Boxer Esmeralda Patiño eliminated favorite Lucia Ayari in Liverpool.

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, September 7, 2025, p. a10

Mexican Esmeralda Patiño had a promising debut at the Liverpool 2025 World Boxing Championship by defeating Italian Lucia Elen Ayari, considered one of the tournament favorites, by split decision (3-2).

The Sinaloa native displayed a good strategy from the opening minutes of the fight and managed to land a series of punches that ultimately led to her victory over the European in the 51-kilogram category.

"I thank God. Without him, I wouldn't have this victory. I feel very happy and satisfied. I know I can perform better and push myself even further. It was the first fight, and I'm moving on to the next one," the psychologist commented.

Patiño came into the fight with high morale after taking first place at the Copa América held in Ibagué, Colombia. Her opponent, the U-22 European champion, tried to intimidate her at the start of the fight, but was unable to stop the Mexican's momentum. The first few minutes were filled with constant exchanges, but by the end of the match, the Mexican landed precise punches that tipped the balance in her favor.

At Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena, Ayari pressed aggressively, but Patiño knew how to counterpunch and take advantage of the openings to raise his fist. The judges' scorecards showed 29-28, 29-28, 28-29, 28-29, and 29-28.

The Sinaloa native's next fight will be on Tuesday against Mungunsaran Balsan of Mongolia, who defeated Yaroslava Marynchuk of Ukraine. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals, where she will face either Feruza Kazakova or Caroline de Almeida.

In other results, Almendra González (65 kg) fell 0-5 to Anna Julia Jenni of Switzerland and Diana Paloma Pérez (57 kg) was defeated 0-5 by Bojana Gojkovic of Montenegro.

The event is the first organized by World Boxing, which will also be in charge of all tournaments, including the Olympic event.

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, September 7, 2025, p. a11

Aryna Sabalenka knelt on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court, covered her face with both hands, and celebrated with a huge smile after winning the U.S. Open final.

The defending champion from Belarus defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6 to become the first woman to win the tournament in consecutive years since Serena Williams more than a decade ago.

"All of this wouldn't be possible without the support of my team. Sometimes I'm very hard on them, but in the end, the results came," she said.

World No. 1 Sabalenka claimed her fourth career Grand Slam title, all on hard courts. However, it wasn't all rosy.

In the second set, she twice went ahead and took a 5-4 victory. At 30-30, she had a chance to score, but sent the ball into the net, giving Amanda a break point.

After that terrible miss, the 27-year-old dropped her racket on the court and flashed a rueful smile. Moments later, Anisimova, a 24-year-old American, took advantage of the break to make it 5-5 and pumped her left fist as some 24,000 fans stood to applaud and cheer.

Just 15 minutes later, Sabalenka was celebrating her victory at Flushing Meadows.

▲ Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka earned her fourth Grand Slam title. Photo: AFP

This season, the Belarusian was runner-up at the Australian Open in January and Roland Garros in May.

“All those hard lessons made it worth it,” he said.

Anisimova, meanwhile, repeated the Wimbledon story when she fell 6-0 in the final against Iga Swiatek, defeating her 18th-seeded opponent.

“I'm impressed with what you've achieved,” she told Sabalenka during the trophy ceremony.

In the men's doubles event, after overcoming three match points , Argentine Horacio Ceballos and Spaniard Marcel Granollers took the title.

“Nobody deserved to lose this match; the level of play was truly incredible,” Ceballos said.

Eala, champion in Guadalajara

Filipino Alexandra Eala claimed her first WTA 125 title. The 20-year-old left-hander had to come from behind at the Guadalajara Open to defeat Hungarian Panna Udvardy 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

The second seed in the Guadalajara tournament had a great reaction after a disconcerting start in which its rival dominated at will.

Alexandra, who is seen as the jewel of the Rafael Nadal Academy, was a finalist this year at the WTA 250 in Eastbourne and reached the WTA 1000 semifinals in Miami.

With information from Ap

▲ Spanish cyclist Marc Soler attacked with all his might, finishing solo at the finish between Avilés and the La Farrapona pass. Photo by AFP

Afp and Ap

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, September 7, 2025, p. a11

La Farrapona., Spanish cyclist Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) won solo yesterday in stage 14 of the Vuelta a España, between Avilés and the La Farrapona pass, on a day that again saw pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the start due to the participation of the Israel Premier Tech team, which announced it had removed the name from its uniform and replaced it with a star and a “P”.

In the competition, two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) retained the red jersey as the overall leader, finishing second on the big climb, ahead of Portugal's Joao Almeida (UAE Team), both 39 seconds behind the race winner after a distance of 135.9 kilometres.

At the finish, Vingegaard earned a two-second bonus over Almeida, widening the overall gap between first and second place to 48 seconds. Shortly before the 17-kilometer climb to La Farrapona, Soler attacked with all his might, finishing alone.

Israel's name removed from jersey

The Israel-Premier Tech team announced it was removing the country's name from its jersey, using only its logo for safety reasons in the wake of pro-Palestine protests in the first two weeks of the competition.

This did not prevent a pro-Palestinian demonstration from breaking out again at the start of the stage, when the riders stopped to cross a narrow road filled with people waving Palestinian flags.

The team said its race-ready blue uniforms now feature only a large P and a star. “In order to prioritize the safety of our riders and the entire peloton, given the dangerous nature of some protests at the Vuelta, Israel-Premier Tech has provided riders with a uniform bearing the team monogram for the remainder of the race,” the team said on its official X account.

“The team name remains Israel-Premier Tech, but the monogrammed uniform now aligns with the branding decisions we've made for our vehicles and casual wear,” he added.

Israel Premier Tech's participation forced the cancellation of last Wednesday's stage in Bilbao. Since then, every race has seen constant accusations against the Israeli team for the State of Israel's genocide in the Gaza Strip.

AP and AFP

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, September 7, 2025, p. a11

Monza. It takes something special to beat McLaren this year, and Max Verstappen knows just that. The Red Bull driver surprised everyone with great speed and precision to set a record lap and snatch pole position for the Italian Grand Prix from Formula One title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen will go down in Formula 1 history not only for his four championships, but also for setting one of the most important records in the discipline: the fastest lap at Monza with a time of 1:18.792 minutes after reaching an average speed of 264.7 kph, beating the mark set in 2020 by Briton Lewis Hamilton (1:18.887).

“Yes, guys, yes. That's incredible,” the Dutchman shouted over the team radio after securing pole position . “Relax here, everything's fine,” he said.

Verstappen set the pace in the final stages of qualifying for today's race at Monza, and Norris couldn't match him, finishing 0.077 seconds behind the Red Bull driver. The other McLaren, that of world championship leader Oscar Piastri, will start on the second row alongside the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, last year's winner in Italy.

Monza is a particularly conducive track for overtaking, thanks to its endless straights. It's no wonder the track, located northeast of Milan, is known as the "Temple of Speed": drivers spend 80 percent of their time with the engine running at full throttle.

“This season the GPs have been a little more complicated for us, but we'll give it our all,” promised the Dutchman.

It can't be any other way if "Mad Max" wants to hold off the attacks of the powerful McLarens or even Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, fourth on the starting grid.

Thus, Verstappen achieved his 45th pole position and his fifth of the season, although only one of his two victories this year has come from the front of the grid.

Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) posted the fifth-fastest time in qualifying, but will start from tenth on the grid, after being penalized for violating speed regulations at last weekend's Dutch GP. "Starting from that position won't be easy, and strategy will be crucial," said the seven-time world champion. With this penalty, the Mercedes drivers of Englishman George Russell and Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli have moved up one position, meaning they will start from sixth and seventh. Argentine Franco Colapinto will start from 17th, ahead of his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly.