A Hall of Famer, who made an astonishing 15 defences of his world welterweight title, has backed himself in a fantasy showdown with Terence Crawford.

Many regard ‘Bud’ as one of the all-time greatest welterweight champions, given the magnitude of his undisputed triumph over Errol Spence Jr in 2023.

Prior to that, he had amassed seven consecutive world title victories at 147lbs, all by stoppage, but could only cement himself as the top dog by dethroning Spence.

Not only did he defeat ‘The Truth’, and claim his three world titles, but Crawford made it a surprisingly one-sided beatdown through nine rounds.

Following that career-defining moment, the American went on to become a three-division undisputed champion, moving all the way up to 168lbs to dethrone Canelo Alvarez.

Welterweight, however, is where Crawford managed to produce several of his top performances, perhaps striking the perfect balance between feeling healthy and physically imposing.

Another man who found considerable success at 147lbs, of course, is Felix Trinidad, who reigned as the IBF world champion for nearly seven years.

Two of his greatest victories came against Oscar De La Hoya and Pernell Whitaker, who both crafted Hall of Fame careers in their own right.

It is only natural, then, that ‘Tito’ fancies his chances in a prime-for-prime battle with Crawford, telling Fight Hub TV that he would have handed ‘Bud’ his only professional blemish.

“With all due respect to Crawford… Tito Trinidad – I’m going to win.”

While no fighter managed to find an answer to the Crawford puzzle, it could equally be said that the former five-division world champion never faced anyone like Trinidad.

Another disappointing team has made a managerial change. The Philadelphia Phillies have fired manager Rob Thomson, the team announced Tuesday. Bench coach Don Mattingly will serve as interim manager through the end of the season. The move comes a few days after the Boston Red Sox fired longtime manager Alex Cora and most of his coaching staff.

Thomson is out after a 9-19 start in which the Phillies fell 10 games below .500 for the first time since 2017. After a 1-3 start, the Phillies won five of their next six games to push their record to 6-4. Then, the losing started, including four of six before a 10-game losing streak that left them duking it out for last place in the NL East with the similarly struggling New York Mets. Twenty-eight games into the season is one of the quickest firings for a manager in recent history.

Thomson, 62, took over as Phillies manager after Joe Girardi was fired in June 2022. The Phillies that season went 65-46 under Thomson, securing the third and final National League wild-card spot. From there, they won their first NL pennant since 2009 but ultimately lost the World Series to the Houston Astros in six games. 

The following season, the Phillies turned a wild-card spot into an NLCS run and then won the NL East title in back-to-back years. The 96 wins last season were their most in a season since 2011. Thomson received Manager of the Year votes in 2022, 2024, and 2025. He finished third in the voting just last year.

As manager, Thomson made the playoffs four times in his first four seasons. He won two division titles and a pennant. He’s 355-270 overall. The Phillies signed Thomson to a contract extension through the 2027 season in December, so they fired him only 28 games into his new contract.

Speculation about Cora landing with the Phillies was an easy talking point in the immediate aftermath, but Cora turned down an offer before the team pivoted to Mattingly, according to The Athletic. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski originally hired Cora to manage the Red Sox in October 2017 and the two won the World Series together in 2018. They’re said to remain close.

Mattingly, 65, has an 889-950 career managerial record with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2011-15) and Miami Marlins (2016-22). He spent the 2023-25 as bench coach with the Toronto Blue Jays and was part of their AL pennant-winning coaching staff last year.

Philadelphia also promoted third base coach Dusty Wathan to bench coach. Triple-A manager Anthony Contreras has been promoted to third base coach.

Preston Mattingly, Don Mattingly’s son, is Philadelphia’s general manager under Dombrowski.

Dmitry Bivol could be presented with the opportunity to become a two-time undisputed champion, but only if he wins his next outing against Michael Eifert.

The pair will collide at the UMMC Arena, Russia, on May 30, with Bivol returning from back surgery to make a mandatory defence of his unified crown.

He previously held all four major light-heavyweight titles following his last fight, a majority decision victory over Artur Beterbiev in February 2025.

Shortly after exacting his revenge over Beterbiev, however, Bivol opted to vacate his WBC world title rather than face mandatory challenger David Benavidez, who was then swiftly elevated from ‘interim’ to full champion. In his first defence, he scored a seventh-round stoppage victory over Anthony Yarde in November.

Now, the 29-year-old is bidding to become a three-division world champion against Gilberto Ramirez, who he will face for the WBO and WBA cruiserweight titles this Saturday.

Regardless of the result, though, Benavidez has expressed an interest in moving back down to 175lbs in pursuit of an undisputed clash with Bivol.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, has now revealed to Fight Hub TV that talks are already underway for his fighter to face ‘The Mexican Monster’.

“[Benavidez] can come back to light-heavyweight. I think he likes the Bivol fight – that’s a fight we’re discussing with [boxing manager] Luis DeCubas.”

Benavidez has repeatedly claimed that he once hurt the Russian unified champion in sparring, back when he was just 22 years old and campaigning at super-middleweight. Theirs could therefore develop into a compelling rivalry as Bivol aims to return to elite-level competition after taking care of business against Eifert.

A venue that was a staple on the PGA Tour for a decade has since seen a decade pass since it last hosted a tournament on the circuit. That drought will come to an end this week, however, as the PGA Tour makes its return to the Blue Monster at Trump National Doral for the 2026 Cadillac Championship.

A new signature event on the PGA Tour schedule, the Cadillac Championship will see most — not all — of the best players on the PGA Tour tee it up on the par 72 that stretches to nearly a whopping 7,800 yards. Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick are among the notables not in the field as they keep one eye on next week’s signature event, the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow, and the other on the PGA Championship at Aronimink in two weeks’ time.

In their place, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler returns to competition following his playoff loss to Fitzpatrick at the most recent signature event, the RBC Heritage. A runner-up finisher in his two most recent starts, Scheffler is starting to find his groove at an eerily similar time that he did in 2025 when he won in his final start before the PGA Championship (which he also won).

Scheffler could continue a run of champions at Doral that were (or ultimately became) champions at another golf course: Augusta National. Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Tiger Woods were the last four winners of the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

Alex Fitzpatrick makes his debut as a member of the PGA Tour following his win with Matt at the Zurich Classic with fellow Europeans Tommy Fleetwood, Rose, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka and Alex Noren all teeing it up.

Collin Morikawa took a week off after two strong starts in spite of a not so strong back and rounds out a field that includes Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Burns and Chris Gotterup.

2026 Cadillac Championship schedule

Dates: April 30 – May 3
Location: Trump National Doral (Blue Monster) — Miami
Par: 72 | Yardage: 7,739 | Architect: Dick Wilson & Robert von Hagge
Purse: $20 million

2026 Cadillac Championship odds

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

• Scottie Scheffler (+310): Despite some wanting more out of Scheffler, the world No. 1 is ahead of schedule compared to last season with a win already under his belt. In this field, he ranks No. 1 in total strokes gained, strokes gained tee to green and strokes gained around the green as his ball striking continues to trend in the right direction. On a golf course that will require execution and patience, Scheffler has both in spades. The driver has settled into a very comfortable spot the last two tournaments and will bleed into his iron play soon enough setting up a performance that will remind the world he is by far the best. That could very well come this week.
• Cameron Young (13-1)
• Collin Morikawa (22-1): The two-time major champion showed some chops the last couple of weeks as he battled to top 10 finishes at the Masters and RBC Heritage without a clean bill of health. If the week off brings certainty in his back and in his health, Morikawa will relish in the return to Doral given his proficiency with his long irons. He ranks No. 1 in this field in strokes gained approach in 2026.
• Tommy Fleetwood (25-1)
• Russell Henley (25-1)
• Sam Burns (27-1)
• Chris Gotterup (30-1): It is not like he has fallen off that much since his two wins early in the season. Gotterup nabbed a top 10 at the big ballpark that is Memorial Park before a top-25 finish in his Masters debut. He continued to flash brilliance at Harbour Town only to be undone by his short game. Everything is there for him to pick up win No. 3 this week, it will just be a matter of stringing four rounds together.
• Patrick Cantlay (30-1)
• Adam Scott (33-1): The last winner on the PGA Tour at Doral was … Bueller? Bueller? Ding, ding, ding. Mr. Scott. The Australian was 10 years younger when he conquered the Blue Monster, but his game continues to look more and more of that of a young man. Sufficiently long off the tee with continued speed gains with the driver, Scott has seen his iron play take the next step in 2026. He is top 10 in driving distance, strokes gained tee to green and strokes gained approach — that will play at this golf course.
• Justin Rose (33-1): It is not the first time Rose has made a head-scratching equipment move, but it is the first time he has done so in his mid 40s. The Englishman is now a member of the McLaren golf (?) team (not F1, although that would be a sight) and he will debut his new set of irons this week in Miami. We’ll see what that brings as he is currently enjoying the second-best approach season of his career behind just 2013 when he won the U.S. Open.
• Maverick McNealy (33-1)
• Hideki Matsuyama (33-1)

2026 Cadillac Championship picks

Who will win the 2026 Cadillac Championship, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 17 golf majors heading into the weekend, including the past five Masters, and find out. 

Teddy Atlas has assessed Junto Nakatani’s chances as he attempts to dethrone undisputed super-bantamweight king Naoya Inoue this Saturday.

The pair will square off at the Tokyo Dome, Japan, where Inoue overcame a shock knockdown to successfully defend his four world titles against Luis Nery in 2024.

Since then, ‘The Monster’ has made five consecutive defences of his undisputed crown at 122lbs, including an eighth-round finish over Ramon Cardenas last year.

Again, Inoue was compelled to climb off the canvas and cement his stoppage victory, but did so with tremendous composure and intelligence.

The 33-year-old then experienced far less resistance in his last outing against David Picasso, comfortably outpointing the previously unbeaten Mexican in December.

Nakatani, on the other hand, was introduced to a hard-fought encounter on the same card, resulting in a debatable unanimous decision victory over Sebastian Hernandez.

Prior to that, ‘Big Bang’ had become a three-division world champion while never really needing to display such resolve.

It could, therefore, either work to his advantage or detriment that the 28-year-old came through a torrid battle with Hernandez just over five months before facing Inoue.

Assessing the situation on his YouTube channel, Atlas gives the challenger a genuine chance but questions whether even the best version of Nakatani can defeat Inoue, a consensus top two pound-for-pound star.

“Listen, Inoue’s a big [betting] favourite … I think Nakatani’s a live dog. You have to like Inoue, it’s hard to go against him.

“This fight will come down to geography. Who fights at the range, the distance, the location that better-suits them for their talent?

“Inoue wants to be close; Nakatani wants to be [fighting] at a distance. And he’s a southpaw. He wants to make it hard for Inoue to make ground.

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“Nakatani took a lot of punishment [against Hernandez]. Has he had enough time to recover? He went in that ring and came out of it with probably a little less of himself.

“At 28, he’s young enough to handle that – youth can do amazing things. I give Nakatani a shot.”

From a psychological perspective, Atlas believes that Nakatani has only benefited from his fight with Hernandez.

Whether his body has been given sufficient time to recover, though, is another matter entirely.

England defender John Stones has said he has achieved all his dreams at Manchester City after confirming he will leave the club at the end of the season.

The 31-year-old, whose contract expires this summer, has played 293 matches since joining from Everton in 2016 for £47.5 million.

During his time at City, Stones won six Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, two FA Cups, five League Cups, three Community Shields, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

In an emotional message on social media, Stones said Manchester City has been his home for the past 10 years and will always remain special to him. He explained that he arrived as a young player and is now leaving as a more mature man, having built a family and enjoyed a successful career on the pitch.

He added that he achieved everything he hoped for at the club and never imagined he would reach such a level of success or build such strong relationships with teammates and fans.

Stones also praised manager Pep Guardiola, saying he is grateful for the opportunity to work with him and believes his success would not have been possible without the Spaniard.

The defender was Guardiola’s second signing at the club and was, at the time, one of the most expensive defenders in the world.

He is one of several long-serving players to leave the Etihad, following the departures of Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Ederson last summer. Club captain Bernardo Silva is also expected to leave soon.

Despite struggling with injuries in recent seasons, Stones remains a fan favourite. He scored 19 goals for the club, including an important equaliser against Arsenal in 2024, and produced a famous goal-line clearance against Liverpool during the 2018–19 title race.

One of his standout moments came in 2023 when he played in midfield as City defeated Inter Milan to win the Champions League and complete a historic treble.

However, injuries have affected his consistency. He has made only 16 appearances this season and has missed many matches over the years due to fitness problems.

Manager Guardiola recently said Stones remains a top defender when fully fit but admitted injuries have limited his impact.

As he prepares to leave, Stones could soon decide his next move, with reports linking him to Barcelona, while Everton and Coventry City are also said to be interested.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated six state-of-the-art indoor cricket academies across northeast India, which are part of the BCCI’s expansion programme for cricketing infrastructure in the region. The academies are located in Rangpo (Sikkim), Doimukh (Arunachal Pradesh), Imphal (Manipur), Madankurklang (Meghalaya), Aizawl (Mizoram), and Dimapur (Nagaland). “The Honourable Prime Minister virtually inaugurated the facilities during a state function in Gangtok, Sikkim, marking a significant step towards strengthening sports infrastructure and unlocking the immense sporting potential of the North-East region,” the BCCI stated in a release.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by ICC chairman Jay Shah along with all the office bearers of BCCI while administrators from the other five northeastern states joined via video conference.

“This project was conceptualised and driven by the BCCI under the leadership of Jay Shah during his tenure as Secretary, with a clear focus on strengthening cricketing ecosystems in emerging regions,” the BCCI said.

“The foundation stone for these academies was laid by Shah in May 2024, setting in motion a structured effort to build world-class cricketing infrastructure in the North-East.” The academies have been designed as high-performance centres, equipped with indoor practice pitches, high-tech gymnasiums, temperature-controlled swimming pools, and dedicated administrative and training blocks.

These facilities will enable year-round training, particularly addressing the challenges posed by extended monsoon seasons in the region, and significantly reduce the need for players to travel to other parts of the country for professional training.

BCCI president Mithun Manhas said: “This initiative reflects a clear intent to take cricket infrastructure to every region and build a stronger, more inclusive foundation for the game.

“It is also a significant step in ensuring that aspiring cricketers from the North-East have access to the same quality of facilities as anywhere else in the country.” “I am confident that this will pave the way for more players from the North-East to progress to the highest levels of the game,” added secretary Devajit Saikia said.

On his part, vice-president Rajeev Shukla said: “The focus now will be on creating competitive exposure and pathways that allow this talent to flourish at the highest level.”

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