Red Bull and Ricciardo await verdict after appeal

Formula One constructors champions Red Bull should learn by Tuesday morning whether their appeal over Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification from his home Grand Prix has been successful.

The FIA International Court of Appeal heard the appeal in Paris on Monday and must decide whether or not to reinstate Ricciardo in second place in the Melbourne race.

The 24-year-old, in his first season with the team, was stripped of his place after the team were found guilty of breaching fuel flow regulations.

Several of Red Bull's rivals had representatives at the appeal, which lasted six hours, shortly before they left for the fourth race of the season, Sunday's China Grand Prix in Shanghai.

Mercedes-AMG lawyer Paul Harris told the appeal he believed Red Bull should face a stiffer punishment as their offence was worse than that of the now defunct BAR-Honda team, who in 2005 were found to have used two hidden fuel tanks inside their main fuel tank.

Widespread rule changes this year include a 100 kilo (about 135 litres, 36 gallons) cap on fuel as well as a fuel flow limit of 100 kilos per hour, designed to encourage steady use of fuel.

An aggravating factor is that Red Bull apparently ignored FIA's advice to reduce the flow of fuel a little so as not to break the rule.

'We really tried, between the 8th and 16th lap, but that was costing us 0.4 second a lap and going at that rhythm we wouldn't have been able to retain second place,' argued Red Bull's technical director Adrian Newey at the appeal.

A reinstatement would be worth 18 points which would lift the driver into third spot in the championship, albeit 31 points behind leader Nico Rosberg and 20 back from the German's Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton.

They would also propel the team into second place in the constructors championship where they would be 38 points behind runaway leaders Mercedes,

The last time the FIA Court of Appeal convened was in 2009 to hear Spanish driver Fernando Alonso argue against being suspended following the Europe Grand Prix.

The two-time world champion had his suspension lifted and instead was fined $50,000.

Red Bull lose Ricciardo disqualification appeal

Red Bull on Tuesday lost their appeal over Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix.

The world champions had sought to overturn the stripping of Ricciardo's second place in Melbourne for breaching fuel flow regulations.

The FIA's International Court of Appeal issued a ruling after a six-hour hearing Monday when other teams had called for the punishmen to be toughened.

Red Bull's rookie Australian driver is left in 10th place in the championship with 12 points, 49 behind Mercedes' pacesetter Nico Rosberg ahead of Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.

Red Bull are fourth in the constructors' standings on 35 points with Mercedes leading on 111.

Santa Cruz rolls over Mijares to retain boxing title

Leo Santa Cruz dominated former champion Cristian Mijares to retain his World Boxing Council title with a 12-round unanimous decision in an all-Mexican super bantamweight matchup.

The 25-year-old Santa Cruz is coming into his prime and he showed it by overpowering the veteran Mijares, winning on all three judges' scorecards and improving to 27 wins, no losses and one draw.

Two judges scored it 120-108 and one judge had it 119-109.

Southpaw Mijares, 32, was completely outclassed at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as he dropped to 49-8-2 with 24 knockouts. Mijares, who was fighting in the 12th title fight of his career, is a former WBC and WBA world super flyweight champ.

'Mijares is a great boxer,' Santa Cruz said. 'I came to do what I had to do to win. We practiced everything to put on a great fight.'

This was the second title defence for Santa Cruz. He won the crown in August with a third-round knockout of compatriot Victor Terrazas.

Santa Cruz defended the title in December, taking a unanimous decision over Puerto Rican southpaw Cesar Seda.

The Las Vegas card also featured former champ Saul Alvarez who beat Alfredo Angulo in Alvarez's first fight since suffering a one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather.

Alvarez, whose nickname is 'Canelo', won by a technical knockout in the 10th round when the referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the non-title super welterweight fight, with Alvarez well ahead on points.

Weeks' decision to halt the fight early in the round drew loud boos from the crowd.

'The ref stopped the fight,' Alvarez said. 'I could have fought another 10 rounds. It is not my fault.'

Angulo was angry the ref ended the fight when he did.

'It was 20 weeks of training, it is disappointing. I wanted to keep fighting,' he said.

Alvarez lost a majority decision and his titles to unbeaten American Mayweather in September. He improved to 43-1-1.

Cotto eager to extend ring legacy

The chance to make boxing history was the main lure for Miguel Cotto in choosing to challenge Sergio Martinez for the World Boxing Council middleweight world title on June 7.

'It's the main attraction for me, to have the chance to be the first Puerto Rican to be a champion in four weight divisions -- that's my motivation,' Cotto said Friday at a press gathering at the MGM Grand.

Cotto, who owns a record of 39-4-1 with 31 knockouts, was flanked by trainer Freddie Roach, who has been preparing him for the Martinez bout at New York's Madison Square Garden as well as training Philippines star Manny Pacquiao for his welterweight world title re-match with American Timothy Bradley on Saturday.

Cotto, 33, has held world titles at junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight.

While Argentina's Martinez goes into the bout as the champion, it's Cotto who can expect the fervent support of the crowd on the weekend of New York's annual Puerto Rican Day parade.

The 39-year-old Martinez (51-2-2, 28 knockouts), has attacked Cotto for negotiating to have top billing for the fight and a purse division in the Puerto Rican's favor.

Perhaps the demand that rankles most was that Cotto be introduced last at Madison Square Garden -- an honor that traditionally belongs to the champion.

Cotto is indeed a big draw at the fabled New York arena, where he first fought in 2005.

He's looking forward to returning, despite the fact that he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Austin Trout in his last Garden appearance in December of 2012.

'I know a lot of crazy Puerto Ricans are going to be there,' said Cotto, who won his only fight since then with a third-round stoppage of Delvin Rodriguez in October of last year.

Martinez, who has never lost a world title fight and will be defending the belt he first won in 2010, has accused Cotto of 'disrespect'.

'In a way, he's a very nasty person,' Martinez said last month.

Cotto indicated that he believed Martinez's comments might stem from insecurity, and if that's the case the Argentinian should beware.

'If Martinez doesn't believe in himself, his skill, he picked the wrong fight,' Cotto said.

In fact, it was mainly Cotto who did the choosing, opting not to accept an offer to fight former WBC and World Boxing Association super welterweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.

A showdown with the 23-year-old Alvarez could still be in his future, Cotto said, but he prefers to postpone talk of that possibility until after taking care of business in June.

'We have to wait until we face Martinez, until we beat Martinez, then we can talk about Canelo,' he said.

Inoue becomes WBC champ in only sixth pro fight

Japan's Naoya Inoue dethroned World Boxing Council light-flyweight champion Adrian Hernandez of Mexico with a technical knockout in Tokyo on Sunday in just his sixth professional bout.

Inoue, who turns 21 on Thursday, remained the aggressor from the opening bell and floored the Mexican with a right straight to the face in the sixth round.

Canadian referee Mike Griffin gave the fight to the Japanese fighter by technical knockout at 2:54 into the round.

It was the sixth straight win for Inoue, the No. 4 WBC contender nicknamed 'monster' by his home fans, since his professional debut in October 2012.

No Japanese boxer before him has won a world title through such a limited number of professional bouts.

Hernandez, 28, was defending his 48.9kg division title for the fifth time since he regained it by beating Thailand's Kompayak Porpramook in Toluca, Mexico, in October 2012.

It was his third loss against 29 wins, 18 of them by knockout, and one draw.

'I fought while I thought to myself that I was realising my childhood dream,' Inoue said.

'I had to struggle midway through. It was the first time that I struggled since I turned pro and it was kind of fun as well. I want to fight on and aim for a bigger dream.'

He kept putting pressure on Hernandez from the first round, throwing body blows to the Mexican after forcing him against the ropes.

But in the fifth round, Inoue was staggered by a close-range combination from the Mexican.

The knockdown came in an exchange of blows in the sixth round.

All three judges -- Americans Steve Morrow and Don Griffin and Guido Cavalleri of Italy -- scored 10 for Inoue and nine for Hernandez in each of the first five rounds.

'Inoue is a great champion,' Hernandez said of his conqueror. 'His left hook hurt me most.

'Inoue has great speed and he is good at dodging punches. If possible, I want to have a rematch with him,' he added.

Cyclist Horner in hospital after crash with car

Tour of Spain champion Chris Horner has been taken to hospital following a training crash with a car around Lake Como, Italy, his Lampre team said Friday.

The 42-year-old American, who was born in Japan and is the oldest ever winner of a Grand Tour, suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs in the accident.

'The American cyclist Chris Horner had an unfortunate accident while out training around Lake Como,' said a statement from the Italian team.

'The details of the accident are still to be evaluated, however it seems that in the afternoon he was probably hit by a car while riding on the Lecco side of the lake.

'He was immediately transported to Lecco hospital where the team's medical doctor (Luca Pollastri) met him to evaluate the circumstances with the hospital's doctors.

'The medical checks taken show no head concussion, but a punctured lung, four broken ribs and cuts in his head which required stitches.'

With a best Tour de France finish of ninth in 2010, Horner finally delivered on his Grand Tour potential by winning last year's Vuelta a Espana just before turning 42.

His other notable results included an overall victory at the Tour of the Basque Country in 2010 and the Tour of California in 2011.

He was also a reasonably successful rider in the Spring Classics with top 10 finishes at all three Ardennes Classics in 2010.

Japan baseball league hit by second bouncy ball blunder

Japan's professional baseball league was facing another bouncy ball scandal Tuesday as sports equipment giant Mizuno apologised for a defect that turned the nation's top sport into a slugfest.

The firm blamed a manufacturing defect, after league officials said they detected a problem with game balls following the season opener last month.

'This happened because of Mizuno's failure to control our operations,' company president Akito Mizuno told a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Last year, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) commissioner Ryozo Kato was forced to quit after it was discovered that the league and Mizuno conspired to tweak the balls to make the game more exciting.

After months of repeated denials and a huge surge in home runs, the league admitted that it had changed specifications of the balls to give them greater bounce off the bat.

The league also admitted that it had demanded its manufacturer keep quiet about the switch.

On Tuesday, Mizuno said there was no subterfuge this time around.

It said wool yarn wrapped around the balls' inner core was too dry, requiring more material which ultimately created greater bounce than regulations allow.

Japanese media said there have been 131 home runs this season compared to 113 at the same time last year.