After Oleksandr Usyk’s title vacation, the heavyweight division is searching for its next standout operator. Two of the frontrunners to be the divisional poster boy are Moses Itauma and Agit Kabayel, and Usyk has predicted how a fight between the undefeated duo would play out.

Usyk was linked to fights with both Itauma and Kabayel whilst reigning as the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight world champion, but his decision to vacate all three of those world titles has all but ended any hope of seeing the Ukrainian take on either man.

Instead, it is believed that Usyk will pursue Deontay Wilder for his career finale, dubbed his ‘last dance’, whilst Kabayel has been elevated to WBC heavyweight world champion and Itauma is preparing for an intriguing battle with Filip Hrgovic next month.

Should Itauma be successful against the Croatian, it seems as though a world title shot is almost guaranteed to follow, with Kabayel being confirmed as possible target for later this year.

Speaking on the DAZN broadcast of Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga on Saturday, Usyk admitted he would favour the 21-year-old to trump Kabayel, nodding his head in agreement with Tony Bellew when asked if Itauma is the one to succeed him as the man to beat.

Kabayel has also recently been mentioned for a potential world title unification against newly-crowned WBA heavyweight champion, Murat Gassiev – a move which could force Itauma to instead fight for the WBO crown against the winner of Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley’s pending rematch.

This year’s F1 championship introduced the biggest rule change in the sport’s history, with new aerodynamic and engine regulations.

While the chassis rules have generally been a hit – even if the cars are a little slower than last year – the new engines most definitely have not.

The nominal 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power (more like 53-47 in reality) combined with the architecture of the engines, has left them energy starved.

And when the battery is empty, the cars have only about 540bhp – less power than a Formula 3 car, but with loads more grip.

The need to constantly charge the battery has neutered many of the best corners on many of F1’s greatest tracks, reducing them to what Fernando Alonso has called “charging stations”.

The flip side is the energy starvation has led to some interesting battles, known as “yo-yo racing”, with cars swapping positions repeatedly over a number of laps.

But the drivers point out this is artificial, and that overtakes are often happening simply because one driver suddenly has 350kW (470bhp) more than the other.

As four-time champion Max Verstappen says: “Sometimes people say: ‘Ah yeah, but this was a great race.’ I say: ‘Yeah, but it’s not really realistic the way we are racing.’

“And then you arrive to some tracks and you’re driving on not a lot of horsepower for F1 standards. And it’s a little bit painful, which I could see coming already for years. So, it’s then, of course, not the most exciting.

“At one point I’m also a little bit fed up with repeating myself, because it’s already hard enough just having to drive it.”

The drivers – especially Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, but most of the others, too – were very vocal about this from very early in the season. The sport as a whole recognised there was a problem, and has reacted.

Tweaks to the rules to lessen the problem were made after just three races, and the engine split will be modified to become 60-40 by 2028, with an intermediate step for next year.

That will significantly reduce these issues, but not eradicate them completely.

F1’s governing body the FIA was warned repeatedly in the years leading up to 2026 that this energy starvation issue would happen.

This has left an easy target for FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, to propose a return to naturally aspirated V8 engines for 2031.

It’s an idea with distinctly limited support among F1’s stakeholders. It lacks imagination and analysis, comes with its own set of problems, and is effectively turning the clock back 15 years.

The issue is not hybrid engines or turbos per se; it is the lack of energy recovery possibilities.

It’s a situation F1 forced on itself by removing the MGU-H, which recovered energy from the turbo and exhaust, and not allowing recovery from the front axle.

The sport needs to take a pause, intelligently and rigorously analyse what it wants from its engines in the future.

Then it needs to come up with a package that satisfies the manufacturers, has road-relevance, embraces concerns about the climate crisis, does not create a noise-hazard threat to some of the sport’s most high-profile races, is cheaper, allows the drivers to almost total access to full power, and gives a facility for overtaking.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted he was at fault for the car crash he was involved in on July 14, which led to numerous injuries that have him limited at training camp.

Shanahan called beat reporters into his office on Monday to clarify that he was the one who caused the accident. The California Highway Patrol database had a “clerical error” attributing the accident to the woman involved in the two-car crash, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.

“He took eyes off the road briefly to find his phone which fell between seats and when he looked up he had gone over the line and into an SUV,” Wagoner wrote on X.

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San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan watches from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Florida, on Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Shanahan was in violation of holding and operating a cell phone while driving, but he wasn’t cited for it following the crash.

Reporters who spoke with Shanahan also mentioned him saying he didn’t lose consciousness or have any amnesia after the accident. He also noted he was traveling 20 mph at the time of the crash.

ESPN’s initial report of the crash said the woman didn’t suffer any injuries, but Shanahan sustained broken ribs, a broken nose and broken hand, while also suffering a severe concussion. Additionally, he needed 40 stitches to close cuts on his face.

KYLE SHANAHAN ‘THIS CLOSE’ TO LOSING HIS RIGHT EYE IN HORRIBLE CAR CRASH, NFL ANALYST REVEALS

During a Monday taping of “PFT Live,” Chris Simms, a close friend of Shanahan, revealed the 49ers coach nearly lost his right eye after viewing pictures sent to him by Shanahan’s wife after the crash.

“When you first see it, and it’s fresh, and some of the cuts are still wide open, I mean, it’s jarring,” Simms explained. “It’s jarring.

“He was this close to maybe losing his right eye.”

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan speaks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Santa Clara, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Simms pointed to his forehead when he said, “The scar is so big right here.” He also said that Shanahan was feeling emotional about the situation when they were able to connect.

“He was emotional about it because he realized how close it was to being just a complete, you know, utter disaster,” Simms said. “Like, really, it was a disaster anyways. But, when you’re a part of that accident, like I said, he could have lost his right eye. It could have been a lot worse. You know, he’s very concerned about the woman he got in the accident with and how she is and handling that situation. So there’s just a lot there. And I think it was a lot for him to process.”

GM John Lynch said that, “Kyle basically is going to be like in the protocol,” in reference to his concussion. Simms said it is giving him “some issues” he must deal with through the healing process.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, left, reacts next to defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, middle, during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Santa Clara, California, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

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While Shanahan serves his team on a limited basis, Chris Foerster, the 49ers’ assistant head coach, is acting in his place.

The 49ers open the season against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 10 in the first-ever game played in Australia.

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plan to create a $20 billion company running the World Cup with private investors including the Kushner family was announced Tuesday — and immediately attacked by European soccer body UEFA. “It is not FIFA’s to sell,” UEFA said in a statement. “None of us are the owners of football.” FRANCE 24’s James Vasina reports. 

Few things in life are certain beyond death, taxes, and Tadej Pogacar winning the Tour de France. This year’s Grande Boucle went almost entirely as expected, offering few real surprises or diversions from the status quo, as the marauding Slovenian won another five stages en route to his record-equalling fifth title.

His place in the pantheon of greats had already been cemented and there are few superlatives left to describe his grip on the sport. He is now equal with cycling legends in the form of Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain on five wins; his 26 stage wins leave him nine off the record of Mark Cavendish, who will be wishing he’d postponed retirement by another year or two.

There could have been more had Pogacar not opted to babysit young teammate Isaac del Toro to a stage win, third place on the podium, and the best young rider’s jersey too. Pogacar is able to win at will but sometimes seems happier in the role of world’s most powerful domestique; perhaps the only thing holding him back from an unprecedented sixth title is whether he can muster the enthusiasm for it. At 27, he is younger than all of his fellow five-time winners were and will be in his prime for a while yet.

But while the Pogacar era looks set to continue for some time, the post-Pogacar era already looks to be one to savour. Those left cold by the two-time world champion’s iron grip on the sport can set a reminder to tune in in a couple of seasons’ time, or perhaps as early as this autumn’s Vuelta, should Pogacar skip it – as expected – to target a third rainbow jersey.

Because while Pogacar has no real rivals, the rung of grand tour racers below him is in rude health. Much had been made before this Tour of the rapid rise of French 19-year-old Paul Seixas, who won European bronze behind Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel in an attritional race last year and continued his rapid progress this season, coming second to the Slovenian at Strade Bianche and Liege-Bastogne-Liege and winning a WorldTour stage race at the Tour of the Basque Country.

That hype appears justified after he finished fourth in his debut Grand Tour, a rather Pogacar-like result (he came third at the Vuelta a Espana in his first three-week race and was then sent straight to the Tour, after which, the rest is history). Seixas faded in the final week having been just 20 seconds off the podium after stage 16’s individual time trial, but the maturity and composure with which he rode was remarkable. France have had many Grand Tour hopefuls who have never fulfilled that early promise but the Lyonnais teenager looks to have both the climbing pedigree and the racing nous to deliver on it in years to come.

He also looks to be at the start of a fascinating rivalry with del Toro, the 22-year-old Mexican who already has podium places at the Giro d’Italia and Tour to his name. While he remains at UAE Team Emirates-XRG he will only ever be a superdomestique to Pogacar, but on the basis of those two podiums he should be the squad’s leader at any grand tour the Slovenian misses. He was unable to win the mountainous stage 15, towed up the same Plateau de Solaison climb by Pogacar which he mastered solo at the recent Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, where he won the overall, but was a clear third-best over the course of three weeks.

That stage was won by Evenepoel, who in many ways was the breakout star of this Tour despite already being a proven winner and former grand tour champion himself. The Belgian has had to endure plenty of criticism since his 2022 victory at the Vuelta a Espana, with many questioning his capability over three weeks and in the most gruelling mountain passes.

But over the last two seasons he has made himself leaner, a better climber, and a more durable rider, and that was evident here, as he recovered from a patchy first week to cement his best-of-the-rest status in the high mountains in the third; he was nearly three minutes clear of del Toro, despite the Mexican being shepherded along by Pogacar in the closing stages. Evenepoel’s teammate Florian Lipowitz, third at the Tour last year, is another consistent rider who had looked set to challenge for the podium before crashing out in the time trial.

Evenepoel’s much-debated transfer from Soudal-QuickStep to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, in the hopes of making him a real Tour de France challenger, has paid off. The 26-year-old’s outspokenness and strength of character is an additional boon for the sport amid an increasingly sanitised, media-trained peloton.

It would have been fascinating to see how Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard would have handled the challengers in the Alpine final week, having looked far from secure in second place until that point and with Evenepoel in particular steadily improving in both form and confidence. His crash on an innocuous bend on stage 15, having been subjected to a 2am doping test mere hours before, robbed the Tour of an explosive battle for the remaining podium places.

Rumours abound of Vingegaard considering retirement after every demoralising defeat to Pogacar, and just like after last year’s Tour he has a point to prove, with a host of challengers rising up behind him. He responded last year by winning the Vuelta in dominant fashion and backed that up with victory at this year’s Giro.

But while Pogacar remains supreme, an immovable object at the top of the sport, the landscape around him is changing. Vingegaard is the best stage racer after him – but with the rise of Evenepoel, del Toro and Seixas, how long will that last? Cycling is on the cusp of a fascinating new era, and crucially, one which even those bored by Pogacar can look forward to.

If you didn’t believe Aaron Rodgers when he first said this would be his final season, maybe now it will sink in.

Rodgers, who re-signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason and said that his 22nd NFL season will be his last, reiterated his desire to retire at training camp on Monday.

“This is it,” the 42-year-old told media members at a press conference.

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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers listens to head coach Mike McCarthy during NFL practice in Pittsburgh on May 20, 2026. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

The thought of retirement has hovered around Rodgers for quite some time now, including this offseason, when the Steelers, and the rest of the NFL, for that matter, waited patiently to see if this was indeed the end of his career.

The Steelers, meanwhile, hired Mike McCarthy as their next head coach after parting ways with longtime sideline leader Mike Tomlin. McCarthy and Rodgers have the obvious rapport of winning together as Green Bay Packers. They spent 15 seasons at Lambeau Field.

STEELERS LEGEND JEROME BETTIS SAYS THERE’S ‘EXCITEMENT IN THE AIR’ AS AARON RODGERS RETURNS FOR FINAL SEASON

Rodgers admitted McCarthy’s hiring was a key part of him wanting to ride out one more season into the sunset.

“I thought last year might be it and then Mike got hired, and then talked to the wife and she said, ‘You can do one more year. See if it works out.’ And then it kinda all came together,” he said.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers listens to a question during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

When one reporter brought up that Rodgers’ top receiver, DK Metcalf, had said players often claim it’s their last season only to return, Rodgers doubled down.

“No, zero debate,” he responded.

Rodgers said the same thing in May during a press conference after signing his one-year pact with the Steelers, which he joined after a lowly tenure with the New York Jets.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks on after being sacked during the first half of the NFL Wild Card game against the Houston Texans at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Jan. 12, 2026. (Michael Longo/For USA Today Network-PA / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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In his first season with the Steelers in 2025, Rodgers went 10-6, throwing for 3,322 yards with a 65.7% completion rate and 24 touchdowns with seven interceptions.

The Steelers also bolstered its offense this season, adding veteran wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts. They also signed Rico Dowdle to work with Jaylen Warren in the backfield after Kenneth Gainwell, who Rodgers loved to dump the ball to, landed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason.

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Danny Welbeck is not the only former Manchester United striker who is on the move this summer.

Javier Hernandez is a) still playing after turning 38 earlier this summer, and b) has signed for Atletico Dallas, who are due to start playing in the USL Championship, a level below Major League Soccer, next year. The move follows his departure from his boyhood club, Guadalajara, at the end of last year after two seasons back playing in Mexico.

Chicharito becomes the first player in Dallas history, some 20 months on from their founding. He has signed a two-year contract, with an option for a third.

Carl Froch has assessed Anthony Joshua’s punch resistance after seeing the Brit suffer two knockdowns in the opening round of his clash with Kristian Prenga.

The two heavyweights collided in what was designed as a warm-up fight for ‘AJ’, who had not fought since his sixth-round stoppage of Jake Paul in December.

More importantly, this was his first outing since being involved in a car crash that claimed the lives of his two close friends in Nigeria.

Yet despite him grappling with the psychological scars of that tragedy in December, Joshua was widely expected to dispatch Prenga within two rounds last Saturday.

That he did so was hardly the main talking point, however, as the 36-year-old was forced to climb off the canvas after getting caught with a right uppercut within the first 20 seconds of their contest.

Joshua was then floored a second time in the opening round, before finally orchestrating the result that many had anticipated.

A day earlier, Tyson Fury had gone seven rounds with a 46-year-old Mariusz Wach in Thailand, where he seemed a shadow of his former self but nonetheless emerged victorious without any real bother.

But while the two Brits inch closer towards their long-awaited showdown, Froch has said on his YouTube channel that Joshua should seriously consider hanging up the gloves, believing the former heavyweight champion is ‘shot to bits.’

“Anthony Joshua is f**king shot to bits. Let’s be honest: AJ shouldn’t be anywhere near a ring, let alone inside a ring.

“He came out [and] was a little bit unsure of himself [against Prenga]. Okay, fine, but he’s fit and strong and has trained for however many weeks.

“Once the punch resistance is gone, it’s game over. We’ve seen it with Amir Khan; we’ve seen it with top fighters over the years.

“AJ can’t take a punch. The only caveat is that he’s fighting Tyson Fury, who also looked pretty shocking [against Wach].”

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Despite Froch’s calls for retirement, it does appear that Joshua and Fury will square off in the not too distant future.

There has been plenty of debate surrounding Anthony Joshua‘s dramatic victory against Kristian Prenga over the last few days.

Joshua avoided a huge upset as he recovered from two knockdowns inside the opening three minutes to stop Prenga in round two, paving the way for his long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury later this year.

Some fans have questioned how the fight played out after round one, with broadcaster Simon Jordan one of the more high profile voices suggesting that there was something ‘not quite right’.

Not having that … #anthonyjoshua fight ..:

Dropped twice and sets the tempo, how’s that ? … Prenga totally different in 2nd

Something not quite right , all designed to rinse maximum amount of money …

— Simon Jordan (@Sjopinion10) July 25, 2026

1. Joshua’s team have now responded to those claims, as Oleksandr Usyk team director and now ‘AJ’ team member Sergey Lapin has dismissed it as nothing other than ‘someone’s imagination’ whilst speaking to Action Network.

“What do I think of Simon Jordan’s comments? I suppose they also told Prenga to walk straight into a punch that weighed one and a half tonnes. Everyone is entitled to their own theories. I have a friend who still believes the Earth is flat and that space doesn’t exist.

“Personally, I’d rather discuss what actually happened inside the ring than someone else’s imagination.”

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With any outlandish suggestions of foul play now put to bed, attention will quickly turn to the clash with Fury, who was victorious in his own warm-up bout in Thailand on Friday when he defeated Mariusz Wach by seventh round retirement.

As for Prenga, he could land another big opportunity after his showing against Joshua, with Dave Allen already one of the names that has called out the Albanian for a future fight.