Warrington and Whyte excel to come out on top
Boxing
Josh Warrington upset the odds once again as he retained his IBF featherweight title after getting the better of Carl Frampton in a bruising 12-round battle.
The pair engaged in one of the contenders for fight of the year but warrington, an underdog with the bookmakers having been so impressive against Lee Selby in May, largely came out on top in the exchanges at the Manchester Arena.
Warrington was therefore awarded a unanimous decision by two scores of 116112 and one of 116-113 in the first defence of his world title as he extended his unbeaten professional record to 27-0.
Dillian Whyte stopped Dereck Chisora in the 11th round at The 02 Arena in London to stake his claim to be Anthony Joshua’s next challenger.
A competitive encounter was instantly ended when Whyte threw a powerful left hook that left Chisora unconscious and down for worryingly long.
The 34-year-old also landed heavily on his head but gradually recovered after receiving the attention of his team, potentially leaving him facing retirement at the end of a tough career.
Meanwhile back in Manchester, Billy Joe Saunders claimed a routine win in his first bout since vacating his wbo middleweight title at the Manchester Arena.
Saunders’ opponent Charles Adamu retired on his stool at the beginning of the fifth round.
Late replacement Adamu had been comprehensively outboxed over the first half of the eight-round contest.
The younger brother of former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury made a winning start to his professional career.
19-year-old Tommy Fury, who had only a handful of amateur contests before switching to the paid ranks, rarely looked like stopping Latvian southpaw Jevgenijs Andrejevs over four rounds in the lightheavyweight division.
But his far superior work-rate saw him earn a comfortable 40-36 points decision.
CURLING
Dumfries curler Sophie Jackson and her team bowed out in the quarter-finals of the Karuizawa International In Japan.
The former world junior silver medallist won three Pool C matches in a row to qualify for the knockout stages.
But Moscow’s double European champion Anna Sidorova ended Jackson’s run yesterday.
The Russian went 2-0 up at the opening end and continued to build her lead before eventually going through 6-3.