Sports

12:35 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN CARSON, Calif. — Brian Castano crumbled in a heap, the product of a right hand to the body followed by a left hook to the head from Jermell Charlo in Round 10 of an instant classic Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park. Somehow, someway, Castano made it to his feet

5:28 PM ET Reigning PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson, who hasn’t played competitively in more than three months, won’t defend his title next week at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The PGA of America announced on Friday that Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship. “We have just been informed that Phil Mickelson

6:16 PM ET ESPN News Services ROME — It was just the type of scrambling, wear-down-the-opponent mentality and shot-making that took Novak Djokovic to within one match of a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2021. A spectacle that was missing for so much of this year when Djokovic didn’t play because he wasn’t vaccinated against the

12:45 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN MILWAUKEE – Boston Celtics forward Robert Williams III is still questionable for Friday night’s Game 6 against the Milwaukee Bucks because of left knee soreness. However, Boston coach Ime Udoka clarified that the soreness is not stemming from his surgery last month to repair the meniscus his Williams’ left knee.

8:05 PM ET NFL NationESPN The 2022 NFL schedule was released on Thursday. Can quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams repeat as champs? Stafford and the Rams will kick off the NFL season Thursday, Sept. 8, by hosting the Buffalo Bills. ESPN’s Monday Night Football opener is Sept. 12 and will feature Russell

7:00 AM ET ORLANDO, Fla. — When we last saw UCF, the Knights whooped and hollered and celebrated a victory over Florida that was years in the making, one they will probably lord over the Gators forevermore. Case in point: The highlights from said game, a 29-17 win in the Gasparilla Bowl in December, were

10:56 PM ET The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to close out the New York Rangers in their Game 5 loss on Wednesday night, but their attention afterward was on the loss of captain Sidney Crosby. The Rangers won 5-3 to narrow the Penguins’ series lead to 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night in Pittsburgh. The question

1:34 PM ET The Cleveland Guardians game against the Chicago White Sox has been postponed because of multiple positive COVID-19 tests within the Guardians organization, Major League Baseball announced Wednesday. The game was postponed to allow for continued testing and contact tracing. MLB will provide a rescheduling update when it becomes available. It was announced

8:00 AM ET Frank Lampard made a point of leaving the Everton dressing room following Sunday’s crucial 2-1 Premier League win at Leicester City to head back onto the pitch and make a personal thank you to the supporters who had helped inspire his players to victory at the King Power Stadium. There are times

2:36 AM ET A 14-fight card at UFC 274 produced some big wins, fantastic action, memorable knockouts and a lackluster co-main event sandwiched between two amazing bouts. Jeff Wagenheim and Carlos Contreras Legaspi react to the pay-per-view and offer up their biggest thoughts on the night. Big fight nights headlined by championship bouts typically provide

7:41 PM ET Associated Press DARLINGTON, S.C. — Joey Logano bumped leader William Byron from behind on the next to last lap to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. Logano, the pole-sitter, tracked Byron for about 25 laps until catching him and hitting him hard in the rear bumper turn three. Byron

3:19 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez, sunglasses covering some of the redness and welts that peppered his face, found himself in unfamiliar territory. For the first time since a 2013 loss to Floyd Mayweather at age 23, Alvarez sat on the dais afterward and explained how — and why — he

7:26 PM ET Associated Press POTOMAC, Md. — Keegan Bradley did nothing special on the only easy scoring day this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, opening with an even-par 70 that left him around the cut line. Since the conditions got tougher, Bradley has been the best player at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm.

2:49 PM ET ESPN News Services MADRID — After beating Rafael Nadal on Friday, Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz did it again with an upset of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open tennis tournament Saturday. After defeating Nadal, his idol, in the quarterfinals, the 19-year-old Alcaraz rallied to beat Djokovic 6-7 (5), 7-5,

6:56 AM ET ESPN Betting Insiders The 148th running of the Kentucky Derby kicks off Triple Crown season. The race for the elusive crown begins this Saturday at Churchill Downs with Zandon as the 3-1 morning-line favorite. Our focus moves to pari-mutuel betting, which is different from the normal sports betting futures we are used

8:43 PM ET The Los Angeles Lakers interviewed former Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts for the franchise’s coaching job on Friday, sources told ESPN. Stotts joins the Lakers’ search process as a candidate with a history of playoff consistency, offensive creativity and an ability to build relationships with his star players. Before his dismissal

6:50 AM ET Trading down in the NFL draft remains one of the most obvious and fruitful edges in the game. Teams routinely seem to rely on the outdated Jimmy Johnson chart to make these trades instead of charts that are actually based on how players perform out of each draft slot in the NFL.

6:10 PM ET Pete ThamelESPN Boston College star wide receiver Zay Flowers grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as the 11th of 14 children. His mother died in 2005, leaving his father, Willie, to drive a truck for a medical device company to provide for the family. Flowers received a football scholarship to Boston College

9:30 AM ET Have we ever discussed how the Conn Smythe Trophy might be the NHL’s weirdest award? Let’s start with the hardware itself. In 1964, the trophy was donated to the NHL by Maple Leaf Gardens, to be awarded to the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP and as a bauble to honor Hockey Hall of

1:55 PM ET Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner was ejected Wednesday from the game against the Miami Marlins after an apparent altercation during a check for foreign substances. Bumgarner was ejected after the bottom of the first inning by first base umpire Dan Bellino, who was inspecting the veteran southpaw’s pitching hand. Bellino checked Bumgarner’s

12:20 PM ET Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A deal for Drug Free Sport International to police medication in horse racing was announced Tuesday, two months before the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority takes effect. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency had been set to become the regulator for anti-doping and medication control for thoroughbred racing.

7:00 AM ET Had you given Diego Maradona’s jersey to any England fan after that 1986 World Cup quarterfinal, chances are they’d have either torn the blue Argentina jersey to shreds, or set it on fire. Now the one worn by Argentina’s Maradona when he scored two of the most famous goals in World Cup

1:09 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says Fraser McReight will get his Test chances this year as he continues to push skipper Michael Hooper for a starting jersey. Flanker McReight has been a standout in Queensland’s Super Rugby Pacific campaign to mount a strong case for his first Test start, with the three-match England

3:58 PM ET Associated Press DOVER, Del. — Chase Elliott snapped a 26-race winless streak when the 2020 NASCAR champion pulled away down the stretch to win the Cup Series race on Monday at Dover Motor Speedway. Elliott, who led the final 53 laps, won his 14th career Cup race and gave Hendrick Motorsports another

11:08 AM BST Bethan Clargo After six enthralling weeks, the 2022 Women’s Six Nations came to a fitting close on Saturday with England storming to a fourth consecutive title. The Red Roses lifted the trophy in Bayonne after beating France in an animated Grand Slam decider, putting an end to what many considered a revolutionary

8:00 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Ranking the fights on a big UFC card can seem like an obvious exercise. The sport curates its fight nights to build and build throughout the evening, culminating in the main event that has been hyped on promo posters to draw fans into the arena or to watch on television.

3:10 AM ET NEW YORK — Katie Taylor showed up to the weigh-in Friday afternoon and it was then — more than 24 hours before she’d be in the ring at Madison Square Garden against Amanda Serrano — that the gravity of everything they’d been trying to pull off hit her. She has seen big

12:00 AM ET Associated Press PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. — Hannah Green held onto the lead Saturday in the Palos Verdes Championship after a frustrating start on the hilly, windswept course perched above the Pacific Ocean. Three strokes ahead of Lydia Ko and three other players entering the day, Green overcame bogeys on the first

5:56 PM ET Associated Press Frances Tiafoe reached the final of the Estoril Open with a 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 victory over Sebastian Korda on Saturday. Tiafoe struggled against his fellow American in the opening set, despite some quality play at the net. In the second he again found it difficult to carve any sort

8:57 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Philadelphia 76ers announced Friday evening that superstar center Joel Embiid will be out indefinitely after suffering a right facial fracture and mild concussion in Philadelphia’s dominant Game 6 win over the Toronto Raptors. Embiid, who had 33 points and 10 rebounds in 36 minutes in the win, suffered the

5:00 PM ET NFL NationESPN The first round of the 2022 NFL draft is in the books, and it included a lot of firsts. There were nine draft-day trades, the most in the first round since the draft expanded to three days in 2010. Georgia became the first school in NFL draft history to have

9:00 AM ET IRVING, Texas — The sun was shining Wednesday afternoon at the sprawling Four Seasons resort as the 10 FBS commissioners and College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock gathered in person for the first time since their tense playoff expansion meetings at the national championship game in Indianapolis almost four months ago.

8:30 AM ET Tim KavanaghESPN.com Close Tim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York. After the Vegas Golden Knights‘ elimination from playoff contention last night, the 16-team field for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs is set — we just have to wait to see which teams fit