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Klitschko Jr. can fight with the Nigerian
The IBF championship belt in the most prestigious weight category is now held by American Chris Byrd. He must defend his title against Devarril Williamson, and the winner of this fight will later meet in the ring with whoever turns out to be stronger in the Klitschko Jr. - Peter fight. On the other hand, Peter himself and his managers have not yet fully decided which title they should get involved in. The Nigerian, who has not lost a single one of 24 fights in his professional career (and he completed 21 ahead of schedule), is ready to claim the World Boxing Council (WBC) championship belt. If he agrees on a fight with the Turkish Sinan Samil Sam and defeats the boxer nicknamed the Bull of the Bosphorus, then in this case Peter will receive the status of an official challenger and has the right to request a fight against the current champion, which is now Vitali Klitschko. Vladimir ILYIN
Petrakov headed Rostov
The Premier League club Rostov, which occupies last place in the Russian Championship standings, has changed its coach. Instead of Gennady Stepushkin, who was dismissed on Sunday, the team was headed by Valery Petrakov, who was fired from Moscow last week without explanation. Petrakov arrived in Rostov yesterday for negotiations with club owner Ivan Savvidi and almost immediately signed a contract. In the evening, the new coach was already introduced to the team players and conducted the first training session.
Petrakov is tasked with maintaining his place in the Premier League. So far, Rostov, with 11 points after 16 matches, occupies the last line in the standings, 5 points behind 14th place. Andrey VDOVIN
UEFA will test for doping without warning
The European Football Union is tightening doping controls for teams that compete in the Champions League and UEFA Cup. From now on, players from the 32 teams that will qualify to play in the group stage of the Champions League can be tested for doping at any time, and not on match days, as was previously the case. Moreover, football players will be tested for blood doping and the presence of erythropoietin.
Due to increased control, UEFA plans to test at least 960 football players for doping this season. For this purpose, UEFA has created an anti-doping department and allocated additional funds. Officials of the European Football Union have already sent out new requirements to all clubs participating in European cups. Andrey VDOVIN
Zelezny returned to the javelin throwing sector
Athletics competitions of the Grand Prix series were held in Thessaloniki (Greece). Their main event was the return of three-time Olympic champion Czech Jan Zelezny to the javelin section. Due to an Achilles tendon injury, he has not taken part in official competitions since September last year. The Czech demonstrated that he was in good shape after the forced downtime - Zelezny won with a score of 83 m 43 cm, ahead of the silver medalist of the tournament, Latvian Aivars Kovals, by 2 m 75 cm.
Representatives of Russia won in the disciplines. Nadezhda Bazhenova flew farther than all her competitors in the triple jump sector - 14 m 31 cm. Elena Sidorchenkova excelled in the non-Olympic event - the 3000 m steeplechase - with a result of 9.42.70. The winners included Natalya Gorelova, who took third place in the 800 m race, and Olga Chernyavskaya, who climbed to the bottom step of the podium in discus throwing. In the men's high jump, seven participants cleared the bar at a height of 2 m 20 cm, but in terms of the number of attempts spent, Vyacheslav Voronin is listed only as fifth in the final protocol. The winner in this type of program was Czech Tomas Janku. Ilya TRISVIATSKY
Bodiroga will not appear in Russia
Two-time world and European champion 32-year-old Serbian basketball player Dejan Bodiroga, who played for the Spanish Barcelona last season, signed a contract with the Italian club Virtus.
This summer, two leading Russian teams also showed some interest in Bodiroga - the country's champions, the capital's army team, and especially Dynamo Moscow, which has recently been led by Bodiroga's compatriot Dusan Ivkovic. However, one of the most titled active European basketball players chose a different option. As part of various teams, Dejan won prestigious continental club trophies four times. He became the champion of another unified Euroleague 2000, being a player of the Greek Panathinaikos, then with the same team he celebrated success in the Euroleague ULEB 2002, and the next season he repeated this triumph with Barcelona. Bodiroga became the winner of the Saporta Cup much earlier - in 1997, playing for Real Madrid. By not going to Russia, the Serb lost the unique opportunity to have championship titles from four leading European countries in his collection. Now Bodiroga’s collection includes gold medals won in the championships of Spain, Italy and Greece. Ilya TRISVIATSKY
Panova wins in Cincinnati
Russian Tatyana Panova achieved success in the first round match of the third category BTA tournament taking place in Cincinnati (USA) with a prize fund of 170 thousand dollars. Panova prevailed over the eighth-seeded Czech Kveta Peschke, better known by her maiden name Hrdlichkova, - - 6:4, 7:6 (8:6). Alina Zhidkova, who permanently resides in the USA, lost to Korean Yun Yun Cho - 6:7 (5:7), 3:6. Panova will meet with this Asian woman in the second round. Another Russian woman is participating in this tournament - Vera Zvonareva, who is number two. Vladimir ILYIN