Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Find out which professional golfers support which Premier League teams.
The 2022 British Open begins on Thursday at the legendary Old Course at St Andrews, with golf’s biggest stars descending on the United Kingdom.
Many of those same players will be closely watching next month when the Premier League kicks off in England, just a short train ride away from their current location in Scotland.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at which Premier League teams some of the biggest names in golf support.
The fight between Dave Allen and Dorian Darch on Saturday in Sheffield, England is under investigation after an unusual spike in betting.
A fixed fight?
Allegations are under investigation by the British Boxing Board of Control and the Gambling Commission, which have begun a probe of a heavyweight fight Saturday in Sheffield England, according to a report in the Sun.
The Sun reported that BBBofC secretary Robert Smith confirmed Monday that an investigation is underway
A suspicious spike in betting on Dave Allen’s third round stoppage of Dorian Darch prompted the investigation.
Allen, a 9-2 favorite, struggled through the first two rounds of the scheduled six-rounder. In the third, he stopped Darch. A couple of hours before the bout, there was a reported spike in wagers on an Allen to win in the third. According to SunSport, SkyBet detected the sudden surge in bets and alerted other betting shops in the U.K.
Darch (12-12, 10 KOs) was knocked down twice in the third. The first knockdown appears to the result of a glancing left hook.
Including Saturday, Darch has lost seven straight fights, all by stoppage. He hasn’t won a fight since July 2016. He denied on social media that there was any wrongdoing.
“Should have chucked a couple of quid on myself if I knew lol,’’ Darch said on Twitter
Allen (18-5-2, 15 KOs) also responded, saying: “People were saying it was a fix because I was planning on it being a six-round move around.
“A few of my mates had a lot of money on the points win and it didn’t come in, but I am not the sort of guy who picks a round to win, I am not really good enough to do that.’’
Terri Harper is the new junior lightweight titleholder, beating Eva Wahlstrom by unanimous decision at the Sheffield Arena.
Move aside, Katie Taylor. There is a new name on the U.K. women’s boxing scene.
Yorkshire’s Terri Harper (10-0, 5 KOs) outpointed Finnish veteran Eva Wahlstrom (23-2-2, 3 KOs) over 10 rounds to become a new women’s junior lightweight titleholder on the Kell Brook-Mark DeLuca card Saturday at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, England.
The judges scored it 98-91, 99-90, and 99-90, all for the 23-year-old Harper.
After a closely contested first half, Harper shifted the momentum in her favor when she dropped Wahlstrom midway through Round 7. Though it was a flash knockdown more than anything, it seemed to allow Harper to open up her offense. Toward the end of Round 8, Harper hurt Wahlstrom with a flurry.
Also, Kid Galahad inched closer to a chance to avenge his loss to titleholder Josh Warrington last summer. The featherweight contender dominated Claudio Marrero, stopping the Dominican after eight rounds in a scheduled 12-rounder.
It was for the most part a typical Galahad fight: tedious and a bit ugly. In Round 4, Galahad was warned by referee Howard Foster for repeatedly using his forearms to push away the southpaw Marrero. Galahad fought at his desired pace, picking away at the one-dimensional Marrero with single punches as he maneuvered around the ring, switching stances.
Galahad (27-1, 16 KOs) eventually turned it up in Round 7, connecting cleanly on hard combinations that had Marrero reeling. Concerned, Referee Foster checked in on Marrero (24-4, 17 KOs) during the break. Galahad continued the onslaught in the next round. After the end of Round 8, Marrero’s corner decided to throw in the towel.
With the win, Galahad once again becomes the mandatory challenger for the Leeds-based Warrington.
Kell Brook shook off the cobwebs to defeat Mark DeLuca in the seventh round of a junior middleweight bout at Sheffield Arena.
Kell Brook still has some gas left in the tank.
The former welterweight titleholder returned from a 14-month layoff to stop American journeyman Mark DeLuca inside seven rounds of a scheduled 12-round junior middleweight bout Saturday at the Sheffield Arena in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England.
The gulf in class between the two fighters was evident from the opening round. In Round 7, Brook put on the finishing touches by connecting on a counter left hand that dropped his opponent for the second time in the fight. The referee counted out the bloodied DeLuca.
“I felt very fit,” Brook said when asked post-fight to assess his performance. “Obviously a year and a half, I felt a little bit rusty, but once I got a bit into it … (DeLuca) was tough, he’s never been stopped.”
Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) has struggled in recent years. He sustained orbital bone fractures in his knockout losses to Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. and was stabbed in the leg while on vacation in Tenerife. He has also difficulty making the welterweight limit.
With the win over DeLuca, Brook promised a new beginning as he aims to become a two-division titleholder.
“I’m a new kid, I’m a new person,” he said. “I’m constantly in the gym. I’m living like a professional. … 2020 is the year that I become a champion again.”
A possible opponent is Liverpool’s Liam Smith, who was sitting ringside. Both fighters are promoted by Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn. Asked if that fight interested him, Brook responded, “Of course it does. I don’t shy away from any fighter. I’ve sparred him. We’ll sit down with Eddie (Hearn) this week.”
The southpaw DeLuca (24-2, 13 KOs) was competitive in the first couple of rounds as Brook felt him out and shook off rust but it was all downhill for the Massachusetts product beginning in Round 3, when Brook knocked DeLuca to the canvas for the first time in the fight with a combination. DeLuca was able to shake it off and gamely went right after Brook, who answered with an uppercut that buckled him. By that point, DeLuca’s face was a bloody mess.
DeLuca started off strong in Round 4, landing a right hand that momentarily caused Brook to hold, but Brook would answer back, staggering DeLuca with straight rights to close out the round as the pro-Brook crowd went into a frenzy.
This was Brook’s first bout since his win over Michael Zerafa in December 2018.
