Hard sell of Eubank Jr v Benn fails to disguise ugly fight loaded with danger and spite

Ben Shalom and Eddie Hearn usually do not like each other but on Thursday evening, at the final press conference for the troubling bout between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn, the promoters were almost breathless in their audacity and unity as they hailed a gift from the boxing heavens.Shalom, Eubank Jr’s promoter, lauded “the biggest British boxing story ever”, “a monumental event” and “an unbelievable show” which has been “35 years in the making” as he suggested that Saturday night’s showdown completes the trilogy between two families – after the fighters’ fathers, Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn, shared a couple of seismic bouts in the early 1990s. Hearn, who promotes Benn, spoke of “a fight for the generations … an iconic main event … an incredible time for boxing” and urged us to “remember this night … this is what it’s all about.”Eubank Jr is 35 years old and he has often campaigned as a super-middleweight at 168lb, which is 21lb heavier than the welterweight category in which Benn has mostly fought. He and Benn will now bridge the size-gap and meet as middleweights, but, on Friday morning, at the official weigh-in behind closed doors, Eubank Jr failed twice to make the 160 pound mark

Emma Raducanu toils in three-set defeat by Marta Kostyuk at Madrid Open

In the searing heat of the Spanish capital, the warmest day of this year’s Madrid Open so far, Marta Kostyuk stepped on to the clay courts of the Caja Mágica determined to make a statement against her most prominent contemporary. By the end of a tense, difficult tussle, it had duly been delivered. Kostyuk, the 24th seed, produced an impressive performance to end Emma Raducanu’s tournament in round two with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 victory.Although Raducanu fought well and maintained her composure until the end, a victory over Kostyuk would have marked her best career win ­outdoors on clay. She was ­ultimately defeated by a superior clay-court player who was far more comfortable playing her offensive game in fast conditions at Madrid’s elevated altitude

Top basketball prospect Alijah Arenas out of coma after Cybertruck crash

Alijah Arenas, a top basketball prospect and son of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, is out of an induced come after a car crash in Los Angeles, according to a statement from his family.The 18-year-old was involved in a crash in the early hours of Thursday morning when a Tesla Cybertruck left the road and crashed into a fire hydrant before hitting a tree. He was taken to a local hospital and placed into a induced coma. His family said he is now out of the coma but remains intubated. The family said he has “shown significant signs of progress within the last 24 hours

Will Jacob Kiplimo be the first to run a marathon in less than two hours?

Earlier this year Jacob Kiplimo produced a performance so staggering that it sent the jaws of even seasoned track and field watchers crashing to the floor. It came on the streets of Barcelona, where the 24-year-old Ugandan covered 13.1 miles in 56min 42sec – a half marathon time 48 seconds quicker than anyone else in history.Little more than two months later, Kiplimo is in London for his full marathon debut and the noise has only grown louder. Could he break the world record on Sunday? Could he even become the first man to break two hours in an official race? It is speculation that the event director, Hugh Brasher, is more than happy to stoke

Skelton v Mullins: ‘bouncer’ blocks path to title on final day of jumps season

Dan Skelton has been an immovable object at the top of the National Hunt trainers’ table since the opening day of the 2024-25 season on 4 May last year but, when he comes up against the irresistible force of Willie Mullins’s stable at Sandown on Saturday, the betting market sees only one winner.Mullins is top-priced at 1-6 to retain the title he won for the first time last year, and while stranger things happen in racing on a fairly regular basis – a 1-9 shot was beaten in a two-horse race at Fakenham less than a month ago – even Skelton has seemed slightly resigned to his probable fate in the run-up to this weekend’s decisive card.“We have never been champion and have never been to that dance,” Skelton said. “The excitement that we could still do it and the tenacity everyone has shown is something I have taken a lot of heart from. We are trying to get through the door and on the dancefloor, maybe the bouncer won’t let us to the party on Saturday but we’ll try

Your Guardian Sport weekend: Liverpool on verge, FA Cup semis, Women’s Six Nations finale and London Marathon

With Liverpool poised to clinch the Premier League title on Sunday, Jonathan Liew looks at how Mohamed Salah helped them recapture the crown. Sid Lowe sets up a clásico Copa del Rey final, while Andy Martin has all your need to know about Sunday’s London Marathon. And Barney Ronay’s weekly column focuses on Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn and boxing grudges.Join Gregg Bakowski and Barry Glendenning for the latest news and buildup to Saturday’s football action in our new weekend news blog. Send your thoughts to matchday