Category Archives: Deportes

Ryan Garcia to Fight Rolando “Rolly” Romero This May After Suspension Lifted

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Ryan Garcia is set to return to the ring…

The 26-year-old Mexican American boxer has been officially cleared to fight Rolando “Rolly” Romero.

Ryan GarciaThe New York State Athletic Commission had suspended Garcia for a failed drug test following his April 2024 decision win over Devin Haney. But just ahead of his May 2 fight with Romero in Times Square, NYSAC has officially lifted the suspension.

“The suspension has been lifted as all conditions of the Consent Order have been met,” a NYSAC spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN.

The victory was overturned to a no contest, and Garcia was suspended from competition for one year, hit with a $10,000 fine, and forced to forfeit his entire purse from the Haney fight after the banned substance Ostarine was found in samples collected by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA). Haney filed a civil lawsuit against Garcia and received an undisclosed portion of Garcia’s purse.

Garcia spent the past year carrying out the conditions of the suspension, including submitting to randomized drug tests. Now clear of his suspension,

Garcia will headline the May 2 card against Romero while Haney will compete in the co-main event against Jose Ramirez Jr. with the expectation that a rematch between Garcia and Haney will take place later this year if both win their respective fights.

 

Lamine Yamal Wins Laureus World Sports Award for World Breakthrough Player Award

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Lamine Yamal is officially among this year’s greatest athletes around the world…

The 17-year-old Spanish professional footballer, who plays as a winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team, has claimed the world breakthrough player award at the Laureus world sports awards.

Lamine YamalWidely regarded as one of the best young footballers in the world, Yamal has represented Spain internationally at various youth levels.

He made his debut for the senior team in 2023, becoming the youngest player to represent and score for the country at age 16. He was selected for UEFA Euro 2024, playing an important role in helping Spain win their fourth title, while also winning the tournament’s Young Player Award.

Rafael Nadal received the sporting icon award.

The 38-year-old Spanish tennis star, a former World No. 1, retired from the sport after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup Finals in November 2024.

During his stories career, Nadal won 92 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including 22 Grand Slam titles (including a record 14 French Open titles), as well as 36 Masters titles and an Olympic gold medal.

Nadal is one of three men to complete the career Golden Slam in singles.

Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade won the world comeback of the year award after winning three medals at the 2024 Paris Games — including gold in the floor exercise — after recovering from anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

Other winners include American surfer Kelly Slater, who received the lifetime achievement award; Simone Biles and Mondo Duplantis, named sportswoman and sportsman of the year.

Real Madrid, the Champions League and La Liga winner last season, was the world team of the year, while the world action sportsperson award went to Tom Pidcock, the British mountain biker who overcame a puncture to become only the second man to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the cyclo-cross discipline.

Yuyan Jiang was the world sportsperson of the year with a disability.

Gabriela Fundora Remains Undisputed Flyweight Champion with TKO Victory Over Marilyn Badillo

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Gabriela Fundora is keeping her titles…

In a flawless performance, the 23-year-old Mexican American professional boxer retained her undisputed flyweight championship with a seventh-round TKO victory over Marilyn Badillo on Saturday at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.

Gabriela Fundora, Fighting for the first time in 2025, Fundora, a southpaw who had a six-inch height advantage and a four-inch reach advantage, had no problem landing her lead jab and lead hook against the shorter Badillo, who employed feints to get inside but couldn’t find the way to shorten the distance.

Badillo had a good Round 4, landing a left uppercut on Fundora and going low to try to get inside, but most of the time, Fundora’s straight left found Badillo’s chin, stopping her attacks. By the end of the round, Badillo had redness under her right eye and a big hematoma on her forehead due to an unintentional headbutt.

After the fight, Fundora said she found her rhythm during the first round. She said she saw Badillo was “doing her ducking thing, but [she was] still always there.”

In the seventh round, Fundora overwhelmed Badillo with a flurry of punches, accentuated by a powerful straight left that forced Badillo to take a knee. Referee Rudy Barragan gave her the count, but Badillo didn’t want to continue.

According to CompuBox, Fundora landed 99 of her power punches compared with only 21 for Badillo.

“I think I’m maturing,” Fundora, from Coachella, California, said of her performance. “I knew the stoppage was going to come. It just again, how I wanted to place it, and I think with this one it was more of a relaxed kind of tempo.”

Fundora (16-0, 8 KOs) came into the bout as ESPN‘s No. 1-ranked flyweight, while Badillo (19-1-1, 3 KOs) was ranked No. 3.

Fundora made history in November by knocking out Gabriela Celeste Alaniz in Round 7 to become boxing’s youngest undisputed champion ever at 22. In that fight, Fundora added the WBO, WBC and WBA women’s flyweight titles to the IBF title she already owned.

Badillo, whose 19-fight winning streak was snapped, had never fought outside of Mexico. This was just her fourth bout at 10 rounds and her first title fight.

Jorge Garcia Perez Pulls Off Upset Win Over Charles Conwell

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Jorge Garcia Perez has pulled off an upset…

The 28-year-old Mexican junior middleweight contender scored an upset with a split-decision victory over Charles Conwell on Saturday at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.

Jorge Perez After 12 rounds, two judges had the fight 115-113 for Garcia Perez, with the third scoring it 115-113 for Conwell.

“We did a great camp,” Garcia Perez said through an interpreter after the fight. “Every fight I feel that every fight we get better and better.”

Garcia Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) extended his winning streak to eight fights. Conwell (21-1, 16 KOs) had won eight of his past 10 fights by stoppage.

With a victory, Conwell was expected to challenge WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora.

Now, Garcia Perez, who is ranked No. 3 by the WBO and No. 12 by the WBC, said he would love the opportunity to fight for his first world title, saying that Fundora is “welcome” to be his next opponent.

“If it’s the other champion from the IBF,” Garcia Perez said, referring to Bakhram Murtazaliev, “he’s welcome here, too.”

Faith Torrez Helps Lead Oklahoma Sooners to NCAA Women’s Gymnastics National Championship

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Faith Torrez has helped propel the University of Oklahoma to another national title…

The 21-year-old Latina’s stellar performance helped lead the Oklahoma Sooners women’s gymnastics team to its seventh national title on Saturday.

Faith TorrezThe Sooners are now tied with UCLA for the third most team titles in NCAA history.

OU was in the lead heading into the final rotation, and though the team wasn’t quite as sharp as usual on bars, it was enough to edge UCLA for the title.

Audrey Davis, arguably the best bar worker in the country, earned a 9.9250 for her sky-high piked Jaegar, and Jordan Bowers scored a 9.8875 for a near-flawless routine with perfect handstands throughout.

UCLA ended the day in second, an enormous improvement from last year, when the Bruins didn’t qualify for nationals. Emily Lee led off the team with a massive 9.9250, then Jordan Chiles upped the ante with a 9.9375 with a stuck round-off double full dismount. Emma Malabuyo anchored the beam lineup with another 9.9375, but the Bruins had to count two scores in the 9.7s, so the title was out of reach.

Missouri ended in third, the highest finish in school history. Kennedy Griffin led the squad with a 9.95. Utah finished fourth after a mixed day on vault, but it was highlighted by Avery Neff, who stuck her Yurchenko 1.5 for a 9.975.

Final results:

  1. Oklahoma: 198.0125
  2. UCLA: 197.6125
  3. Missouri: 197.2500
  4. Utah: 197.2375

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Arthur Fils to Reach Barcelona Open Final

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Carlos Alcaraz is one win away from his third Barcelona Open title…

The 21-year-old Spanish tennis star, the top seed of the tournament, beat No. 14 Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final.

Carlos Alcaraz,Alcaraz will next play Holger Rune for the Barcelona Open title.

No. 2-ranked Alcaraz holds a 2-1 record against the 13th-ranked Rune. The pair have yet to meet on clay. Alcaraz won their last meeting at 2023 Wimbledon.

Alcaraz won his first Monte Carlo Masters title last weekend and will be searching for his third title of the year and 19th of his career.

He won the Barcelona Open in 2022 and 2023.

Rune has four career titles.

“Since I was a little kid, I was here on Sundays watching the final,” Alcaraz said. “I played twice here, so being in a final here in Barcelona again means a lot. It’s been a really fun and great week, and let’s see if we can end tomorrow with a trophy.”

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to Fight Jake Paul This June

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Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is returning to the ring for a high-profile fight…

Jake Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) will take the next step to becoming a world champion when he faces the 39-year-old former WBC middleweight champion on June 28 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.Most Valuable Promotions revealed details about the fight to ESPN on Friday.

The 10-round fight, which MVP will co-promote with Oscar De La Hoya‘s Golden Boy Promotions, will be contested at a weight limit of 200 pounds and air on DAZN pay-per-view.

“Five years ago, I stepped into the ring for my pro debut after a single amateur fight, and every fight since has been a step towards becoming world champion. I just defeated the baddest man on the planet, and now I’m going against a former champion who conman Canelo couldn’t finish,” Jake Paul, 28, said in a statement to ESPN.

“Chávez Jr. is Mexican, but I, El Gallo De Dorado, have the will and heart of the great Mexican fighters. On Saturday, June 28, live on DAZN pay-per-view, I will knock out Julio and make Chávez Sr. proud in ways Jr. never has. Another massive event from Most Valuable Promotions, with some Oscar De La Hoya seasoning added to the show. Viva La Puerto Rico.”

The fight announcement comes just months after a proposed fight between Paul and Canelo Alvarez fell apart at the eleventh hour in favor of a four-fight deal with Riyadh Season. Paul then pursued a fight with Gervonta “Tank” Davis. However, Davis’ controversial majority draw against Lamont Roach Jr. in March derailed those plans, as it is now expected that Davis will pursue an immediate rematch with Roach. With two blockbuster showdowns falling apart, Paul turned to a former world champion and the son of a boxing legend in Chavez.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., left, a former middleweight champion, defeated Uriah Hall by unanimous decision in a cruiserweight bout in July 2024.

“Chavez Jr. has always been on the short list of fighters that Jake Paul has targeted,” MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian said to ESPN. “After the Tyson fight, the original plan was to fight Chavez Jr. next. However, the Canelo opportunity presented itself and we paused discussions with Chavez.”

Chavez will be the second former world champion Paul has faced, although the previous champion to lose to the former YouTuber won his first world championship more than a decade before Paul was born. In November 2024, Paul won a unanimous decision against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, 58, in a record-breaking event on Netflix. Chavez last held a major world title in 2012. Since losing the WBC title to Sergio Martinez in 2012, Chavez’s career has been uneven and inconsistent, with the Mexican going 8-6 after starting with a 46-0-1 record.

Chavez’s performances have tailed off significantly, with a one-sided decision defeat to Alvarez in 2017 and an embarrassing loss to former MMA champion Anderson Silva in 2021. He was last in action on the undercard of Paul’s fight with Mike Perry last July when Chavez outpointed MMA fighter Uriah Hall in a six-round fight. Although Chavez is far from the form he had early in his career, the former champion believes that his issues are behind him and he will be able to turn back “El Gallo.”

“First of all, I will show what I can do now that everything is in the right place in my life – mentally and physically,” Chavez said in a statement. “I feel rejuvenated and 10 years younger. Second, I want to thank MVP for taking the risk of fighting me. Unfortunately for their Problem Child, they’re going to have a big problem this June-one they won’t know how to resolve. Hopefully, when I beat him, people won’t underestimate this win.”

Alejandro Tabilo Upsets Novak Djokovic in Second Round of Monte Carlo Masters

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Alejandro Tabilo has pulled off a major upset…

The 27-year-old Chilean professional tennis player beat former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Alejandro Tabilo,Tabilo had previously handed the 24-time Grand Slam champion a surprising loss at the Italian Open last year.

Back on clay for the first time since winning the Olympic gold in Paris last August, Djokovic said he didn’t have high expectations going into the match.

“I expected myself at least to have put in a decent performance. Not like this, it was horrible,” said Djokovic, who made 29 unforced errors. “I did not have high expectations. I knew I’m going to have a tough opponent, and I knew I’m going to probably play pretty bad. But this bad, I didn’t expect.

“I was hoping it was not going to happen, but it was quite a high probability I’m going to play this way. … A horrible feeling to play this way. Just sorry for all the people that have to witness this.”

Tabilo clinched victory on his second match point when Djokovic hit a service return too long. Djokovic had saved one match point in the ninth game when he was trailing 5-3 and 30-40 on his serve, producing a neat drop shot over the net, which his Chilean opponent couldn’t reach.

Tabilo has yet to drop a set against Djokovic. He joined Marat Safin and Jiri Vesely as the only players to have faced Djokovic more than once and not lost; all three hold a 2-0 record over Djokovic.

“It has been a tough year, so a little bit of the nerves were there,” Tabilo said in an on-court interview. “I remembered last time what I did well, and thankfully I served well today and it helped me a lot. It was an unreal match.”

A Monte Carlo title would have made Djokovic the only player to win each Masters event at least three times.

Djokovic, who recently lost the Miami Open final to Jakub Mensik, turns 38 next month — shortly before the French Open starts on May 25.

The Monte Carlo Masters is the first big clay-court tournament of the year on the ATP Tour.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Agrees to 14-Year, $500 Million Contract Extension with Toronto Blue Jays 

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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is celebrating a massive pay day…

The 26-year-old Dominican-Canadian professional baseball first baseman, a four-time MLB All-Star and son of Baseball Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, and the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a 14-year, $500 million contract extension, pending a physical, per ESPN.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.,The no-deferral deal keeps the homegrown star in Toronto for the rest of his career, and comes as the 6-5 Blue Jays are in the midst of a road trip that took them to Fenway Park to meet the Boston Red Sox on Monday. Guerrero went 2-4 with a run and a walk in that game, a 6-2 Toronto victory.

Guerrero had said he would not negotiate during the season after the sides failed to come to an agreement before he reported to spring training. But the sides continued talking and sealed a deal that is the third largest in Major League Baseball history, behind only Juan Soto‘s 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets and Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million pact with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Blue Jays, snakebit in recent years by Soto and Ohtani signing elsewhere, received a long-term commitment from their best homegrown talent since Hall of Famer Roy Halladay.

They had tried to sign Guerrero to a long-term deal for years to no avail. Toronto got a glimpse of Guerrero’s talent when he debuted shortly after his 20th birthday in 2019 and homered 15 times as a rookie. Guerrero’s breakout season came in 2021, when he finished second to Ohtani in American League MVP voting after hitting .311/.401/.601 with 48 home runs and 111 RBIs.

Guerrero followed with a pair of solid-but-below-expectations seasons in 2022 and 2023, and in mid-May 2024, he sported an OPS under .750 as the Blue Jays struggled en route to an eventual last-place finish. Over his last 116 games in 2024, the Guerrero of 2021 reemerged, as he hit .343/.407/.604 with 26 home runs and 84 RBIs.

With a payroll expected to exceed the luxury tax threshold of $241 million, the Blue Jays ended the season’s first week atop the American League East standings. Toronto dropped to 5-3 on Friday after a loss to the Mets, in which Guerrero collected a pair of singles, raising his season slash line to .267/.343/.367.

Between Guerrero and shortstop Bo Bichette‘s free agency after the 2025 season, the Blue Jays faced a potential reckoning. Though Bichette is expected to play out the season before hitting the open market, Guerrero’s deal lessens the sting of Toronto’s pursuits of Ohtani in 2023 and Soto in 2024.

Toronto shook off the signings of Soto and first baseman Pete Alonso with the Mets, left-hander Max Fried with the New York Yankees and infielder Alex Bregman with the Boston Red Sox to retool its roster.

Toronto gave outfielder Anthony Santander a heavily deferred five-year, $92.5 million contract, brought in future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer on a one-year, $15.5 million deal, bolstered its bullpen with right-handers Jeff Hoffman and Yimi Garcia, and traded for Platinum Glove-winning second baseman Andres Gimenez, who is hitting cleanup.

Toronto’s long-term commitments will allow for significant financial flexibility. In addition to Bichette and Scherzer, right-hander Chris Bassitt and relievers Chad Green and Erik Swanson are free agents after this season. After 2026, the nine-figure deals of outfielder George Springer and right-hander Kevin Gausman also come off the books.

Building around Guerrero is a good place to start. One of only a dozen players in MLB with at least two seasons of six or more wins above replacement since 2021, Guerrero consistently is near the top of MLB leaderboards in hardest-hit balls, a metric that typically translates to great success.

Like his father, who hit 449 home runs and batted .318 over a 16-year career, Guerrero has rare bat-to-ball skills, particularly for a player with top-of-the-scale power. In his six MLB seasons, Guerrero has hit .288/.363/.499 with 160 home runs, 510 RBIs and 559 strikeouts against 353 walks.

Originally a third baseman, Guerrero shifted to first base during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Had the Blue Jays signed Alonso, they signaled the possibility of Guerrero returning full time to third, where he played a dozen games last year.

With the extension in place, the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Guerrero is expected to remain at first base and reset a market that had been topped by the eight-year, $248 million extension Miguel Cabrera signed just shy of his 31st birthday in 2014.

Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra Wins Indian Open to Claim First European Tour Title

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Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra is celebrating his first European tour title…

The 25-year-old Spanish golfer and former LIV Golf player overcame a slow start to win the Indian Open for his first European tour title on Sunday.

Eugenio Lopez-ChacarraLopez-Chacarra shot a 1-under 71 in the final round to finish at 4 under and clinch the victory in his ninth tournament on the European tour.

He ended up two shots ahead of Keita Nakajima, who shot an even-par 72 in the final round.

Lopez-Chacarra, who was playing on a tournament invitation, won in his fifth LIV start but was left off the Fireballs roster for the 2025 season by fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia.

“I’m very grateful for that opportunity,” he said, thanking organizers for the invitation. “You guys probably changed my life from today so thanks for that.”

Lopez-Chacarra came into the final round at the DLF Golf and Country Club with a one-shot lead but started with a double bogey on the first hole and a bogey on the third to go back to level-par for the week. He bounced back with five birdies in nine holes to retake the lead, which he kept despite a bogey on the 17th.

“It was a tough day, we knew it was going to be a long day with a lot of pressure and obviously not having the start I really wanted to,” he said. “I know when I play my best I’m one of the best players in the world, I’ve already proved that a million times.”