Last month, Richardson Hitchins made the decision to vacate the IBF super-lightweight world title, leaving the door open for another contender to become champion.

Hitchins decisioned Liam Paro to get his hands in the IBF strap back in December 2024 but made just one defence of the belt last year, knocking out former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr in a dominant display.

However, last month, Hitchins announced that he would be relinquishing the belt ahead of a move to both the welterweight division and Zuffa Boxing.

Today, at the IBF’s 41st Annual Convention, in Vietnam, it was unveiled that the number one contender and Hitchins’ former mandatory challenger, Lindolfo Delgado (24-0, 16 KOs), will take on Canadian-Russian Arthur Biyarslanov (21-0, 17 KOs) in an intriguing vacant title bout between two undefeated bogeymen. 

Mexico’s Delgado defeated Gabriel Gollaz Venezuela via split-decision last time in November, but was ordered for a challenge for Hitchins’ title in February.

Meanwhile, Biyarslanov, known as ‘The Wolf’, claimed the NABF super-lightweight title back in June 2024, and the 31-year-old has kept active by making five defences of the belt since, including triumphs over former world champions Mohamed Mimoune and Sergey Lipinets.

Biyarslanov sits at #5 in the IBF rankings, but it is understood that both Oscar Duarte (#3) and Keyshawn Davis (#4) turned the title opportunity down, with both men having fought and won earlier this month.

Barcelona have agreed a deal with Newcastle United to sign winger Anthony Gordon this summer.

Gordon’s future at the North East club has looked in doubt for some time with Eddie Howe repeatedly fielding questions over the winger’s commitment to the club and it now looks like Gordon will be heading to La Liga next season.

Sky Sports News say that an agreement has been made between both clubs over a £70m plus bonuses move amid interest from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

Talks moved to an advanced stage on Wednesday with Barcelona’s offer hitting Newcastle’s valuation and the structure of the deal was discussed with the Spanish giants wanting to spread out the payment.

Gordon, meanwhile, is said to favour the move despite finishing the season as Newcastle’s leading goalscorer. He had previously signed a long-term deal with the club which still has four years left to run.

However, the winger played no part in any of Newcastle’s final four games of the season as speculation over a summer exit continued to grow. He has reportedly agreed personal terms with the Spanish side as well.

Newcastle’s finances are such that CEO David Hopkinson had previously revealed they would probably need to sell players to re-invest in the summer transfer window.

Gordon was called up to Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man World Cup selection earlier this month and will want to head to the tournament with his future confirmed.

He has made 152 appearances for Newcastle since joining the club from Everton in January 2023 for an initial fee of £40m.

Sanjay Manjrekar has blasted the selectors over the the non-selection of pacer Auqib Nabi.© Getty

Men’s world number one Jannik Sinner continues his bid for a first French Open title on Thursday as his women’s counterpart Aryna Sabalenka also seeks to move into the last 32 at Roland Garros.

Arriving in Paris on the back of winning all three of the clay-court Masters titles to become just the second player after Novak Djokovic to complete the set of nine 1000-level tournaments, Sinner currently stands head and shoulders above his closest competitors.

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Few would bet against him now wrapping up his career Grand Slam at the French Open this year as he attempts to go one better than his epic five-set final loss in 2025 to Carlos Alcaraz — especially with the injured Spaniard out of action.

After a typically efficient first-round win in the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier on Tuesday, Sinner will aim to seal his last-32 berth when he opens Thursday’s play on centre court against Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

Sinner’s only previous meeting with the 56th-ranked Argentinian was a straight-sets win in the round of 128 at Wimbledon three years ago.

“I’m happy to play night. I’m happy to play day, whenever they put me,” Sinner said as talk of the scorching conditions in Paris continues to dominate the opening week.

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“I think I handled the heat very well in Indian Wells, was very hot this year, so I didn’t have issues there. We prepared in a good way. Of course here, different heat, but the humidity is not as tough as maybe in Australia or US.”

If Sinner looms large over the men’s draw, Sabalenka has seen her dominance of the women’s tour falter somewhat this clay-court season.

After storming to the ‘Sunshine double’ at Indian Wells and Miami in March, the Belarusian has so far endured a disappointing swing on the red dirt in Europe.

A quarter-final loss to Hailey Baptiste in Madrid was swiftly followed by a third-round exit to Sorana Cirstea at the Italian Open as Sabalenka suddenly looked fallible heading into her latest tilt at winning a maiden Roland Garros title.

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If the wet and cold conditions in Italy were not favourable to her style of play, Sabalenka has had no such complaints in Paris.

“I’d say that it was a bit warm,” the 28-year-old joked after her commanding straight-sets opening win against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Tuesday.

“Especially compared to the first days when I first got here, it was… freezing.

“Now it’s boiling hot and balls are flying, everything is much faster. But physically I feel strong, so I feel like it can benefit me.”

Scheduled third on centre court and with temperatures again set to surpass 30C, Sabalenka will be confident that her power-hitting baseline game will be too hot to handle for French world number 67 Elsa Jacquemot as she seeks to book her spot in the third round.

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– Gauff, Osaka eye last 32 –

Defending champion Coco Gauff will take on Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif on Court Suzanne Lenglen as the American fourth seed also bids to progress beyond the second round.

The only time she has fallen at Roland Garros before the last-eight stage was on her debut in 2020, when, aged 16, Gauff lost in the second round to Martina Trevisan.

Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka of Japan will meet Croatian Donna Vekic on Court Simonne Mathieu, before Canadian starlet Victoria Mboko plays Czech Katerina Siniakova.

US teen sensation Iva Jovic will test her mettle against compatriot and former world number eight Emma Navarro.

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Felix Auger-Aliassime will hope to avoid another “roller-coaster” match like the one he endured in the first round when the fourth seed from Canada meets Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga.

American fifth seed Ben Shelton and French 17-year-old Moise Kouame will also be in action as they bookend the day’s play on Roland Garros’ second showpiece court.

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Other FIA roles that currently have term limits include the president of anti-doping committee, and the head of the F1 cost-cap committee.

The current three-term limit was put in place by Ben Sulayem’s predecessor Jean Todt. The Frenchman replaced Max Mosley, who served as FIA president from 1993 until agreeing not to stand again following a dispute with F1 teams in 2009.

Asked by BBC Sport why it was decided to abolish term limits for all posts, rather than instate them for those that don’t currently have them, an FIA spokesperson was unable to provide a specific answer.

However, a spokesperson pointed to the NFL in the US, saying Roger Goodell had been commissioner since 2006 and had “transformed the sport into a global brand and it has an outstanding governance record”.

Last year, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, rejected the chance to stay on longer than 12 years – a move that would have required a change of statutes – saying “our organisation is best served with a change in leadership; new times are calling for new leaders”.

Tim Mayer, who was blocked from opposing Ben Sulayem for the FIA presidency because of the organisation’s election rules last year, told BBC Sport: “Term limits are not a bureaucratic detail.

“They are a fundamental safeguard of good governance, recognised as essential to preventing the concentration of power, ensuring renewal of leadership, and maintaining accountability to those an organisation exists to serve.”

Mayer also pointed to Bach, saying the IOC had “treated this as a core governance principle”.

NEW YORK – Five years ago so many big-league teams were tanking that the Atlanta Braves were able to pick off six major-league players in six separate trades in July, including the guy who would be their World Series MVP (Jorge Soler).

As the Braves land in Cincinnati for their weekend series against the Reds, so few teams are tanking this season that some executives around the game say trade chatter already began this month and demand could be especially high by deadline time in two months.

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Which means the Reds are on the clock, right?

“That’s a ways away,” Reds general manager Brad Meador said. “We’ve got to get there.”

More: Reds’ Rhett Lowder to make rehab start June 2. Return from IL next?

More: MLB players propose incentives for small-market teams who spend money and win

Smack in the middle of the toughest division in baseball so far, the Reds have the look of buyers as they escaped New York this week with another series win against the Mets, despite a 4-2 loss in the series finale.

Never mind that they missed a sweep against the NL East’s last-place team after stranding a whopping 17 men on base in that loss.

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A winning record, the return of Eugenio Suárez to the middle of the lineup, and high expectations for October baseball that haven’t changed since spring training figures to put the Reds in the middle of any trade talks their tight, thin wallets will allow.

And the sooner the better – as quickly as bullpen pieces and lineup upgrades make themselves available in a market that might involve other contenders focusing more on starting pitching.

Meador isn’t so sure about how early the trade markets might take shape compared to any other year.

“I will say this,” he said. “We are always checking in with every team. We’ve talked to every team within the last 10 days or so. But that’s constant. It’s constant conversation with teams: ‘What are you starting to think about?’ ‘What are you looking at?’ ‘Where do you guys see yourselves?’

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“But that doesn’t mean there’s something getting ready to happen.”

The Reds already have shown they won’t hesitate to make a move they can afford to fill a need, having made one of the few trades of the season so far when they acquired struggling starter Chris Paddack after he’d been designated for assignment by the Marlins.

Paddack has made two competitive starts for the Reds since then.

And now the health seems to be returning to the rotation with the news Rhett Lowder (shoulder) is about to start what might be a one-game minor-league rehab assignment next week and Nick Lodolo appears to be regaining form four starts into his season after opening on the injured list with a blister.

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“For us there might not be anything more important than to be healthy,” Meador said. “Hunter (Greene) threw a bullpen (Tuesday). He’s coming to Cincinnati this week and he’ll throw another one.

“Lowder threw three innings (Wednesday). We’ll get him out on a rehab and hopefully get him back in a week or so,” Meador added. “The healthier we get, the better we should be.”

When it comes to the trade deadline, that might time up with the season debut for Greene, who underwent elbow surgery in March to remove bone chips.

This week’s first bullpen session appears to keep that end-of-July timeline intact.

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Add that to a rotation that includes the two guys who beat the Mets this week – Lodolo and All-Star candidate Chase Burns – along with Wednesday’s starter Andrew Abbott, and it starts to look like a playoff-caliber rotation again.

(We’ll leave the bullpen discussion for another day.)

Abbott earned his fourth quality start this season with six innings of hard-contact, limit-the-damage pitching in which he allowed three runs – two of which were earned, on solo home runs by Juan Soto in the first inning and Eric Wagaman in the second.

Even after getting tagged with the loss, Abbott completed a rebound May that included a 3-1 record and 1.29 ERA.

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In beating the Reds, the Mets snapped a five-game losing streak and scored more than two runs for the first time in seven games.

The Reds have won five of their last seven, even with the loss Wednesday as they open a three-game series against the best-in-baseball Braves.

And even with a losing May that cost them the division lead they earned in April, Meador joined a chorus of Reds players in considering the team positioned well as it heads toward June.

“Look, we went through a tough stretch,” he said. “Our guys fought through it. They’re playing better now. And you just try to show up every day and focus on today.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds vs. Mets: Cincinnati drops series finale