Luke Littler’s World Matchplay title defence continued with a straightforward 16-7 quarter-final win over Josh Rock in Blackpool.

Rock initially kept pace with the world number one as the players traded breaks to reach 5-5.

But after 19-year-old Littler reeled off five legs in a row, there proved to be no way back for Rock as the defending champion, in dazzling form, cruised into the semi-finals.

After throwing 17 180s with a scoring average of 109.57, Littler said: “At the minute, everything’s going to plan.”

The teenager added: “I feel good. I can afford to miss a few doubles because the scoring’s there.

“Once again another brilliant performance, but fair play to Josh, he put up a good fight.”

Littler will play unseeded Dirk van Duijvenbode of the Netherlands in Saturday’s semi-final.

Earlier on Thursday evening, tournament outsider Van Duijvenbode survived a late surge by Gary Anderson to reach his first Matchplay semi-final.

Anderson, the 2018 World Matchplay champion, threatened to close an eight-leg deficit with a fine late display including a 154 checkout, but Van Duijvenbode held on for a 16-13 win.

Reflecting on his second-round tie-break win over Michael van Gerwen, Van Duijvenbode had said that shaking “like a little child crying for his mum” allowed his compatriot back into match after leading 8-4.

After leading 8-4 again on Thursday, Van Duijvenbode dropped two consecutive legs but then stormed into a 14-6 lead by winning the next six without reply.

However, it would be a further nine legs until Van Duijvenbode won the tie as a resurgent Anderson pushed him hard.

Terence Crawford appears content with retirement and satisfied with the legendary career that he has had, but one welterweight world champion is hoping to convince ‘Bud’ to return, confident that he could put an end to his undefeated record. 

Crawford held the undisputed title at super-lightweight, welterweight and super-middleweight, with his win over Canelo Alvarez deemed to be one of the most impressive victories this side of the millennium.

Although, those divisions are now moving on, with the welterweight scene perceived to be one of the most competitive in the sport, home to the likes of Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, Conor Benn and Manny Pacquiao.

In September, Benn is set to challenge Garcia for the WBC welterweight world title, and Crawford predicted that the Briton would be able to pull off the upset.

“I think that is a good fight. I think, of course, Ryan has got the experience, but I think that Conor has got the size and the power. I think that it’s going to be an interesting fight moving forward.

“I’m going to go with Conor, I think that he is going to upset him.” 

In response, Garcia has now hit back at Crawford, declaring that his achievements are overrated and that he retired too early, without facing his true rivals, in an interview with Ariel Helwani.

“Terence Crawford is a hater, bro. At the end of the day, I don’t know why he is hating on me.

“Obviously he is biased because he don’t like me, ‘oh, he [Benn] is strong and he is this and that,’. I don’t know why he don’t like me, [maybe] because I talk my s**t, but I have an opinion too – that he never fought anybody who was really young, talented and hungry.

Advertisement

“He didn’t fight Vergil [Ortiz], he didn’t fight Boots [Ennis], he retired too early. Cool, you beat Canelo, but Canelo was already past his prime in a way.

“You can’t really run around saying that you did everything you could possibly have done when, guess what? You didn’t have many miles on you [when you retired].”

Garcia then went on to call for a showdown with ‘Bud’, believing that the Omaha-born switch-hitter has never shown that he possesses the skills to cause him any issues.

“I have always wanted to fight him. I still want to fight him. I want to get him out of retirement and beat him. I don’t see anything that [tells me] I can’t beat him.

“People want to hype it up but I don’t see anything that I would have a problem with. It would be a good fight but I know I’d beat him.”

Advertisement

Garcia-Benn takes place on Saturday, September 12, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where Garcia may pile further pressure onto Crawford if he is victorious.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) will host its Lockdown pay-per-view at the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago on Aug. 23.

Elayna Black, a Chicago native, vowed to be on the card for the show in which every match will be held inside a steel cage. Black told Fox News Digital she enjoyed being in those types of matches.

COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL

Elayna Black enters the ring at Slammiversary 2026. (TNA Wrestling)

“I definitely am going to be on that card,” Black said. “One way or another we will make that happen. I am definitely not going to be having TNA be in Chicago, my hometown, my city, and not be on the show. So, we definitely will make that happen. But I’m very excited. Every match on that show is going to be a steel cage match.

“If you’ve been a fan of me for a while, you know that’s my cup of tea. I love that. I grew up a fan of like hardcore wrestling. Jon Moxley was one of my favorite wrestlers. I love doing hardcore matches. I did a deathmatch right before I got signed. I did the WarGames match. That’s my cup of tea. I love that type of stuff.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Elayna Black attempts to pin Indi Hartwell at Slammiversary 2026. (TNA Wrestling)

Black has also targeted Knockouts champion Xia Brookside.

She made clear that Brookside needs to watch her back as the days keep getting closer to Lockdown. Brookside won the championship over Lei Ying Lee at Slammiversary.

“So, No. 1, steel cage match. No. 2 in Chicago. And No. 3, Xia Brookside has a target on her back,” Black told Fox News Digital. “That’s all I’m going to say. So, we’ll see. I have a little bit of extra motivation being on that show. If I got my friends and family there, I’m going to have a little more oomph in me that day.

Elayna Black plays to the crowd at Slammiversary 2026. (TNA Wrestling)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“So, all I’m going to say is, Xia Brookside, whatever you got going on that day, watch your back because you never know.”

News broke that LeBron James would not be returning to the Los Angeles Lakers on June 30. Effectively, he became a free agent that second, which means the race to obtain his services has been going on for almost a month. Still, he hasn’t decided and nobody has any idea when he will. 

In some ways, this is a good thing for the NBA. The league is still hanging around the top of the news cycle at a point in the calendar when typically everyone starts to shift their focus toward football. If this situation wasn’t lingering, the only NBA story anyone would be talking about would be the Kawhi Leonard investigation, which is actually a bigger deal than James’ free agency, as it has a major trade on hold. If the Raptors miss on Leonard, it will become a bigger loss than any of the teams that end up missing on James. 

But LeBron is LeBron, and as long as he’s on the open market, he’s going to be the story. And the longer this story goes, the more some entities will be both hurt and helped by the attention. So that’s what we’re going to look at today. Who are the biggest winners and losers of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer taking this long to make up his mind?

Who needs LeBron James the most? Ranking which suitors are in the most trouble if he picks someone else

Sam Quinn

Advertisement

Winner: Prediction markets

As of this writing, north of $210 million has been wagered at Kalshi on James’ next team. At Polymarket, the number is just under $40 million and climbing. The longer this goes on, the more bets these markets will field. James’ procrastination is a cash cow. 

I’m sure by now you know the Miami Heat accidentally posted a scheduled video for an introductory press conference on their YouTube channel. This is normal media business. Everyone has social posts and articles and videos prewritten or recorded for every realistic destination (as do those teams), so the button can be hit the instant that LeBron’s decision goes public to capitalize on that initial surge of traffic. These posts aren’t supposed to be published, of course. The Heat’s social media team made a mistake, and it swung the markets wildly. 

Prior to that post, the Cleveland Cavaliers were the favorite to land James, having taken 38% of the bets at Kalshi, with the Heat next on the board at 36%. After the Heat’s post went viral, the wagers started rolling in as Miami surged to a 49% favorite while Cleveland dropped to 26%. 

Those splits have largely stayed the same, even after Miami called its post a mistake. Meanwhile, at the time of this writing, the Golden State Warriors, who were a 46% favorite to land James at the start of July, are also-ran material at this point, having accounted for just 17% of wagers. 

By the way, these aren’t the only markets that are popping. You can also bet on which conference James will end up in (the East is currently an 82% favorite), the total value of his next contract, the date the announcement will be made, and even who or where the announcement will come from. James announcing it himself currently has 35% of the bets, with Klutch Sports Group (meaning agent Rich Paul) second at 28% and ESPN’s Shams Charania at 25%. 

If you’re new to these prediction markets, this is your wake-up call. As we speak, there are millions, and in the case of James, hundreds of millions being wagered on everything from sports-related outcomes to wars, the stock market, the Grammys and Oscars, political elections and oil prices. 

If it’s in the news, chances are you can bet on it. As such, the longer James’ free agency stays in the news, the more bets these markets will be fielding. So while most of us (I certainly count myself among this group) would probably appreciate it if this saga could just end already, the prediction market folks that are raking in all this wagered cash would love nothing more than for this to drag on as long as possible. 

Advertisement

Loser: NBA schedule makers

Everyone thought James would make a big announcement at Fanatics Fest in New York City last week amid his flurry of scheduled appearances. Instead, it was NBA commissioner Adam Silver who made waves when he went on stage and basically told James to hurry up already so the league could finish the 2026-27 schedule. 

“I would like him to make his announcement already, so we can finish the schedule, because, as you might imagine, the teams are calling us, the networks are calling us, and everybody wants to lock in the schedule,” Silver said. “But [where LeBron plays] will influence how we set the schedule, how we set opening week, Christmas Day, etc. So I need him to make a decision.”

There have been rumors that James was ready to make his announcement last week, but was irritated by Silver trying to rush him and decided to hold off a bit longer. 

Who knows if this is true, but Silver has a fair point about the schedule. The NBA is one year into a $76 billion TV deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon, and those networks split the biggest dates and games — particularly opening night, Christmas Day, and all the big national windows. 

Advertisement

Three ripple effects of LeBron James’ lengthy free agency, and why Adam Silver is anxious for a decision

Jack Maloney

Advertisement

For example, James has played in 20 Christmas Day games, including 19 straight. Meaning, wherever he signs will immediately become a Christmas team. Just that alone has a domino effect, and when you factor in the 25ish national-TV games James’ new team will certainly be cast in, and all the downstream effects of that scheduling in terms of how that changes other teams’ dates. 

This is a big holdup for the NBA and its very expensive and increasingly antsy television partners. 

Advertisement

Winner: Rich Paul’s podcast

While James only made select appearances at Fanatics Fest over a two-day span during this saga, his agent, Rich Paul, has been front and center with his “Game Over” podcast becoming something of a buffet for the masses of fans (and media) starving for any crumb of information. 

It started on July 3 when Paul unveiled the famous whiteboard, outlining the pros and cons and biggest players and selling points for each potential James suitor. 

Since then, Paul has been the main public voice for the James side and his podcast must be seeing massive spikes in audience. He hasn’t really said much other than that James is “not going to be rushed” and is going to do what is best for him and his family. But again, every little crumb of information — from “the 76ers have our attention” to “this will not be a money-based decision” — is being gobbled up like a Michelin-rated meal. And in this case, Paul’s podcast is the restaurant. 

Loser: Cavs and/or Warriors

On some level, every team that strikes out on James is going to be a loser. But there are degrees to this. If the Heat don’t get him, for instance, they’ll be disappointed. They could really use his playmaking and shooting, but worst-case scenario, they still landed their big fish in Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer. James would be icing on the cake. 

Advertisement

Same thing for the Philadelphia 76ers. They already made their summer splash by swapping out Paul George for Jaylen Brown, and Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons are nice margin signings. Wade will be a starter if James doesn’t come. And honestly, he’s a better defender than James and the 76ers already have arguably too much scoring. What Philly could really use is James’ passing to help navigate a supremely delicate usage ecosystem composed of four No. 1-option players. 

The Minnesota Timberwolves need a power forward after the losses of Julius Randle and Naz Reid. And of the teams being reported as realistic suitors, they might give James his best chance at winning, given the two-way players, shooting, companion creation and defensive infrastructure already in place. But again, if they miss on James, they at least already made a big move this summer by trading for LaMelo Ball. 

LeBron James free agency: What is Plan B for teams that miss out on signing NBA’s all-time scoring leader?

Advertisement

Robby Kalland

Advertisement

The Cavs and the Warriors, on the other hand, have all their eggs in the LeBron basket, and with it dragging on this long, their Plan B pool has all but dried up. The Cavs let the aforementioned Wade go to the 76ers in part to keep room open to sign the two Jameses — LeBron and Harden, who opted out of his $42.3 million contract for next season to also create room for LeBron. 

It’s all tied together, and if James doesn’t come, the Cavs will be looking at guys like Jonathan Kuminga instead and could also end up having to pay Harden more than they’d like to (although he doesn’t really have anywhere else to go now that this has dragged out for so long). 

Meanwhile, the Warriors haven’t added a single player besides their draft picks. When Draymond Green opted out, it was clearly a move aimed at freeing up mid-level money for James, and Golden State fans really began getting their hopes up when reports indicated the possibility of trading for Anthony Davis as the lure for James. 

Now the Davis pursuit looks done, if it ever really even began in earnest, and James teaming up with Stephen Curry is back in the pipe-dream realm, at least if you believe the reporting. Warriors fans are going to revolt if another offseason rolls by without the team doing anything of significance as another year of Curry’s rapidly dwindling career fades away. 

Advertisement

Argentina’s Lionel Messi (10) cries at the end of the World Cup final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Spain’s dramatic 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final may have settled the destination of the trophy, but the controversy surrounding the showpiece continues to gather momentum days after the final whistle.A petition demanding that the World Cup final be replayed has now attracted 88,915 signatures at the time of writing, with thousands of Argentina supporters claiming the match was influenced by controversial refereeing decisions.The online campaign, launched on Change.org by Argentine supporter Gisela Sánchez, calls on FIFA to review the officiating performance of Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić, who oversaw Sunday’s final at the New York New Jersey Stadium.

Petition accuses referee of “controversial and corrupt” performance

Spain secured their second men’s World Cup title courtesy of Ferran Torres’ 106th-minute winner after extra time, ending Argentina’s hopes of defending the trophy they won four years earlier.However, the result has not been accepted by a section of Argentina supporters.In the petition, Sánchez alleges that Vinčić delivered a “controversial and corrupt” performance and urges FIFA to investigate several key decisions made during the final.“The recent final between Argentina and Spain was tarnished by the controversial and corrupt performance of the referee who, according to video evidence, was bought to influence the match’s outcome,” the petition states.“It is a monumental disappointment for the players, coaches, and, above all, for the fans who crave to see a game decided by talent and dedication on the pitch, and not by rigged refereeing decisions.“If we allow corruption to go unnoticed on this global stage, we are setting a bad example for future generations of athletes and fans.“Therefore, we ask FIFA to review these incidents with seriousness and transparency, and to consider replaying the final, this time without the influence of a corrupt referee.”

88,000 Argentina fans demand World Cup final replay after ‘controversial and corrupt’ referee claims

The petition, however, does not provide independently verified evidence to support those allegations beyond videos circulating across social media which the organiser claims favour Spain.

Spain dominated before sealing victory in extra time

Despite the reaction from some supporters, Spain were widely viewed as the better side throughout the final.Luis de la Fuente’s team controlled possession for long spells, pinned Argentina deep inside their own half and prevented the defending champions from registering a single shot on target during normal time.Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez repeatedly kept Argentina in the contest before Ferran Torres finally broke the deadlock in the 106th minute of extra time.

Fans watch the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and Spain in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello)

Argentina’s task had already become significantly harder after midfielder Enzo Fernández was sent off in the third minute of stoppage time at the end of normal time.Having already been booked for dissent following a denied free-kick, Fernández received a second yellow card after a reckless challenge on Spain defender Pau Cubarsí, reducing Lionel Scaloni’s side to ten men before extra time began.According to match statistics, Vinčić awarded 46 fouls during the final, with 25 committed by Argentina as the match became increasingly fragmented.

Tempers boiled over after the final whistle

The frustration carried over into the closing moments of the evening.Immediately after Spain were confirmed as world champions, ugly scenes erupted on the pitch.Leandro Paredes was sent off after the final whistle following clashes involving Eric García and Gavi, while Nahuel Molina also appeared to spark part of the confrontation after confronting Spain captain Rodri.The incidents have since become the subject of a separate FIFA disciplinary review.Speaking during ITV’s coverage, former England defender Gary Neville strongly criticised Argentina’s conduct.“It’s a disgrace,” Neville said.“I love the competitiveness of the Argentines, fighting and scrapping for their lives every game. Messi’s propped them up at times and they’re very competitive and I love that element of them.“But it’s been a disgrace the last few games.”

Similar replay campaign emerged earlier in the tournament

The Argentina petition is not the first online campaign calling for a World Cup replay during this tournament.Following Spain’s semi-final victory over France, French supporters launched a similar Change.org petition after disputing a controversial incident that led to the penalty opening the scoring.That campaign also gathered more than 82,000 signatures, although it had no effect on FIFA’s official result.Likewise, there is no indication that the latest petition will alter the outcome of the World Cup final.Meanwhile, Change.org has also hosted petitions taking the opposite position. One campaign calling for Argentina to be banned from future World Cups amassed more than 29 million signatures before eventually being closed.Away from the online debate, thousands of Argentina supporters gathered across the country following the team’s return home, applauding Lionel Scaloni’s squad for reaching a second consecutive World Cup final despite falling just short of retaining their title against an impressive Spanish side.

Paulie Malignaggi believes the upcoming battle between Ryan Garcia and Conor Benn will not be a competitive one.

After months of rumours, it was finally confirmed last week that Garcia will defend his WBC welterweight title against Benn at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 12.

It sees ‘King Ry’ make the maiden defence of his belt after winning it against Mario Barrios back in February, while Benn gets his inaugural world title shot as he prepares to return to 147lbs for the first time since April 2022.

While the fight has peaked the interest of many boxing fans, two-weight world champion Malignaggi isn’t one who appears too enthralled by the match-up.

Speaking to ProBox TV, Malignaggi began by claiming that the upcoming showdown is a ‘mismatch.’

“I think ultimately nobody is going to talk about how this is a mismatch. Only people on the inside know this fight is a mismatch… I don’t think it’s that great of a fight.”

He then went further and revealed he sees it being an extremely easy victory for Garcia.

“I think Ryan is going to beat the s**t out of this guy… The build-up will definitely entertain, but the fight ultimately will be a dud on fight night.”

Benn will likely have to put in a career-best performance if he is to come out on top, with his best wins to date coming when he beat Chris Eubank Jr in their middleweight rematch in November, before overcoming Regis Prograis in their 150lb catchweight bout in April.