GOLOVKIN, ALVAREZ FIGHT TO A DRAW
VEGAS» One great fight, one lousy LAS scorecard.
Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin did their part late Saturday night to make their middleweight showdown a memorable one, putting on the kind of big drama show both had promised. They traded big shots and battled for 12 rounds, and when it was over they leaped into the arms of their corner men, both certain they had won.
That the judges ruled it a draw wasn’t out of line. It was that kind of fight, a close, tense bout that could have gone either way, but only slightly.
One judge somehow had Alvarez winning all but two rounds. The 118110 margin in favor of Alvarez by Adalaide Byrd was so stunningly off that it dominated the talk at a post-fight press conference that otherwise would have focused on one of the better fights of the year.
Once again, boxing can’t seem to get out of its own way.
“People can argue either way, but it was such a great fight,” promoter Oscar De La Hoya said. “But people can’t understand 118-110, just like myself.”
Perhaps overlooked by those complaining about the score is that if Byrd had Alvarez winning by a closer margin, say 115-113, the fight would still be a draw and no one would be talking about the judges. It wasn’t that she necessarily got the winner wrong, but by too big of a margin.
“This is terrible for the sport,” Golovkin said. “It’s unbelievable.”
Sparks headed to WNBA Finals.
PHOENIX» Candace Parker’s driving layup with 2.9 seconds to play gave the Los Angeles Sparks an 89-87 win and three-game sweep of the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA semifinals.
Parker finished with 21 points and 11 assists.
Brittney Griner missed a shot as time expired, and the Sparks celebrated with shouts and embraces in front of their bench.
Odyssey Sims scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
• Maya Moore scored 21 points, Sylvia Fowles added 17 points and 14 rebounds, and the Minnesota Lynx completed a sweep of the Washington Mystics with an 81-70 win in Game 3.
Seimone Augustus added 18 points as Minnesota secured its third consecutive finals appearance and sixth in seven seasons. The Lynx will attempt to win their fourth WNBA title in seven years.
Union, Red Bulls play to a draw.
Andre Blake made eight saves for Philadelphia, and the Union and the New York Red Bulls played to a scoreless draw.
Philadelphia (8-12-9) and New York (12-10-6) are both winless in five straight games.
Newgarden wins IndyCar title.
Josef Newgarden won his first IndyCar championship by closing out the best year of his career as the top driver at Team Penske.
Newgarden turned in a nearly flawless performance at Sonoma Raceway to prevent his Penske teammates, as well as four-time champion Scott Dixon, from taking the title away from him. Penske driver Simon Pagenaud used pit strategy to win the race, but Newgarden finished second to take the title by 13 points.
Diyas victorious at Japan Open.
TOKYO» Zarina Diyas won her first WTA title on Sunday, beating home favorite Miyu Kato 6-2, 7-5 to take the Japan Women’s Open title.
In a final made up of two qualifiers, the 23-year-old Diyas broke Kato in the first game before a double fault from the Japanese player at 4-2 allowed the Kazakhstani to serve out for the set.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wrapped up a Davis Cup semifinal victory for France against Serbia by defeating Dusan Lajovic 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
France reached an unassailable 3-1 lead.