25 Sports Monday, January 28, 2019 Thurman returns to beat Lopez, retain WBA welterweight title Thurman ready to take on Filipino ring icon before the year is out NEW YORK: Keith Thurman returned from a near two- Nevertheless, he quickly took control against Lopez, year layoff to retain his World Boxing Association wel- moving well against the aggressive challenger and land- terweight world title with a 12-round majority decision ing solid punches. But Lopez had him on the run in the over Josesito Lopez on Saturday. America’s Thurman, seventh, connecting with a huge left hook to Thurman’s showing no sign of rust, knocked down Lopez with a jaw and backing up the champion. massive left hook to the chin in the second as he con- “He had me buzzed, he had me shaken up,” Thurman trolled the early rounds. admitted. “I was trying to stay on the outside. I just was He weathered a storm in the middle rounds, with a little off in my prediction of his long arms and the way Lopez unleashing a fierce barrage in the seventh that that he was lunging in, willing to really swing and com- had the champion in trouble. Thurman was deemed the mit for the knockout. He was coming for me.” winner by two judges by scores off 115-111 and 117-109 with the third seeing it a 113-113 draw. ‘WORLD TITLE PERFORMANCE’ “The champ is back!” said Thurman, who was forced After another solid performance from Lopez in the to surrender his World Boxing Council belt as he was eighth, Thurman regained control and said he’ll only get idled by injury but retained his WBA “super” world better from here. “I told everybody, you’re not going to title, one rung above the “regular” WBA belt held by see the best Keith “One-time” Thurman after 22 Manny Pacquiao. months, but you will see a world title performance.” Thurman, who improved to 29-0 with 22 wins inside On the undercard, Polish-born, Brooklyn-based the distance, said he’d be ready to take on the Filipino heavyweight Adam Kownacki remained unbeaten with ring icon before the year is out. “Maybe Brooklyn, a spectacular second-round technical knockout of for- maybe Vegas, wherever Manny Pacquiao wants it,” mer world title challenger Gerald Washington. Thurman said. “I’d even fight him in the Philippines if I Kownacki improved to 19-0 with 15 wins inside the have to.” distance. He sent Washington to the canvas with a mas- Thurman was fighting for the first time since edging sive right hand in the second round. Washington beat Danny Garcia by split decision in March of 2017 to uni- the count, but the referee called the halt moments later- fy two 147-pound titles. The next month he had surgery at 1:09 of the second round-as he failed to put up any NEW YORK: Keith Thurman (R) punches Josesito Lopez during their WBA welterweight title fight at Barclays to remove calcium deposits from his right elbow, and as defense under a barrage from Kownacki. Center on Saturday in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. — AFP he was readying to return to the ring he suffered a left In a World Boxing Association featherweight elimi- hand injury in March of 2018 that forced him to take nator, Mongolia’s unbeaten Tugstsogt Nyambayar 12-round decision over Claudio Marrero. Nyambayar Marrero, who had a point deducted for a low blow, fell more time off. improved to 11-0 with nine knockouts with a unanimous won by scores of 114-113, 115-112 and 116-111 as to 23-3 with 17 wins inside the distance. — AFP DeChambeau pulled ahead from the chasing pack with three wins, made a stunning birdie after spraying his tee DeChambeau wins three birdies in his first three holes, and then almost shot wide right into the waste area on the 18th, to break assured himself of his fourth win in last nine starts with an out of a logjam on 16-under par and finish solo second at eagle on the 10th hole and a birdie on the 11th. 17-under par 271. by seven shots to At that stage, he was six ahead of the field. After making Two more Englishmen, Ian Poulter and Paul Waring had Swim star Sun his only bogey of the day on the difficult par-4 12th hole, he set the target by finishing on 16-under par with rounds of set records in Dubai added further birdies on the 13th, 14th and 17th holes to 64. They were later matched by 2017 champion Sergio finish on eight-under par 64 for the day and 24-under for Garcia (66) and 2001 winner Alvaro Quiros (both Spain), Yang threatens the four rounds, also the lowest in the history of the tourna- and the defending champion Li Hao-tong (71) of China to DUBAI: Bryson DeChambeau showed imperious form as he ment. The previous biggest margin of victory was six by tie for third place. legal action over secured his first title outside the American soil, winning the Ernie Els over Greg Norman in 1994. The old record for South Africa’s Justin Harding shot the best round of the $3.25 million Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday by a lowest tournament aggregate was set last year by Li Hao- day in the morning - a nine-under par 63 elevating him to record margin of seven shots. tong (23-under par). England’s Matt Wallace (68), the most tied eighth place at 15-under par in a group that also doping report The highest ranked player in the field at world No5, successful player on the European Tour last season with included Lee Westwood (67) of England. —AFP BEIJING: Chinese swimming star Sun Yang threatened legal action against a British newspaper yesterday over claims that he faced a lifetime ban after allegedly World champion clashing with anti-doping testers and smashing a vial of blood with a hammer. Ogier wins The 27-year-old, who has won Olympic gold in the 200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyle and is also a multi- ple world champion, strongly refuted the accusations season-opening contained in The Sunday Times. The newspaper alleged that a confrontation took Monte Carlo rally place and Sun-who was banned for three months in 2014 for taking a stimulant-missed an out-of-competi- tion test on September 4 at his home in Zhejiang MONACO: Reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier province. won the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally for a sixth “A clash with anti-doping testers ended in him and straight year yesterday. The Frenchman collected his his security guard using a hammer to smash a sealed first victory since returning to Citroen this season in the vial containing the swimmer’s blood,” The Sunday World Rally Championship (WRC) by just 2.2 seconds Times reported. After the story broke, Sun’s lawyer from Belgian Thierry Neuville in a Hyundai. Zhang Qihuai issued a statement saying that the news- Ott Tanak (Toyota) completed the podium, 2min paper had “a malign intention” and “severely damaged 15.2sec behind Ogier. The Estonian passed nine-time Sun Yang’s reputation and violated his privacy”. former winner Sebastien Loeb, making his debut for “We reserve the right to file a lawsuit against the relevant international media which reported the inci- constructor Hyundai, on the closing Power Stage. The MONACO: French driver Sebastien Ogier (R) and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia (L) celebrate after winning dent,” the statement added, according to the state-run Frenchman finished fourth, a further 13sec back. the 87th Monte-Carlo Rally yesterday, in Monaco. Reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier won the sea- Xinhua news agency. The statement stressed that a Ogier, who is from Gap in the Alps where the rally son-opening Monte Carlo Rally for a sixth straight year on. — AFP started, equalled Loeb’s record of seven Monte Carlo doping panel for FINA, swimming’s world governing victories as Citroen won for the 100th time in the WRC. body, ruled in Sun’s favour on January 3 and said that Ogier led from the seventh stage onward but was the morning’s first three stages. 3.9sec behind Briton Kris Meeke (Toyota), who ended testers for IDTM-the body which conducts tests-had never able to put more than a few seconds between The gap was just 0.4sec entering the last stage and up sixth overall, but 1.8sec ahead of Neuville. Tanak, breached several rules. himself and Neuville. The Frenchman started Sunday Ogier was having problems with his accelerator pedal. who won the day’s first two stages, finished fourth on the Those included failing to produce authorisation let- with a 4.3sec lead, but finished just behind Neuville on But Ogier drove an error-free final stage to finish second, stage to overhaul Loeb, who was seventh. — AFP ters and a nursing licence, the lawyer said, so Sun elected to reject the testing. “And they fabricated an untruthful report claiming Sun Yang broke anti-doping rules and sent it to FINA,” said the statement, making no mention about a smashed blood vial or hammer. Zhang separately said Sunday in an interview, according to Xinhua: “Sun is entitled to reject any invalid doping test and safeguard the reputation and integrity of Chinese athletes.” The Sunday Times also noted that FINA had cleared Sun, but said that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) “has demanded to know more about the extraordinary events”.