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Nick Ball’s reign as WBA featherweight world champion ended in dramatic fashion as the British boxer was stopped in the 12th round by Brandon Figueroa in front of stunned home fans in Liverpool.

After 11 closely contested rounds, in which Ball was at times typically bullish on the inside and Figueroa responded with relentless volume, the fight turned in an instant.

Seconds into the final round at M&S Bank Arena, Figueroa landed a flush straight left that sent Ball crashing to the canvas. The 28-year-old beat the count but looked unsteady, and a sharp follow-up combination forced the referee to wave it off.

Ugly scenes followed as beer and objects were thrown towards the ring after a brief altercation, with members of Ball’s team unhappy about the manner of Figueroa’s celebrations while the deposed champion was recovering.

“I’m sorry [for the celebration], we didn’t mean anything, we were just excited. Sorry about that,” Figueroa said.

“Big shout out to Nick Ball, he is a great Liverpool champion and one of the best England have ever had. I have nothing but respect for him.”

In his fourth defence of the world title, Ball – who left the arena without giving a post-fight interview – suffered the first defeat of his professional career, having previously gone 24 fights unbeaten with one draw.

The result scuppers his hopes of unification bouts and brings to an end a positive run of results for British boxing on the global stage following Dalton Smith and Josh Kelly’s world title triumphs in January.

Figueroa, 29, lived up to his moniker, ‘Heartbreaker’, on a deflating and sorrowful night for ‘Wrecking’ Ball and the Liverpool crowd.

The challenger was met by a chorus of jeers on his ring walk, the 7,500-capacity arena close to full and firmly partisan. Figueroa blew kisses to his loved ones and stood calmly in his corner as the noise swelled for Ball.

The Kirkby-born fighter was given a proper hometown reception. From John Conteh to Natasha Jonas, Liverpool has never been shy of producing world champions, and Ball is the latest to have carried on that proud tradition.

The contest began at a frantic pace. Ball threw 145 punches across the opening three rounds – including sharp uppercuts in the first and second – with Figueroa throwing 204 times.

At just 5ft 2in, Ball conceded seven inches in height but dismissed the idea that was a disadvantage beforehand, insisting he preferred “punching up” at taller opponents.

As blood trickled from the champion’s nose and reddened his mouth, Figueroa continued to press and appeared the fresher man at the halfway mark.

Ball responded with a blistering flurry in the eighth. Figueroa winced, smiled and fired back to the body. With some tight rounds, the fight felt finely poised and destined to go to the scorecards.

“Championship rounds. This is your territory now,” Ball’s corner told him.

There was nervousness in the arena, but nobody predicted such an abrupt ending.

With Ball scrambling on the floor after the initial left, he admirably rose on the count of nine.

But Figueroa sensed the finish and unloaded – a left-right-left combination completing the job for the Texan.

During the melee that followed the stoppage, Andrew Cain, a member of Ball’s team who won his own fight on the undercard, appeared to aim a kick at one of Figueroa’s cornerman.

Ball has come a long way since making his professional debut in a Liverpool nightclub and had won four fights in a row since his controversial split draw with Rey Vargas in March 2024.

Of all reigning male world champions from Britain, he was the only one to have defended his title.

But that run has come to an end in the most disappointing fashion.

Ball’s fan-friendly style had made him one of the country’s most watchable fighters, with unification bouts and big-name opponents on the horizon.

A potential super-fight with Japan’s pound-for-pound star Naoya Inoue, the undisputed super-bantamweight champion, had also been on Ball’s wishlist.

Instead, Ball ran into an inspired Figueroa and must now process both the first defeat of his career and the loss of his world title.

How he responds – physically and mentally – will shape the next chapter, and overcoming this setback may prove a defining test of his character.

Bruce Carrington (WBC), Angelo Leo (IBF) and Rafael Espinoza (WBO) hold the other world titles in the division, but would any of them be eager to step in with Ball when he has no world title to offer?

The St James’ Park crowd roared in belief.

Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes had just drawn his side level at 2-2 against Brentford with a confident penalty.

But the Magpies were not content with a late equaliser. Sandro Tonali picked the ball out of the net so the game could quickly restart as Guimaraes led the rest of his buoyant team-mates back into their own half.

Was it going to be one of those nights on Tyneside?

Not even close.

It said it all that this fragile side were only level for a few short minutes before Dango Ouattara fired Brentford back in front after capitalising on poor defending.

The team’s body blow was one which left home supporters stunned as Newcastle fell to a damaging 3-2 defeat.

One irate supporter even made his way towards the back of the dugout in the closing stages to urge head coach Eddie Howe to “sort it out” before loud boos rang out at full-time.

Newcastle are now languishing in 12th place in the Premier League – and Howe cut a visibly downbeat figure after the match.

Is he under pressure?

“I always feel under pressure,” the Newcastle head coach said.

One win in eight games in all competitions is the current form.

“The type of pressure is irrelevant to me,” Howe said.

“When you’re in this job, you’re always in that moment, whether it’s pressure to win and keep winning or pressure to turn around results. We’re very much in that feeling.

Howe has endured sticky spells before, of course.

This is a man who took charge of a side in deep relegation trouble in 2021 and only won one of his opening 10 games in all competitions.

There was a humiliating FA Cup exit to Cambridge United along the way on an afternoon when Kieran Trippier made his debut for the club.

Now, more than four years on, Trippier stressed he took “full responsibility” after being caught out in the build-up to all of Brentford’s goals.

“It is nothing about the manager,” Trippier told Sky Sports. “We take responsibility for the performances.

“The manager puts the plan out and we try and execute it. I am not going down that route about the manager. I would never do that.”

Newcastle operated without a sporting director and missed out on a number of first-choice targets, including Hugo Ekitike, Joao Pedro and James Trafford, in a window when top scorer Alexander Isak went on strike in order to push through a move to Liverpool.

Howe had a huge say on recruitment, but Newcastle ended up spending over £250m on Jacob Ramsey, Anthony Elanga, Malick Thiaw, Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade, as well as bringing in goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale on loan.

It was rather telling that only two recruits – Thiaw and Wissa – started against Brentford.

Wissa had a poked effort cleared off the line, when his side were 1-0 up, but this was another goalless outing for the former Brentford forward.

He left the field to a humiliating chorus of “what a waste of money” from the away end after being substituted.

Wissa has scored just three goals since making his debut in December, while Woltemade has only found the back of the net on one occasion in that same period.

One man who certainly knew where the goal was Alan Shearer, the club’s leading scorer.

Shearer recognised that things are not good enough, but stressed Howe was “not under pressure”.

“The signings in the summer – apart from Malick Thiaw – have not been good enough and hit anything like top form,” said Shearer, who is a pundit on Saturday’s Match of the Day.

“They simply haven’t justified the money that was spent on them as yet and that has hindered Howe.

Such esteem should not come as a surprise.

This is a manager who ended Newcastle’s seven-decade wait for a major domestic trophy less than a year ago, and who led his side to Champions League qualification in 2025 and 2023.

It is why Howe commanded instant respect from chief executive David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson when they were finally appointed earlier this season.

The pair have quickly struck up a relationship with Howe, and have repeatedly talked about the importance of alignment behind the scenes at a time when there have been very public ructions at clubs elsewhere.

There has been a degree of an understanding that this side are in transition following a turbulent summer.

There is also a recognition behind the scenes that the incredibly hands-on Howe has not had much training time with his players, and has had to contend with fatigue and injuries during a relentless schedule this season, which is a relatively new phenomenon for Newcastle.

Newcastle have a strong chance of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League, and have an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Aston Villa to come next week, but this season is unravelling. Fast.

No teams have dropped more points from winning positions in the league than Newcastle (19).

Howe’s team have only won three away games in all competitions this season, and have lost three of their last four matches at St James’ Park.

They are as close to the relegation zone as they are the top five.

Such statistics are all the more damning in a week during which Hopkinson doubled down on his assertion that Newcastle would be competing for the biggest prizes by 2030.

Howe certainly needs no reminding that he needs to spark a turnaround sooner rather than later.

“I’ve got to work better, do more and take full responsibility for everything you see on the pitch,” he said.

“I’ve got to work out solutions. That’s for me to do and it’s the same for the players.

“I have to ask them to be really honest with themselves and look at their best level and judge how we are playing against that now in this current moment.

Wigan Athletic have sacked manager Ryan Lowe after 11 months in charge following their 6-1 thrashing by Peterborough United on Saturday.

The dismal defeat dropped the Latics into the relegation zone, with the club having won just once in their past 10 League One fixtures.

They were 11th in the table when they beat Burton on 2 December, but are now 22nd, two points from safety, after 29 matches.

Wigan said Glenn Whelan and Graham Barrow will take charge of the first team on an interim basis while the club “will work quickly to identify and appoint” a new head coach.

The club also thanked Lowe for “his efforts and wishes him all the best for the future”.

Lowe previously won promotion from League Two with Bury and Plymouth and finished 13th, 12th and 10th in the Championship with Preston.

Having arrived at the club at the tail end of the 2024-25 season, Lowe guided Wigan to a 15th-placed finish in the table.

After winning against Northampton on the opening day of this season, Wigan’s form soon tailed off as they secured just three victories from 17 matches in all competitions between late August and late November.

Real Madrid are stepping up interest in Manchester City midfielder Rodri, Arsenal among clubs keen on Leon Goretzka and Manchester United and Newcastle target Michael Kayode.

Real Madrid are stepping up their interest in 29-year-old Manchester City midfielder Rodri, with the Spain international having less than 18 months left on his contract. (Teamtalk)

Arsenal are keen to bring Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka in on a free transfer in the summer, with the Gunners having reportedly tried to sign the 31-year-old Germany international in January. (Mirror)

Juventus have not held any contract talks with striker Dusan Vlahovic since last summer and, with the Serbia international’s deal running out in the summer, Chelsea, Tottenham, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Roma are interested in the 26-year-old. (Foot Mercato – in French)

Paris St-Germain boss Luis Enrique has been linked with taking over at Manchester United but the Spaniard does not believe it is the right project for him and is set to sign a new contract with the French club. (Mirror)

Manchester United and Newcastle have joined the growing list of clubs tracking Brentford and Italy Under-21 right‑back Michael Kayode, 21. (Teamtalk)

Inter Milan are set to offer manager Cristian Chivu a one-year contract extension, which will run until 2028, and a pay rise at the end of the season. (Corriere dello Sport, via Football Italia)

Argentina forward Paulo Dybala, 32, and Italy attacking midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini, 29, will have to take pay cuts if they want to stay at Roma, with the contracts of both players running out in the summer. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian)

Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali, 25, could demand a move away from Newcastle if the Magpies fail to qualify for the Champions League next season. (Football Insider)

But Newcastle are also looking at Lyon’s 23-year-old English midfielder Tyler Morton as a possible replacement for Tonali, while Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest are also interested in the former Liverpool player. (Caughtoffside)