Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Marquez: round-by-round recap ,SPORTS NEWS FROM LOS ANGELES AND BEYOND

Timothy Bradley and his trend of winning close scorecards continued Saturday night as he edged Juan Manuel Marquez, 10 years the elder at 40, by split decision.
Bradley, relying on his boxing skills, faster legs and strong jab, punctuated the performance with a big left hand that staggered Marquez in the final seconds of the 12th round.

Judge Robert Hoyle scored the World Boxing Organization welterweight title fight 115-113 for Bradley, while Patricia Morse Jarman had it 116-112 for Bradley. Glenn Feldman scored it 115-113 for Marquez.

The Mexican bitterly left the ring afterward, upset at the decision on the heels of his stunning sixth-round knockout of Manny Pacquiao. Marquez believes Nevada judges deprived him of a victory over Pacquiao for the same belt in 2011.

--Lance Pugmire
Here is the round-by-round recap of the fight (scoring listed is unofficial) by The Times' John Cherwa.
Round 1: Both fighters came out tentative as the crowd shouted “Marquez, Marquez.” Marquez appeared to be slightly more active, landing upper cuts and left hooks, none of which hurt Bradley. Bradley connected late in the round with a body shot. But the first round was pretty tame and each fighter didn’t want to show their best stuff. Times card: Marquez 10, Bradley 9.

Round 2: Bradley came out strong at the start of the round but was warned by Byrd for a beltline shot about a minute into the round. Marquez showed some good counter punching but Bradley connected with a good left hook, the best shot of the fight. The round ended with a flurry of punches in the corner bringing the crowd to its feet. The fight is still razor close. Times card: Bradley 10, Marquez 9. Fight even, 19-19.

Round 3: Both fighters started the round lacking the energy they displayed at the end of Round 2. In fact, no significant punches were thrown in the round with mostly a lot of counter punching, none of which did any damage. Bradley threw more punches and that might have done enough to give him a round that was basically even. Times card: Bradley 10, Marquez 9. Bradley leads, 29-28.

Round 4: Little action to start the round but referee Byrd called timeout about a minute into it to have Marquez’s corner wipe excess vasoline off of their fighter. Marquez was able to land a strong right with about 50 seconds left in the round and a late flurry that might have been enough to give him the round. The fight has less action than the crowd expected. Times card: Marquez 10, Bradley 9. Fight is even, 38-38.

Round 5: Bradley seems to be controlling the pace of the fight, using his right to keep Marquez from going on the offensive. Neither fighter has landed a significant punch although there have been a few combinations that have excited the crowd but done little damage. Marquez is starting to look a shade more tired than Bradley. Times card: Bradley 10, Marquez 9. Bradley leads, 48-47.

Round 6: Still no firepower from either fighter and the round went by with a slight resurgence from Marquez. The fight is open for either fighter to take, although Bradley has been more active and might have an edge on the cards of some judges. Times card: Bradley 10, Marquez 9. Bradley leads, 58-56.

Round 7: The crowd has had little to get excited about so far. Marquez needs to be more active or the fight will start to slip away from him. Marquez lands a shot on the ropes late in the round but it’s clear that Bradley is the more active puncher and could be swaying the judges. It’s a close fight but Marquez, if he wants to win, has to get more active and connect on punches. Times card: Bradley 10, Marquez 9. Bradley leads, 68-65.

Round 8: Bradley continued to control the pace of the fight but neither fighter has hurt the other. The crowd is trying to urge on Marquez but perhaps his 40-year-old body has caught up with him. It might be to the point where Marquez will have to go for the knockout if he hopes to win. But, since he hasn’t landed a significant punch that could be a tough task. Times card: Bradley 10, Marquez 9. Bradley leads, 78-74.

Round 9: The fight is certainly a disappointment for fans who were expecting to see a war. Neither fighter has taken a risk. Late in the round Marquez landed a few shots that brought the crowd alive but did little to hurt Bradley. But it was likely enough to win the round. Times card: Marquez 10, Bradley 9. Bradley leads, 87-84.

Round 10: The best round so far. Bradley landed a right that hurt Marquez, who then countered in the best exchanges of the fight. Some of the rounds have been so lacking in action that the fight might be closer than people think. As the round finished Marquez slipped and his glove hit the canvas but it was clearly a slip. Times card: Bradley 10, Marquez 9. Bradley leads, 97-93.

Round 11: Marquez seems to be fighting as if he knows he needs a knockout but he has been unable to penetrate Bradley’s defense. The crowd continues to back every punch by Marquez, even if they aren’t landing or doing much damage. Bradley is starting to look tired but there is only one round to go. Times card: Marquez 10, Bradley 9. Bradley leads, 106-103.

Round 12: Both fighters appear tired and there seems to be little desperation in this final round. Marquez lands a good right early in the round but it didn’t hurt Bradley. The fight ended with a flurry from each fighter and Bradley rocked Marquez with a left hook that staggered him and he almost went down. Marquez was able to right himself but it might have given Bradley the round that Marquez seemed to be winning. Times card: Bradley 10, Marquez 9. Bradley wins, 116-112 (unofficial).

Kimetto Sets Course Record in Chicago Marathon, Chicago Marathon Kicks Off With Boston In Mind

Just a few years ago, Dennis Kimetto was a farmer in Kenya. Now, he's shattering marathon records.

 

 Kimetto broke the course mark Sunday in capturing the Chicago Marathon, and compatriot Rita Jeptoo was the women's winner in the first major marathon in the United States since the Boston bombings.

Kimetto finished in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 45 seconds, leading a 1-2-3 finish for Kenyan men. He beat the mark of 2:04:38 set by Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede last year. He pulled away from Emannuel Mutai over the last few miles and was all alone with both arms raised as he crossed the finish line.

It was his second major victory this year to go with a win at Tokyo in February — not bad for someone who was tending corn and cattle in the west Kenyan town of Eldoret.

He said through an interpreter that he had been running on his own when he had a chance meeting with Geoffrey Mutai. A star marathon runner and fellow Kenyan, Mutai asked Kimetto to join his camp near Eldoret and train with him.

Kimetto finished second in his marathon debut in Berlin last year, won Tokyo and added to his status as one of the world's best on Sunday.

Before the race, there was a 30-second moment of silence to honor the victims of the Boston bombings.

Mutai (2:03:52), the 2011 London winner, also beat Kebede's time but finished seven seconds off the lead. Sammy Kitwara (2:05:16) was third.

Jeptoo followed up her victory at Boston by easily taking the women's race, finishing in 2:19:57 after losing in a sprint a year ago. There was no one near Jeptoo as she turned into Grant Park, wearing a wide grin and waving to the crowd.

Jemima Sumgong Jelegat of Kenya (2:20:48) was second, followed by Maria Konovalova of Russia (2:22:46).

The winners each earned $100,000. Kimetto gets an additional $75,000 for the course record, while Jeptoo gets another $40,000 for finishing under 2:20:00.

On a sunny day with the forecast calling for temperatures to hit the high 50s when the top runners finished, conditions were close to ideal. But there was a different feel to this event in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 260 others.

Police promised heightened security. More than a thousand uniformed and undercover officers and more bomb-sniffing dogs mixed with the crowd along a course winding through 29 neighborhoods. Officers inside a command post monitored pictures coming in from helicopters and the city's 22,000 cameras, the most extensive surveillance system in the nation.

The Department of Homeland Security designated the marathon a "level two" event, a notch below massive gatherings such as the Super Bowl, which meant more federal agents with their own high-tech monitoring equipment.

Runners also saw changes.

They only used clear plastic bags issued by organizers to store their belongings near the finish line. They had to pick up their own packets, with race bibs and tracking devices, rather than friends or family.

"I thought everything went really, really smooth," executive race director Carey Pinkowski said. "I think the key to that was the messaging to our participants, to our volunteers. We asked our participants to get there a little bit earlier. I think everything went well."

Huge cyclone batters eastern India,Some 500,000 people flee their homes as Cyclone Phailin makes landfall in eastern India, with winds reaching speeds of about 200 km/h (125mph).

The strongest cyclone to threaten India in more than a decade bore down on its east coast Saturday as authorities bused and trucked tens of thousands of villagers from their mud and thatch coastal homes to government shelters inland.

Officials canceled holy day celebrations and stockpiled emergency supplies in coastal Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states, with forecasters saying Cyclone Phailin, a massive storm that nearly covers the Bay of Bengal, will hit the region Saturday evening.

The Indian Meteorological Department warned that Phailin was a “very severe cyclonic storm” that was expected to hit with maximum sustained winds of 210-220 kilometers per hour.

However, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii forecast maximum sustained winds of 269 kilometers per hour with gusts up to 315 kilometers per hour.

U.S. meteorologists said the storm is flirting with historic power.

“If it’s not a record it’s really, really close,” University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy told The Associated Press. “You really don’t get storms stronger than this anywhere in the world ever. This is the top of the barrel.”

To compare to killer U.S. storms, McNoldy said Phailin is near the size of 2005′s Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,200 people and caused devastating flooding in New Orleans, but Phailin also has the wind power of 1992′s Hurricane Andrew, which had 265 km/h winds at landfall in Miami.The storm shows no sign of weakening and has an impressive eye, said Ryan Maue of the private weather firm Weather Bell. He called it a “critically dangerous situation with a rare Category 5 landfall,” which he said in that region has a history of being catastrophic.

Category 5 storms have winds exceeding 250 km/h.

If the storm continues on its current path without weakening, it is expected to cause large-scale power and communications outages and shut down road and rail links, officials said. There would also be extensive damage to crops.

Satellite images of the storm showed its spinning tails reaching nearly 1,600 kilometers from the east coast of India to the west coast of Myanmar, an area roughly the size of France.

Using trucks and buses, authorities evacuated 40,000 people from 40 villages to government-run shelters, schools and buildings in five districts of Orissa state, said Surya Narayan Patra, the state revenue and disaster management minister.

Patra said officials plan to take another 100,000 people to safer areas before the cyclone hits.

“No one will be allowed to stay in mud and thatched houses in the coastal areas,” he said.

The government also began evacuating 64,000 people from the low-lying areas of three vulnerable districts in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state, said state Revenue Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy.

Officials have been stockpiling emergency food supplies, and setting up shelters for people expected to flee the heavy winds and rains. The Indian air force said four transport planes and 18 helicopters were being kept ready for relief operations in the region.

Weather forecasters had been predicting waves up to 2 meters, but warned that the storm has been gaining strength and its impact could be severe.

What makes this storm so fearsome is that there’s no wind shear to weaken it and the water that is fueling it is warm and deep, McNoldy said. Those are the ingredients for a record storm.

The Bay of Bengal has been the scene of some of the deadliest storms in recent history. A 1999 Orissa cyclone of similar strength killed 10,000 people.

This storm could get as deadly, but the region Phailin is aiming at is not quite as low lying, so that’s something that might lessen its death toll, said Jeff Masters, meteorology director at the private Weather Underground.

“This is as bad as it gets,” said Masters, who used to fly into hurricanes. “This is a top end Category 5 cyclone. You don’t get these very often.”

President Barack Obama met Friday with 16-year-old Malala Yousufzai, an advocate for girls' education and the target of a Taliban assassination attempt who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle welcomed Malala and hailed for her “inspiring and passionate” work on behalf of girls in Pakistan.

“The United States joins with the Pakistani people and so many around the world to celebrate Malala's courage and her determination to promote the right of all girls to attend school and realize their dreams,” a White House statement said.

“We salute Malala's efforts to help make these dreams come true.”

Obama met with Malala on the same day the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The Pakistani teen had been considered a front-runner for the prize and was in Washington to speak at two events.

The teen said in a statement after the meeting that she was honored to meet with the president, who is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

''I thanked President Obama for the United States' work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees. I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education it will make a big impact,'' she said.

She called for greater cooperation between the governments of the United States and Pakistan.

The White House said in a statement that Malala met with the president and first lady in the Oval Office where the president signed a proclamation to mark Friday as the International Day of the Girl.

The proclamation says in part that ''on every continent, there are girls who will go on to change the world in ways we can only imagine, if only we allow them the freedom to dream.''

Malala was shot in the head in October 2012 while she was going home from school. She was flown to a hospital in Britain, where she now lives.

Her memoir ''I am Malala'' was published Tuesday.

On Friday she spoke at a World Bank event and was scheduled to speak at a book event at the Sidwell Friends School, which Obama's daughters attend.

Miss Universe Olivia Culpo in trouble over Taj Mahal photo shoot,hot picturesand news of Olivia Culpo.

Miss Universe Olivia Culpo called her recent photo shoot at the Taj Mahal "spontaneous" and expressed regret at the offense it has caused.

Speaking with The Providence Journal's Jenna Pelletier on Thursday, the 21-year-old beauty queen from Cranston said she hopes "people understand that I didn't really have any intention or a hand in facilitating any of this.

"I mean, I'm an employee of the Miss Universe organization and following directions given to me. I guess their vision was, 'What's better to identify India than the Taj Mahal?' But unfortunately it's something that was highly offensive. Honestly, I did say out loud at one point, 'Isn't this a little inappropriate?'"

Culpo, who was on a 10-day tour of India, also said "I was given directions to pose with the shoes and, honestly, 5-inch heels on a 10-inch bench in 90-degree weather -- you know, I didn't want to do it. It's upsetting to me that I was a part of that. It's really upsetting because I loved my visit to India, and I would lovIndian police file a case as a first step in investigating a complaint. They formally charge a suspect in court at the end of the investigation.

Police Inspector Sushant Gaur said that Culpo, Indian-born fashion designer Sanjana Jon and others in her group are accused of violating India's Heritage Act.

He said they shot a commercial at the Taj Mahal on Sunday without the permission of the state-run Archaeological Survey of India.

Gaur said they can be jailed for up to two years and fined 100,000 rupees ($1,600) if found guilty.

Indian media said commercial activity is banned on the premises of the Taj Mahal, a World Heritage Site.

Culpo posed for photographs wearing one sandal, holding another in her hand and keeping another pair on the bench she was sitting on, Guar said.

On Wednesday, Miss Universe officials released a statement explaining the incident.

"Throughout her reign, the Miss Universe Organization continually creates video diaries of our titleholder to keep fans and sponsors up to date on her travels and to share in the experience," reads the statement, posted to the organization's website Wednesday. "As part of these videos, we sometimes incorporate sponsors into these shoots.

"The filming that took place outside the Taj Mahal was never intended to be used as a commercial nor was it meant in any way to be disrespectful. We sincerely apologize for any unintentional harm our indiscretion and insensitivity may have caused."

Culpo left India on Sunday night.e nothing more than to go back, even in the near future."

Adrian Peterson's two-year-old son 'beaten to death 'The two-year-old son of an American football star has died after allegedly being beaten by the son's mother's boyfriend, police and media have said.

Joseph Patterson, 27, has been charged with the child's beating, and may face additional charges over the death.

The boy's father Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings is one of the top running backs in professional football.

The boy, whose name has been withheld, had been in hospital in South Dakota since the attack on Wednesday.

"All I can say is, we are asking for prayers and for respect for our family as we deal with this tragic situation," Mr Peterson's father Nelson Peterson told the St Paul Pioneer-Press.

In the Vikings locker room on Friday, Adrian Peterson asked for privacy, said he would "stay prayed up", and told reporters he planned to play in Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers.

"Football is something I will always fall back on," he said.

"It gets me through tough times. Just being around the guys in here, that's what I need in my life, guys supporting me, and just being able to go out and play this game I love."

According to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, police, the boy was taken to hospital on Wednesday, where authorities discovered he had been injured in a manner "consistent with abuse".

Mr Patterson had been caring for the boy and was the only other person in the home when police and emergency medical workers arrived.

Mr Peterson, 28, is currently ranked third in the National Football League in rushing yards.

Born in Texas, he was drafted out of the University of Oklahoma by the Vikings in 2007.