Sports
Conor Benn shows true colours after losing to Chris Eubank Jr and picks his next fight | Boxing | Sport
Conor Benn teased a potential rematch with Chris Eubank Jr in a classy interview after losing to his bitter rival via unanimous decision. The highly-anticipated bout went the way of the older fighter, who honoured his legendary father by claiming the spoils after 12 punishing rounds. Neither man left anything on the table in a fight which clearly meant more than just winning.
All three judges scored it 116-112 in favour of Eubank despite how close it was from the first bell to the final seconds of the last round. Benn was visibly distraught as the decision was read out and appeared to be holding back tears as he embraced his father Nigel. He kept it classy in his post-fight interview, though, as he refused to dispute the outcome.
Benn also played down his bitter war of words with the Eubank camp before the bout, dismissing it as nothing more than fighting talk.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe fourteen months out of the ring played a factor. That’d be the only thing, inactivity. Apart from that, I felt like it was a close fight. I’m not going to go ‘yeah I think I won it’ and all that.
“I’ve got to watch it back. I know it was close. I stayed on the ropes maybe a bit too long. He worked harder towards the end. But I’ll have to watch it back.
“I enjoyed it and a massive thank you to all my supporters who came out. Some homecoming. We always knew Chris is a good fighter. All the fighting talk is fighting talk. He’s a good fighter.”
Benn went on to insist that while he would be open to a rematch with Eubank, he would also be happy to return to welterweight and face Mario Barrios for a world title shot.
“If we don’t do the rematch, which I’d love to avenge that loss, I’ll drop down to welterweight and win the WBC world title,” he added. “It’s either Mario Barrios or the rematch with Eubank. Whichever happens next, I’ll be content with.”
His father Nigel also spoke in the immediate aftermath of the fight to emphasise the importance of losing gracefully. He made it clear that he was proud of his son despite the result, pledging to examine what went wrong and go back to the drawing board.
“I thought he did really well,” said the elder Benn. “He’ll learn a lot from this. He’ll come back stronger. He was working too much on the ropes.
“He should’ve been off the ropes, but we’re not taking anything away from Chris. It’s his night. We can handle defeat gracefully, you know what I mean? Now we go back to the drawing board and look where we went wrong. That’s it.”
Sports
FIFA chiefs stage Gianni Infantino protest with mass walk-out after Saudi Arabia furore | Football | Sport
Senior FIFA figures staged a walk-out in protest over Gianni Infantino’s late arrival at their latest congress in Asuncion, Paraguay. The controversial FIFA president had been forced to apologise after delaying the high-profile meeting several times due to joining Donald Trump’s tour of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Infantino made a late decision to join U.S. President Trump’s delegation in the Middle East. The meeting of the FIFA Council had already been delayed to Thursday and changed to a virtual event, having initially been scheduled to take place in person on Tuesday. Infantino had been present for meetings between President Trump and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.
While Infantino was touring with the 78-year-old, representatives from worldwide football associations were holding meetings in his absence in Asuncion. Frustration with his decision to travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar is said to have boiled over.
In a further delay, Thursday’s meeting was moved back to 12:30pm after Infantino’s flight was held up. Reports this evening suggested that European delegates would walk out during the break after Infantino’s speech to show their displeasure over the situation. However, several members of the FIFA Council ended up leaving as part of the protest.
Among those reported by The Times to have walked out are FA chairwoman Debbie Hewitt and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. Several senior members of the congress made their displeasure known as Infantino spoke.
After finally arriving at the FIFA congress, Infantino said: “As president of FIFA, my responsibility is to make decisions in the interests of the organisation. I decided to be the last two days in the Middle East knowing the 2034 World Cup will be in Saudi Arabia and the World Cup in 2022 was in Qatar.
“The ‘25 Club World Cup and ‘26 World Cup will be in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Some important discussions took place in regard to the World Cup, and I felt that I needed to be there to represent football and all of you.
“We had an issue with our flight, which made this delay happen. Apologies. Sorry, and I am looking forward to spending time with you here.”
Infantino has been FIFA president since 2016 but his management of the global football governing body has split opinion in recent years. He has previously defended his close alliance with President Trump as “critical” due to the USA’s joint-hosting of the 2026 World Cup.
Sports
Golf LIVE: Rory McIlroy buries rivals at PGA Championship as fourth big player withdraws | Golf | Sport
No doubting the star attraction today with Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele off together on the 10th at 1.22pm.
Selected groups:
12pm: Luke Donald (Eng), Padraig Harrington (Ire), Martin Kaymer (Ger).
6:03pm: Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Adam Scott (Aus), Will Zalatoris (US).
6:14pm: Dustin Johnson (US), Collin Morikawa (US), Justin Thomas (US).
6.25pm: Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Patrick Reed (US), Jordan Spieth (US).
6:47pm: Bryson DeChambeau (US), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Gary Woodland (US).
7:09pm: Brian Harman (US), Justin Rose (Eng), Cameron Smith (Aus)
Starting at Hole 10:
12:38pm: Rickie Fowler (US), Brooks Koepka (US), Shane Lowry (Ire).
12:49pm: Jason Day (Aus), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Phil Mickelson (US).
1pm: Patrick Cantlay (US), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Jon Rahm (Spa).
1:22pm: Rory McIlroy (NI), Xander Schauffele (US), Scottie Scheffler (US)
Coco Gauff has apologised to her doubles partner at the Italian Open for her standard of play during their matches.
Gauff and Alexandra Eala lost in the quarter-finals to home duo Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani, but had won two matches to make it that far.
The American felt that she was to blame for their disappointment, pointing out that Eala saved them from an earlier exit.
“And in our match yesterday, she definitely got MVP for that,” Gauff said. “I was just kind of there. So, I told her sometimes I forget how to play because sometimes it’s been a while. It’s just one of those things.
“You know how they say, you don’t forget how to ride a bike, doubles you definitely forget how to play.
“I told her I’m like a deer on ice at the net, that’s what I feel like. Many times I’ve apologised to her, but she’s quick, she’s fast, so she’s there to cover me.”
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