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This new genre of novelty boxing matches — fights between celebrities, legends and social-media influencers — has been one of the most popular things in combat sports over the last year. Mike Tyson and Ron Jones Jr. set the stage last November, and the trend has continued to gain momentum since then. Despite some big fights between some of the best fighters in the sport, the Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul exhibition is the biggest boxing pay-per-view event of 2021 so far. Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley last month could end up being second.

But if people are going to continue plunking down their hard-earned money to buy these shows, there needs to be an adequate payoff. That was missing Saturday night with the unfortunate bout and finish between Vitor Belfort and Evander Holyfield match under the Triller Fight Club banner in Hollywood, Florida. Belfort earned a first-round TKO victory over Holyfield in a fight where Holyfield landed only one punch.

Simply, and with all due respect to a legendary boxer, the 58-year-old Holyfield should not have been in the ring Saturday night. He came in on just a week’s notice after Belfort’s original opponent, Oscar De La Hoya, was hospitalized with COVID-19. The fight was originally scheduled to happen in Los Angeles, but the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) would not approve Belfort vs. Holyfield, so the entire event got moved to Florida and a more amenable commission.

“I was not agreeable with the match based on a variety of regulatory factors and we did not have adequate time for [Holyfield] to go through an extensive licensing process,” CSAC executive officer Andy Foster said.

De La Hoya vs. Belfort was on the borderline of combat sports regulation. The two men were in the same age range — De La Hoya is 48 and Belfort 44 — and De La Hoya was a phenomenal boxer before his retirement in 2008. Belfort is an MMA fighter who is tied for the most knockouts in UFC history, but doesn’t have any recent experience in the squared circle. The one thing anyone who has followed Belfort’s career knows about him is that he has hand speed and pop in his punches.

But Holyfield? Sure, he looked shredded from a pure appearance perspective, especially for his age. But that’s where the positive optics ended. The buzz this week in South Florida was less about the fight and more about Holyfield struggling in interviews and looking like a shell of his former incredible self in a public workout.

Holyfield was not sandbagging in that workout, and what many people thought would happen Saturday night did indeed happen.

Early in the first round, the only boxer in the three-belt era to become an undisputed champion in two divisions slipped on a left hook attempt and fell along the apron, between the bottom two ropes. It was difficult to watch. Belfort followed with a couple of punching flurries, scoring a knockdown.

Holyfield got up, but was doing little more than eating punches (some on his gloves). Referee Samuel Burgos mercifully stepped in. Holyfield argued that it was an early stoppage when most watching probably thought it should have been over sooner.

Holyfield seemed fine after the fight during an interview with the broadcast team, but on a negative note, he said he wants to fight again, and he’s still interested in a rematch with Mike Tyson.

At some point, someone needs to step in and advise against it. No one wants to tell a grown man he cannot make a living, but boxing is not a game. There are real, lasting ramifications, and everyone involved is lucky Belfort vs. Holyfield did not end up worse. That might not be the case next time.

Belfort called out Jake Paul in his postfight interview, with Triller putting up a winner-take-all prize of $30 million. UFC all-time great Anderson Silva likely has a big payday awaiting him following his devastating knockout of fellow MMA legend Tito Ortiz on the undercard.

That’s all well and good. There is nothing wrong with fighters getting paid to compete against opponents of a similar skill level and size. As long as people are willing to pay for them, these events will continue on. But there’s just no good reason for a nearly 60-year-old man to be taking punches to the head from a younger, faster, more explosive opponent.

Everyone involved — commissions, promoters, coaches and the fighters themselves — need to exercise discretion as we move forward, because combat sports as we know it could be hanging in the balance.

All that needs to happen is for one fighter to get seriously injured — or worse — in one of these novelty matchups, and the consequences could lead to the entirety of combat sports facing a reckoning.

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Kentucky Derby to remain on NBC through 2032

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Kentucky Derby to remain on NBC through 2032

STAMFORD, Conn. — The Kentucky Derby will remain on NBC through 2032 after the network and Churchill Downs Inc. extended their contract, announcing it hours before the running of the 150th race Saturday.

The race switched to NBC in 2001 after airing on ABC from 1975 to 2000 and CBS from 1952 to 1974. The multiyear extension will make NBC the longest-running home of the race for 3-year-old horses.

The deal includes multiplatform rights to the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, and Derby and Oaks day programming, which will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCU platforms.

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Padres trade for Marlins batting champ Arraez

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Padres trade for Marlins batting champ Arraez

The San Diego Padres have acquired second baseman Luis Arraez in a trade with the Miami Marlins for reliever Woo-Suk Go and prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella, the teams announced Saturday.

The Padres also received nearly $7.9 million in cash considerations, leaving them responsible only for the major league minimum salary for Arraez.

The transaction represents the first significant move for the Marlins since Peter Bendix took over as the team’s president of baseball operations in November after Kim Ng departed. It marks the beginning of the Marlins’ teardown of an underachieving roster that has produced the third-worst record in the majors at 9-25 with a minus-61 run differential after reaching the postseason in 2023.

On the other side, it’s another aggressive deal for A.J. Preller, the leader of the Padres’ front office since 2014. Arraez, one of the sport’s best contact hitters, will give the Padres a needed left-handed-hitting weapon after Juan Soto was sent to the New York Yankees in December. San Diego is 17-18 with a plus-6 run differential.

“It’s really amazing — that guy is a baller,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said about Arraez after the Padres’ win Friday night. “He’s probably the closest to Tony Gwynn right now, so looking forward to seeing him in our lineup. … The guy’s a pure hitter, and I can’t wait for him to help us.”

Miami is paying San Diego $7,898,602 of the $8,491,398 remaining for the final 149 days of Arraez’s $10.6 million salary. That left his cost to the Padres at $592,796 — exactly a prorated share of the $740,000 minimum.

Arraez, 27, was the Marlins’ best player, an All-Star and batting champion each of the past two seasons. This season, he is batting .299 with a .719 OPS in 33 games, all started at second base. He also has extensive experience at first base.

“When a guy like that is taken out of the lineup or potentially traded, you feel it, because he’s such a good kid and one of the leaders in that clubhouse,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said, “so there’s definitely a shock value.”

Arraez is expected to start games as the Padres’ designated hitter, but the club plans to cycle through the DH spot. Jake Cronenworth, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado could also get at-bats there. Bogaerts has been the club’s starting second baseman.

Go spent seven seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization before signing a two-year deal with a mutual option worth $4.5 million guaranteed during the offseason. The 25-year-old right-hander appeared in 10 games for Double-A San Antonio, posting a 4.38 ERA across 12⅓ innings after failing to make the Padres’ bullpen out of spring training.

Head was the Padres’ first-round pick (25th overall) last year out of high school. The 19-year-old center fielder is batting .237 with a .683 OPS and three stolen bases in 21 games in low-Class A.

Martorella is batting .294 with an .820 OPS in 23 games in San Antonio. The Padres selected the 23-year-old first baseman in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. Marsee, a 22-year-old outfielder, has spent the season in San Antonio batting .185 with two home runs. He was a sixth-round pick in 2022 out of Central Michigan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Yanks’ Cole takes next step, throws off mound

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Yanks' Cole takes next step, throws off mound

NEW YORK — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole threw off a mound Saturday morning for the first time since being shut down in mid-March, checking off another box in his road back from an elbow injury.

Cole took the mound in the Yankees’ bullpen at 10:40 a.m., hours before New York took on the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium. He said he threw 15 pitches, 13 for strikes and all fastballs. He said the pitches averaged 89 mph.

“It was exciting,” Cole said. “This was a good day for me. I was fired up.”

Cole, 33, started the season on the 60-day injured list after being diagnosed with nerve irritation and edema in his pitching elbow following one spring training outing. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner is eligible to come off the injured list May 27, but the Yankees have declined to share a timetable for Cole’s return.

On a scale from 1 to 10 — 10 being game ready — Cole reported he is “somewhere between 1 and 5.” He said how his body responds over the next 48 hours will decide when he throws off a mound again.

Cole’s injury was a significant blow to a club with championship-or-bust aspirations, but the Yankees’ starting rotation has been one of the best in the majors and a primary reason for the team’s 21-13 start. The rotation’s 3.43 ERA through Friday ranked ninth in the majors. Its 183⅔ innings pitched ranked fourth.

Luis Gil, Cole’s rotation replacement, logged the best start of his young career Wednesday, holding the explosive Baltimore Orioles scoreless on two hits over a career-high 6⅓ innings. Gil, 25, has recorded a 3.19 ERA in 31 innings across six starts despite leading the American League with 20 walks.

Earlier this week, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said neither the team’s nor the rotation’s success will impact Cole’s timeline. Asked whether the overall success has made his absence more “palatable,” Cole was unsure.

“I don’t really have anything unpalatable to compare it to,” Cole said. “You know what I’m saying? So I’m just kind of like, just like everybody else, just glad we’re playing well.”

Also on Saturday, the Yankees reinstated infielder Jon Berti from the 10-day injured list and designated former first-round pick Taylor Trammell for assignment.

Berti, 34, has been out of the Yankees’ lineup since April 10 with a left groin strain. The Yankees had selected Trammell off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 18, and he collected 1 hit, 1 walk and 2 runs in five games with New York.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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