If he never returns, Terence Crawford’s legacy as one of boxing’s greats is secure | Bryan Armen Graham

Terence “Bud” Crawford has always fought like a man who wanted to leave no room for argument. Not simply to win, but to win so cleanly that dissent collapses on contact. So his retirement announcement on Tuesday didn’t feel like a sudden fade-out so much as the closing of a file: tidy, decisive, signed in his own hand. Three months after scaling two weight divisions to outclass Canelo Álvarez in Las Vegas and become the undisputed super-middleweight champion, Crawford says he is stepping away “on his own terms”. In the cruellest sport, that is rarer than a perfect record

Miami Dolphins to bench QB Tua Tagovailoa after missing playoffs

The Miami Dolphins are benching quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and will start rookie Quinn Ewers on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, head coach Mike McDaniel announced on Wednesday.The Dolphins (6-8), eliminated from postseason play, signed Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212m extension in July 2024 after he led the NFL in passing yards in 2023 with 4,624.But amid a disappointing season, McDaniel hinted Tuesday a change could be coming after a 28-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. “The quarterback play last night was not good enough,” McDaniel said on Tuesday. “So for me, everything is on the table

Curse of Spoty? Rory McIlroy and golf could miss out again to Kelly or Norris

It has been a 2025 for the ages for Rory McIlroy. He cemented his legacy by completing a career grand slam with victory at the Masters. Then he carried Europe on his back at the Ryder Cup, defying the venom and spite of a braying Maga crowd. Now, though, he has one final devilish sandtrap to navigate: the curse of golf at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.Only twice in the 71-year history of the event has a golfer claimed the honour: the Welshman Dai Rees in 1957, when he captained Great Britain and Ireland to Ryder Cup success, and the Englishman Nick Faldo, following his Masters success in 1989

The Knicks have a trophy and Wembanyama has a chip on his shoulder: Five NBA Cup takeaways

New York got a championship while a high-stakes meeting between the Thunder and Spurs showed where the NBA, and the NBA Cup, is todayAfter toppling the defending champion Boston Celtics in a shocking upset in the Eastern Conference semi-finals this spring, The New York Knicks immediately became the favorites to represent the conference in the NBA Finals. The Indiana Pacers, a team that will no doubt go down as having one of the most compelling Cinderella stories in modern NBA history, had other plans.But this year, the East is more open than ever (though Knicks guard Jalen Brunson insists he’s “not a fan” of the narrative of a wide open conference). The Detroit Pistons have made a remarkable turnaround from being at the bottom of the East standings a few years ago to the top of them, but the Knicks’ showing in Cup play, ultimately hoisting the trophy in the third year of the contest, has shown what many believed heading into this season: they’re the team to beat.Brunson continues to be every bit the superstar his franchise needs, Mikal Bridges is having a fantastic season, and (knocks on wood) they’re as healthy as they’ve been in ages

Khawaja and Carey rise up to fill the gaps as England squander Australia’s gifts | Geoff Lemon

Chalk it up to fates or fortune or a quirk of probability, whatever your inclination. If Australia’s first day of the Adelaide Test was a jigsaw puzzle hurled into the air, most of the pieces landed face up in the right place. It has been a pattern for Australia in this Ashes series: monstered by England’s bowlers in Perth, only to create an even greater collapse; sliding in Brisbane, rescued by the lower order.England, meanwhile, brought a gameplan built on the surety that they couldn’t win in Australia with medium-fast seamers and a keeper up to the stumps, then lost to medium-fast seamers with a keeper up to the stumps. They were given the gift of no Pat Cummins, no Josh Hazlewood, no Nathan Lyon (in Brisbane) and still managed to lose twice in six days

Jofra Archer steps up to show his true value lies beyond pundits’ stereotypes | Barney Ronay

This was a gripping day of Test cricket. The visuals were perfect. Adelaide Oval was a dreamy place, with its bleached greens, soft surfaces, the scroll of blue above the stands, the sense of some chino-shorted Eden, ultimate expression of the leisured triumphalism of the southern summer.In the middle of this there were long periods where three games seemed to be happening all at once. England versus Australia