CUBAN Dayron Robles became another high-profile disqualification at the World Championships as he was stripped of his 110m hurdles gold medal.

Novak Djokovic extended his unbeaten start to the year as he set up a semi-final against new American number one Mardy Fish at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Amir Khan will defend his WBA light-welterweight title against European champion Paul McCloskey on April 16.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR was arrested at a Las Vegas casino on a misdemeanour battery charge after he allegedly assaulted a security guard at his gated community, authorities said yesterday.

Amir Khan claims he has improved so much in the last two years his sparring sessions with the great Manny Pacquiao are "pretty even" - but insists he will never fight his friend for real.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN had mixed emotions after missing out on a medal by 11 seconds at the European Championships in Barcelona yesterday.

OLYMPIC and world champion Usain Bolt recovered from a poor start to win the 100m at the Paris Diamond League meet in 9.84 seconds last night.

PAUL HESSION arrived in Lausanne yesterday to the news that Usain Bolt will not be competing in the 200m at tonight’s Samsung Diamond League meeting.

Amir Khan’s WBA light-welterweight title defence against Paulie Malignaggi on May 15 will be shown live on terrestrial television.

Usain Bolt will make his first appearance on the IAAF Diamond League circuit when he competes in Shanghai on May 23.

DAVID GILLICK faces the most daunting if most exciting assignment of his career later today in the semi-finals of the men’s 400m at the World Championships in Berlin.

THOMAS CHAMNEY is named on the Irish team in both the 800m and 1,500m for the world athletics championships in Berlin, ruling out arch rival David Campbell, who had been hoping for the 800m berth.

THE race may not have lived up to its billing but Ireland’s David Gillick won’t complain about that after finishing third behind the Olympic champion, LaShawn Merritt (USA) in the 400m at last night’s Super Grand Prix meeting in Monte Carlo.

PROMOTER Frank Warren has strongly urged Ricky Hatton to retire rather than risk his long-term health by fighting Amir Khan – but admits he would happily pit his young champion against the jaded legend.

Amir Khan became a world champion overnight just 10 months after suffering a devastating knockout defeat by unknown Colombian Breidis Prescott.

Amir Khan took a huge step towards a world title shot with an excellent fifth-round technical decision win over bloodied legend Marco Antonio Barrera.

AMIR KHAN will take the first step towards rebuilding his career when he meets Ireland’s Oisin Fagan at London’s ExCeL on December 6.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE is ready for the race of her life in tomorrow morning’s women’s 20k walk in Beijing, according to coach Ray Flynn.

Wladimir Klitschko revealed that David Haye and Alexander Povetkin are the leading candidates to get a shot at his IBF and WBO heavyweight titles following his late KO victory over Tony Thompson.

CAROLINA KLUFT has abandoned her hopes of competing at Cork City Sports on Saturday as a slump in form has sent the Olympic, world and European champion back to her training base in Sweden for some fine tuning.

James Blake exacted a measure of revenge with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Japanese wildcard Kei Nishikori in the opening round of the USA Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston on Wednesday.

Drogheda United Football Club have signed Senegalese striker Ibrahima Thiam Iyane, pending international clearance.

Tyson Gay picked up a third gold medal and Team USA continued to dominate in sprinting events by winning the 4x100 metres relay at the World Championships in Osaka tonight.

Olympic champion Mark Lewis-Francis insists Great Britain’s 4x100 metre relay team at the World Championships in Osaka has the individual potential to be better than the one that stormed to gold in Athens three years ago.

EILEEN O’KEEFFE ended her world championships adventure in dramatic fashion last evening when finishing sixth in the final of the women’s hammer with a best throw of 70.93 metres.

SIOBHÁN DERVAN will be the only woman in the line-up when Rás Mumhan gets under way with a prologue time trial in Killorglin this evening.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN is back on the road and heralded his return by finishing third in a 10k race in Krakow at the weekend behind Ilya Markov (Russia), silver medallist in the Olympics in 1996, and the 2004 Olympic silver medallist, Francisco Fernandez (Spain).

Olympic champion Justin Gatlin broke the 100m world record by clocking a time of 9.76 seconds in the Doha Super Grand Prix in Qatar.

American Mardy Fish had some words of comfort for Andy Murray after ending the British teenager’s bid for glory at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis.

British rider Chris Newtown swept to his second FBD Insurance Rás title in two years, after finishing comfortably in the bunch at the end of today's eighth and final stage criterium in Dublin's Phoenix Park.