British Boxing Board Secretary Robert Smith said that the governing body "would have found it difficult to sanction" Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Conor McGregor. Smith: "I work for the boxing board of control but I obviously advise them and help them make a decision. I cannot see any reason why we'd give a license to a man making his debut to fight Floyd Mayweather. Would we have allowed him to fight [British welterweight champion] Bradley Skeete? I doubt that very much." Smith added, "He [McGregor] was strong and fit and certainly very gutsy but never a boxer. Or certainly not a high level boxer" (London TELEGRAPH, 9/4).
The England national cricket team will host Australia in six limited-overs matches next summer, "in between Test series against Pakistan and India." England and Australia will play five ODIs and a Twenty20 in June -- four months after the sides meet in Australia following the Ashes (BBC, 9/5).
The England & Wales Cricket Board announced India will commence its two-month tour to England next year with a three-match Twenty20 series and "will cap it off with five Tests." The teams will play three Twenty20 matches starting July 3 at Old Trafford, followed by three ODIs and then the five Tests at the Edgbaston, Lord's, Trent Bridge, the Rose Bowl and The Oval (PTI, 9/5).
The Sri Lanka national cricket team will play its first day-night Test match "later this month" when it meets Pakistan for a two-match series in the UAE, Sri Lanka Cricket said on Monday. The Test series will start Sept. 28 and is "due to end" on Oct. 10, with one of the games slated to be played as a day-night match (AFP, 9/5).
Kyrgyzstan scrapped its home game against Myanmar in qualifying for the 2019 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup over "security concerns." A spokesperson for the Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic announced that the game, which had been scheduled for Tuesday, "was cancelled according to the decision of Prime Minister Sapar Isakov and because of the potential threat of a terrorist act" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 9/5).
A boxing tournament for football fans during the 2018 World Cup in Russia is being planned "in a bid to combat hooliganism at the tournament." Former Russian and European boxing champion Vladimir Nosov is organizing the tournament "to avoid scenes like those witnessed during" Euro 2016 in France. Nosov said, "There's too much violence and danger on the streets during major football tournaments" (ESPN.com, 9/5).
