Chris Eubank Jr has named his number one target ahead of a return to the ring.

Eubank had two fights with long-term rival Conor Benn in 2025, winning the first by unanimous decision in April, before struggling in the rematch seven months later, as Benn dropped his rival on his way to avenging his loss with a dominant points win of his own.

It appeared in the November showdown that the weight cut to middleweight along with the rehydration clause proved to be a bridge too far for Eubank, who admitted afterwards that he had been dealing with a lot of health issues in the build up to the bout.

He now insists he is back to full strength, and in a recent interview he was asked whether he would be more interested in another fight with Benn, or a rematch with former foe Billy Joe Saunders, who beat Eubank Jr back in 2014.

Eubank was clear with his view, stating that his preference is a trilogy contest with Benn.

“It’s 1-1 for me and Conor. He’s much more relevant [than Billy Joe Saunders] and he has a big fight coming up next week. If he gets through that and wins that, I think it makes the third fight with us even bigger.”

“I’d love to settle the score and now that I’m healthy again, get it on for the third time.”

Benn challenges Ryan Garcia for his WBC welterweight title in Las Vegas on September 12, but has already revealed it will be his final fight at 147lbs, so a further clash with Eubank could be a possibility in the future.

Edo Queens have successfully defended their WAFU-B Women’s Champions League title after beating Ghanaian champions Ampem Darkoa Ladies on penalties in a thrilling final in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Saturday night.

The Nigerian champions came from behind twice to draw 2-2 after 90 minutes before winning the penalty shootout 4-1.

The victory not only handed Edo Queens another regional title but also secured their place in the CAF Women’s Champions League finals.

Ampem Darkoa made a fast start and took the lead in the second minute through Beline Nyarkoh.

Edo Queens responded quickly, with Doosuur Anastasia Atume scoring just two minutes later to make it 1-1.

The game remained level for a long period before Nyarkoh struck again in the 74th minute to put the Ghanaian side 2-1 ahead.

With time running out, Edo Queens refused to give up. Oluebube Umejiaku scored in the fourth minute of added time to bring the Nigerian side level and send the final into a penalty shootout.

Edo Queens then showed great composure from the spot, scoring four penalties while Ampem Darkoa managed just one as the Nigerian side secured a 4-1 shootout victory.

The win was especially important for Edo Queens after Ampem Darkoa had beaten them 2-1 in the group stage.

Edo Queens responded strongly in the knockout stages, defeating hosts USFA 5-1 in the semi-finals, while Ampem Darkoa beat FC Dynamique 4-1 to reach the final.

The regional title is Edo Queens’ second, after they first won the competition in 2024 during their debut campaign.

They later finished fourth at the CAF Women’s Champions League that year and will now get another chance to compete against Africa’s top women’s clubs.

There was also individual success for the Nigerian champions. Doosuur Anastasia finished as the tournament’s top scorer, while Oluwakemi Adegbuyi was named Player of the Tournament.

Edo Queens will now turn their attention to the CAF Women’s Champions League, hoping to go further than their fourth-place finish in 2024.

Despite some tweaks this year, college football’s most controversial rule — targeting — is still in the rulebook, and that means it’s surely going to create some confusion and frustration among teams and their fan bases this season. 

The rules around targeting are rooted in concern for players’ safety — both the player making the tackle and on the receiving end. But that doesn’t mean everyone fully understands the rules. 

So as targeting calls seem to evolve in turn with the college football landscape, what do this year’s targeting penalties look like? And what is targeting? We’re here to break it down in simple terms.

What Is Targeting?

(Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Targeting in college football, essentially, is when a player initiates forcible contact against an opponent beyond a routine legal tackle, block or play on the ball. And there’s an emphasis around players’ heads and necks.

OK, so what does that actually look like?

Targeting could mean a player leads with the crown of their helmet while making forcible contact OR it could mean making forcible contact above the shoulders of a defenseless opponent, especially with a helmet or shoulder. 

When a targeting call is up for debate by officials, it’s ruled a foul. However, there still needs to be at least one indicator of targeting.

Some indicators of targeting — per the NCAA rulebook — include: 

• Leading with helmet, shoulder, forearm, fist, hand or elbow to attack with forcible contact at the head or neck area.
• Lowering the head before attacking by initiating forcible contact with the crown of the helmet.

If a player leads with the crown of their helmet, it’s targeting, regardless of whether the player is defenseless.

Additionally, instant replays must confirm the targeting call because there is no “stands” option.

What’s The Penalty For Targeting?

(Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In the past years, the penalty — in the second quarter of play — used to be an automatic disqualification for the rest of that game and first half of the following game. This season, the rules have shifted to allow fewer disqualifications. 

Now, if a player is ruled out for targeting in the second half, they do not face the first-half suspension. But, a second targeting that same season would force that player to face a first-half suspension the next game. 

However, if the player commits three or more targeting penalties, individual conferences have the option to submit an appeal. The appeal process includes a video review by the NCAA national coordinator of football officials. If the appeal is accepted, the player does not face a suspension and is eligible to play for the full game. 

Are Players Ejected For Targeting?

Yes, players are ejected for targeting. 

A player will be ejected for the rest of the game if they commit a targeting foul. However, if a player commits the same penalty in the same season — specifically in the second half of a game — the player is ejected from the game and suspended from the first half of the next game. 

If a player commits three or more targeting fouls in the same season, they are ejected for the remainder of the game, and receive a one-game suspension for the following game. The suspension also includes postseason competition. 

The NCAA rulebook states the following:

“As an experimental rule for 2026, for a player’s first targeting foul in a season, disqualification for the remainder of the game with no carryover disqualification. If a player receives a second targeting foul within the same season, disqualification for the remainder of the game and the first half of the team’s next scheduled game within that season, including post-season games.”

Targeting College Football Rule Changes

(Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)

Despite the minor changes to the penalties, the rule may only be in effect for one season as an experiment.

“One of the biggest changes we’ve made for the good, once it goes to replay, you must confirm all aspects of targeting,” NCAA secretary-rules editor for football and national coordinator of officials, Steve Shaw, said via CBS Sports. “This is an experimental rule this year and the commissioners were content (on that) they wanted to make sure this doesn’t change behavior back and start a new trend of targeting.”

Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia grades the performance of sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood during Michigan football‘s controversial 13-12 win over Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 5, in Week 1 of the 2026 season at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

Bryce Underwood stats vs. Western Michigan

1 / 10

See Michigan football open new season and Kyle Whittingham era vs WMU

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See Michigan football open new season and Kyle Whittingham era vs WMU

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See Michigan football open new season and Kyle Whittingham era vs WMU

10 / 10

See Michigan football open new season and Kyle Whittingham era vs WMU

THE FULL REPORT CARD: Hail Mary can’t cover 4 quarters of stink

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Bryce Underwood grade vs. Western Michigan: D

Frankly, this was everything Michigan didn’t want to see.

Underwood scored the game’s opening touchdown to close a strong first drive, but otherwise, he struggles.

Late in the first quarter he was nearly picked on third-and-10 as he rolled right and forced a dangerous ball to Andrew Marsh on the sideline. On the next series, he forced a ball to JJ Buchanan on third-and-8 that went off WMU safety Micah Davis’ chest. Then, late in the half, he stared down Jalen Hoffman on an out-route and was intercepted (nearly for a pick-six, but Dillon Moore stepped out of bounds on the return).

Until the final series of the game he had completed 10 of 16 passes for 95 yards.

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There’s no apologizing for wins, even by one point against a MAC foe … but Underwood didn’t look markedly improved. He was allowed to run more and made some throws on the move, but there was only one “wow” play – and it came in the final second.

The other 59:59 showed work needed to be done.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bryce Underwood grade for Michigan football vs Western Michigan

Perhaps, at the last, there was a touch of vindication. In Richard Hughes’ final match as Liverpool’s sporting director, the game was decided after just nine minutes. A devastating burst of two goals in three minutes from Alexander Isak, was probably what Hughes had envisaged rather when he committed a British transfer record of £125m to the striker.

When Isak went off and Bradley Barcola came on at Portman Road, Liverpool became the first club to field three £100m signings in the same game, if not at the same time. Hughes’ reign can be framed in high numbers: more than £650m going on new signings in little over a year with Barcola, Isak and Florian Wirtz each accounting for at least £100m of it. It was initially a time of high achievement, too: Liverpool have only won two Premier League titles and the second came after Hughes headhunted Arne Slot from Feyenoord as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement. That, it seemed, was the Liverpool way: intelligent recruitment, sometimes eschewing the obvious candidates for the leftfield coups.

And yet by the end of Hughes’ reign, Liverpool’s reputation was transformed; perhaps his own, too. Last season’s expensive underachievement mean that Hughes’ departure, while there has long been an expectation he will join Al Hilal, mean it may be celebrated by many a Liverpool fan, and not merely because he spent too much time on the south coast and communicated too little.

Last summer’s spending spree, recently dubbed the worst in history by Jamie Carragher, forms part of Hughes’ legacy. Isak’s brace at Ipswich means he has already equalled his total of Premier League goals from last season; but that was just three. He was the face of a strategy and a spending spree that went wrong, but Hughes was the architect of it.

As Liverpool went from taking 84 points to just 60, from finishing first to trailing in fifth, from losing one of Slot’s first 28 games to 20 matches in his second season, the formula the club had developed flaws. The power structure showed cracks. Michael Edwards, who had hired Hughes, informed the club of his intention to stand down as Fenway Sports Group’s director of football. The Scot told the club he wanted to stand down; it may be an indication of the support he retained in the upper echelons that he was asked to stay in charge for the transfer window and, indeed, is credited with completing the signing of Barcola, given the considerable preparatory work he had done on the £106m deal.

It is notable, too, that Hughes had ultimate authority for the managerial change. He backed Slot until, suddenly and perhaps sensing the dissent from stands, he did not, which came as a surprise to the Dutchman. He appointed Andoni Iraola, for the second time, having first taken him to Bournemouth. The Basque may wonder what he has walked into, given the exodus of executives.

The definitive verdict on Hughes’ vast outlay can only come with time. For now, it looks as though the risk is that Liverpool spent two-thirds of a billion to get worse.

Only one of the Hughes buys counts as an unqualified success so far; Hugo Ekitike, now sadly injured. It is, of course, too soon to judge this summer’s four acquisitions, though Jeremy Jacquet looks hugely promising. But the decision to go all-in on the injury-prone Isak backfired last season; it is far from proven that Wirtz suits the Premier League. In seemingly paying over the odds, Hughes’ Liverpool were culpable for raising fees, which in turn cost them when Paris Saint-Germain quoted them £145m for Barcola.

Posterity may look more kindly on Hughes’ dealings. There have been attempts at long-termism. The ages of buys such as Giovanni Leoni, Jacquet, Barcola, Wirtz, Ekitike and Victor Munoz mean he may have shaped Liverpool’s next decade.

Yet it is undeniable that he leaves with a rebuilding job unfinished and the work to do compounded by the continuing failure of Jeremie Frimpong. It is no exaggeration to say Liverpool could be looking for five or six first-team signings next summer.

They still have not replaced Mohamed Salah with a specialist right winger. They have key players, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson included, out of contract and Liverpool spent too much time under Hughes risking losing players on free transfers. Hughes seemed to bank a fine fee for one such, Luis Diaz, and yet his sale to Bayern Munich came to look a mistake.

There will be no soft landing for Hughes’ successor, with a host of priorities in the in-tray. As he goes, it is possible to argue that, like Slot, he was first the right man at right time and then suddenly the wrong one at the wrong time. His reign can be presented as a success or a disappointment. He can say that, for only the second time in three-and-a-half decades, Liverpool won the English title when he was in situ. But it is also true that the silverware came before nearly all of his spending.

Alexandra Eala, of the Philippines, celebrates after a point against Iva Jovic, of the United States, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

MANILA, Philippines–Alex Eala kept her head high after a gut-wrenching loss to her friend and budding rival Iva Jovic in the third round of the US Open on Sunday (Manila time).

Eala appeared on her way to the last 16 in Flushing Meadows, leading 4-2 at break point, 40-30, in the deciding set before Jovic mounted a ferocious fightback to steal the game and ultimately the match.

The Filipino star admitted she felt disappointed losing a winnable match but also found solace in how their much-awaited showdown lived up to its billing as a marquee match on the world’s biggest tennis stadium.

READ: Alex Eala mania heads to Singapore Tennis Open next

“I do think I’ve grown as a player since the last time we played each other. I definitely think that in this match, I had my chances and I was able to kind of set myself up with opportunities, which was great and I’m happy with the match in general,” she said in the post-match press conference.

“Of course, there’s disappointment with losing, but [I’m] trying to see the positive side. I think it was a really good match. I think the level was really high. Congrats to Iva for pushing through.”

Eala fell to Jovic for the third time in as many meetings this season after getting swept by the American teen sensation in the first round at Roland Garros last May and the round of 16 at Queen’s Club just 15 days later.

Even though the result was the same, Eala closed the gap and pushed Jovic to her limit this time before absorbing a 5-7, 6-3, 5-7 defeat in their three-hour slugfest.

“What I learned tonight, I have yet to process, but what I know for sure is that I left everything out there. I fought through the ups and downs, moments where I wasn’t playing so good, [and] moments where I was playing really good. What I know for a fact is that I fought, so I’m happy with that,” the 21-year-old Eala said.

The beds are a little over six feet long, the walls are close, and there is little room for anything beyond the essentials.

For some of India’s athletes, however, spending a night inside a shipping container at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS) here is less about discomfort and more about preparation for an unusual living arrangement awaiting them in Japan at the Asian Games.

With the Aichi-Nagoya Games beginning September 19 and no conventional athletes’ village this time, Sports Authority of India (SAI) has set up makeshift container rooms at its centres in Patiala and Bengaluru to give its athletes a taste of what they can expect in Japan.

The idea is to make the unfamiliar familiar.

Athletes are taking turns to spend a night inside the container, waking up the next morning and following their usual routine before heading to training.

By the time they reach Japan, the hope is that their accommodation will no longer be a distraction.

“Two years ago, when it was established that the accommodation at the Asian Games will be in a unique style — containers, cruise etc. — and not a village, at that time the Sports Minister’s vision was that the players must be acclimatised in a similar way, like a simulator,” Deputy Director General, SAI, Vineet Kumar told a select group of journalists at NSNIS, Patiala.

“And they don’t feel claustrophobic or feel what sort of accommodation we have come in. So they don’t feel shocked or get a setback and they go and play the Games without any pressure,” Kumar, who is also the Senior Executive Director, NSNIS, Patiala, added.

For athletes, accustomed to sprawling rooms and dedicated spaces for their equipment, the compact surroundings can take some getting used to.

But two-time Asian Games champion shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor believes the advance preparation could make a difference.

“It looks small from outside but it’s quite nice on the inside. All the facilities are here. This will be the first time that we stay in such a congested set-up but having stayed here it’s good we are acclimatised,” Toor told PTI.

“If we had directly gone to Japan, it would have stayed in our mind for one or two days,” added the the six feet four inches tall two-time Asian Games gold medallist.

That is precisely what SAI and the Ministry wanted to avoid.

“The psychology of the athlete is such that if a logistical issue like this is there, it affects him. So the Minister’s vision was that such a thing doesn’t happen and the players can focus on their game,” Kumar said.

A Ministry-SAI team visited Japan on a recce trip before the two simulation rooms in Patiala — one for men and one for women — were prepared based on what Indian athletes are expected to encounter.

“We have made a roster and the athletes stay here turn by turn. They have to stay the night so that in the morning they know how to go about things,” Kumar said.

The exercise began on August 28 and around eight athletes have so far spent time in the container.

For Commonwealth Games bronze medallist discus thrower Seema Kaliramna, the experience took some adjustment.

“I stayed here for two nights. It was a bit difficult to adjust because throwers take a little more space and this is quite small. The second day was good, I was able to sleep properly. The life of an athlete has a lot of adjustment, then only they win something,” she said.

The simulation has removed an element of uncertainty, according to her.

“Staying here will help as we won’t feel claustrophobia. I am thankful to SAI for doing this. Now the fear of not knowing how the accommodation will be in Japan is gone. I feel better as we won’t be thinking how it will be there and how we will feel,” she said.

SAI has nevertheless tried to make the limited space as functional as possible.

The roughly 13-metre-long and three-metre-wide unit has two twin-sharing bedroom quarters at either end, linked by a narrow central passage.

There are two split air-conditioners, a small laundry area with a washing machine and a compact kitchenette with a refrigerator and sink. The bathroom is divided into separate spaces for the wash basin, toilet and shower.

Four cabinets provide storage, while the space underneath the beds can accommodate heavy kit bags — an important consideration for athletes travelling with bulky equipment.

“The athletes have given a positive feedback. They feel like ‘yeh jungle mei mangal kaise ho gaya’,” Kumar said.

There is also a sustainability element to the experiment.

The two containers were already available at the NSNIS, having been used during the COVID-19 pandemic to store equipment for weightlifting and athletics.

Their sporting purpose will end after the Asian Games simulation, but the containers themselves will remain in use. They are planned to be converted into guest houses, with two beds removed to create twin-sharing rooms.

PurplePTSD works in partnership with Vikings Territory, similarly doing their utmost to offer top-notch coverage of the Minnesota Vikings. As a result, we’re promoting five of their top articles of the past month in “The P/PTSD Perspective.” Take a peek at some of their best stuff.

The P/PTSD Perspective: September 5th, 2026

1) Vikings Judgment Day Cut and Trade Tracker: Lots of tough decisions got made. And, to be sure, there were at least a few surprises. What remains to be seen is if the Vikings are now good enough to create a ruckus in the regular season before then grappling with the playoffs.

2) Vikings Have a Monday: QB and WR Released, OL Signed, Zavier Scott in the Division: Losing Zavier Scott stings. Does it sting even more due to going over to the Chicago Bears? Ben Johnson happens to be adept at using unique talent in a unique way. Watch out for that Bears battle in Week 2.

3) Kyler Murray’s Former Teammate Has Some Honest Feedback About Him: A lot of people have a lot of opinions about Kyler Murray. How many of them prove to be accurate? Likely the best thing you can do is to let the season unfold and make an opinion based on how Murray does in Minnesota.

4) Vikings’ Most Surprising Keeps on Initial 53-Man Roster: No doubt, there were some surprises. Perhaps the top detail to note is that four passers got kept around. Check out the piece over on PurplePTSD to see some of the other surprising developments.

5) The Vikings Made Another Signing on Wednesday: The GM appears to love the process of building a team. Anybody who occupies that position needs to be a grinder. Teasley is continuing to build up his team even with a good portion of the work behind him.

Enjoy the extra reading, Vikings fans.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.