Ten things to know from last week. May 3-9, 2022: Canelo lost, the Kentucky Derby's longest shot, dramatic Champions League...
Ten things to know from last week
  1. Canelo lost! Dmitry Bivol (RUS) ended Saul Álvarez’ claim as the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer, as he dominated him to succesfully defend his WBA Super Light-Heavyweight title. The three scorecards read 115-113. Álvarez remains the undisputed Super-Middleweight Champion. In the UFC, Charles Oliveira (BRA) successfully defended his UFC lightweight title against Justin Gaethje (USA) via a 2nd round submission.
  2. UCL Finals set, dramatically. The UEFA Champions League Final is set. Liverpool (ENG) defeated Villarreal (ESP) in the Semi-Finals 3-2 in the second leg for a 5-2 aggregate, although the Spanish squad excited many after taking a 2-0 early lead. The Spanish team that made it to the finals is Real Madrid but also dramatically, as Manchester City was winning 0-1 for an aggregate 3-5 but two goals by Rodrygo (BRA) at the 90′ and 90+1′ (penalty) sent the match to extra time, where Karim Benzema (FRA) scored the winning penalty to make it through to the Final.
  3. The longest shot at the Derby! Rich Strike (USA) became the second-biggest longshot to win the Kentucky Derby in history, and the longest since 1913. The horse, ridden by Sonny León (VEN) was only included in the field one day before the race after another horse was scratched and was given 80-1 odds, as the longest shot in the race. This was also the first graded stakes win for León. Second was Epicenter (USA), ridden by Joel Rosario (DOM).
  4. Miami Grand Prix. Although F1’s new track’s tarmac did not allow for more than one racing line, Max Verstappen (NED, Red Bull) was able to pull a pass on the outside of Charles Leclerc (MCO, Ferrari) that would allow him to stay there until the end and win the inaugural version of the race, followed by Carlos Sainz (ESP, Ferrari) and Sergio Pérez (MEX, Red Bull). In Belgium, the #7 Toyota of Mike Conway (ENG), Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) and Jose Maria Lopez (ARG) won the FIA Endurance World Championship’s 6 Hours of Spa, beating the Alpine of Andre Negrao (BRA, Nicolas Lapierre (FRA) and Matthieu Vaxiviere (FRA), and notably the LMP2 WRT ORECA of Sean Gelael (IDN), Robin Frijns (NED) and René Rast (DEU). The Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Tommy Milner (USA) and Nick Tandy (ENG) won the LMGTE-PRO and the Porsche 911 RSR -19 of Christian Ried (DEU) Sebastian Priaulx (GGY), and Harry Tincknell (ENG) won the LMGTE-AM category.
  5. Arena Games. Alex Yee (ENG) and Beth Potter (SCO) became the first Triathlon Esports Champions, although they both came second in the Super League Triathlon’s Arena Games Final in Singapore. Yee, Olympic mixed Relay Champion, was beaten by Hayden Wilde (NZL), while Zsanett Bragmayer (HUN) won the women’s race.
  6. Alcaraz is the real deal. After beating Rafael Nadal (ESP) and Novak Djokovic (SRB) back-to-back at the Madrid Open -which they have won eight times between them-, Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) beat Alexander Zverev (DEU) with a clear 6-3 and 6-1 to win the tournament title and take the #6 ranking in Men’s tennis.
  7. Fastest climbers. Kiromal Katibin (IDN) and Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL) broke the World Records in Sport Climbing Speed during the preliminaries of the IFSC World Cup in Seoul (KOR). The new records stand in 5”178 and 6”648, respectively. Veddric Leonardo (IDN) -the former World Record holder- won the Men’s gold medal however, as Katibin had two false starts in the Final. Indonesia did a 1-2-3. Miroslaw won her sixth gold medal in the World Cup.
  8. Five-times Ironwoman. Daniela Ryf (CHE) won her fifth Ironman World Championship in the women’s division, which places her as third of all-time. This is her tenth individual world title, as she has also won the Ironman 70.3 Championship five times. She finished ahead of Katrina Matthews (ENG). In the Men’s division, Olympic Champion Blummenfelt (NOR) won the title for a first time, ahead of Lionel Sanders (CAN) and Braden Currie (NZL). This was the 2021 edition. The 2022 edition will be held later this year.
  9. Comeback and back-to-back. The San Diego Sockers, revived in 2009, have now won four six major indoor soccer titles and 15 in all versions of the team. They beat the Florida Tropics 3-6 and 4-3 in the including the last two Major Arena Soccer League Final to win their second title in a row. Its Captain and San Diego native, Kraig Chiles (USA), scored the winning goal and was awarded the MVP. He won his sixth indoor soccer title, making him one of the most successful indoor soccer players of all time. Ze Roberto (BRA) and Eduardo Vélez (MEX) have also won 6 titles, and Brian Farber (USA) has won 5. They were all Champions a decade ago with the Sockers. The team had lost 60% of the regular season matches.
  10. A-Catamaran. Andrew Landenberger (AUS), 1996 Olympic silver medalist, won the Classic A-Catamaran World Championship, winning each of the eight regattas for a prefect score of 7. This is his third World Title in four editions, which places him second of all-time in the category. Ravi Parent (USA) won the Open Division.