Moses Itauma believes Fabio Wardley’s first WBO heavyweight world title defence against Daniel Dubois lasts no more than six rounds.

Wardley and Dubois both step through the ropes tonight in Manchester with a 95% knockout-to-win ratio, though most in the boxing world predict one of those records will become more impressive, with few backing this one to need the judges at ringside.

That includes Itauma, who is close to being announced as the mandatory challenger for the winner. The 21-year-old Brit expects to have a world title shot this year, and whether that comes for the WBO may rest on who is victorious. He shares the same trainer as Wardley, but if Dubois wins, Itauma would not hesitate to take that challenge.

Having seen Wardley up close in the gym, however, Itauma told BBC Sport he is confident his stablemate retains the belt before the fight enters its second half.

“I’ll probably go for Fabio Wardley quite early – rounds four to six.”

14 of Wardley’s 19 knockouts have come inside the first four rounds, though the majority of those were when he was in the early stages of his career against lower-level opposition. Against Justis Huni and Joseph Parker in his last two outings, the Ipswich champ was taken late, stopping Huni in the 10th and Parker in the 11th.

The biggest question for most, and what makes this heavyweight clash so intriguing, is whether or not Wardley can take the sort of punches Huni and Parker were landing against a bona fide knockout artist in Dubois, who has 16 stoppages in the first four rounds.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Krunal Pandya has finally broken his silence on the viral video that appeared to show Lucknow Super Giants batter Nicholas Pooran grabbing him by the collar. The incident traces back to the IPL 2026 clash between the two sides on Thursday, during which Krunal and Pooran were involved in a brief verbal exchange while LSG were batting. Following the match-where LSG defeated RCB by nine runs (DLS method)-a video began circulating on social media showing Pooran making animated gestures towards Krunal, including briefly holding his collar. 

However, the interaction appeared to be more friendly than hostile, as it ended with both players shaking hands.

As the clip sparked widespread debate among fans, Krunal put an end to the speculation by sharing a picture with Pooran on Instagram, making it clear that there was no bad blood between the two players.

“No lafda (no trouble), only love Congrats to my bro @nicholaspooran on completing 100 IPL games. Proud of you, brother, many more to come. Btw, how was the bouncer ?” he wrote on Instagram.

Pooran also commented on the post, “Only love here guys. One of my best Mates.”

Talking about the match, Mitchell Marsh smashed a blistering century while Prince Yadav dazzled with the ball as LSG kept themselves alive in the IPL 2026 playoff race with a nervy nine-run DLS win over RCB in their rain-curtailed clash.

With as many as three rain interruptions causing close to an hour’s delay, the contest was eventually reduced to 19 overs per side.

The win helped LSG snap a six-match losing streak while also handing them their first victory at home this season.

“It was a good game for us for sure. For the whole team it means a lot. We have been trying lot of things. Coming to the same page means a lot for us. It’s been a tough season but sometimes you have to go through the grind. Definitely we were trying to put together a perfect game where batting and bowling comes together. There has been some good luck and some bad luck but really happy to get a win,” said LSG skipper Rishabh Pant after the win.

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Liverpool set the standards last season. The Premier League table provides some proof those standards have slipped on the pitch; so, too, the total of 18 defeats in all competitions. Yet the attention has been diverted to the standards off the pitch. Mohamed Salah said he felt the bond in the dressing room is changing; he spoke of his concerns about the mentality in the dressing room. A man whose chiselled physique is testament to his work ethic said players need to get in early to go the gym, which in turn will encourage others to.

For Arne Slot, the culture is not a problem; nor does he think it will be next season when Andy Robertson and Salah, two of the stalwarts of Jurgen Klopp’s great side, depart. Slot argued that there are enough cultural architects already in his side to weather the loss of two influential figures.

“What Mo is saying is that standards are really important for a football club,” said Slot. “I cannot agree more with him. I did not hear him say that the standards are not okay now. I’m not worried that the standards will be lower next season than they were this season, last season or the season before.”

That mention of those three campaigns may have been a coincidence. But if the accusation was flying around that Liverpool were afforded too many days off, they have had fewer this year than in their title-winning campaign under Slot, or their final year under Klopp. One interpretation of their slide this year is that the culture Klopp and his senior players imbued is being dissipated and diluted with time. Slot does not concur.

“I think they [standards] are in a good place right now,” he said. “I think it also makes sense that younger players – it doesn’t have to be the new players, it can be the seven-year-old that comes from the academy – usually get the example of players like Mo and others for them to understand and to know what it takes to play every three days at this level. I see – and I think – that our younger players have improved in this already. I am completely convinced that we have enough players next season – and, add to that, the ones that we will sign – to put the standards exactly into the place they are needed. The standards are not only important in the gym.”

That may be pertinent, too. The declining standard of Salah’s performance, from scoring 29 league goals last season to seven this, is a reason for Liverpool’s decline. Age has caught up with some, injury with others. There are others who have underperformed. But, Slot thinks, he has the right characters in the camp.

In interviews last week, Salah sounded nostalgic, reflecting on joining a club where the culture was set by men like Jordan Henderson and James Milner. Then Liverpool may not have just had the best team; they seemed to have the best dressing room, too. Now there is the chance that three of the four elder statesmen will go, with Slot saying that Virgil van Dijk will be at Anfield next season but, significantly or otherwise, not mentioning Alisson. There are questions about the future of Joe Gomez, the longest-serving player, and Curtis Jones, the local in the dressing room.

It may mean Dominik Szoboszlai, a leader in troubled times, becomes vice-captain. Others will also have to step up. Slot does not believe he needs to import players to set the standards in the summer; in any case, Robertson’s replacement is likely to be Kostas Tsimikas, returning from loan at Roma.

Nor, though, does he feel he needs to buy senior players. He sees culture setters in his current group. “I’m not saying that we need to sign them,” he said. “I am saying that we have them already. Senior players are not the only ones who set the standards at a club. If I look at Paris Saint-Germain: Desire Doue is 20, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is 25. Can they set standards for another generation or for a team? I don’t know what time they are in the gym, by the way. And this is what Mo did when he was 26. I don’t think it comes down to ages that only 32 or 33-year-old players can set standards.

“They have lived experiences and know what it takes to play at this level. But come on, we are not talking about Florian Wirtz or Hugo Ekitike or Alexander Isak and all these players we signed. They are not children, they are serious professionals that know what it takes to play at this level as well. They now know what it takes to play in the Premier League and Champions League at this level. It can only be better but it is not only down to 34-year-olds. They can definitely be a big help which they have been in the last two seasons and Virgil will still be next season as well. But standards are not only set by 34-year-olds. Standards can also be set by a 20-year-old, like Doue, or Salah who played for Liverpool when he was 26. That did not only start when he is what age he is now. It is not age related.”

Part of it has to come from Slot, too, as he readily agreed. “Players can help but it is definitely also that the manager sets standards as well,” he said. But his view is that the culture club, to borrow John Motson’s famous phrase in his commentary of the 1988 FA Cup final, will still have the right culture.

Southampton have been charged by the EFL following accusations of spying on a Middlesbrough training session ahead of their Championship play-off semi-final on Saturday.

The charge comes after Middlesbrough lodged a complaint regarding alleged unauthorised filming by an individual connected to Southampton ahead of Saturday’s clash at the Riverside Stadium.

The dispute between the clubs brings back memories from 2019 when Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United were fined £200,000 by the EFL.

An EFL statement on Friday night read: “Southampton Football Club has today been charged with a breach of EFL Regulations, and the matter will be referred to an Independent Disciplinary Commission.

“This follows a request from the EFL for the club’s observations after a complaint from Middlesbrough relating to alleged unauthorised filming on private property ahead of the two clubs meeting in Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final first leg.

“The charges relate to the following Regulations: EFL Regulation 3.4, which requires clubs to act towards each other with the utmost good faith; and EFL Regulation 127, which prohibits any club from observing, or attempting to observe, another club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match between the two clubs.

“Under EFL Regulations, Southampton would ordinarily have 14 days to respond to the charges.

“However, given the nature of the matter, the EFL will ask the Independent Disciplinary Commission to shorten the response period and to list a hearing at the earliest opportunity.

“The League will make no further comment whilst proceedings are ongoing. ”

In 2019, a Leeds member of staff was caught acting suspiciously outside Derby County’s training ground before facing Frank Lampard’s side on 10 January, with the club later apologising.

Manager Marcelo Bielsa later admitted when discussing the 2019 incident that he sent a member of staff to watch training sessions of every opponent during the 2018/19 season, with the EFL stating that Leeds failed to treat teams with “good faith”.

Having expressed a keen interest in fighting the winner, Oleksandr Usyk has delivered his final verdict on Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois.

The pair will headline a Queensberry Promotions pay-per-view card later today, with Wardley making the first defence of his WBO world title at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena.

He was upgraded from ‘interim’ to full champion towards the end of last year, immediately after Usyk decided to vacate the belt rather than face his then-mandatory challenger.

Since then, though, the Ukrainian has included the winner of tonight’s intriguing clash in his three-fight plan, fully expecting to defeat kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23.

He has, of course, already faced Dubois on two separate occasions, both encounters ending inside the distance as Usyk proved a level or two above.

The latest of these relieved Dubois of his IBF title last July, while also ending an impressive run of stoppages over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua.

It would therefore be of more interest, from both an Usyk and a fan perspective, for the heavyweight king to face Wardley after their respective outings this month.

Perhaps this is partly why the 39-year-old is backing Wardley this weekend, telling BBC Sport that he expects his former sparring partner to retain his WBO title.

“I think Wardley win. I want Fabio win because I think he deserves to win this fight. Good guy – I like him.”

While Wardley, too, is eager for their potential showdown to materialise later this year, Usyk is facing pressure to address his WBC mandatory challenger Agit Kabayel following his fight with Verhoeven later this month.