Khan remains hopeful of facing Mayweather Jr

Amir Khan has been given hope by Floyd Mayweather Jr and Showtime despite them picking Marcos Maidana first

Floyd Mayweather Jr and his paymasters Showtime have left the door ajar for a future fight with Amir Khan, admitting on Wednesday night that electing Marcos Maidana over the Bolton fighter on the blockbuster May 3 card in Las Vegas had been “a tough decision”.

“Floyd spent a lot of time ruminating, going back and forth,” Stephen Espinoza, head of Showtime Sports, revealed. “It was a tough decision [for Mayweather] to pick Marcos Maidana. From Showtime Sports’ perspective, both options would be interesting fights.

“Floyd recognises that choosing the opponent for May 3 was not straightforward, and he’s definitely considering Amir Khan for the future.”

Andy Murray ready for the Barclays ATP World Tour finals challenge in London

The first thing you see when you walk out of North Greenwich tube station is a larger-than-life poster of Andy Murray, wearing his snarliest expression as he unleashes that signature double-fisted backhand.

It is a smart move by the promoters of the Barclays ATP World Tour finals to flag up their biggest asset: the Scot who has the whole of Great Britain cheering for him at last.

The poster stands just 300 yards from the O2 Arena, venue for this £5.5  million tournament, and it reflects how far Andy Murray has come over the past 12 months.

A year ago, Murray played just one match here – against David Ferrer, the winner of Sunday’s Paris

Warriors coach Mark Jackson forces reassignment of assistant Brian Scalabrine

In what's become an increasingly dysfunctional atmosphere, Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson has forced a reassignment of assistant coach Brian Scalabrine, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Ownership and management have been strong advocates of Scalabrine and his performance on the job, sources told Yahoo Sports. Nevertheless, Warriors officials decided that as long as Jackson is the head coach, he'll have control of his coaching staff.

Ownership and management have been strong advocates of Brian Scalabrine and his performance. (USA TODAY Sports …

Overconfident in Pakistan perseverance: Mohammad

All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez emerged the proud recipient of the Man of the Match accolade, after Pakistan beat India by one wicket in Sunday's important Asia Cup fixture in Dhaka.

Hafeez opened the bowling attack and snared two crucial wickets in a final total of 245 for eight, later scoring a fine 75 in a triumphant pursuit with two deliveries to spare.

His dismissals of the dangerous Shikhar Dhawan and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik were well complemented by a vigil that spanned 117 deliveries and featured a trio of fours and twin sixes.

Federer and Djokovic to meet in Dubai semi-finals

DUBAI (Reuters) - Five-times champion Roger Federer brushed aside Lukas Rosol on Thursday to set up a mouthwatering semi-final clash with Novak Djokovic in the Dubai Championship.

Federer eased through 6-2 6-2 while holder Djokovic enjoyed a walkover when quarter-final opponent Mikhail Youzhny withdrew through illness.

Third seed Tomas Berdych, who finished runner-up to Djokovic in 2013, faces seventh seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in the other semi-final.

Anelka banned and fined

West Brom striker Nicolas Anelka has been banned for five games, fined £80,000 and ordered to complete a compulsory education course after being found guilty of aggravated misconduct for performing a 'quenelle' gesture.

An independent commission ruled that the Frenchman breached the Football Association's code of conduct when he made the controversial gesture after scoring against West Ham in December.

Rory McIlroy might Return to Elite Form

In one year, Rory McIlroy went from being the most heralded golfer to perhaps the most infamous, but that could all be behind him as he enters the 2014 season.

His dramatic and highly visible drop from first place in the world rankings in the beginning of 2013 to eighth place today has taken the golfing world by surprise.

Looking back over the past year, there were so many things that appeared to be wrong. He had issues with his new Nike equipment, his girlfriend, his management team, his worldwide fame and subsequently with his attitude. All of these things collided to adversely impact his game.

Had the boy wonder who won two majors by the age of 23 lost it? What’s more, what was ailing him and could he turn it around? Was he David Duval or Tiger Woods?

Six Nations 2014: Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards says the pressure will all be on England at Twickenham

First shots fired in mind games before Twickenham showdown as Wales say 'whole of England' is expecting a Triple Crown

Shaun Edwards kicked off the traditional mind games that dominate the build-up to an England v Wales game in the Six Nations by claiming that the pressure was on Stuart Lancaster.

The Wales defence coach said he believed the English public expected Lancaster’s side to win at Twickenham a week on Sunday and land the Triple Crown for the first time in 11 years to take a significant step towards the RBS Six Nations Championship title.

Minnesota Scorches Iowa in Barn Burner

MINNEAPOLIS — A dozen questions stared squarely at Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery and most of them dealt with his defense.

The Hawkeyes gave up a season high in points and suffered their second straight setback, this time 95-89 to Minnesota at Williams Arena last night. The numbers were difficult to digest for McCaffery, yet they told an ambiguous story.

The Gophers scored 95 points for the first time in 21 official seasons. Minnesota shot 61.2 percent from the floor, including 69.2 percent in the first half. The Gophers buried Iowa with a first-half 3-point barrage, knocking down 9 of 11.

But within those numbers, McCaffery offered a shrug. Minnesota sank eight consecutive 3-pointers to end the first half. Some were because of late rotations, other times Iowa plainly was beat by good shooting.

McCaffery chose to consider both interpretations.

“A lot of times you sit here and you lose and we didn’t do this, we didn’t do that,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. “We should have done this, we could have done that. They put up 95.