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If there is a lesson to be found in keeping the faith when faced with setbacks, look no further than the career of Anthony Cacace.
On Saturday in Dublin’s 3 Arena, the 37-year-old bids to become a two-time super-featherweight world champion when taking on WBA holder James ‘Jazza’ Dickens.
However, for much of his professional career, Cacace was something of a forgotten man.
His talent was never in question, but breaks were measured in x-rays rather than opportunities with injuries, opponent withdrawals and cancellations all too common.
Nonetheless, he kept grinding and grafting, pads by day and pizza delivery by night; waiting, hoping and believing his time would come.
The big chance arrived in May 2024 against IBF champion Joe Cordina on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk v Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Back with his old amateur team headed by Michael Hawkins, Cacace – born to a Belfast mother and Italian father – grabbed the opportunity with both hands, returning home to a hero’s welcome and given the ultimate honour of a mural painted close to his parents’ Andersonstown home in the west of the city to mark the occasion.
He hasn’t looked back, defeating Josh Warrington at Wembley Stadium later that year and after vacating the IBF title, beating Leigh Wood in Nottingham in May 2025, improving his record to 24 wins with one defeat.
“Fighting for my second world title, things can’t get better than that,” Cacace told BBC Sport NI as he prepared for another training day at Holy Trinity Boxing Club.
“I’ve had my fair share of letdowns and pull-outs at the last minute, but I can’t complain because it’s been all in God’s plan. I really do genuinely believe everything that’s happened has happened for a reason to set me up for times like these.
“To be up here with the boys [coaching team]: Ruairi [Dalton], Michael [Hawkins Jr], Barry [O’Neill], Micky [Hawkins] Sr – it’s been set for me, I genuinely believe.
“It’s like a dream come true, and I’m just really enjoying where I’m at at the moment.”
Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points, and the Clippers beat the New York Knicks 126-118 at Intuit Dome on Monday night to climb back to .500 for the first time since early November.
The Clippers are 32-32 and have won five of their first six games in March as they try to improve their potential position in the NBA play-in tournament. They began the season in a 6-21 tailspin.
It was Leonard’s 42nd straight game with 20-plus points, the second-longest active streak in the NBA and third-longest in team history.
Mathurin scored 22 in the second half off the bench as one of five Clippers in double figures. Darius Garland had 23 points and seven assists in his second start.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, 12 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out in the final seconds. Jalen Brunson added 28 points and OG Anunoby had 22 points.
Buoyed by chants of “Let’s go Knicks!” at Intuit Dome, New York cut its deficit from 15 points with a 17-9 run, including six in a row from Brunson, to go into the fourth trailing 88-81.
The Knicks three times closed within five over the final four minutes. But the Clippers controlled the final two minutes, helped by Mathurin’s three-point play and a three-pointer by Derrick Jones Jr.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard celebrates a basket during a win over the Knicks on Monday at Intuit Dome.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Standing third in the Eastern Conference race, the Knicks split the season series with the Clippers, and have not beaten them in Los Angeles since 2022. New York has dropped three of four.
The Clippers opened the game by making four consecutive three-pointers and led most of the first half, which ended in a scoring duel between Leonard and Towns. Leonard scored 10 in a row for the Clippers and Towns had eight straight for the Knicks, who trailed 64-55 at the break.
Up next for the Clippers: vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves at Intuit Dome on Wednesday.
Watch highlights as West Ham reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in 10 years by defeating London rivals Brentford 5-3 on penalties.
Travis Kelce will return for another season with the Kansas City Chiefs, who have also agreed a deal to sign Kenneth Walker, according to reports.
Kelce, a three-time Super Bowl winner, has spent his entire NFL career with the Chiefs and the veteran tight end is out of contract after his 13th season.
But a social media post, external by New Heights, the podcast he produces with his brother Jason, said: “He’s back! Travis Kelce is back with the Chiefs for year 14.”
Kansas City hoped the 36-year-old would commit to another season and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Kelce has turned down more lucrative offers, external from other teams to agree a one-year deal worth up to $15m (£11.2m).
After reaching five Super Bowls in six years, the Chiefs missed the play-offs last season for the first time since the 2014 campaign.
During the regular season, Walker passed 1,000 rushing yards for the second time in four years with the Seattle Seahawks, and the 25-year-old then helped fill the void after fellow running back Zach Charbonnet suffered a torn ACL in the play-offs.
Walker led the NFL for most carries (65), rushing yards (313) and rushing touchdowns (four) during the post-season, becoming the first running back to be the Super Bowl MVP since 1998.
Champions Seattle were willing to let Walker test the free agency market and he will become the first Super Bowl MVP to immediately switch to a new team since 2003.
The Chargers aren’t hesitating when it comes to bolstering their run-blocking options for new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, reportedly agreeing to terms Monday with former Baltimore Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar.
Kolar and the Chargers agreed to a three-year, $24.3-million deal that includes $17 million in guarantees, NFL Media reported.
Widely considered the best run-blocking tight end available ahead of free agency, Kolar should help an uneven Chargers running attack that forced coach Jim Harbaugh to often rely too much on quarterback Justin Herbert — even when his running backs were healthy.
Kolar can also help complement tight end Oronde Gadsden II in the passing game when necessary, but he should mostly serve as a replacement for Will Dissly, who was released by the team last week. It’s also no coincidence that Kolar played for Harbaugh’s brother, John, in Baltimore and was drafted in 2022 when Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz was the director of player personnel for the Ravens.
Kolar, 27, had 10 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns last season. In four seasons with the Ravens, he had 30 catches for 409 yards and four touchdowns.
Like most Chargers offseasons, it’s clear Hortiz is prioritizing ways to add to the Chargers’ offense while also bolstering its protection options. On Sunday, the team agreed to terms with Alec Ingold, reuniting the former Miami Dolphins fullback with McDaniel.
The famed Magic City adult entertainment club won’t be featured at next week’s Atlanta Hawks promotional night, the NBA announced on Monday.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged concerns from others in the league on Monday, saying that his decision to cancel the collaboration is in the best interests of the “broader NBA community.”
“While we appreciate the team’s perspective and their desire to move forward,” he said in a statement, “we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners and employees.”
The Hawks announced its “Magic City Monday” promotion in late February, featuring a halftime performance by Atlanta-based artist T.I., a collaborative hoodie and the offering of some of the club’s popular wings, including the lemon-pepper variety named after former Hawks player Lou Williams.
Hawks principal owner Jami Gertz was a producer on “Magic City: An American Fantasy,” a docuseries that aired on Starz. Still, the team’s decision to collaborate with the Atlanta strip club ruffled some feathers in the NBA.
San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet asked the Hawks to cancel the promotional night in a post on Medium last week, saying that it would “reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society.”
Others had argued that Magic City is a big part of Atlanta culture and should be celebrated as such.
The Hawks wrote in a statement on Monday that it was disappointed with the NBA’s decision but would respect it.
Rapper T.I. will still perform at halftime, but the live recording of the Hawks AF Podcast featuring Gertz, T.I. and Magic City founder Michael Barney was canceled. Fans who pre-ordered the collaboration hoodie will still receive one, but the sweatshirts won’t be available for purchase at the game, the Hawks wrote on X.
“As a franchise, we remain committed to celebrating the best of Atlanta — with authenticity — in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together,” the Hawks wrote.
Times staff writer Chuck Schilken contributed to this report
The head of anti-discrimination body Kick It Out says that initial proposals by English football’s independent regulator “put equality, diversity and inclusion on the subs bench”.
The watchdog for the top five tiers of the men’s game is devising a new code of governance, with clubs having to show what they are doing to tackle under-representation of minorities in order to be granted a licence.
In correspondence sent to the independent football regulator (IFR) as part of a consultation process – and seen by BBC Sport – Kick It Out claims that the proposed measures are “inadequate”.
“[It] doesn’t go far enough in addressing the stubborn challenges that the game currently sees,” said Kick It Out chief executive Samuel Okafor.
“We’ve been really clear with the regulator in terms of the gap that currently exists. And the gap is significant.
“We’re really concerned that what we’ve seen in the first proposal, in essence, puts EDI [equality, diversity and inclusion] on the subs bench, [and] maintains the status quo.
“It’s really important that the regulator uses the powers that it has to drive the change that we all want to see.”
Among a series of recommendations, Kick It Out says it wants annual publication of clubs’ workforce diversity data, and every club to have board-level accountability for EDI.
Last month, police confirmed they were investigating after four Premier League players experienced online racial abuse over the course of one weekend, and Okafor said the spate of incidents showed why change was required.
“It should send a message to the regulators [over] the importance of why EDI really matters, why they need to prioritise it, why they need to take it seriously,” he said.
In response, an IFR spokesperson said that it will shortly be launching a second consultation on its licensing policy, “and so it is premature to assert deficiencies in our approach to EDI”.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Adrian Kempe scored his second goal of the game with 1:26 left in overtime to give the Kings a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
With the victory, the Kings moved within a point of Seattle in the race for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
Columbus tied the score late for the second straight home game. Kirill Marchenko scored on the power play at 18:04 to force the extra period.
Brian Dumoulin had a goal and two assists. Scott Laughton scored for the second straight game since joining the Kings from Toronto and added an assist. Artemi Panarin also scored. Anton Forsberg made 28 saves for the Kings in the opener of a five-game trip.
Connor Garland scored twice — his first goals since coming to Columbus from Vancouver — and Denton Mateychuk added a goal and an assist. Jet Greaves made 26 saves for Columbus, which has lost two straight at home.
The Blue Jackets are two points behind Boston in the race for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot, and three points behind the Islanders for third in the Metropolitan Division.
The Kings killed off a high-sticking double minor to start the game before Dumoulin set up Laughton in front of the net at 6:46 of the first. Panarin made it 2-0 at 14:47 with his second goal since joining the Kings from the New York Rangers on Feb. 4.
Garland cut the lead in half with 2:25 left in the period, snapping a career-long 24-game scoring drought. Mateychuk tied it with 9:07 remaining in the second period, and Garland’s second goal put Columbus ahead 81 seconds later.
The lead was short-lived as Kempe tied the game with 5:51 remaining in the second period. Kopitar’s assist was his 167th on a game-tying goal, the most in Kings history.
Dumoulin scored with 9:53 left in the third period, but Marchenko tied it with a power-play goal with 1:56 left,
Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who missed 42 games earlier this season due to injury, left in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
The game had a rare afternoon weekday start after being rescheduled from Jan. 26 because of a blizzard in Columbus.
Tottenham‘s Djed Spence a target for Juventus, Real Madrid put Mauricio Pochettino on managerial shortlist, Liverpool consider move for French winger Moussa Diaby.
Liverpool are giving serious thought to signing 26-year-old Al-Ittihad and France winger Moussa Diaby, with the former Aston Villa man keen to leave the Saudi Pro League club this summer. (Teamtalk), external
Real Madrid have the USA head coach and former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino on the shortlist of candidates to replace Alvaro Arbeloa in the Bernabeu hot seat ahead of next season. (ESPN), external
Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, 27, is not planning to hold talks with Liverpool over a new contract this summer but is happy at Anfield despite links with Real Madrid. (Mundo Deportivo – in Spanish), external
West Ham striker Callum Wilson has verbally agreed terms on a new one-year contract despite Celtic’s interest in the 34-year-old Englishman. (Sky Sports), external
Tom Brady‘s return to the football field will take place on U.S. soil.
Right here in Los Angeles, to be specific.
The Fanatics Flag Football Classic, featuring Brady and a slew of other NFL stars and athletes, will take place March 21 at BMO Stadium, the venue that is also slated to host flag football during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The event was originally scheduled to take place on the same date, but at a location more than 8,000 miles away at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia.
No official reason for the relocation has been given, although the move was made amid increased tensions in the Middle East after the United States and Israel began military strikes against Iran this month. Last week, Iran used two drones to strike the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital city.
The event will feature three 12-player teams. Brady, the retired seven-time Super Bowl champion and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will co-captain the Founders FFC team, which will be coached by Denver Broncos’ Sean Payton.
A second team, Wildcats FFC, will be co-captained by Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, with San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan coaching. During a March 18 draft, the two teams will be built from a pool of athletes that include Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, former Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr., four-time Super Bowl-winning tight end Rob Gronkowski and WWE star Logan Paul.
The third team in the event is the U.S. national flag football team, the reigning IFAF flag football world champion coached by Jorge Cascudo and captained by Aamir Brown and Darrell “Housh” Doucette.
The Rams’ remodeled secondary will have a heavy Kansas City Chiefs influence.
A week after trading for cornerback Trent McDuffie, the Rams on Monday agreed to terms with cornerback Jaylen Watson, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because deals cannot become official until Wednesday.
Watson’s deal with the Rams is for three years and includes $34 million in guarantees, NFL Media reported.
Watson and McDuffie, who on Sunday agreed to terms on an extension that reportedly includes $100 million in guarantees, won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs.
Watson, 27, has three career interceptions, including two last season. Watson, 6-feet, 2-inches and 197 pounds, played at Ventura College for two seasons before transferring to Washington State. The Chiefs selected him in the seventh round of the 2022 draft.
The Rams have made several moves involving the secondary. In January, safety Quentin Lake received a three-year extension that includes $25 million in guarantees. They traded the 29th pick in this year’s draft and other picks this year and next for McDuffie, and also agreed to terms with safety Kam Curl on a three-year extension that includes about $24 million in guarantees.
Cornerbacks Cobie Durant, Roger McCreary, Ahkello Witherspoon and Derion Kendrick are pending free agents.
The Rams have until May to determine whether to exercise a fifth-year option on cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr., a 2023 first-round pick by the Washington Commanders who the Rams claimed off waivers in 2024.
Technical director Colin Calderwood has been put in charge on an interim basis, assisted by Ian Sampson, both ex-Northampton managers.
“We will always be grateful to Kevin for his hard work here, he helped keep us up last season and we enjoyed a strong first half of this season,” chairman Kelvin Thomas said in a statement., external
“But since Christmas the sequence of performances and results have led us to believe a change is in the best interests of all concerned.
“We are fortunate to have someone of Colin’s experience, supported by Ian Sampson and the rest of the staff to look after matters on an interim basis.”
Nolan’s departure came on the 129th anniversary of Northampton’s formation and they are the 10th League One club out of 24 to part company with their boss this season.
The league’s so-called legal tampering period begins Monday at 9 a.m. PT, when teams are allowed to start negotiating with the agents for players who are about to become unrestricted free agents. No contracts can actually be signed, however, until the the start of the new NFL league year, which is Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT.
So, basically, fans will start finding out what moves their teams make and where various players will land starting Monday morning.
Hours before the legal tampering period started, the Miami Dolphins announced they will release longtime quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The 2023 All Star will count $99 million against the Dolphins’ salary cap, the biggest dead cap hit in NFL history. The money can be split over the next two seasons if Tagovailoa is designated a post-June 1 release.
In six years with the Dolphins, Tagovailoa went 44-32 as a starter, completing 68% of his passes for 18,166 yards with 120 touchdowns and 59 interceptions. He made the Pro Bowl in 2023.
“Wearing this jersey and representing this city has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” Tagovailoa wrote Monday on Instagram, adding: “I also carry deep regret that I couldn’t get the job done and bring a championship home to this city. Miami deserves that, and I’ll always wish I could have delivered it for you.”
Who are some of the other big names in the free agency market? As far as quarterbacks are concerned, Green Bay Packers backup Malik Willis could be a hot commodity. Daniel Jones is a free agent after a strong season with Indianapolis, although the Colts placed the transition tag on him and can match any offer.
Veteran quarterback Kyler Murray was informed by the Arizona Cardinals last week that they will be letting him go at the start of the new league year. The Atlanta Falcons have made a similar announcement regarding Kirk Cousins. Other available veteran quarterbacks include Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, Russell Wilson and Marcus Mariota.
Teams in need of a running back might be interested in the services of Kenneth Walker III, who will be a free agent just weeks after he was named Super Bowl LX MVP as a member of the Seattle Seahawks. Travis Etienne of the Jacksonville Jaguars could also find a new home.
This also seems to be a big year for free agent edge rushers (including Trey Hendrickson, Jaelan Phillips, Odafe Oweh, K’Lavon Chaisson and Boye Mafe) and wide receivers (including Alec Pierce, Mike Evans, Romeo Doubs, Rashid Shaheed and Jauan Jennings).
Check back here for updates as teams begin making moves.
Fans tuning into the Winter Paralympics will have spotted figure skating missing from the programme at Milan-Cortina despite it being one of the most popular sports at the Olympics.
There are just six sports at the Games: Para-Alpine skiing, Para-biathlon, Para-cross-country skiing, Para-ice hockey, wheelchair curling and Para-snowboard.
For skating to be included in the Winter Paralympics, the International Skating Union (ISU) needs to become recognised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The IPC would also need to approve a range of conditions affecting how the sport is run – including venues, costs and deciding classification categories for competing athletes.
But there are growing calls from skaters for the sport to be included and the IPC says it is keen to expand the Paralympic programme.
No new sports have been added since Para-snowboard in 2014.
Speaking before Milan-Cortina, IPC chief Andrew Parsons said: “We have not reached the limit as per our agreement with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) in terms of the number of athletes in sports. But it is not only about the limit, it is about obviously the quality of the sport at an international level.”
“For example, we don’t have skating sports, we don’t have short course, we don’t have figure skating, because these sports are not on an international level,” he added.
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, left, dives for a loose ball next to Knicks forward OG Anunoby in the first half Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Hayes crawled across the floor for loose balls. Marcus Smart stepped in front of driving opponents. Jarred Vanderbilt leaped into the laps of front-row fans.
With energy and focus from every player, the Lakers delivered one of their best defensive efforts of the season despite circumstances that could have made Sunday’s game a snoozer.
The Lakers were playing their third game in four days. Losing an hour of sleep because of daylight saving time had Rui Hachimura sleepwalking into the arena Sunday morning for a 12:30 p.m. tip. Hoping to wake himself up, the Lakers forward said he got into the hot tub when he arrived.
Players tried to hype themselves up in the locker room by blasting music. Instead of listing three defensive keys before the game, coaches whittled the game plan to one focus: multiple efforts.
“It wasn’t gonna be an offensive game,” coach JJ Redick said. “This was gonna be a gritty, tough game that we had to win with effort. And we did that.”
Smart led that effort with a game-high plus-27 in 29 minutes and 17 seconds. He drew two charges. His signature moment didn’t even show up in the game play-by-play. After Luka Doncic turned the ball over with 2.2 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Smart hustled back to force Jordan Clarkson to pass the ball at the buzzer, keeping the Knicks from getting a last-second layup attempt. Smart walked to the bench with his arms extended like a defensive back who had just broken up a touchdown pass.
The Knicks were held to less than 100 points for only the seventh time and had their fourth-worst three-point shooting performance of the season, going eight for 34. The Lakers went nearly five minutes without scoring in the fourth quarter, but held on by forcing eight turnovers.
“It was not a perfect game,” said Doncic, who led the Lakers with 35 points on 11-for-25 shooting. “But we fight at the defensive end. I think we did a great job. It says a lot about the team, bringing this much energy in a game like this.”
On Sunday, less than a week after agreeing to a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs for McDuffie, the Rams and McDuffie agreed to terms on a contract extension that will make him the NFL’s highest-paid player at his position, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because the trade and extension will not become official until Wednesday when the NFL’s new league year begins.
But McDuffie’s four-year deal is worth $124 million, with $100 million guaranteed, according to ESPN, making McDuffie the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history.
The Rams are no strangers to making record-setting deals. Quarterback Jared Goff, running back Todd Gurley, defensive lineman Aaron Donald and cornerback Jalen Ramsey all made history with deals they signed as Rams.
McDuffie, 25, is entering the final year of his rookie contract after being selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2022 draft. The former Anaheim Servite and Bellflower St. John Bosco high star was an 2023 All-Pro who helped the Chiefs win two Super Bowls.
The Rams are sending a first-round pick — the 29th overall — and fifth- and sixth-round picks in this year’s draft and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Chiefs in exchange for McDuffie.
The Rams have made multiple moves to retain and add players to a secondary that will be key next season and beyond for an organization that has gone all in to play in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium next February.
Chief support will see Dublin’s Pierce O’Leary fight in his home city for the first time as a pro when he takes on replacement Maxi Hughes with the vacant IBO light-welterweight belt up for grabs.
Portsmouth’s Mark Chamberlain was due to face O’Leary, but he was forced to withdraw because of an infection with Yorkshire’s Hughes stepping up in weight for the challenge.
The vacant IBO super-featherweight title is also on offer as Dubliner Jono Carroll and Belfast’s Colm Murphy lock horns, while an interesting addition to the card is Southampton’s undefeated super-featherweight Ryan Garner, who will be keen to earn a crack at the winner of the main event.
James Dickens v Anthony Cacace – WBA world super-featherweight title
Pierce O’Leary v Maxi Hughes – vacant IBO light-welterweight title
Jono Carroll v Colm Murphy – vacant IBO super-featherweight title
Steven Cairns v Arnie Dawson – lightweight
Eoghan Lavin v Liam Walsh – middleweight
Ryan Garner v TBA – super-featherweight
Barry McReynolds v Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira – light-welterweight
Davey Joyce v TBA – super-featherweight
Adam Olaniyan v TBA – heavyweight
Gary Cully v Benito Sanchez Garcia – light-welterweight
