KATIE TAYLOR continued her defence of her lightweight title and her quest for a third successive world title with an emphatic 15-points victory over the Pan American champion, Adriana Araugo (Brazil) at the AIBA world championships at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Bridgetown, Barbados, last night.

JOHN JOE NEVIN, Darren O’Neill and Eric Donovan all won their contests on what was an brilliant day for Irish boxers at the world championships in Milan yesterday.

Newly-crowned WBA super bantamweight champ Bernard Dunne admits that he was inspired by the Irish rugby team en route to his win over defending champ Ricardo Cordoba at The O2 Arena in Dublin on Saturday night.

With greetings from his oldest comrades in arms as well as Cuban schoolchildren, Fidel Castro marked his 77th birthday firmly in control of the only communist state in the Western Hemisphere.