Kelly may get rematchIrish bantamweight Damaen Kelly may get a rematch against Italian Simone Maludrottu in Belfast in early November. Kelly, an ex-EBU flyweight champion, saw his bid to become the first Irish boxer to land two European titles at different weights end in controversial circumstances when he lost his EBU bantamweight title fight to defending champ Maludrottu in Belfast last April.
Maludrottu was handed a 118-112, 116-115, 115-113, decision at the Andersonstown Leisure Centre, but the majority of fans were convinced Kelly had done more than enough to take the title from the Italian.
SA make two changes
South Africa coach Jake White has left out fullback Percy Montgomery and outhalf Butch James for the Tri-nations Test against New Zealand in Rustenburg on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Montgomery, who has played fullback in 30 of the Springboks' last 31 Tests, including 19 in succession, is rested and is replaced by Jaque Fourie. Andre Pretorius, who sparked a revival when he came off the bench in last weekend's 45-26 defeat to the All Blacks in Pretoria, replaces James.
SOUTH AFRICA: J Fourie; A Ndungane, W Olivier, J de Villiers, B Habana; A Pretorius, F du Preez; O du Randt, J Smit (capt), BJ Botha, J Muller, V Matfield, P Wannenburg, P Spies, AJ Venter.
US to face Greece
The United States nonchalantly swept aside Germany to set up a semi-final showdown with Greece at the world basketball championship on Wednesday.
A high-energy third quarter sparked the US to an 85-65 victory after a mis-firing first half in which the Americans' shooting touch completely deserted them.
The red-hot tournament favourites move on to play Greece in tomorrow's last four after the European champions eased past France 73-56 earlier yesterday.
Olympic champions Argentina take on Spain in the other semi-final.
Di Luca in surprise lead
Italian Danilo Di Luca's victory on the Tour of Spain's first summit finish unexpectedly propelled him into the overall lead yesterday.
The Liquigas rider showed surprisingly strong form when he outgunned Slovenian Janez Brajkovic at the top of the 18km Covatilla climb. Andrey Kashechkin of Kazakhstan was third, seven seconds behind.
"I came here for stage wins, not to do well in the overall classification." said Di Luca, who was not among the pre-race favourites for final victory. After attacking with Brajkovic, Di Luca leads him in the overall standings by four seconds.
