Madison Square Garden says anyone fighting at the arena threatens to be “banned for life” after there were multiple altercations at one of its events.
Video on TMZ.com showed two fights breaking out on Friday, when fighters weighed in for the boxing card Saturday night headlined by Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson. One of the videos showed a brawl starting as Bill Haney, father of boxer Devin Haney, was conducting an interview near the stage.
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“Violence will not be condoned at MSG across any type of event including, hockey, basketball, boxing, concerts, or special events,” Madison Square Garden said in a statement. “If any individual is found to participate in violent activity, whether you are part of the event, or a patron, you will be banned for life and unable to attend or participate in any event across all our venues.”
The news conference Thursday for the title fight between Lopez and Stevenson became heated as the fighters on stage traded insults about family members, with people in the audience also shouting.
There was also an altercation near the cage on November 15, when MSG hosted UFC 322.
Elena Rybakina inflicted further Grand Slam final heartbreak on world number one Aryna Sabalenka with a dramatic third-set fightback to win her first Australian Open title.
Kazakh fifth seed Rybakina was 3-0 down in the final set, with Sabalenka looking set for a fifth major singles trophy.
However, Rybakina won five successive games before completing a 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory to avenge her loss to two-time winner Sabalenka in the 2023 final.
This was US Open champion Sabalenka’s third defeat in her past four major finals, following disappointing losses in last year’s Australian Open and French Open showpieces.
The Belarusian had broken Rybakina’s impressive serve late in the second set and again early in the decider to take control in her bid for a third Australian Open title in four years.
But Sabalenka surrendered her advantage, tightening as the finish line drew closer and producing three unforced errors to allow Rybakina to break for a second time and hit the front.
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Rybakina wins battle of big-hitters
In a meeting between two of the biggest hitters on the women’s tour, Rybakina neutralised Sabalenka’s trademark power with clean ball-striking and clutch serving, before digging deep in the deciding set.
Sabalenka has spent 75 weeks at the top of the rankings and remains the dominant player in the women’s game – particularly on hard courts, with this her seventh consecutive major final on the surface.
But Rybakina has emerged as the Belarusian’s kryptonite after winning seven of their past nine hard court encounters.
Having appeared on course for an impressive comeback win, Sabalenka sat with her towel over her head as she contemplated that yet another final had slipped from her grasp.
Rybakina, meanwhile, was able to celebrate a hugely impressive run to the title, having also overpowered world number two Iga Swiatek and sixth seed Jessica Pegula on her way to the final.
She has now won her past 10 matches against fellow top-10 players and is the first player to claim the title by defeating three top-10 players in each round from the quarter-finals onwards since Naomi Osaka in 2019.
How the Australian Open final was won – and lost
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The final set aside, both players were dominant on serve, with only three of the first 19 games featuring break point opportunities.
Rybakina made her intentions clear with an immediate break on Rod Laver Arena, coming back from 0-30 down on the Sabalenka serve to register the perfect start.
The Kazakh dropped just three points across her opening three service games and dismissed two break points with successive, accurate first serves to hold for a 5-3 lead before closing out the opener.
Seeking an immediate response, Sabalenka applied further pressure at the start of set two but an unshakeable Rybakina served her way out of three break points.
There would be no escape, however, when Sabalenka forced three more break points with Rybakina serving to stay in the set, the top seed seizing her chance to force a decider.
It was there that the final truly ignited. Rybakina refused to panic as Sabalenka threatened to storm to victory with a five-game run from 4-4 in the second to 3-0 up in the third.
Sabalenka capitalised on a weak service game from her opponent, in which Rybakina made just one first serve, before resisting a break point to stretch her lead in the deciding set.
But Rybakina broke back two games later as the unforced errors began to seep in for Sabalenka, who allowed her emotions to get the better of her in last year’s Grand Slam final losses.
Energised by renewed belief, Rybakina reset on serve after Sabalenka spurned the chance to break for a 4-2 lead – and then struck again in the following game as the top seed faltered.
Northampton Saints wing Edoardo Todaro is facing a long lay-off after suffering a serious knee injury at a training camp with Italy.
The Italian Rugby Federation website say diagnostic tests had confirmed a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee.
“The player will return to his club where he will continue his recovery and rehabilitation process, supported by the Northampton medical staff in collaboration with the men’s national team medical staff,” a statement added.
16 October 2025
His scoring exploits earned him a call-up to Italy’s senior squad and he made his international debut as a replacement against Chile in November.
He had been named in the Azzurri’s squad for the forthcoming Six Nations Championship.
Born in Milan, Todaro came to England at the age of 14 to study at Ipswich School where he was spotted by Northampton.
Elena Rybakina produced a thunderous display to dismantle Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 4-6 6-4 on Saturday and capture a maiden Australian Open title, turning the tables on the world number one in their Melbourne Park final rematch from three years ago.
Rybakina returned to the site of her heartbreak in 2023 to complete an impressive victory and earn her second major trophy after Wimbledon 2022, underlining her credentials as the player best equipped to puncture Sabalenka’s hardcourt aura.
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The 26-year-old Kazakh capped a fortnight of relentless efficiency while largely flying under the radar, adding the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup to a resume that also includes the 2025 WTA Finals crown, where she downed Sabalenka.
“It’s hard to find words now but I want to congratulate Aryna for her amazing results in the last couple of years. I hope we’re going to play many more finals together,” Rybakina said.
“I want to say thank you to you guys (fans). Thank you so much to Kazakhstan. I felt the support from that corner a lot. It’s really a Happy Slam and I always enjoy coming here and playing in front of you guys.”
Aryna Sabalenka was seeking a third Australian Open title at Melbourne Park [Phil Walter/Getty Images]
In the first Grand Slam final since 2008 featuring players yet to drop a set, it was top seed Sabalenka who blinked first under the Rod Laver Arena roof as Rybakina came out all guns blazing to break in the opening game and wrest control.
The fifth seed’s huge ball-striking caused all sorts of problems for twice champion Sabalenka, as she comfortably got to set point in the 10th game and finished it off to send alarm bells ringing in her opponent’s dugout.
Having arrived with 46 hardcourt Grand Slam match wins from the last 48, four-time major winner Sabalenka found her groove and started the second set more positively, but Rybakina saved three breakpoints to hold for 1-1.
A wayward forehand from Rybakina handed Sabalenka the chance to level at one set apiece, and the Belarusian gleefully took it to turn the final set into a shootout destined to be decided by whichever player held their nerves.
Having beaten Rybakina from a similar situation in the 2023 title clash, Sabalenka unleashed a flurry of winners to go ahead 3-0, but the Kazakh erased the deficit and broke for 4-3 before securing victory to add to her All England club triumph.
Elena Rybakina celebrates a point in the Women’s Singles Final against Aryna Sabalenka [Phil Walter/Getty Images]
The knockout blow was a huge ace, after which the typically restrained Rybakina walked forward, smiled and pumped her fist before celebrating with her team.
Sabalenka, denied an Australian Open “three-peat” by American outsider Madison Keys in last year’s final, endured heartbreak again as she retreated to her chair and draped a white towel over her head to conceal her anguish.
“I’m really speechless right now,” she said, before turning to her victorious opponent and the fans.
Australia’s Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka because of a troubling back injury.
Test captain Cummins, 32, managed just one appearance in his side’s 4-1 Ashes win over England, with his back causing him issues for more than six months.
Australia kept him in the provisional World Cup squad, but have opted for Ben Dwarshuis in the final squad, with Matt Short also left out for former Test opener Matthew Renshaw, who only made his T20 debut this week.
“With Pat needing more time to recover from his back injury, Ben is a ready replacement who offers a left-arm pace option as well as dynamic fielding and late-order hitting,” selector Tony Dodemaide said.
“We believe his ability to swing the ball at good pace along with clever variations will be well suited to the conditions we expect and overall structure of the squad.”
Australia, who are captained by Mitchell Marsh, are currently playing a three-match T20 series in Pakistan as part of their preparation for the tournament.
Veteran batsman Steve Smith was unable break into the World Cup squad despite his strong form in the Big Bash League.
They begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on 11 February in Colombo.
“With the top order settled and spin-heavy conditions expected in the pool stages in Sri Lanka, we also feel Matt provides extra middle-order support, with Tim David completing his return-to-play program in the early phase of the tournament,” Dodemaide said of Renshaw’s selection.
Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel has denounced what he called an attempt by his United States counterpart, Donald Trump, to “suffocate” the sanctions-hit country’s economy.
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday threatening additional tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba, the latest move in Washington’s campaign of pressure on Havana. The order alleged that the government of communist-run Cuba was an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security.
In a social media post on Friday, Diaz-Canel said that under “a false and baseless pretext”, Trump plans “to suffocate” Cuba’s economy by slapping tariffs “on countries that sovereignly trade oil” with it.
“This new measure reveals the fascist, criminal and genocidal nature of a clique that has hijacked the interests of the American people for purely personal ends,” he said, in an apparent allusion to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban American and a known anti-Cuban government hawk.
Cuba, which is suffering rolling electricity blackouts blamed on fuel shortages, was cut off from critical supplies of Venezuelan oil after the US abducted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in a bloody military night raid on the capital, Caracas, earlier this month. At least 32 members of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence agencies were killed in the January 3 attack.
The US has since taken effective control of Venezuela’s oil sector, and Trump, a Republican, has issued threats against other left-wing governments in the region, promising to stop oil shipments previously sent to Cuba.
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Friday declared an “international emergency” in response to Trump’s move, which he said constitutes “an unusual and extraordinary threat”.
Venezuela’s government also condemned the measure in a statement on Friday, saying it violates international law and the principles of global commerce.
Reporting from Cuba’s capital, Al Jazeera’s Ed Augustin said Trump’s announcement “is a massive psychological blow”, noting that analysts describe it as the “most powerful economic blow the United States has ever dealt the island”.
Days after Maduro’s abduction and transfer to the US, Trump urged Cuba to make a deal “before it is too late,” without specifying what kind of agreement he was referring to.
In a post on social media, Trump suggested Rubio could become the president of Cuba. “Sounds good to me!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
‘There’s no solution’
In Havana, residents expressed anger at Trump’s tariff threat, which will only make life harder for Cubans already struggling with an increase in US sanctions.
“My food is going bad. We haven’t had electricity since 6am,” Yenia Leon told Al Jazeera. “You can’t sleep. You have to buy food every day. There’s no solution to the power situation,” she said.
“This is a war,” Lazaro Alfonso, an 89-year-old retired graphic designer, told The Associated Press news agency, describing Trump as the “sheriff of the world” and saying he feels like he is living in the Wild West, where anything goes.
A man sells vegetables on the street during a blackout in Havana on January 22 [Norlys Perez/Reuters]
Alfonso, who lived through the severe economic depression in the 1990s known as the “Special Period” following cuts in Soviet aid, said the current situation in Cuba is worse, given the severe blackouts, a lack of basic goods and a scarcity of fuel.
“The only thing that’s missing here in Cuba … is for bombs to start falling,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would seek alternatives to continue helping Cuba after Trump’s announcement following a decision this week to temporarily halt oil shipments to the island amid heightened rhetoric from Trump.
Mexico became a key supplier of fuel to Cuba, along with Russia, after the US sanctions on Venezuela paralysed the delivery of crude oil to the island.
Sheinbaum said cutting off oil shipments to Cuba could trigger a “far-reaching humanitarian crisis” on the island, affecting transportation, hospitals and access to food. She did not say whether Mexico would cut shipments of oil or refined products to Cuba, which she said accounted for 1 percent of Mexico’s production.
“Our interest is that the Cuban people don’t suffer,” Sheinbaum said, adding that she had instructed her foreign minister to contact the US State Department to better understand the scope of the executive order.
Mexico supplied 44 percent of Cuban oil imports and Venezuela exported 33 percent until last month, while some 10 percent of Cuban oil is sourced from Russia. Some oil is also sourced from Algeria, according to The Financial Times figures.
In November last year, a senior United Nations expert said the long-running US sanctions on Cuba must be lifted as they are “causing significant effects across all aspects of life”.
The US imposed a near-total trade embargo on Cuba in 1962, with the goal of toppling the government put in place by Fidel Castro after he took power in a 1959 revolution. Castro himself was the target of numerous assassination attempts by the US’s Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA.
Alena Douhan, special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights, said the “extensive regime of economic, trade and financial restrictions” against Cuba marks the longest-running unilateral sanctions policy in US history.
She noted that there are shortages of food, medicine, electricity, water, essential machinery and spare parts in Cuba, while a growing emigration of skilled workers, including medical staff, engineers and teachers, is further straining the country.
