roman Sadovsky earned bronze.

Nick Potts / Associated Press Anthony Joshua celebrates defeating Alexander Povetkin to retain his WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight boxing titles on Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London.