By Nick Giongco

April 25 is the working date for World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero’s proposed showdown with Naoya Inoue, the Japanese puncher regarded as the best in the 118-lb division.

American Sean Gibbons, who heads MP Promotion, has been working to get a deal in place for Inoue to stake his World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titles alongside Casimero’s WBO jewels.

Inoue is to be showcased in style by Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, which signed him to a lucrative deal following his rousing victory over Nonito Donaire in early November last year.

Casimero entered the scene after an equally explosive win over South African Zolani Tete in Birmingham, England three weeks later.

One of four reigning Filipino world boxing champions, Casimero says he doesn’t need a tuneup bout to prepare for Inoue, adding he is confident in his skills and arsenal.

Inoue, 26, parades a 19-0 win-loss record with 16 KOs while Casimero, 30, totes a 29-4 slate with 20 KOs. Both are both three-division world champions.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard scored 36 points, Lou Williams added 21 and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to defeat the Golden State Warriors 109-100 on Friday night.

The Warriors had a 93-83 lead going into the final 12 minutes before Los Angeles went on a 21-6 run the first six-plus minutes of the quarter to take control.

Montrezl Harrell keyed the rally with seven of his 11 points as the Clippers went 8 of 12 from the field and forced the Warriors to go 3 of 11.

The Clippers defeated the Warriors in two straight games for the first time since 2011.

Glenn Robinson III and Omari Spellman scored 17 apiece for Golden State, which has lost its last seven, and Alec Burks added 16.

Los Angeles led 18-9 with 4:53 remaining in the first quarter before Golden State scored 10 of the next 12 points to tie it at 20 late in the quarter.

It was tied at 37 when Spellman sank a pair of 3-pointers during a 9-2 Golden State run. The spurt allowed the Warriors to take a 53-48 lead at halftime.

Leonard scored the first nine points during LA’s rally early in the third for a 55-53 lead before Golden State jumped on top again.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Agence France-Presse

Novak Djokovic was at his battling best to topple gutsy fifth-ranked Daniil Medvedev on an epic Saturday and send Serbia into the inaugural ATP Cup final.

The world number two was given the ideal platform by a composed Dusan Lajovic, who ground down Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the opening singles 7-5, 7-6 (7/1) to hand his country a 1-0 advantage.

And the 16-time Grand Slam champion, who will be targeting an eighth Australian Open title this month, came through a top-draw contest 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

It gave Serbia an unassailable 2-0 lead ahead of the doubles to set up a meeting with either the Nick Kyrgios-led Australia or Rafael Nadal’s Davis Cup champions Spain in the final on Sunday.

“It was an exceptional match. Lots of rallies and very exhausting. Daniil Medvedev is one of the best players in the world and he showed today why,” said Djokovic, who on Saturday pulled out of next week’s Adelaide International after a tough ATP Cup.

“He’s difficult to break from the baseline, he’s tall and has a good serve. This was the most difficult challenge I have had so far this year.”

Djokovic dropped a set for the first time in the tournament during his quarterfinal encounter with Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, but quickly assumed control against Medvedev.

Playing in much cooler conditions than the heat and humidity that hit Nadal on Friday when he lost in the singles, Djokovic broke in the first set to go 3-1 up and never looked troubled.

He broke again for 5-1 and served it out in just 31 minutes.

The Russian, who had won their last two encounters, appeared in trouble when he was broken again in the opening game of the second set but then astonishingly roared back.

He lifted his level to create four break points in the next, converting when Djokovic misjudged a ball he thought was going out.

Another break put him 3-1 ahead and Djokovic smashed his racquet in frustration as Medvedev took the set to level the match.

A third set of long, high-quality rallies went with serve until Djokovic got the crucial edge in the fifth game, converting a volley to go 3-2 in front and Medvedev had no answer.

Lajovic, who won his first ATP title last year at Umag, took a 2-0 record into his showdown with world number 17 Khachanov.

In their first meeting on hard courts, he produced a performance that belied his ranking of 34, displaying composure and a fine array of shots.

Lajovic found a new gear during his thrashing on Friday of Felix Auger-Aliassime and said the vocal Sydney fans had fuelled him to deliver his best tennis.

They were back in full voice again at the Ken Rosewall Arena, getting him over the line.

“It was definitely one of the toughest matches for me in my career, concerning the situation, the tension and the importance of the moment,” he said.

“But the crowd carried me and my team was behind me.”

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Jessica Pegula upset former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday to set up a final at the ASB Classic against top-seeded Serena Williams.

The daughter of Buffalo Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula came from a set down to beat formerly top-ranked Wozniacki 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 in Wozniacki’s penultimate tournament before retirement.

The crowd at the Auckland Tennis Center had barely recovered from the shock of Pegula’s victory when Williams joined her in Sunday’s final. Williams took only 45 minutes to overwhelm third-seeded American Amanda Anisimova 6-1, 6-1.

Anisimova wasn’t born when Williams won the first of her 23 Grand Slam titles and had dreamed of one-day playing Williams. But she met Williams in her most dominant form.

“I was definitely in the zone today,” Williams said. “It was just one of those days.

“I knew I was playing a really, really great player and an even better person so I knew I had to come out serious.
“It feels good. I’ve been working really hard for a couple of years — my daughter’s only two — and I seem to be really hard on myself. But considering everything it’s really good.”

Anisimova, who lifted her ranking from 99 to 24 in 2019 and ousted Eugenie Bouchard on her way to the semifinal, had no answer for Williams’ power Saturday. She was broken in her opening service game and again in the third and seventh games of the first set.

Williams broke in the second and fourth games of the second set to lead 4-0.

The match contrasted sharply with the clash between Wozniacki and Pegula which lasted almost two hours.

Pegula broke Wozniacki’s serve in the first game of the match, immediately dropped her own and was broken again in the sixth game and Wozniacki went a set up after only 43 minutes.

But Pegula stepped up in the second set and played more aggressively than Wozniacki, controlling the match from the baseline. She was able to move Wozniacki around the court and to change pace of her ground strokes, particularly to lift the pace of her cross-court forehand. Wozniacki was more defensive and struggled to match the 25-year-old American.

Pegula broke Wozniacki’s serve in the second game of the second set, gave up a break at 2-2 but broke again in the 10th game to take the set.

She was dominant in the third set, breaking Wozniacki in the second, fourth and sixth games to surge into her third WTA final.

“Caroline has had an amazing career and I know she’s retiring so I had to work really hard but I’m just happy to get the win and I’m pleased to be in the final,” Pegula said. “I definitely knew if I was going to play defensive I wasn’t going to win that battle because she’s the best in the world at that.

“So I knew I just had to step in and take my chances and just trust my game.”

Wozniacki remains in contention for a title in Auckland. She and Williams will combine Sunday in the doubles final.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By Kristel Satumbaga

Adamson University clobbered Ateneo 121-44 on Saturday in UAAP girls basketball at the Paco Arena.

The Adamson dribblers cruised to a 37-3 start in the first quarter and ripped the game wide open at the half, 75-17, to become the first time to win in the inaugural high school event.

Six players scored in double figures for Adamson with Mia Miguel draining 24 points in an 11-of-14 shooting while grabbing 14 rebounds in 16 minutes.

Joan Camagong scattered 23 points, nine boards and eight steals, while Crisnalyn Padilla and Charlene Carcallas chipped in 12 points each.

Katrina Agojo finished with a double-double for Adamson with 12 points and 17 rebounds while Trina Roy added 10 points.

So dominating was Adamson that it shot 56-of-113 for 50 percent on the field, collared 75 rebounds, and had 27 assists and 27 steals.

Andrea Sarmiento was the lone double-digit scorer for Ateneo with 17 points highlighted by five triples, while Audrey Medina, Nina Doctor and Maxine Almeda finished with seven points each.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

DALLAS  — LeBron James had 35 points and 16 rebounds, Kyle Kuzma scored a season-high 24 points starting in place of injured star Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers went up big early in a 129-114 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

James was dominant from the start to help the Lakers build a 22-point lead in the first half, which ended with Luka Doncic in a ripped jersey on a frustrating night for the 20-year-old Dallas phenom against the player he grew up admiring.

Doncic, who had played James just about even while the Lakers took two of first three in the season series, had 25 points and 10 rebounds but ripped his jersey late in the first half after one of his 11 misses (8 of 19).

Davis missed the first game of a road back-to-back after taking a nasty fall in a win over the Knicks in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

Both leading men — James and Doncic — were without their star sidekicks for the final regular-season meeting as both fell short of a triple-double after both had one in the previous meeting in Dallas. They had seven assists apiece.
Tim Hardaway finished with 22 point for Dallas.

NETS 117, HEAT 113

NEW YORK  — Spencer Dinwiddie scored 26 points and had a career-high 14 assists as Brooklyn beat Miami and snapped a seven-game losing streak.

Rodions Kurucs scored 19 points and Taurean Prince added 17 for Brooklyn.

Jarrett Allen finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for his team-high 17th double-double of the season.
Jimmy Butler scored 33 points and Bam Adebayo added 22 for the Heat.

Miami’s Duncan Robinson missed a 3-pointer from the corner with 5.7 seconds left.

PELICANS 123, KNICKS 111

NEW YORK — Brandon Ingram scored 28 points, Jaxson Hayes had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and New Orleans beat the Knicks.

Lonzo Ball had 15 points and 11 assists, and Josh Hart added 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Pelicans won for the seventh time in nine games.

Taj Gibson led the Knicks with a season-high 19 points, shooting 8 for 8 from the field. RJ Barrett scored 16 points, and Reggie Bullock and Elfrid Payton finished with 15.

The Knicks lost their fifth straight following a season-best three-game winning streak.

WIZARDS 111, HAWKS 101

WASHINGTON — Jordan McRae scored 29 points, Troy Brown Jr. added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Washington overcame a poor shooting performance to beat Atlanta.

Atlanta, which has the worst record in the NBA, lost for the 14th time in 16 games. Trae Young, who had 42 points in a defeat to Houston on Wednesday, led the Hawks with 19 points.

John Collins had his second straight double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds for Atlanta, and Alex Len had 10 points and 14 rebounds.

PACERS 116, BULLS 105

CHICAGO  — Myles Turner set season highs with 27 points and 14 rebounds, and short-handed Indiana withstood a huge effort by Zach LaVine to beat Chicago.

The Pacers overcame 43 points by LaVine and escaped with the victory after Chicago rallied from 16 down to cut the deficit to four in the closing minutes.

T.J. Warren scored 17 for Indiana after being fined $25,000 by the NBA for an altercation with Miami’s Jimmy Butler on Wednesday night. The Pacers picked up their second win in three games even though they were missing two of their top players, with Malcolm Brogdon out with strep throat and Domantas Sabonis nursing a sore left knee.

LaVine finished six points shy of his career high set at Charlotte in November. Coby White scored 23, but the Bulls lost their sixth straight — their worst skid since a 10-game slide in December and January last season.

GRIZZLIES 134, SPURS 121

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 24 points, Ja Morant added 22 points and a season-high 14 assists and Memphis won its fourth-straight game.

Dillon Brooks also scored 22 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 21 as six Memphis players scored in double figures.

DeMar DeRozan matched his season-high with 36 points, and added nine assists for the Spurs. LaMarcus Aldridge and Bryn Forbes each scored 21 points, combining to go 9 of 17 from 3-point range. Rudy Gay added 13 points.

JAZZ 109, HORNETS 92

SALT LAKE CITY — Rudy Gobert had 15 points, 13 rebounds, and six blocked shots, leading Utah to a victory over Charlotte.

Jordan Clarkson led the Jazz with 20 points off the bench. Bojan Bogdanovic added 16 points and Georges Niang chipped in 15 while matching his career high with five 3-pointers.

Utah has won eight straight games and 13 of 14.

Terry Rozier scored 23 points to lead the Hornets. Miles Bridges added 11. Charlotte finished with 21 turnovers, leading to 24 points for the Jazz. The Hornets have lost three straight.

The Jazz swept the regular-season series with the Hornets for the second straight season.

SUNS 98, MAGIC 94

PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 24 points, including late back-to-back 3-pointers, and Ricky Rubio came up with a steal and a free throw to help Phoenix rally past Orlando.

The Suns scored the final eight points of the game after Nikola Vucevic knocked down a 3 from the top of the arc with 59.4 seconds left, giving the Magic a 94-90 lead, Orlando’s largest of the game.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 22 points and Rubio added 11 points, 10 assists and three steals.

Evan Fournier led Orlando with 28 points, 16 in the second half. Vucevic added 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Terrence Ross scored 18 off the bench.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Khris Middleton had 27 points and 11 rebounds, Eric Bledsoe scored 24 and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Sacramento Kings 127-106 on Friday despite an off night for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Milwaukee improved to an NBA-best 34-6 and extended the best start in franchise history.

Antetokounmpo was held to a season-low 13 points and 10 rebounds. The reigning MVP took only nine shots and picked up three of his four fouls in the first half.

It was the 11th time this season – and seventh in the past 11 games – that Antetokounmpo did not lead the Bucks in scoring.

Donte DiVincenzo had a season-high 18 points and Sterling Brown added 11 points and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, which is 16-4 on the road.

De’Aaron Fox had 19 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for Sacramento. Harrison Barnes scored 19 before limping off the court and into the locker room late in the fourth quarter.

Milwaukee trailed midway through the third, then took control with a 20-3 run over 3:32 while Antetokounmpo rested on the bench. Middleton had seven points and Brown and DiVincenzo both hit 3-pointers to help the Bucks go up 80-66.

Milwaukee led by 18 early despite a slow start by Antetokounmpo. He took just four shots in the first half and was called for his third foul with 19 seconds remaining before halftime.

Antetokounmpo also found himself in the middle of the lane when Sacramento’s Trevor Ariza sprinted in for a two-handed dunk that cut the Bucks’ lead to 49-43.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

DALLAS  — LeBron James had 35 points and 16 rebounds, Kyle Kuzma scored a season-high 24 points starting in place of injured star Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers went up big early in a 129-114 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

James was dominant from the start to help the Lakers build a 22-point lead in the first half, which ended with Luka Doncic in a ripped jersey on a frustrating night for the 20-year-old Dallas phenom against the player he grew up admiring.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle was equally flummoxed, getting ejected after his second technical early in the fourth quarter when he exploded over the Lakers getting to challenge an out-of-bounds call after he thought the Mavericks had thrown the ball in.

Doncic, who had played James just about even while the Lakers took two of first three in the season series, had 25 points and 10 rebounds but ripped his jersey late in the first half after one of his 11 misses (8 of 19). The 2019 Rookie of the Year was a game-worst minus-24 in the first half.

Davis missed the first game of a road back-to-back after taking a nasty fall in a 117-87 win over the Knicks in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. An MRI exam showed no major concerns, although Davis was extremely sore.

Both leading men — James and Doncic — were without their star sidekicks for the final regular-season meeting as both fell short of a triple-double after both had one in the previous meeting in Dallas. They had seven assists apiece.

Mavericks forward Kristaps Porzingis has already been ruled out for the final two games of a six-game homestand because of a sore right knee. It’s not the knee the 7-foot-3 Latvian injured in his final game for the Knicks almost two years ago.

The Mavericks got within 91-81 late in the third quarter when Doncic found Tim Hardaway, who scored 22 points, for a 3-pointer. It was the closest Dallas had been since 19-9 midway through the first, when James hit a 3 to cap a stretch of scoring or assisting on seven of LA’s first nine baskets.

Dallas never did get the deficit back to single digits, and James hit a 3 to open the fourth quarter to push the lead back to 16.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

PHOENIX  — Devin Booker scored 24 points, including late back-to-back 3-pointers, and Ricky Rubio came up with a steal and a free throw to help the Phoenix Suns rally past the Orlando Magic 98-94 on Friday night.

Booker had scored only two points in the second half before hitting a 3-pointer with 52.9 seconds left that cut Orlando’s lead to 94-93. He then hit another 3-pointer with 36 seconds left. On defense, Rubio stole the ball from Nikola Vucevic with 16.7 seconds remaining.

The Suns scored the final eight points of the game after Vucevic knocked down a 3 from the top of the arc with 59.4 seconds left, giving the Magic a 94-90 lead, Orlando’s largest of the game.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 22 points and Rubio added 11 points, 10 assists and three steals, giving him 1,001 for his career.

Evan Fournier led Orlando with 28 points, 16 in the second half. Vucevic added 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Terrence Ross scored 18 off the bench.

Phoenix led by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, but the Magic roared back, taking their first lead of the game at 69-68 on a 3-pointer and two free throws by Fournier.

The Suns took a 77-75 lead when Deandre Ayton hit a short hook shot just before the buzzer at the end of the third.

But Orlando scored the first six points of the fourth on 3s by Fournier and Josh Magette, It was Magette’s only basket of the game.

The game was mostly back-and-forth, with the exception of a few double-digit leads for the Suns.

Off a blocked shot from Cam Johnson at the defensive end, Mikal Bridges took the ball coast to coast for a layup and a 27-25 lead the Suns carried into the second quarter.

Ross bowled over Aron Baynes and put in a wild shot off the glass to cut the Suns’ lead to 40-38 at the 5:46 mark of the second. Markelle Fultz had 13 points and Ross 12 in the first half.

Booker forced Fournier to lose his balance on defense, then swished a step-back 3 that gave Phoenix its largest lead of the first half, 10 points at 58-48, with 33 seconds to go.

The Suns took that lead into halftime. Booker scored 16 first-half points and Oubre 13.

Source: Manila Bulletin

By the Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.  — Two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields remained undefeated and won the 154-pound championship with a unanimous decision over overmatched Ivana Habazin on Friday night at Ovation Hall.

Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) already won the middleweight and super middleweight crowns in her brief career and become the fastest fighter in boxing history — either male or female — to become a three-division world champion.

That milestone is skewed a bit because women’s boxing doesn’t have the depth of talent or years of title fights as men, but it’s still one more achievement reached for the Flint, Michigan, fighter.

She won on the scorecards 99-89, 100-90, 100-89 to bring home the junior middleweight title.

“It wasn’t what I wanted but I’m happy with the improvement,” Shields said.

Shields walked out for the fight like a queen, dressed in a gold gladiator costume complete with a Queen’s crown on her head.

She shimmied and danced to a choreographed routine with her entourage as Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)” blared through the arena.

Her braided hair streaked in blue, Shields had the crowd on her side and even had fellow 2016 Olympic boxer Shakur Stevenson hold her championship belts.

Shields won Olympic gold in 2012 in London and repeated the feat four years later in Rio de Janeiro. Against Habazin, she was never truly threatened and toyed with her for most of the 10 punishing rounds in front of a sparse crowd of maybe 1,000 fans.

Shields had a famous fan in actress Rosie Perez, who tweeted in the sixth round, “@Claressashields just forced Habazin to take a knee!” Shields staggered her opponent and worked over Habazin over the final four rounds toward the easy win.

Shields is as braggadocios as an athlete gets, calling herself a “once-in-a-century kind of athlete,” and the GWOAT.

Yes, the Greatest Woman Of All Time. She may not be there yet — Christy Martin or Laila Ali would gladly stake a claim to that title — but she could enter the debate. But will she stick around much longer? Shields has open about wanting to try an MMA career, where even a cursory glance from a major promotion would mean more money and exposure for the former Olympian.

Once the Las Vegas of the East when it came to staging major fights, the boxing scene withered away in Atlantic City over the last decade. Ovation Hall had more than 100 tickets for sale (at $65 a pop) when the Showtime card started at 9 p.m. and no tickets listed on major secondary market websites. The merchandise stand was nothing more than three Shields T-shirts for $25 each (“$20 if you buy right now, deal only for you!” said one overzealous saleswoman) and the crowd responded more in polite applause than creating any palpable buzz until her dramatic entrance.

This was the third try of the fight and it went off without any unnecessary drama. The first bout was scratched because Shields injured her knee in training. The second attempt for a fight set in Flint went off the rails at the weigh in when Habazin’s trainer was struck by Shields’ brother and was hospitalized the night before the bout, so the fight was postponed.

Habazin failed to match Shields in theatrics, though her 68-year-old trainer Bashir Ali, attacked Oct. 4 during the weigh in at Flint, accompanied her to the ring Friday night.

Maybe Shields fights again at super middleweight, where Elin Cederroos defended her share of the 168-pound title in a bloody spectacle against Alicia Napoleon-Epinosa.

Cederroos sat in the third row with the championship belt on her lap for the Shields fight. She had a look of nonplussed nonchalance about the prospect of fighting Shields.

“I’ll go home to Sweden to get back to training,” she said. “I want more belts.I need to build up my name.”

Shields, who gave up eating meat the last three months to help tone her physique and drop the weight needed to hit 154 pounds, has certainly made her name in the fight game.

“I just want be a better fighter, that’s all,” she said. “I wanted to grow woman’s boxing.”

Source: Manila Bulletin