The traditional face-off held before boxing matches is usually just another way of hyping up an upcoming fight.

Tensions boiled over in a face-off earlier this week when Chris Eubank Jr. smashed an egg over the side of Conor Benn’s face.

The egg was a reference to the fact that Benn had been cleared of any wrongdoing on a failed drug test after it was determined that ‘overconsumption of eggs’ could have caused an abnormal test result.

Benn and Eubank Jr. will meet in the ring on 26 April.

5
The number of years since two Australian women have made the quarter-finals of different WTA events in the same week. Ajla Tomljanović is set to play in the quarter-finals of the ATX Open in Austin and Daria Saville at the Merida Open in Akron, Ohio.

“Fans will always back the teams and drivers they want to. Of course we have been the protagonists over the years. The only disappointment I had with it was the reception to Max as a four-time world champion, that was disappointing.”
Christian Horner, the principal of Red Bull’s F1 team, after Red Bull driver and current world champion Max Verstappen was booed by the audience at a Formula One launch event in London last week. The FIA, the governing body for F1, issued a statement soon after the event condemning the actions of the 16,000-person crowd and describing the booing as “tribalistic”.

Art was a category of event at the Olympics between the 1912 Stockholm Games and the 1948 London Games. The competition was held across five disciplines: architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. In some cases, if the art was not deemed to be of a high enough standard, gold medals would not be awarded.

England have been knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy after losing to Afghanistan by eight runs. Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran was named the Player of the Match, scoring 177 runs. The result means Australia’s match against Afghanistan tomorrow night (AEDT) is now a must-win to advance to the semi-finals.

The Matildas lost 2-1 to Colombia in their final match at the SheBelieves Cup. The result ended a ten-match losing streak for Colombia, while the Aussies ended the round-robin style tournament with three losses from three games. The tournament was won by Japan, who beat the U.S. 2-1.

Australian spin bowler Matt Kuhnemann has had his bowling action cleared by the International Cricket Council. After Australia’s recent two-Test series against Sri Lanka, during which he took 16 wickets, the umpires reported Kuhnemann to officials for a suspect bowling action. Bowlers in cricket are not permitted to extend their elbow by more than 15 degrees during the delivery of the ball. The umpires in Sri Lanka doubted the legality of Kuhnemann’s action in this respect.

Tonight sees the beginning of the NBL Playoffs series between Melbourne United and the Perth Wildcats. The Wildcats, led by 5-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton, lost all three games against United this season and will be looking for redemption. The last time these two teams met in the NBL Finals was when United beat the Wildcats in the 2021 Championship series.

The other playoff series between the Illawarra Hawks and S.E. Melbourne Phoenix begins tomorrow night.

Last night, the Townsville Fire secured their place in the WNBL Finals after dominating the Perth Lynx 106-76. The Fire won the best of three semi-final series 2-0. The Fire now have the opportunity to be crowned WNBL Champions twice in three years, after winning the title in 2023.

Tonight, the Sydney Flames will host the Bendigo Spirit. The Spirit won the first match of the semi-final series and a win tonight will see them join the Fire in the final. The Spirit finished the regular season on top of the table and are favourites to beat the Flames, who finished fourth.

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White Ribbon, an organisation that works to prevent gender-based violence against women, has asked the NRL to remove mentions of the organisation from its website. 

It comes after invitations were sent to U.S. President Donald Trump and UFC boss Dana White for this weekend’s season opener in Las Vegas. 

Both White and Trump have been accused of violence against women. 

White Ribbon said it has not worked with the NRL since 2020. 

Ahead of the NRL’s Vegas showcase Australian Rugby League Commission (ALRC) chair Peter V’landys appeared on the U.S. television program ‘Fox and Friends’.

V’landys invited Trump to attend the event, saying: “We want to introduce you to the toughest game on Earth, rugby league, in the world's sport and entertainment capital, Las Vegas".

It is the second time V’landys has asked a sitting U.S. President to attend the showcase, having asked then-President Joe Biden to attend the inaugural event in 2024. 

Last week, The Sydney Morning Herald reported the Canberra Raiders had invited UFC boss Dana White to blow the ‘Viking Horn’ at their game. 

The horn, typically blown by a former Raiders player, initiates a fan chant at games. 

Raiders CEO Dan Furner told SMH the team had also reached out to NFL legends Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. 

Earlier this week, SMH reported White had declined the invitation.

Both Trump and White have previously been accused of violence against women.

In 2023, Trump was found liable for the sexual abuse of American journalist and author E. Jean Carrol.

The same year, footage emerged of White in a physical altercation with his wife at a nightclub in Mexico.

White apologised at the time, saying: "There's never, ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman". He was not charged.

Following White and Trump’s invitations, White Ribbon CEO Merinda March announced the organisation wanted to be removed from the NRL’s official website.

White Ribbon began working with the NRL in the early 2000s.

March said that despite still being featured on the NRL’s site, the two organisations had not worked together since 2020.

“While the NRL continues to promote their association with us, this decision… lacks integrity and respect”.

March said the organisation “finds the NRL’s decision to associate with well-known perpetrators of abuse... disappointing and frankly, tone deaf.”

“We believe the fans and participants of the NRL – almost half of whom are female – deserve better.”

References to White Ribbon have since been removed from the NRL’s website.

March added White Ribbon would work with the NRL in future if they were “ready to commit to an authentic zero-tolerance stance”.

On 2 March at Allegiant Stadium, four games of rugby league will be played. It is the second year of a five-year deal which will see the NRL travel to Las Vegas to begin the season. Last year’s event drew 40,000 spectators to the venue. 

This weekend’s fixtures include two NRL games, with the Canberra Raiders taking on the New Zealand Warriors and defending champions the Penrith Panthers playing the Cronulla Sharks. 

There will also be an English Super League match between the Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves, and a women’s international between Australia’s Jillaroos and England.

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