Heavyweights Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder made one last appearance Friday before their big heavyweight title fight, weighing in and taunting each other before a raucous crowd at the MGM Grand arena in Las Vegas.
Wilder (42-0-1, 41 knockouts) weighed 231 pounds, the heaviest of his career, for his 11th title defense. Fury (29-0-1, 20 knockouts), tipped the scales at 273 pounds, just 3 pounds short of his heaviest ever, for Saturday night’s rematch, just 14 months after they fought to a draw in a dramatic fight in Los Angeles.
The fight is arguably the biggest heavyweight bout since Lennox Lewis demolished Mike Tyson in 2002, and both fighters could make some $40 million if the pay-per-view sells well.
SOCCER
U.S. WOMEN: Players on the U.S. women’s national team are seeking more than $66 million in damages as part of their gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The damages were included in slew of papers filed late Thursday night in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles ahead of a trial scheduled to start May 5.
Among the documents filed were the separate collective bargaining agreements of the U.S. men’s and women’s teams, which had not previously been made public.
Players on the women’s national team sued the federation last March alleging institutionalized gender discrimination that includes inequitable compensation between the men’s and women’s teams. Each side in the class-action lawsuit asked for a summary judgment in their favor. The estimate of damages, including interest, was provided by Finnie Bevin Cook, an economist from Deiter Consulting Group, which was retained by the suing players.
TRACK AND FIELD
WORLD RECORD: Yulimar Rojas, a two-time world champion from Venezuela, broke the women’s indoor triple jump world record on Friday with a jump of 50 feet, 7.48 inches, beating the previous record held by Russian Tatyana Lebedeva since 2004.
The jump at the Villa de Madrid meeting was the second-best overall behind the outdoor world record of 50 feet, 10.24 inches held by Ukrainian Inessa Kravets since 1995.
GOLF
WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP: Bryson DeChambeau made seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch at Chapultepec Golf Club for an 8-under 63 in the Mexico Championship, giving him a one-shot lead over Erik van Rooyen of South Africa and Patrick Reed at the halfway point of this World Golf Championship.
DeChambeau was at 11-under 131. Van Rooyen, who played college golf at Minnesota, celebrated his 30th birthday by making nine birdies to tie the course record with a 62. Reed made five birdies on the back nine for a 63.
PUERTO RICO OPEN: PGA Tour rookie Viktor Hovland shot a 6-under 66 on Friday in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico for a share of the lead.
The 22-year-old Norwegian eagled the par-5 second and rebounded from a late bogey on a par 5 with a birdie to join first-round leader Kyle Stanley, Josh Teater and Emiliano Grillo at 10-under 134.
TENNIS
DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS: Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan will play her fourth final of the young WTA season in Dubai, United Arab Emiratesafter beating eighth-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) in the semifinals, coming from a break down and saving a set point in each set.
In the final on Saturday, Rybakina will face top-seeded Simona Halep, who dispatched American qualifier Jennifer Brady 6-2, 6-0.
OPEN 13: Daniil Medvedev still can’t find a way to beat Gilles Simon, losing 6-4, 6-0 in the Open 13 quarterfinals on Friday in Marseille, France, for a third loss in three matches against the French veteran.
The U.S. Open runner-up and top seed dropped his serve five times against the 35-year-old Simon, after breaking him in the first game.
Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the semifinals by beating Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 6-3 in their first meeting. The big-hitting Greek next plays Alexander Bublik, who secured a career highlight upset win over fourth-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
DELRAY BEACH OPEN: No. 6-seeded Ugo Humbert of France advanced to the semifinals in Delray Beach, Florida, by beating 2018 champion Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-2 Friday.
Humbert’s opponent Saturday will be unseeded Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, who rallied past 18-year-old American Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
INJURED: South African Kevin Anderson wrote on Twitter on Friday that he had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee and will be out for an unspecified period of time.
SKIING
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Lara Gut-Behrami’s first victory in more than two years was quickly labeled “a resurrection” by broadcasters after the former teenage prodigy, an overall World Cup champion in 2016, led a 1-2 Swiss finish in a downhill race Friday on the Mont Lachaux course, beating discipline leader Corinne Suter by 0.80 seconds. Stephanie Venier of Austria was third, 0.92 behind.
FOOTBALL
NFL: Chicago waived cornerback Prince Amukamara, who started 42 games over the past three seasons, and speedy receiver Taylor Gabriel .
Amukamara has 10 interceptions over nine seasons with the New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars and Bears. Gabriel has 2,860 yards and 14 touchdown catches in six years with Cleveland, Atlanta and Chicago. He caught 67 passes for 688 yards in 2018 after signing with the Bears but was limited to nine games last season because of concussions.
• Jacksonville exercised contract options on receiver Chris Conley and free safety Jarrod Wilson.
LUGE
WORLD CUP: USA Luge said it is pulling its team out of this weekend’s World Cup luge races in Winterberg, Germany, adding to a chorus of athletes from many nations protesting what they are calling unsafe ice conditions.
Austria has also withdrawn its team from the weekend events and even several sliders from Germany have said they are not willing to race this weekend — on home ice, no less. The International Luge Federation offered a compromise of sorts Friday by saying it would shorten the race distances, but even that did not solve the intense disagreement between sliders and officials over the safety issue.
– News service report
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
