Birmingham’s BP Pulse Live Arena is home to BBC Sport.
10 Comments
Galal Yafai’s world title hopes were severely undermined by his shock defeat to Francisco Rodriguez Jr. in Birmingham’s final round.
The 32-year-old Olympic gold medalist battled the Mexican’s relentless pressure and punch volume in a high-tempo fight when they were first introduced to his home city.
Yafai had some successes and showed resilience, but he repeatedly suffered injuries, most notably in the seventh and ninth, before hitting the canvas in the dowel.
With scores of 119-108, 119-108, and 118-109, he maintained his composure until the very end.
Yafai loses his WBC interim title after his first defeat in ten professional fights.
The Tokyo 2020 champion now has a significant rebuilding task ahead of him after being predicted for a quick ascent to full world glory.
The tone is set with Rodriguez’s quick start.
Images courtesy of Getty
Rodriguez jumped out of the blocks, rattling the champion early and buckling Yafai’s legs with a sharp left uppercut. As Rodriguez’s quick hands remained on the mark throughout the initial stages, Yafai struggled to fully recover.
Yafai rallied in the fourth movement, landing clean with his backhand, but a cut above his left eye that had left him hampered him. Later in the fight, Rodriguez also received a cut.
The Birmingham fighter, who cruised past Sunny Edwards in November, appeared second-best throughout, his body language not inspiring the home crowd. He frequently dabbed at Rodriguez’s eye, and he struggled to match Rodriguez’s pace.
When Yafai was floored in the seventh inning, Rodriguez had his fired-up corner roaring as he sat down, despite being ruled a slip. The 31-year-old away fighter had already delivered a number of punches earlier in the round, though.
In the eighth round, Yafai showed strength and perseverance by striking a crisp straight right and uppercut. Before the ninth minute, Rodriguez continued to dominate, hurting Yafai once more as blood stains the referee’s shirt.
Yafai appeared to be becoming more and more content with his fate by the championship rounds. In the 12th grade, a clean left-right combination resulted in his drop. Before departing the ring without giving a post-fight interview, he raised a wry, deflated smile.
Although it appeared close to winning the Olympics and becoming a world champion against Japan’s unified champion Kenshiro Teraji, Yafai’s ambition to do so is now a distant memory.
The debut of “The new Katie Taylor” stars
Images courtesy of Getty
In a fierce debut, Hungary’s Sara Orszagi defeated British star Tiah Mai Ayton, who had earlier made an impressive debut.
The 18-year-old super-bantamweight champion dominated Orszagi with crisp right hands from the start of the fight, earning the nickname “the next Katie Taylor” from Hearn.
In the third, she dropped her before cutting off the final blow with a flawless shot. A smiling Ayton ran back to her corner and poked her team’s tongue as the referee waved the fight off.
Ayton, a flawless 21-0 amateur, said, “Eddie has been bigging me up, so I had to show what I’m about.”
She was proclaimed a beaming Hearn. She was created for this. She has a unique talent.
Ivan Duka’s brutal second-round stoppage was the highlight of Matchroom’s strong night for Matchroom’s prospects, and Manchester’s 2024 Olympian Pat Brown won the match for his second professional debut.
Duka’s night came to an early halt with a sharp right hook, a thudding left hook, and a crisp left uppercut.
On July 5th, Brown, 25, will return to the ring in Manchester for two weeks.
Real Oviedo won the La Liga 2 play-off final to reclaim the Spanish top flight after a 24-year absence, and Santi Cazorla, a former Arsenal midfielder, kicked off a dramatic comeback.
Cazorla, 40, converted a penalty late in the second half of Saturday’s second leg to give his team a 2-0 aggregate lead over CD Mirandes.
Ilyas Chaira helped Oviedo tie things up in the second half, but Francisco Portillo added a stunning winner in extra-time to earn promotion.
Cazorla was a member of Oviedo’s academy, but the club’s youth system was destroyed in 2003 by financial problems, which saw the first team re-enter in the third tier.
Cazorla was one of the tens of thousands of supporters and former players who bought shares of the club to keep it alive when Oviedo experienced another crisis ten years later.
The midfielder made 180 appearances for Arsenal before leaving in 2018 and was a two-time European champion with Spain.
He had 11 operations to treat the Achilles injury after it occurred in October 2016.
Inter Milan defeated Urawa Red Diamonds 2-1 on Saturday to knock the Japanese team out of the Club World Cup, and Valentin Carboni scored the winning goal in stoppage time.
Urawa Reds, who were backed by a noisy crowd of their supporters at Seattle’s Lumen Field, scored Ryoma Watanabe’s opening goal.
However, with just 12 minutes left, Lautaro Martinez, Inter’s captain, pulled the equalizer in their 1-1 draw with Monterrey of Mexico in their opening game.
In the 92nd minute, Carboni, an Argentine 20-year-old player who had not played for Inter for more than two years, made his debut to give the Italians the victory.
After Inter were forced to work for the victory, Martinez told the broadcaster DAZN, “We need to play with our hearts, and we need to do that as a team we need to play with more pride, be humble, and know how to suffer.”
The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Group E football match between Inter Milan from Italy and the Japanese Urawa Red Diamonds takes place on June 21, 2025 at the Seattle Lumen Field stadium in Albania. #21 Kristjan Asllani (R) scores but fails to score. (Photo by Pablo PORCIUNCULA/AFP)
The outcome puts Cristian Chivu’s team in good shape to advance to the last 16, while Urawa Reds are eliminated after their second defeat in as many games.
After this game, our emotions are so bad. Since we are no longer competing in the final game, they can only compete in the final game to earn our one-and-only victory, according to their Polish coach Maciej Skorza.
INCLUDE READ ALSO:
Urawa Reds, the Asian Champions League winners of 2023, were attempting to recover from a 3-1 defeat at River Plate in their opening game when they won 11th.
Takuro Kaneko scored with a strong run down the right before Watanabe first swept his low cross home.
It appeared as though Inter’s UEFA Champions League runners-up might suffer a shock defeat when Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed the target from a good position in the second half after Martinez hit the crossbar shortly after.
However, they did get the equalizer in the 78th minute when Martinez skillfully turned in a left-angled Nicolo Barella corner and headed home with an overhead kick as he fell backward.
Carboni, who had been out of action since early October because of a serious knee injury while playing on loan at Marseille, was then given the opportunity.
After beating Mamelodi Sundowns in 32C heat on Saturday at the Club World Cup in Cincinnati, Borussia Dortmund manager Niko Kovac declared that he was “sweating like I’ve just come out of a sauna.”
The first half was watched from the dressing room by Dortmund’s substitutes, who then hid under umbrellas on the bench for the second half.
Never seen before, but in this heat, it makes sense for our subs to watch the first half from inside the locker room at TQL Stadium.
Before the game, which started at noon local time, Kovac had raised concerns about the conditions.
Both teams had a difficult start, but the opposition [in South Africa] are used to it,” he continued.
A fourth game was postponed due to thunderstorms on Friday, which has continued to affect the Club World Cup.
Borussia Dortmund
Due to the storms and heavy rain in Orlando, the second half of Benfica’s Group C match against Auckland City ended more than two hours late.
The delay had caused more than an hour before Mamelodi Sundowns against Ulsan HD in the same city.
And there were lengthy intermissions between Salzburg and Pachuca in Cincinnati and Palmeiras v Al-Ahly in New Jersey (40 minutes).
According to Fossil Free Football, ten games are scheduled for the following week that could result in significant or extreme heat risks.
The United States, Canada, and Mexico are co-hosting the World Cup, which comes just one year after it ends.
According to Dr. Chris Tyler, an expert on heat stress in elite sports, “many of the players who are anticipating competing in 2026 are already getting a taste of what’s in store.”
“Such things will be commonplace, with many of the events scheduled before 5 p.m. to maximize TV audiences.
Extreme heat might turn out to be the tournament’s most formidable adversary.
The dangers that players face
Images courtesy of Getty
Particular concern is expressed by Fossil Free Football’s predictions for the next two games, which will have a heat index of 38C (Real Madrid vs. Pachuca) and 41C (Benfica vs. Bayern).
This underscores the dangers that players and fans will encounter at this and in 2026. There is little that Fifa can do to calm safety fears.
In Nashville’s 41C on a field with little cover is scheduled for the game between Auckland City and Boca Juniors, which is part-time football in New Zealand.
In the upcoming heatwave, matches will also be played in Philadelphia, New York, Cincinnati, and Washington, DC.
Marcos Llorente described the 32C match as “incredibly hot” and said “my toes were sore, my nails were hurting… it’s incredible.”
Fans complained about long lines and water restrictions when arriving at the stadium and that they had to leave that game due to the heat.
According to a Fifa statement, “Fifa’s top priority is the health of everyone who plays football,” and its medical experts have been in frequent contact with the participating clubs to discuss heat management and acclimatization.
Fans are permitted to bring empty, clear bottles of up to one litre into stadiums as well as cooling breaks in the 30th and 75th minute, respectively.
Los Angeles FC defeated Chelsea 3-1 in their opening game against Flamengo on Friday, making them one of two English teams competing alongside Manchester City.
It pours when it rains.
Images courtesy of Getty
From a scheduling perspective, there will be concerns about the delays in games in addition to the danger the heat poses to players, staff, and supporters.
For thunder and lightning storms and heavy rain, there were waits of 40 minutes to two and a half hours for four of the first 21 games.
The potential for overlapping matches at the 2026 World Cup won’t disappoint broadcasters.
An hour before Chelsea’s match against Flamengo was scheduled to end, Benfica vs. Auckland City had to come to an end, but the Blues’ defeat came about after the final whistle was blown.
Coach Bruno Lage of Benfica said, “This is the longest game of my career. “Our fans, who have been here for five hours, deserve special appreciation.
Later this year, Peter Kay and Sara Cox will be performing two special performances at Salford’s Lowry’s Lyric Theatre, with tickets already on sale for the matinee performances.
Peter Kay will take part in two events at the Lowry’s Lyric Theatre later this year(Image: Getty Images)
Fans were issued an apology over “issues” related to tickets for two Peter Kay events that went on sale earlier today. Some had expressed difficulty in securing seats for the comedian’s upcoming two shows with radio host Sara Cox.
Peter, 51, and Sara, 50, are set to appear at the Lowry’s Lyric Theatre in Salford on September 14. Tickets for Peter Kay In Conversation with Sara Cox, which will have a matinee and an evening show, went on sale at 10am today.
However, a number of fans posted about glaring issues shortly after the shows were scheduled to sell out on social media. On X, one user wrote, “My ticket is in my basket. Ever since, I’ve been stranded on the pay page.
Was in a queue before it crashed, according to another fan who later claimed to have managed to obtain a ticket. Still not functioning. Someone else said, “I got mine this morning after a lot of trouble trying to get some.”
The Lowry apologised to fans over ‘issues’ this morning with booking tickets for two events featuring Peter Kay(Image: Instagram)
A fourth person wrote, “Had three tickets in my basket and then couldn’t finish purchasing, and when I tried to get back in, everything was almost gone.” I’m afraid I won’t be able to celebrate my birthday at the Lowry. No luck for me, a fan said.
Continue reading the article.
The Lowry issued an apology over the situation on Instagram earlier today. In an initial statement shared this morning, the theatre and gallery complex said that it would try to resolve “issues” with booking tickets that it was aware of.
We are aware of the issues with booking tickets this morning, according to the post, which was then shared by Peter’s accounts on social media earlier today. As we work to resolve the issue, kindly bear with us. Then it said, “We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
The Lowry thanked fans for their patience with the situation in a later post. Thank you for your patience as we worked with our ticketing system this morning. Please try again because seats are still available.
The Lowry then announced that the two shows had sold out about three hours after its initial post. It once more made reference to previous issues, stating that “Peter Kay in conversation with Sara Cox is now sold out!” Thank you for your patience as we worked through the ticketing system issues.
He will appear at the venue’s Lyric Theatre later this year for two shows(Image: Getty Images)
Peter and Sara will reflect on both his life and career, according to the announcement. It’s been speculated that it will cover Peter Kay’s Diary, his upcoming memoir, will be included.
Peter’s memoir was announced earlier this month. As reported at the time, it’s been described as his “most personal and hilarious book yet,” with it said to take readers on a “laugh-out-loud journey through his life, month by month”.
The Lowry’s events have been announced as “bringing the laughter and stories to a nationwide audience,” and they have been specially recorded for broadcast. Additionally, organizers have stated that all profits will go to Crescent Foodbank Bolton in aid of Bolton Hospice &.
This story, do you like? Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Threads for more latest news and gossip.
Continue reading the article.
READ MORE: Plant fans snap up tropical indoor house plant that grows ‘beautiful large green leaves’
