Usyk beats Joshua in split decision

Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk retained his world heavyweight titles with a split decision win over Anthony Joshua on Saturday in a rematch in Saudi Arabia that was closer than last year’s first fight.

Both fighters held up the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag as the judges’ scores were read out at King Abdullah Sport City arena. When he was declared the winner, Usyk hid his face behind the flag.

The 35-year-old Usyk kept his WBA, WBO and IBF belts six months after serving in the Ukrainian army as part of the country’s defense against Russia’s invasion.

Golf: Will Zalatoris felt pain in his lower back and withdrew after four holes Saturday at the BMW Championship, saying he wanted to be ready for the FedEx Cup finale next week. Zalatoris is coming off his first PGA Tour victory last week to start the PGA Tour’s postseason. The win moved him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and to No. 9 in the world. He was 1 under for the day and 4-under par for the tournament — four shots out of the lead at the time — when he tweaked his lower back on a shot on the third hole. He got treatment on the course, played the next hole and the pain did not subside.

NFL: Panthers rookie quarterback Matt Corral has a torn ligament in his left foot and is expected to miss significant time, according to coach Matt Rhule. Rhule would not say if the injury is season-ending, but did say the team is viewing it as a long-term injury. Corral is expected to need surgery to fix the tear . ... Godwin Igwebuike’s tiebreaking 2-yard run with 4:03 left led the Lions to a 27-26 win over the Colts. Lions quarterbacks David Blough and Tim Boyle split the snaps as Jared Goff took the day off following two joint practices against the Colts earlier this week. Blough and Boyle each threw a TD pass . ... Josh Allen needed just six plays to lead the Bills 70 yards for an opening-drive touchdown before taking a seat in his preseason debut, and the Bills routed the Broncos’ backups 42-15. Allen completed all three attempts for 45 yards, capped by a 28-yard touchdown to Gabe Davis in showing he and new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey are on the same page. Backup Case Keenum continued the onslaught by closing out the first half overseeing three touchdown drives.

Soccer: Chelsea banned a season-ticket holder indefinitely for alleged racist abuse directed at Son Heung-min during the match against Tottenham in the Premier League, the club said Saturday. Son, the South Korea forward, was subjected to abuse from a member of the crowd at Stamford Bridge in the 2-2 draw last Sunday. Chelsea has concluded an investigation by issuing a ban. The back of every seat at Stamford Bridge now has instructions on how to report incidents of abuse, either by text message or by barcode on a smartphone . ... Arsenal made it three straight wins to open the Premier League season by beating Bournemouth 3-0, with Martin Odegaard setting the team on its way with two goals inside 11 minutes on Saturday.

WNBA: Kahleah Copper scored 20 points and Courtney Vandersloot added 16 to help the Sky in a rout of the Liberty 100-62, tying the first-round playoffs series on Saturday and forcing a decisive Game 3.