Manny Pacquiao has competed in 73 professional bouts to date, but there is one man who is thankful that his scheduled showdown with the Filipino icon did not take place, labelling his withdrawal as a ‘blessing in disguise’.

A true pound-for-pound legend of the sport, many fighters dream of sharing the ring with one of boxing’s most accomplished combatants; the only boxer to have held a world title in four different decades and the only eight-division world champion.

Pacquiao is now chasing another feat, hoping to break his own as the oldest welterweight champion of all time, having last held the WBA welterweight title at the age of 42 years old before losing it to Yordenis Ugas, who stepped in as a challenger when Errol Spence Jr pulled out.

Speaking on The Art of Ward Podcast, Spence admitted that he is glad the fight with ‘Pac-Man’ did not go ahead, fearing that the eye injury, which caused his withdrawal, could have seriously impacted both his career and life.

“All through camp I was feeling bad, I was feeling super bad, I was messed up. I’ll say this again, I don’t know if it is life, God or whatever it was; I got hit in my eye during sparring and I really was still sparring during that time and all of that.

“I went to Vegas and I had to do the eye test, it was cloudy, I was seeing clouds, it was messed up and I went to go to the eye doctor and I think he saw it, but he wanted me to tell him, so he was like, ‘do you see any clouds?’, and I was like ‘nah, I don’t see nothing’.

“He said, ‘you sure?’ And I said ‘nah, I don’t see nothing, it looks clear, I am good’. I was trying to get the approval, but he was like ‘man, your eye is messed up’.”

“I was trying to tell the doctor to let me fight and that I will be good, that I will sign whatever you want me to sign, I told him that I will make sure that he [Pacquiao] don’t hit me in my eye!

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“He was like, ‘nah, man, if you get hit in your eye the right way, you could be blind in your eye. I can’t let you fight’.

“I think that was a blessing in disguise because, if I would have took that fight and something would have happened, I would be wearing a patch over my eye right now and I wouldn’t have had the fights that I have had and made the money that I have made.”

Spence returns to action against Tim Tszyu next month, ending a three-year stretch of inactivity with an intriguing test up at super-welterweight. 

McDonald Jones Stadium will play host to Friday’s
Round 16 NRL game between Newcastle Knights and
St. George Illawarra Dragons. The game kicks off at 8:00 pm with Newcastle Knights heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Newcastle Knights vs.
St. George Illawarra Dragons
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Friday June 19, 2026 at 8:00 pm

Where: McDonald Jones Stadium

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

Newcastle Knights vs St. George Illawarra Dragons Odds

Newcastle Knights vs St. George Illawarra Dragons Preview

The Dragons will be aiming to build on the momentum they generated before the bye when they host a Newcastle side facing uncertainty around the availability of key personnel. St George Illawarra showed encouraging signs in recent outings, producing some of its most consistent football of the season to remain within touching distance of the top eight.

The Knights have demonstrated throughout the year that they can remain competitive despite injuries, with their defensive structures and game management helping them stay in contests. However, the potential absence of star fullback Kalyn Ponga would significantly reduce Newcastle’s attacking threat and place greater pressure on the rest of the spine to create opportunities.

Neither side has been among the competition’s highest scorers in recent weeks, suggesting this contest could develop into a physical, low-scoring battle. In those circumstances, the Dragons’ improving defence and ability to grind through tough periods may give them every chance of challenging a Knights side looking to overcome another key setback.

Wilkinson says Wales have learned from their experience at Euro 2025, when they stuggled to make an impact against three of the world’s best teams – Netherlands, France and England.

“I think we all learned a lot through the Euros – myself, my staff, the players,” she said.

“Do I wish I’d coached differently? Parts of it, absolutely. I’m sure they (the players) look back on it and think like ‘what if, what if we could have…’

“But you don’t know until you’ve been to a major event what it’s going to be like, what the pressure feels like, what the stress feels like.

“We talked about it, we prepared for it, and it still blew us away, but there’s confidence that comes from having done it.

“I also look at our last Nations League A campaign – two draws against Sweden, but also keeping the scores really competitive against some top nations.”

Wales will have to improve their away form if they are to get through the play-offs and make it to Brazil.

Wilkinson’s side sailed through their home qualifiers, with a 6-1 mauling of Montenegro, a 4-0 romp past Albania and a 3-1 win over Czech Republic to wrap up the group.

On the road, however, they were fortunate to salvage a draw in the Czech Republic in their opening qualifier in March, then scraped a 1-0 victory in Albania before a shock 1-1 draw in Montenegro in the penultimate match.

“We were a bit frustrated when we played Albania away (in April), but this is a good opportunity to improve our performance against a challenging opposition,” said Wilkinson.

“I thought (Albania) played really well in that second leg, so they’ll be tough. It’ll be a good tactical battle between them and us, and who’s learnt the most.

“It was obvious from our campaign that our away form wasn’t what we wanted it to be. There’s definitely some work to be done away from home.

“It’s about showing up with the best version of ourselves.”

President Donald Trump has shared his opinion about the recent announcement regarding rolling back the golf ball, and as is often the case, his opinion on the topic at hand doesn’t necessarily align with the majority.

The USGA and R&A — two governing bodies of golf — originally shared a plan in 2023 that golf ball development would change, making balls travel up to 15 yards shorter at the professional level and up to five yards shorter for amateurs. This was a direct approach to combat distance, and the opinion that it has gotten out of hand with new technology.

The original announcement nearly three years ago involved a staggered start that would take effect at the professional level in 2028 and all other golfers in 2030.

U.S. President Donald Trump tees off at a new 18-hole course at Trump International Golf Links on July 29, 2025 in Balmedie, near Aberdeen, Scotland. President Trump is visiting Scotland in a trip that’s part-vacation, part-work, as he stayed at his Trump Turnberry golf course, followed by Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, between July 25 to 29. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

TEENAGE PHENOM MILES RUSSELL MAKES ENTIRE GOLF WORLD FEEL OLD WITH EYE-POPPING QUOTE AHEAD OF US OPEN DEBUT

On the eve of the 2026 U.S. Open on Wednesday, the USGA and R&A announced that plans for a golf ball rollback have been paused until at least 2030.

Trump praised the decision to pause the efforts to roll back the golf ball in a Truth Social post on Wednesday evening.

“Congratulations to Commissioner Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour, and the Governing Bodies, and also, the Great U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, for a BIG VICTORY where the USGA wanted to roll back the distance of a Golf Ball, for whatever reason, and now they are precluded from doing so, at least for a long number of years,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“It was a ridiculous idea, that nobody wanted, especially PGA Tour Players, and people that don’t want to go to a Course to be told that their drives will be going 20 yards shorter. What the USGA should do is agree that, far into the future, they will not allow the current ball to go further. In other words, they will keep the ball the same! The game of Golf is “hot as a pistol.” The last thing we should do is tell people that, for no reason whatsoever, you will not be able to hit a ball as far as you used to. Has anyone ever heard of anything so ridiculous?”

U.S. President Donald Trump tees off after opening his new golf course at his Trump International Golf links resort on July 29, 2025 in Balmedie, Scotland. U.S. President Donald Trump is visiting his Trump Turnberry golf course, as well as Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, during a brief visit to Scotland from July 25 to 29. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

Trump’s suggestion that “nobody wanted” golf ball technology to change to combat distance isn’t true. The debate in golf, especially at the professional level, is completely divided.

U.S. President Donald Trump attends the 2025 Ryder Cup at Black Course at Bethpage State Park Golf Course on September 26, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York. In his second term, Trump has attended several major sporting events (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Many, if not the majority, of folks involved with golf recognize that the technology in both golf balls and modern drivers has gotten out of hand. Several golf courses have become “too short” for elite and professional players.

As for the approach golf’s governing bodies have taken to address the issue, well, that’s where opinions differ even more. The “how” of effectively reining in the distance golf balls possess nowadays is the million-dollar question, and this delay proves the powers that be need time to tinker as well.

At about 6 p.m. on August 21, 2025, the former Belarusian diplomat and sports official Anatol Kotau boarded a private yacht in northeastern Turkey. He said he would be home in a few days.  

The yacht was officially bound for Russia — one of two countries with a warrant out for his arrest — but it is unclear whether Kotau knew its intended destination. What is known is that three hours into his journey, he stopped responding to messages. 

He never returned home. 

Using information from sources, documents, satellite imagery and leaked databases, DW and its partners, the Belarusian Investigative Center(BIC) and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, have determined that Kotau was taken off the yacht by the Russian Coast Guard, a division of the FSB domestic intelligence agency, likely working in cooperation with Belarus. The monthslong investigation found that Kotau may have been lured to his fate by people he knew. 

Kotau was wanted in Belarus

Kotau spent much of his early political career as a diplomat at the Belarusian Embassy in neighboring Poland. In 2015, he was appointed secretary-general of the Belarusian Olympic Committee, serving under Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Europe’s longest-ruling autocrat. Kotau was also deputy director of the organizing committee for the 2019 multisport European Games in Minsk, a prestige project for Lukashenko. 

He quit his job as government forces suppressed protests after Lukashenko declared victory in the 2020 presidential election. He fled to Poland, where he registered as a refugee, and, from Warsaw, began pushing for change in Belarus. 

Kotau was an outspoken critic and was widely believed by fellow dissidents to be among those behind the “Nick and Mike” Telegram channel, which exposed the regime’s secrets. He was a key part of the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, a movement for athletes that actively lobbied to have Minsk stripped of the honor of co-hosting the 2021 Ice Hockey World Championship — in part on the grounds that Lukashenko could use the global spotlight on his favorite sport to rehabilitate his image following the bloody clampdown of 2020. 

“He was a person who worked for many years in the state system,” said Ales Mikhalevich, a Belarusian human rights lawyer and former presidential candidate. “People like me, for example, are simply enemies for the regime, whereas people like him are traitors. And that is much more serious.” 

In 2024, a Belarusian court sentenced Kotau in absentia to 12 years in prison after finding him guilty of conspiracy to seize power in an unconstitutional way and promotion of extremist activities. Arrest warrants were issued by the governments of Belarus and Russia.

“Without a doubt,  this was a person the Belarusian authorities wanted to get back — legally or illegally,” Mikhalevich said. 

Kotau’s travel tendencies

Friends said Kotau was often secretive about his travel plans. In April 2025, he traveled to Dubai, where he held at least two meetings. DW and its partners were unable to identify everyone he met on that trip.  

Kotau had another visit to Dubai scheduled for July 2025, one month before he disappeared, but canceled the trip when he developed appendicitis, according to his wife. 

“He usually didn’t say in advance where he was going or why,” Kotau’s friend and fellow opposition activist Ruslan Khazin said. “But we always knew that after he’d gone somewhere to meet someone, there would be some interesting news.” 

Before Kotau disappeared in August, he told his wife that he was traveling to Turkey for business; his boss at a Polish events agency believed that he was going for personal reasons.  

Several people told DW and its partners that, shortly before the trip to Turkey, Kotau indicated to various people that things were about to change in Belarus and that “soon we are all going home.” 

“I just didn’t understand,” Khazin recalled. “I said: ‘What do you mean?’ He has this usual manner — he smiles and says: ‘Well, you’ll find out later.’ That’s it.” 

A fellow Belarusian

After landing in Istanbul on August 21, Kotau flew to the northeastern port city of Trabzon, where the yacht awaited. The boat itself had departed from Istanbul earlier, carrying a small crew, two Russian passengers and Yuryy P., a Belarusian karate judge and instructor with connections to the Belarusian secret service, which still goes by its Soviet initials, KGB.   

Social media photos indicate that Kotau could have met Yuryy P. at the Vozrozhdenie (Renaissance) sport club, which can be linked to the KGB during its four years in existence, from 2017 to 2021, according to information provided by the Belarusian civil society group Rabochy Ruch. 

Yuryy P. was also employed by a company called Tres International, which is headquartered near Dubai but has a representative office in Minsk, according to leaked data from Cyber Partisans, a dissident hacker collective formed after the 2020 election in Belarus. Several people at Tres International were found to be affiliated with the KGB, according to more leaked documents. Yuryy P. did not reply to queries from DW and its partners. 

Many of the company’s employees also work for BTS Global, which is in business and management consulting, according to the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, but also sells weapons, according to military documents provided by Rabochy Ruch. Tres International and BTS  Global are both registered at the same address on Smolenskaya Street in Minsk. 

It is not clear whether Kotau and Yuryy P. crossed paths in Trabzon. However, when the yacht left the port city with Kotau on it, Yuryy P. was not on board. 

Details about the yacht Kotau boarded

The last known image of Kotau, 45 at the time, is a CCTV capture of him at the Trabzon port, unshaven and wearing a dark T-shirt. He then would have boarded the 30-meter (100-foot) yacht named Shells, a $2.8 million (€2.4 million) private vessel with two dining areas, a bar and a top-deck jacuzzi.  

According to the passenger manifest, which DW has obtained, the yacht was bound for Sochi, on Russia’s Black Sea coast, although it is unclear whether Kotau knew that. He may have been told a different destination or thought that the ship would enter international waters and then return to Turkey. 

The yacht’s movements are difficult to trace. There is no record of its location in the Marine Traffic database in August 2025 or in satellite imagery over its route. The yacht was last recorded months earlier, in March 2025, in Istanbul. 

The owners on paper in August 2025, MGA Yachting Ltd., insist that they sold it at the end of 2024 and know nothing about Kotau’s disappearance. DW and its partners confirmed that the boat was up for sale in early 2025. 

By January 2026, the boat had been renamed the YS Legacy and registered to SSL Yachting Group Ltd. In March 2026, BTS Global bought the trademark for the same name: YSLegacy. 

A Belarusian businessman, Yuryy S., is listed as the head of two BTS Global companies — the one registered in Belarus and another in the United Kingdom — and lives in the United Arab Emirates, where the yacht last appeared on the Marine Traffic database in March 2026.

He knew Kotau personally. There are photos of the two at the Vozrozhdenie sports club in 2019,  at what appears to be an event connected to the Minsk 2019 European Games. Yuryy S. is identified in leaks as having worked for the KGB’s Operational Analytical Center and at the Belarusian Olympic Committee during Kotau’s tenure as secretary-general. He is connected to the Dubai-based Tres International. He did not reply to queries by DW and its partners, nor did BTS Global or Tres International. 

Kotau’s mysterious shipmates

When Kotau boarded Shells, he was accompanied by a woman named Qahira E., whose nationality is listed as Jordanian in the passenger manifest. Qahira E. lives in Dubai and is originally from Azerbaijan. She and Kotau had known each other since at least 2023, according to information obtained by the BIC. The two had messaged about meeting, and appeared in a cozy photo in what looks like a bar. 

She did not answer questions sent by DW and its partners. 

The other passengers were two Russians who had entered Turkey on the same flight from Moscow on August 5, according to leaked passport data, and traveled on the yacht from Istanbul.  

According to leaked databases, one of the men, Pyotr G., is former military and now works as a private security specialist. DW and its partners gathered little information about the other, Yuriy G., but could confirm that the two men traveled together shortly before and after the yacht trip. Neither man replied to queries by DW and its partners. 

According to the manifest, the only other people on the vessel were the four crew members — none of whom could speak Russian.  

Yacht intercepted off Russia-occupied Abkhazia

DW and its partners have learned from sources and a letter obtained from the Sochi port authorities that the yacht never arrived there.  

Sources familiar with the operation told DW and its partners that the yacht instead headed toward Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia. The government of Georgia — as well as the US, EU and several other governments — considers the region to be occupied by Russia, which maintains a heavy military presence there. 

Abkhazia is a “well-known gray zone,” the Georgian political analyst Mamuka Komakhia said. “There’s a lack of control in Abkhazia from an international point of view.

“Abkhazia is a very good place to do any illegal activity because it’s open sea. You do not need to register anything. If you don’t want to register something, you can do it.” 

There, around 1:30 p.m., in waters where no vessel-tracking signals appear, the yacht was intercepted by Russia’s Coast Guard, a division of the FSB. Sources familiar with the operation say agents boarded the vessel and conducted a search of the yacht, at which point Kotau was removed. 

Although there are no images covering the area at the time when the yacht was likely intercepted, there are images from the nearby port of Ochamchire, a coal transportation hub where Russia has had an FSB base since 2009.  

According to the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, also known as the Rondeli Foundation, the FSB has stationed up to 10 Sobol- and Mangust-class patrol boats at the Ochamchire port. Armed with machine guns and surface-to-air missiles, these vessels are tasked with securing Russia’s coastal borders. 

In satellite images, a boat matching the size and shape of one of these Coast Guard vessels is seen leaving Ochamchire port and turning west toward Sukhumi about one hour before sources said Kotau was removed from the yacht.

“It is quite strange Belarusian opposition activists [would] visit Abkhazia,” Komakhia said. “It is quite clear [that] Abkhazia is in very good and close cooperation with Russian law enforcement. It is definitely not a safe place for such people.” 

Neither the Russian FSB nor the Belarusian KGB replied to requests for comment. 

About an hour after the time sources say Kotau was removed from the yacht on August 22, Pyotr G. and Yuriy G. also disembarked. 

Although it is unclear exactly where and when they got off the yacht, the leaked passport data lists Pyotr G. as crossing the port border in Sukhumi at 2:42 p.m. and Yuriy G. four minutes later. 

The boat returned to Turkey with only Qahira E. and the crew on board. 

Did Russia and Belarus work together?

It would not be without precedent for Belarus, which has limited resources, to ask its primary ally for help securing Kotau’s return. 

“Belarusian intelligence is not so well-developed, it’s not so skilled,” said Kamil Klysinski, a senior fellow at the Center for Eastern Studies in Poland. “They don’t have so many people, money [or] other assets to do such operations out of the region.”  

Belarusian and Russian security agencies cooperate closely on intelligence sharing, border security and joint operations — including handing over political opponents. 

“In case of more ambitious operations, as with Kotau, of course Russian support was needed, at least the support of FSB,” Klysinski said.

What authorities have said about Kotau’s disappearance

Kotau’s family and friends have sought answers for nearly 10 months. 

Turkish authorities replied to DW, saying only that Kotau arrived in and left the country on August 21, 2025, and did not respond to questions about an investigation. The Polish authorities said they were not investigating Kotau’s disappearance. 

“If the crime was committed in Poland, then the Polish prosecutor’s office would have jurisdiction,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. 

Mikhalevich disagrees with that assessment: “The crime connected with his disappearance began on Polish territory.” 

“The state system works the way it works,” Mikhalevich said. “No prosecutor, no civil servant, wants additional work. If there was the political will, initiating a criminal case on the disappearance of Anatol Kotau would be quite easy.”  

For his part, Kotau’s friend Khazin says he thinks Kotau is still alive. 

“If they wanted to eliminate him, it would have been much easier to do it here, in Warsaw, and stage an accident,” Khazin said. “The circumstances of his disappearance and those who could have carried out this operation … speaks to the fact that the forces who captured him needed him alive and well.” 

Additional research by: Halil Taskin
Edited by: Carolyn Thompson
Copyedited by: Milan Gagnon
Fact-checked by: Esther Felden
Legal consultation: Florian Wagenknecht

The ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026 has counter-drone technology deployed at all matches held in the United States, according to Andrew Giuliani, who heads the White House World Cup Task Force, ABC News reported.

Notably, the move comes in the wake of an alleged drone attack plot targeting the UFC 250 event at the White House, with FIFA World Cup matches across the United States also identified as potential targets by law enforcement sources.

Giuliani said all 78 World Cup matches in the United States, along with fan festivals in every host city, will be protected by counter-drone systems throughout the tournament.

“All 78 of the matches in the United States of America have counter-drone mitigation protection, and every fan fest, one fan fest in every single city throughout the duration of the World Cup will have counter-drone mitigation coverage,” said Giuliani, according to ABC News.

The USA, along with Mexico and Canada, is hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup from June 11 to July 19.

USA played their campaign opener on June 12 and registered an emphatic 4-1 victory over Paraguay, powered by a standout performance from Folarin Balogun and Christian Pulisic.

Balogun scored twice, while Pulisic delivered a commanding display, constantly troubling the Paraguayan defence and playing a key role in multiple attacking moves as the hosts controlled proceedings from the start.

The USA took an early lead in the 7th minute when Pulisic split the defence with a brilliant pass to Weston McKennie, resulting in Damian Bobadilla turning the ball into his own net. Balogun then doubled the advantage in the 31st minute, finishing a precise cross from Pulisic.

The forward added his second goal deep into stoppage time (90+8′), dribbling past two defenders before sealing a comfortable win for the hosts, who were in full control throughout the match.

Paraguay briefly reduced the deficit in the 73rd minute through Mauricio Magalhães, but failed to mount a sustained comeback against a dominant US side.

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino opted to rest Pulisic at half-time, replacing him with Sebastian Berhalter, as the USA managed their squad with an eye on a long tournament ahead.

Late in the match, Gio Reyna added further gloss to the scoreline with a stunning strike from distance, finding the top corner to cap off an emphatic opening win for the hosts.

Elevate Arena is underway at London’s Excel and the hot topic of AI was the first point of discussion on the Debate stage.

Chaired by Melinda Nicci, founder of Bella AI and digital lead at UK Active, the panel was made up of Tiffany Gould, consultant director at Leisure Labs; Jessie Shanahan, CTO at Vor Technologies as well as Suzanne Gabb, COO Good Boost – a social enterprise which provides a good example of AI being used in the industry to support with people with MSK issues via personalised digital programmes. 

A poll of the audience uncovered the fact that there’s still some overwhelm and fear with AI, especially around trust and authenticity.

The conversation revolved around the potential of AI – for example to automate daily tasks, do the grunt work and the research – as well as its limitations, including it being constrained by historical data which may not accurately predict future scenarios – there is also a gap in data about women and older demographics. 

Gould says the industry is currently collecting vast amounts of data without effectively using it for business insights. The panel stressed the importance of identifying the problem and working backwards to establish how AI could be leveraged.

Shanahan also raised the crucial point of keeping the human in the loop to avoid skill decay – if we outsource decision making or critical analysis then we will get worse at it. “No AI model even comes close to humans in making decisions,” she says. “It’s important not to blindly accept what the computer says. It’s tool that has been designed to sound convincing, but not always be accurate.”

The key takeaway was that it should augment human work, not replace it. The fitness sector is driven by relationships and trust is created by having a person involved.

“AI is part of the conversation but not the whole,” says Gould. “Take a step into the world and give it a go, don’t be perfectionist. You have to experiment and try, iterate and change it and it gets better as a consequence.”