this venue is the fight venue, james degale and badou jack will walk to the rink tomorrow evening, withwelterweight crown in the usa. it's a big moment forjames degale, how will it go? i think it will be a very hard, tough fight but james will have to be sharper than an arrow from round one to around 12 to ta ke arrow from round one to around 12 to take the title. here is where you won your world title, they've called in the rogue warrior, the day before the fight as another set piece, how ha rd the fight as another set piece, how hard is it to hold their nerve and confidence? you have to be born for it. born to be that champion, like myself and james degale. he has boxed all over the world, in the amateurs, and he knows that if you are good enough and you can fight you've got no problems so i don't think there will be any risk of that. he will be sharp, he knows what he is up against and he will go there and do the business. that's there and do the business. that's the general feeling, that the best ofjames the general feeling, that the best of james degale will beat the best of james

and james degale wants to prove he is "one of the best fighters in the world" in his unification bouth badou jack in brooklyn. good evening. welcome to sportsday. having a disagreement with a star

i think it will be callum smith against anthony or james degale for the ibf. is the fight we wanted. that is the fight james wants and callum and probably britain wants as well. it will be interesting to see what happens. andy carroll added to the collection as west ham beat crystal palace 3—0. joey barton had been back in the premier league for five minutes before he scored for burnley, while both tottenham and arsenal put four goals past their opponents. but it is chelsea who are top of the table, with a seven—point lead, despite the absence of their top scorer, diego costa. joe lynskey reports. no costa, no problem. without their star player, chelsea showed their team's star quality. at the home of the champions, this was a test of their own title credentials and their inspiration came from an unlikely source. the first of two goals for their full—back, marcus alonzo, set them on their way. should fortune indeed tempt costa away, plenty of attacking riches still remain. pedro has surely sealed it for chelsea! on a night where some thought their season would

we have kind of got him cornered by james degale and callum smith. i think you will vacate, i do. james degale for the ibf. that is the fight we wanted. that is the fight james wants and callum and probably britain wants as well. it will be interesting to see what happens. after chelsea extended their lead to seven points at the top of the premier league, today's games see some of the other title contenders in action, with manchester clubs taking on the two teams from merseyside. liverpool could move up to second place with a win against manchester united at old trafford. but first, it is everton that host manchester city in the early kick—off. john stones returns to goodison park for manchester city. something pep guardiola is not too concerned about. i would like, but not in terms of everton, but in terms of manchester city when some player comes back, the fans have respect. i would like to feel that. but i'm not concerned what everton decide to do. but hopefully can respect, because i know how much john respects the club, who helped him to develop his performance to play in the

i think it will be callum smith against anthony or james degale for the ibf.mes wants and callum and probably britain wants as well. it will be interesting to see what happens. today's games in the premier league sees the manchester clubs take on the two teams from merseyside. everton host manchester city in the early kick off, while fourth—placed liverpool face manchester united at old trafford. a win would take liverpool to second place in the table, but with manchester united unbeaten in 15 games, jose mourinho is in confident mood. we don't have just the good performances, we have also the happiness of the good results. we play at home, not away, so little details that change a little bit, but in general, it'sjust one more big match and let's enjoy the match. of course, both teams are, actually, especially now, in the long—term, in a good run, in good shape. maybe united has less problems with injuries or whatever, but that doesn't mean anything. we can lose against each team, but we can win against each team and that's the important thing. looking forward

degale for the ibf. that's the fight we wanted. that's the fight james wants as well. it will be interesting to see what happens. it's five years since ronnie o'sullivan last went out in the first round of snooker‘s masters but he came as close as you can get this afternoon. china's liang wenbo came from 4—2 down to lead 5—4 and had this black to win the match. having potted the black to force a decider, o'sullivan, despite suffering with a heavy cold, cleared up with his biggest break of the day. he'll play neil robertson or ali carter next. i didn't deserve to win, really. i was there for the taking, really. i didn't play very, very well today. you've got to be feeling for him really. i know what that feels like, one ball away from winning the match. but you should win. it will be hard for him to deal with that one. graeme storm has won his first european tour title in 10 years, beating rory mcilroy in a dramatic play—off at the south african open. storm went into the final round three shots clear of mcilroy but going up the 17th, the world number two

badou jack and james degale meet in a super middleweight unification title bout in new york on saturdayts in total will be on the line. the 33—year—old swedish fighterjack has held the wbc title since 2015, and has 20 wins, with just the one loss and two draws, knocking out 12 opponents, while british boxer degale, who turns 31 next month, has a record of 23 and one, with 14 knockouts. sometimes i think i don't really get the credit that i deserve. 0lympic, british, european, world champion, andi british, european, world champion, and i am part of the unified division. so yes, this is a massive fight. i division. so yes, this is a massive fight. i trained extremely hard, and its time. it is literally round the corner how. its time. it is literally round the corner now. so i can't wait. you've got three belts on the line. you've got three belts on the line. you've got legacy, the best 168 pounder in the world after this fight. so you you can't get no bigger than this. nba commissioner adam silver believes president—elect donald trump will be good news for the sport of basketball. silver

we have got him cornered — callum smith, anthony durrell, james degale. the ibf. —— anthony djourou l. —— anthony durell. that is the fight we wanted. that is the fight james wants and callum and probably britain wants as well. it will be interesting to see what happens. it's five years since ronnie 0'sullivan last went out in the first round of snooker‘s masters but he came as close as you can get this afternoon. china's liang wenbo came from 4—2 down to lead 5—4 and had this black to win the match. having potted the black to force a decider, 0'sullivan, despite suffering with a heavy cold, cleared up with his biggest break of the day. he'll play neil robertson or ali carter next. ididn't i didn't deserve to win, really. i was there for the taking, really. i didn't play very, very well today. you have got to be feeling for him really. i know what that feels like, one ball away from winning the match. it will be hard for him to deal with that one. graeme storm has won his first european tour title in 10 years, beating rory mcilroy in a dramatic play—off a

degale for the ibf. that is the fight we wanted. that is the fight jamesit will be interesting to see what happens. idid i did tell you i would let you know what happened in the gulf. it has just finished. rory mcilroy and graeme storm went to three play—off holes. graeme storm won. his first tournament on the european tour for ten years. the south african open title. more on the claim that cancer operations are being cancelled because of the demands on the nhs. let's speak now to ian eardley, a vice—president of the royal college of surgeons and a consultant at stjames' hospital in leeds. what is the problem? what is happening? the nhs is under enormous pressure at the moment. the combination of increased admissions through accident and emergency combined with difficulties in getting patients home because of lack of support in social care means that hospitals are just too full. when they are too full, you can't do elective surgery. while cancer operations are usually the most important cases, we hearing that throughout the country an increasing number of

and james degale wants to prove he is "one of the best fighters in the world" in his unification boutbadou jack in brooklyn. good evening. welcome to sportsday. having a disagreement with a star player doesn't seem to be much of a distraction any more. we'll tell you about west ham without dmitri in a moment. but first, chelsea without diego. yes, diego costa wasn't included in the premier league leaders‘ squad for the match tonight at champions leicester. but they still won of the blue. by 3—0. adam wild reports. —— they still won co mforta bly. wild reports. —— they still won comfortably. no diego costa. whilst his future remains uncertain, they have taken subregion for elsewhere. still, it seems they are quick learners. less than three —— six minutes before marcos alonso put them ahead. the attention may be on what is happening up front, but at the back, matters are equally important. courtois was by blinky being that lead. the opener came from an unlikely source. by the time the second arrived, it was alonso again, this time with the help of a deflection. he almost had a hat—trick

and james degale wants to prove he is "one of the best fighters in the world" in his unification boutbadou jack in brooklyn. good evening. welcome to sportsday. plenty to come, including details on how two bad boys in claret and blue stole the headlines in their premier league matches. but first to tottenham. .. second in the table this evening after another impressive victory. this time 4—0 against west brom. a harry kane hat trick has lifted them above liverpool who play on sunday. and to within four points of leaders chelsea. azi farni reports. tottenham started the day looking for their sixth league win in a row, with dele alli looking to continue his rich vein of form. but it was his england team—mate and new father harry kane who opened the scoring, a man whose spurs fans call one of their own, celebrating his first goals after having one of his own. spurs looked capable of goals with every attack. they soon made it 2—0, with a shot deflected off gareth mcauley into the back of his own net. the game took an unfortunate twist, when tottenham defender jan vertonghen turned his ank

boxing now, and james degale has been taken to hospital as a precaution after he retained his ibf worlde fight strongly, knocking jack down in the first round. but jack came back, causing the londoner a lot of problems, and degale was knocked down himself in the final round. and after taking a long time, thejudges decided by a majority decision that it was a draw. both men go home with their respective world title belts. wasps have managed to keep alive their hopes of reaching the quarter—finals of rugby union's european champions cup but they left it late before beating toulouse 17—14. elliott daly scored wasps's first try before toulouse were awarded a penalty try. the french side were leading until the final 58 seconds of the game, when dan robson forced his way across the line. wasps are second in pool two with one group game left. leicester tigers‘ can't reach the knockout stages, after they were beaten 34—3 away at racing 92. this was one of four tries for racing, who are last year's runners up. elsewhere, glasgow suffered a narrow defeat to munster, denting their hopes of progres

boxing now, and james degale has been taken to hospital as a precaution after he retained his ibf worldraw with fellow world champion badou jack. degale began the fight strongly, knocking jack down in the first round, butjack came back, causing the londoner a lot of problems, and degale was knocked down himself in the final round. the judges took a long time to come to a decision, eventually declaring it a majority draw. both men go home with their respective world title belts, and although degale was disappointed, he says he wasn't overawed by his opponent. it is not unbelievable. he is good at everything. i need to watch it back. everyone said it was a mad fight to watch, i showed a lot of heart. that was hard. i do not want too many of them. i enjoyed it though, that is the sick thing. lisa ashton has become bdo world darts champion for the third time after a comfortable win in the women's final at lakeside. ashton beat the australian corrinne hammond 3—0 to add to the world titles she won in 2014 and 2015. the masters snooker gets underway today at alexandra palace in london. the fa