Golovkin retains middleweight titles with draw
Gennady Golovkin retained his middleweight titles Saturday night in Las Vegas, fighting to a draw with Canelo Alvarez in a brutal battle that ended with both fighters with their hands aloft in victory.
The middleweight showdown lived up to its hype as the two fighters traded huge punches and went after each other for 12 rounds. Neither fighter was down and neither appeared seriously hurt, but both landed some huge punches to the head that had the crowd screaming in excitement.
Golovkin was the aggressor throughout but couldn’t put Alvarez down, and Alvarez more than stood his own in exchanges with GGG. The two were still brawling as the final seconds ticked down and the fight went to the scorecards.
One judge had Alvarez winning 118-110, a second had it 115-113 in Golovkin’s favor, while the third had it 114-114. The Associated Press scored it 114-114.
Golf LEISHMAN GETS SECOND CHANCE >>
Marc Leishman got up-and-down from a tough lie behind the 18th green for one last birdie that gave him a 3-under 68 and extended his lead to five shots over Jason Day and Rickie Fowler going into the final round of the BMW Championship in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Leishman, at 19-under 194. gets another chance to win a FedEx Cup playoff event and grab one of the top five seeds at the Tour Championship next week. Leishman shared the 54hole lead at the TPC Boston with Justin Thomas, who surged past Leishman and held off Jordan Spieth. Fowler (70) rolled in a 25foot eagle putt from just short of the green on the opening hole and made only one birdie the rest of the way. Day (70) pulled within two shots with a birdie at the turn but played the back nine with eight pars and a bogey.
SISTER LOOKING TO ADD TO FAMILY WIN TOTAL >>
Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand shot 3-under 68 to lead the Evian Championship second round and could join her younger sister Ariya in golf’s record book. Seeking to be the first sisters to win a major title, Moriya’s 9-under total left her one shot ahead of Ayako Uehara of Japan, who had seven birdies in her round of 66 in Evian-Les-Bains, France. A win for Moriya, who has a career-best finish of 10th at a major, would make the Jutanugarns the first sisters to win a major since the LPGA Tour was founded 67 years ago.
Motor sports VETTEL MASTERS SINGAPORE COURSE >>
Sebastian Vettel showed his mastery of the Marina Bay circuit to take pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, while championship rival Lewis Hamilton struggled throughout and finished fifth. Max Verstappen qualified in second place ahead of Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, with Kimi Raikkonen steering his Ferrari to fourth place ahead of Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Vettel’s 49th career pole came on the track where he holds the record with four wins and six podiums overall, and his superiority showed in a lap record of 1 minute 39.491 seconds.
Ice skating HONDA WINS, CHEN THIRD >>
Japan’s Marin Honda won the women’s title with a strong performance in the free skate at the U.S. Internatonal Classic in Salt Lake City, earning 131.52 points to outdistance American champion Karen Chen of Fremont and countrywoman Mirai Nagasu. Chen fell and had an additional stumble en route to a score of 116.14. That dropped her into third place.