Khan beats Diaz to stay in title picture
Khan beats Diaz to stay in title picture
SHEFFIELD, England — Amir Khan came back from a knockdown to unanimously outpoint fast-finishing Julio Diaz on Saturday night in a welterweight fight at Motorpoint Arena.
Khan, trying to rebound after consecutive losses to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia in the last 16 months, was cruising early against Diaz, the aging former two-time world lightweight champ.
Then Diaz exposed Khan’s weakness by dumping him with a left hook in the fourth round, and staggered the former world light-welter champ with hooks in the eighth, 10th and 11th rounds.
Khan (28-3, 19 KO) received winning scores of 115-113, 115-112, 114-113.
Diaz’s record dropped to 40-8-1.
On the undercard, undefeated American heavyweight Deontay Wilder stopped former Olympic champion Audley Harrison in the first round.
Harrison fell in a neutral corner from the first meaningful punch of the bout, and Wilder kept flailing at him before referee Terry O’Connor stepped in and called it off after 1 minute, 10 seconds.
Wilder, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, improved to 28-0, all by knockout.
Harrison, who briefly held a minor world title nine years ago, fell to 31-7. The British fighter admitted it was likely the end of his career.
Harrison upstages Drake hurdles field
DES MOINES, Iowa — Much of the hype for the Drake Relays centered on hometown star Lolo Jones and her London Games rivals, Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells.
Queen Harrison upstaged them all.
Harrison ran a world-leading 12.71 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles Saturday to win the marquee event. Harper and Wells finished second and third — just as they did at the 2012 Olympics — and Jones ended up fourth yet again.
Blue Jays expect Johnson to be OK, add RHP Germano
NEW YORK — The Toronto Blue Jays expect right-hander Josh Johnson to return to the rotation late next week.
Johnson was scratched from a start Friday night because of tightness in his right triceps. Manager John Gibbons said team doctors don’t think the problem is serious, and the team said Saturday that an MRI came back clean.
Gibbons said Johnson will throw on the side early next week and start a few days later “unless something changes.”
Johnson is 0-1 with a 6.86 ERA in four starts since being acquired in an offseason trade with Miami.
The Blue Jays selected the contract of righty Justin Germano from Triple-A Buffalo before Saturday’s game. Toronto designated lefty Aaron Laffey for assignment on Friday night after he started for Johnson and walked five in 2 2/3 innings against the Yankees.
Mariners 3B coach Datz announces cancer diagnosis
SEATTLE — Seattle Mariners third-base coach Jeff Datz said Saturday he has been diagnosed with cancer and might be away from the team for part of the season.
Datz told Mariners’ players during a team meeting before Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels and later released a written statement. Datz said he’s still in the process of making decisions on treatment and he might have to miss some games.
“The good news is that it was caught very early, and I have great support from my wife, my family, Eric (Wedge), the coaches and staff, all the players and the Mariners organization,” Datz wrote.
Datz said he released the statement because he doesn’t want his absence to be a distraction. He declined further comment until decisions on timing and treatment have been made.
The type of cancer was not disclosed.
LSU RB Hill arrested after bar fight
NEW ORLEANS — LSU leading running back Jeremy Hill, already on probation in connection with a 2011 arrest, was arrested again early Saturday morning after allegedly punching another man in the side of the head outside a Baton Rouge bar near campus.
Hill, who pleaded guilty in January 2012 to misdemeanor carnal knowledge of a juvenile, is now charged with simple battery, also a misdemeanor, East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said.
Moore said it was too early to speculate on how the latest arrest might affect Hill’s probation, and that it was not yet clear whether he’d be charged in city court or state district court.
Pirates’ Sanchez suspended six
games by MLB
ST. LOUIS — Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Jonathan Sanchez has been suspended by Major League Baseball for six games and fined for hitting Allen Craig with a pitch in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
Sanchez gave up two home runs and a single to start the inning before hitting Craig in the shoulder. Umpire Tim Timmons immediately ejected Sanchez before tossing Pirates manager Clint Hurdle for arguing.
Baseball announced the suspension Saturday and Sanchez said he will appeal.
Yankees: Nova, Cervelli on DL, Youkilis in lineup
NEW YORK — The banged-up New York Yankees put pitcher Ivan Nova and catcher Francisco Cervelli on the 15-day disabled list Saturday, the latest setbacks in an injury-riddled season.
Nova left Friday night’s game against Toronto because of tightness in his right triceps.
“Hopefully, he can knock it out fairly quickly,” manager Joe Girardi said.
Cervelli exited with a broken right hand and is expected to miss at least six weeks. Cervelli and Nova joined All-Star teammates Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixiera on the sidelines.
Nadal, Almagro reach Barcelona Open final
BARCELONA, Spain — Seven-time winner Rafael Nadal defeated Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-0 Saturday to reach the final of the Barcelona Open.
He will play for the title today against Nicolas Almagro in a match between Spaniards. Almargo defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-1 in the other semifinal to advance to his second clay-court final of the year.
Sharapova, Li reach final in Stuttgart
STUTTGART, Germany — Defending champion Maria Sharapova will face Li Na in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix today in a matchup of the last two French Open winners.
Sharapova rallied in the third set to beat Angelique Kerber 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 before second-seeded Li followed with a 6-4, 6-3 win over qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States.
Schiavone, Lino reach Marrakech final
MARRAKECH, Morocco — Francesca Schiavone will face Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the final of the Grand Prix SAR.
Schiavone defeated Chanelle Scheepers 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Saturday, and Dominguez Lino rallied past Mandy Minella 2-6, 6-0, 6-1.
Rosol, Garcia-Lopez reach Bucharest final
BUCHAREST, Romania — Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic ousted three-time champion Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday to reach his first career final at the BRD Tiriac Nastase.
Rosol will face fellow unseeded player Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, who beat 2011 winner Florian Mayer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
From wire sources