Usyk ends Joshua’s reign as heavyweight champ
Oleksandr Usyk ended Anthony Joshua’s second reign as world heavyweight champion Saturday in London with a unanimous points win in just his third fight since stepping up from the cruiserweight division.
Usyk became the third man, after Evander Holyfield and David Haye, to win world titles at cruiserweight then heavyweight. Six years after Wladimir Klitschko’s long heavyweight reign ended, Ukraine has another champion in boxing’s marquee division.
Joshua could not cope with Usyk’s superior reflexes and punching power, especially off his left, and ended the fight slumped on the ropes after a flurry of punches by the mandatory challenger to his WBO belt.
Usyk also took Joshua’s WBA and IBF titles.
Joshua has a rematch clause in the deal.
A Elsewhere: Dominican boxer Lenin Castillo was taken to the hospital after being carried out of the ring on a stretcher following a devastating knockout by British opponent Callum Smith in London. Event promoter Eddie Hearn said the 33-year-old Castillo was “responsive” after needing treatment by medical staff in the ring in one of the fights on the undercard of the world heavyweight title bout between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk. Castillo’s legs appeared to spasm after he hit the canvas and referee Bob Williams quickly called off the fight in the second round.
ETC.
A Soccer: Manchester City reasserted its Premier League title credentials on a day all of its big rivals dropped points. City delivered a statement performance in a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge to move second in the league standings, level on points with Chelsea and Manchester United, which missed a late penalty in a 1-0 loss at home to Aston Villa. .... Bruno Fernandes missed an injury-time penalty as teammate Cristiano Ronaldo looked on in United’s first loss of the Premier League season. ...
French league leader Paris Saint-Germain relied on early and late goals to beat Montpellier 2-0 and make it eight straight wins. Midfielder Idrissa Gueye scored in the 14th minute at Parc des Princes. Striker Kylian Mbappe’s intended pass for Neymar was deflected and landed at the feet of winger Angel Di
Maria, who passed quickly to Gueye for his neat finish. ... With Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior finally contained, Real Madrid saw its five-match winning streak come to an end with a 0-0 draw against Villarreal at home in the Spanish league.
A Auto racing: Lando Norris took pole position for the first time in a rainhit qualifying session for the Russian Grand Prix after timing his final fast lap to perfection on a drying track at Sochi, Russia. The McLaren driver set the pace with a time of 1 minute, 41.993 seconds in the dying seconds of the session after switching to slick tires as the racing line dried. He pushed Carlos Sainz of Ferrari into second place by half a second as George Russell took third for Williams, dropping Lewis Hamilton to fourth. Championship leader Max Verstappen has a penalty and starts at the back.
A Tennis: Fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari upset topseeded Iga Swiatek 6-4, 7-5 to set up a surprise final against Anett Kontaveit at the Ostrava (Czech Republic) Open. Kontaveit beat two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova
6-0, 6-4. ... There will be a first-time title winner at the after two players who had never reached a tour final won their semifinal matches. James Duckworth of Australia beat eighth-seeded Ilya Ivashka 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) and will play South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo
for the Astana Open title on Sunday in the capital of Kazakhstan. Kwon reached his first final with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.
A NHL: The Ottawa Senators acquired Zach Sanford, sending St. Louis native Logan Brown to the Blues in exchange for the veteran forward. St. Louis also received a conditional 2022 draft pick from Ottawa.