MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 SPORTS Zimmerman Boxing eyes match Corinthians fans Golovkin retains WBA title ORLANDO: George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of second-degree murder last year invade ground MONACO: Kazakh star Gennady Golovkin defended his WBA middleweight crown with a seventh in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, plans to take up celebrity round knock-out of Ghana’s Osumanu Adama in Monte Carlo. boxing and is on the lookout for an opponent, the website Radar Online reported. SAO PAULO: Around 100 furious Corinthians fans, armed with The 31-year-old, a silver medallist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens when an amateur, took his Zimmerman, 30, linked to the Radar Online report in a post on his Twitter account with sticks and iron bars, invaded their team’s training ground in record to a perfect 29 victories in as many fights and 26 of those coming inside the distance. the words, “Here we go.” Promoter Damon Feldman is behind the celebrity boxing Saturday, demanding to speak to the players about the 5-1 mid- Adama was dropped three times on Saturday night before referee Luis Pabon waved off the match, set to take place on March 1, according to Radar Online. week defeat by Santos, the club said. contest. The 33-year-old Chicago-based Ghanaian’s record dropped to 22 Startled club directors considered calling off Sunday’s match “Boxing isn’t new to me,” Zimmerman told Radar Online in wins, with 16 KOs, and four defeats. against Ponte Preta before declaring that it would go ahead, and an article posted on the celebrity news outlet’s website The first knock-down came at the end of the first round from an last week. said that employees were attacked and robbed during the invasion. Photographs showed the fans, many of them shirtless and overhand right before Adama took to using his reach advantage Zimmerman began boxing long before the February to keep Golovkin at bay with his jab. 2012 incident with 17-year-old Martin that drew national some hooded, forcing their way into the training ground in Sao But he was knocked down again at the end of the sixth attention, he told Radar Online. The case polarized the Paulo after making a hole in the fence, just as the team were about nation around issues of racial justice, self defense and to start a practice session. round and when he was put on the canvas in the seventh gun control. Zimmerman’s plans to enter the ring come Brazilian media reported that the players fled to their dressing from a jab, the referee decided he’d seen enough. after he successfully capitalized on his celebrity in room and locked themselves in before police reinforcements Golovkin, considered one of the best pound-for-pound December by auctioning a flag painting on eBay, selling arrived and negotiated with the supporters for two hours. (P4P) fighters in the world now wants to fight WBC champion the artwork for just over $100,000. Some of the pro- Coach Mano Menezes agreed to hold a meeting with five rep- Sergio Martinez of Argentina, also considered a top 10 P4P ceeds from the event would go to an animal rescue char- resentatives of the supporters. “The Corinthians directors repudiate fighter. “I felt comfortable right from the beginning of the fight, ity, Zimmerman told Radar Online, but he declined to name and deeply lament the acts of vandalism by a group of supporters he wasn’t easy to box but he never hurt me,” said the Kazakh. He at the training ground this morning,” the club said in a statement, the organization. He also suggested he might not box said he wants to fight Martinez “to prove who is the best adding that they would co-operate with police to identify and pun- again after the event. “Obviously if I get my butt kicked middleweight right now.” —AP around, then no!” he told the website. —Reuters ish the culprits. —Reuters Lightning strike down Canadiens MONTREAL: Nate Thompson scored twice, dominated the pace but Bobrovsky made several time all season. Anaheim has lost three of five at including the winner at 4:36 of overtime, to give big stops to maintain the two-goal lead. He Honda Center after opening the season 20-0-2 at the Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 victory over the improved to 11-2 in his last 13 starts. home. Montreal Canadiens on Saturday afternoon. Columbus has won the last six meetings with Ellis had sat out the Stars’ previous nine Ben Bishop stopped 28 shots for Tampa Bay, the Panthers, dating to 2007, and is 9-4 in the games since Jan. 12, but Kari Lehtonen’s veteran which snapped a two-game losing streak. Daniel series. Tim Thomas had 26 saves for the Panthers, backup posted Dallas’ third shutout victory in six Briere scored for Montreal. Carey Price made 34 who have lost three straight. games. Ellis played 23 games with Anaheim from saves. Thompson scored the clincher when Alex February 2011 to 2012. Captain Jamie Benn Killorn found him all alone in from of Price. MAPLE LEAFS 6, SENATORS 3 added an empty-net goal with 28 seconds left for The Lightning have a five-point advantage Phil Kessel scored three goals as Toronto beat the Stars, who snapped a five-game road skid. over the Canadiens in the Atlantic Division. After Ottawa for its sixth straight win at home. With the Lightning took a 1-0 lead in the second peri- 5:59 left, Tyler Bozak fed a pass to Kessel, who FLAMES 4, WILD 3 SOCHI: A worker climbs the roof of the Bolshoy ice dome, home to the ice hockey events od, Briere tied it at 7:25 of the third, taking a scored his 30th goal of the season to complete Mikael Backlund scored two goals, including in the seaside cluster prior to the start of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. —AFP cross-ice pass from captain Brian Gionta and fir- his hat trick and give Toronto a 4-3 lead. the winner 2:25 into overtime to give Calgary a ing home his ninth of the season over Bishop’s Kessel is second in the NHL in goals this sea- victory over Minnesota. Backlund took the puck shoulder. The goal was Briere’s second in as many son. Toronto’s (30-21-6) streak is its longest since to the net and sent a pass to Sean Monahan for a games. the Maple Leafs concluded the 2006-07 season shot that was stopped by goalie Darcy Kuemper. First teams arrive as Thompson was credited with the game’s first with 10 straight home victories. They have won The puck bounced into the air, and Backlund bat- goal, at 5:58 of the second, after defenseman P.K. Russia races to finish Subban put the puck in his own net. FLYERS 2, KINGS 0 SOCHI: Russia yesterday welcomed the first see whether it is capable of hosting a Steve Mason posted his second shutout in teams to its southern resort of Sochi less world class Games amid concerns about three games with 35 saves and Wayne Simmonds than a week ahead of the start to the issues ranging from the risk of attacks by scored his 100th NHL goal, leading Philadelphia Olympic Games, as organisers worked all Caucasus militants and Russia’s now noto- over Los Angeles. out to finish accommodation on time. The rious law against gay propaganda. It was the 22nd career shutout and third this Games, the biggest event Russia has hosted Russia is proudly presenting what it season for Mason, who stopped 33 shots in a 5-0 since the fall of the Soviet Union, are to get sees as a new concept for the Games, with win against Detroit last Tuesday after getting underway on February 7 at a ceremony stadium events like figure skating and ice pulled by coach Craig Berube in two of his previ- starting at 2014 local time (1614 GMT) that hockey held in the Olympic Park on the ous three starts. Mason got a break with less than is expected to project Russia’s status as a temperate coastline and the alpine and 31/2 minutes left, when Justin Williams tried a world and sporting power. nordic events in the snowy mountains wraparound and hit the left post. Athletes from five teams, including New above. Claude Giroux added his 17th goal on a power Zealand and Japan, were given official wel- Despite being billed as the Sochi play with 1:58 left, converting a cross-ice pass at coming ceremonies as they arrived at the Games, the event is centred over 30 kilo- the left of the crease from Scott Hartnell while Olympic Village ahead of the main influx of metres to the south of the city close to the Matt Greene was serving an interference penalty. athletes next week. resort of Adler, with self contained “moun- Media arriving early for the Games have tain” and “coastal” clusters. AVALANCHE 7, SABRES 1 found organisers racing against the clock to A security blanket has descended on Jamie McGinn had two goals and an assist, finish accommodation on time, with rooms the area after the deadly suicide bombings and Gabriel Landeskog also had two goals as still being furnished even after journalists in Volgograd in December that killed 34 Colorado beat Buffalo. Nathan MacKinnon had a had checked in. people and exposed the risk of militant goal and two assists and Semyon Varlamov had “There are still some issues to be solved attacks on the Games.