FORMER boxing champion Israel Vazquez is fighting a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis.

Vazquez was a three-time super-bantamweight champ and had an iconic four-fight series with Mexican rival Rafael Marquez.

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He lost the opening bout, before twice beating Marquez but losing their fourth and final fight in 2010.

Vazquez retired afterwards but has been confronted with a cancer battle.

The WBC, whose belt he twice won, launched a GoFundMe page for the boxer.

A statement read: “Our beloved champion has received a devastating cancer diagnosis.

“The WBC is at his side, attempting to bring in his family from Mexico and making sure he gets the care he deserves.

“But he needs your love and support, too. Show this humble and courageous warrior what he means to you.

“With a dollar, a prayer and a note to his family. One of the most compelling and compassionate boxers of all times needs your help.

“There’s no time to waste. Stand in his corner, now!”

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman posted online: “We are extremely grateful for those who have given a donation to support Israel Vazquez.

“His wife and kids are in tears to see the incredible reaction from the boxing community Thank you!”

Marcus Almeida isn’t happy with how things currently stand with ONE Championship.

Almeida, a jiu-jitsu legend who turned to MMA in 2021, is frustrated with the lack of fights he’s been presented by the organization since his last appearance – a showdown with Oumar Kane in August 2023. “Buchecha” makes his return Friday night at ONE Championship 169 in Bangkok. He takes on Amir Aliakbari in a heavyweight bout.

Almeida is not sure why it’s taken him 15 months to return to fighting, and he’s not content about it.

“No, I’ve been ready since the last fight,” Almeida told MMA Junkie when asked about why he’s been inactive. “Unfortunately that’s not up to me. That’s because of the organization, because I want to keep active, and I want to keep fighting, but I don’t know the reason to it. That’s why I was out. It wasn’t up to me.”

Almeida did have an active start to his MMA career. He competed four times in 11 months under ONE Championship. He was hoping the promotion would keep a slightly similar pace for him, as he’d like to fight at least three times a year, but that hasn’t been the case.

“In jiu-jitsu, I used to compete a lot, so to be sitting out for 15 months, for me, it was horrible,” Almeida explained. “It’s a bad experience for my career, and I’m not getting any younger, but it is what it is.”

Almeida told MMA Fighting’s Guillerme Cruz in Portuguese that Friday’s bout will be the last on his current contract. It’s unknown if he’ll re-sign with the promotion.

As of now, Almeida has one thing to focus on, and that’s his bout against Aliakbari, which he’s taking very seriously.

“We have like a similar record in ONE Championship,” Almeida said regarding Aliakbari. “Of course, he has a career before ONE, but he has four victories, I have four victories, and he has two loses, and I have one. So it’s pretty much similar to what we did in ONE Championship. Like I said, he fought Rizin and other events before that, so of course he has a lot of experience with me in MMA. He’s a tough opponent and has fought a lot of tough guys. It’s going to be a good fight, grappler vs. grappler, so it’s going to be really interesting for the audience.”

Gatland confirmed Anscombe will have the goal kicking duties this weekend.

The Wales coach accepts Anscombe, who has played 37 internationals in nine years, has adapted his game after also suffering a serious knee injury which ruled him out for two years between 2019 and 2021.

“He won’t like me saying this but he has lost a yard or two of pace from where he was, whereas in the past he was able to cover that full-back position,” said Gatland.

“But having that experience coming back into the side has been good over the last few weeks.

“He brings a lot of confidence and self-belief into the squad. He does communicate well with the players, which is important from a leadership perspective.”

Anscombe’s inclusion will allow Ben Thomas to switch from fly-half, a position he filled on two occasions during Wales’ summer tour of Australia, to his more familiar inside centre role where he will form a new-look midfield partnership with Max Llewellyn.

“I think he [Thomas] has been playing well,” said Gatland.

“He’s got a good balance to his game. He’s not afraid to carry the ball to the line and the pleasing thing is he looks like he’s a player who has time on the ball, that helps his decisions.

“We know there’s not a huge amount of space in international rugby and he has the ability to shift the ball.”

Gatland has only named two replacement backs on the bench against Fiji, which includes Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow.

“Hopefully Gareth goes out and gives a good performance but Sam has been training exceptionally well and starting to develop a good understanding of the game,” said Gatland.

“We feel confident Gareth can get through the game but also we’ve got someone who can come on and hopefully add something to the performance.

“Sam has looked sharp, so we are pleased with those two at the moment.”

Following an unexpected 18-month layoff, former ONE flyweight champion Adriano Moraes is finally ready to make his return to action with a fight booked against Danny Kingad on Friday at ONE 169.

The long absence followed a trilogy of fights against Demetrious Johnson where Moraes became the first person in history to finish the former UFC champion before falling in their next two encounters. Johnson actually sat on his final win over Moraes for over a year before finally announcing his retirement from the sport in September.

While they may have been professional rivals in the cage, Moraes had nothing but praise for Johnson when addressing his former foe after he called it a career.

“I was happy for him,” Moraes told MMA Fighting. “I think he achieved a lot of things in his career. I think for him it was great to stop at the top of the division, at the top of his career. I think for him, he did everything he could to be one of the greatest of all time and he had a really great career. I think he wanted to stop on top of his career.

“He was the guy who opened the division for all of us flyweight fighters in this division. I remember I was a big fan of him for sure, I followed his career from the beginning. So for me to have this trilogy against him was amazing. To be part of his legacy and him to be part of my legacy. For me, it was one of the best things to ever happen. To be the first man to finish him for me, for my legacy, it’s really great.”

As much as Moraes wishes Johnson well in whatever he does next, the Brazilian isn’t totally convinced that “Mighty Mouse” won’t get that itch to compete again.

In a sport where it seems like nobody ever stays retired, Moraes can’t help but wonder if perhaps Johnson might eventually decide to come back for another fight.

“For me, it doesn’t matter [if we fight again],” Moraes said. “I just have to focus on my way but something tells me he’s going to come back. If I capture the belt again, maybe he can come back and we will have our fourth dance.”

When asked about Moraes’ comments, Johnson actually burst out laughing but not because he was mocking his former opponent.

Instead, Johnson made it clear that he’s resolved in his decision to stay retired and waiting for over a year after his last fight before making that announcement gave him time to see if he got the desire to compete again. By the time he declared that he was hanging up his gloves for good, Johnson knew definitively that he was done and there was no chance he was coming back.

“That was the whole point [about waiting],” Johnson told MMA Fighting. “Obviously everybody has so many different things going on in their life. I know Donald Cerrone … he’s done movies, he’s got his ranch, he’s got his children, he does scuba diving, he does so [many] things in his life that keep him busy. So maybe he wants to come back to get that 50 fights in the UFC.

“For me, mixed martial arts, competing, I get enjoyment out of doing it in jiu-jitsu and going into IBJJF and doing that stuff. So for me, I just don’t see a point to coming back.”

For now it doesn’t really matter if Johnson ever fights again because he’s not active and he already relinquished the ONE flyweight title on his way out the door.

In a perfect world, Moraes would be fighting for that belt on Friday but unfortunately that just wasn’t in the plans for ONE Championship just yet.

“I don’t know [why this fight isn’t for the title] but it’s not depending on me,” Moraes said. “It’s depending on the boss of the house.

“As an athlete, I have to train and prepare and fight everything they call me. I already defended my belt years ago against Danny Kingad. I think the belt should be on the line for sure but let’s see [what happens].”

Nick Cushing – one of the candidates for Arsenal women’s managerial vacancy – has seemingly ruled himself out of a return to the Women’s Super League.

The former Manchester City women’s boss emerged as an early candidate to replace Jonas Eidevall, but told a pre-match news conference he expects to still be with the Major League Soccer (MLS) side next season.

“The whole story is news to me,” Cushing said.

“There has been no contact from anybody outside this organisation with myself. I can confirm I will be here next year.”

The Gunners are still considering their options and have not yet conducted any interviews.

Last week Arsenal confirmed interim manager Renee Slegers will remain in charge until at least December.

Cushing, 39, is currently overseeing the best-of-three MLS Cup play-offs against Cincinnati.

Having won one game each, the winner of Saturday’s decider will progress to the semi-finals, with the MLS Cup taking place on 7 December.

LUKE HUMPHRIES told Noa-Lynn van Leuven’s detractors that she has earned her right to throw at the Grand Slam of Darts, saying: She hasn’t done anything illegal.

But Cool Hand Luke reckons the sport’s first transgender woman should stay off social media as she is thrust into the TV spotlight and in front of boozy crowds.

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Van Leuven, 28, tackles Michael van Gerwen on Saturday night in their opening Group G match of the TV major at the Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton.

A spot in this event – and at next month’s Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship – was secured by qualification via the Women’s Series.

Not everybody is happy with her progression and there have been calls for Van Leuven – who transitioned in 2021 – to be banned from women’s-only events, particularly on the WDF circuit.

PDC CEO Matt Porter backed her inclusion in the televised major, saying: “Ultimately, we came up with a policy that we believe to be fair.”

Humphries, the reigning world champion, said: “Of course I have sympathy for her because she’s a human and no-one likes being abused online.

“She gets it a lot. But unfortunately, we all do. I get it as well for no reason sometimes. It’s the way life is nowadays.

“The world can be a negative place and people just want to abuse people and bring them down. And that’s just the way it is.

“The only thing I can suggest is to stay off social media, because it’s not a nice place at all.

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“Every sport has their rules and she qualifies in the rules. So, as much as it might annoy people, she’s not doing anything that’s illegal, she’s not cheating.

“She’s doing what’s in the rules. If that changes, then things will change. But she’s not doing anything physically wrong.

“So, no-one can blame her, she’s well within the rights to do what she does at the moment.

“It’s a hard one, because there are so many different opinions that get thrown around.

“It’d be nice if people let her get on with it and play. But yeah, I wish her all the best. Hopefully she gets a win and it’s good for her.”

Rules established by the Darts Regulation Authority say the sport is “open to all who wish to be involved in any capacity and we encourage all trans and non-binary participants to take part”.

Levels of testosterone, however, need to be below 10 nmol/L for someone born male who wishes to compete in the women’s category as a trans player.

Humphries, 29, is the Grand Slam defending champion, having thumped Rob Cross 16-8 in the 2023 final.

His opening appearance in Group A is a clash against Austrian Rowby-John Rodriguez and over the next nine days, he is keen to remind everyone that he is the world’s best player.

‘I LOVE THIS PART’

He said: “This is the best time of the year for me. I love this part.

“You have the Grand Slam, the Players and the Worlds. All the media hype that comes with it.

“It has been 10, nearly 11 months since I was world champion. It’s quite incredible how fast it goes.

“It has been a great ride regardless of what happens over the next couple of months, I have enjoyed myself.”

Humphries was speaking in Tamworth where he launched ‘Darts on Your Doorstep’, a new initiative in association with Smart Energy GB to bring high level darts equipment to lower income areas.

About 250 venues across the country will be fitted out with dartboards, lights and oches.

To register your dart club or group for the scheme visit www.pdc.tv/PDCInTheCommunity +