Baumgardner shines after New Zealand’s Daniels seizes unified crown in jarring upset

On a night when Alycia Baumgardner showed why she’s considered one of boxing’s hottest properties, it was a longshot from New Zealand in the co-main event who threatened to steal the show.Baumgardner retained her WBO, IBF and WBA junior lightweight titles early Saturday morning at the Theater at Madison Square Garden with a commanding 10-round unanimous decision over South Korea’s Bo Mi Re Shin in the headline bout of the first US card staged by Most Valuable Promotions Women, the nascent women’s boxing platform launched by boxer-influencer Jake Paul.The 31-year-old Ohio native, fighting out of Dallas under crack trainer Derrick James, dominated Shin for five rounds before turning back a furious rally to win a wide verdict by scores of 98-92, 98-92 and 99-91. (The Guardian had it 98-92.)But Baumgardner’s sixth title defense in the 130lb division, where she’s held at least one belt since 2021, was nearly upstaged by the fight before it

Supercharged GOAT-level swim‑genius Adam Ramsay-Peaty is the Messi of breaststroke | Barney Ronay

The Austrian philosopher and novelist Robert Musil once wrote a lengthy meditation on human capacity based around seeing the phrase “a racehorse of genius” in a newspaper sports section. Musil was disturbed by this idea. His basic question was: can a horse really be a genius?If we are to ascribe the label of genius to a horse, based on its ability to run fast and successfully eat oats, where does this leave the unmapped capacities of the actual human genius? What is consciousness? What is a human? Should the question in fact be: will there ever be a human of sufficient genius they are able to actually perceive the genius of a horse?As a small contribution to this discourse, I would suggest that if there really is such a genius among us they are unlikely, from my own lived experience, to be a sports writer. Also, horses are nice.The reason for mentioning this here is that I don’t think you really appreciate how good Adam Ramsay‑Peaty is at the breaststroke

Alycia Baumgardner beats Bo Mi Re Shin to retain unified junior lightweight title – as it happened

That’s all for tonight. Thanks as always for following along and be sure to check back later for a full report.No surprises here. Alycia Baumgardner has retained her WBA, WBO and IBF junior lightweight titles by a 10-round unanimous decision. Two judges scored it 98-92 while a third had it 99-91

Gout Gout waves off rivals to claim 100m national junior title in style

Gout Gout has blitzed the field but fallen short of breaking the 10-second barrier while winning the 100m at the Australian athletics junior championships in Brisbane on Saturday.The 18-year-old took time to get his motor going before settling into his stride and chasing down the early leaders to cross the line first in a time of 10.21sec with a legal tailwind of +0.5m/s.Gout left plenty in reserve as he eased up and waved to the crowd before finishing ahead of Zavier Peacock who clocked 10

Lancashire to put matches behind paywall; Rew sparkles for Somerset on rain-hit day – as it happened

Somerset’s James Rew was a shot of ginger on a rainy Championship day. He purred the last ball of the evening to the rope with a perfect high elbow, to finish unbeaten on 77. With innings of 64, 122 and 48 already this season, Rew’s average is 100 – numbers to lighten an England selector’s step. Thirteen wickets fell around him, with Jake Lehmann (76), who has stepped into James Vince’s boots, again top-scoring for Hampshire. There were three wickets each for Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton

O’Sullivan and Trump no-shows spoil mood before World Snooker Championship

Neither former world champion was at obligatory event as two British prospects look forward to moment in spotlightIf there were any doubt remaining that Ronnie O’Sullivan retains a gravitational pull on the world of snooker, few moments hammered home the point better than Friday’s launch of this year’s World Snooker Championship when the seven-time champion became the story without even being there.The first ball will not be potted in Sheffield until Saturday morning and the first headline has been generated by a player not in action until Tuesday. When the traditional photo of the world’s top 16 took place as usual outside the Crucible on Friday afternoon it did so without two of the sport’s biggest names in O’Sullivan and Judd Trump.Both were a no-show at the press event that the seeded players are contractually obliged to attend, with the reasons for their absence unclear. It could yet lead to disciplinary action from the authorities: not that either will be hit too hard financially