Floyd Mayweather Jr. had been out of the ring for more than a year but there was little rust showing in his 36-year-old body on Saturday night.

Mayweather spent the first couple of rounds at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas sizing up Robert Guerrero and then the champion's stinging right proved to be more than the difference in a fight that was never in doubt, earning a unanimous decision to retain the WBC welterweight title.

Mayweather’s defense was so strong that Guerrero was unable to land a punch that slowed the undefeated champion. All three judges scored it 117-111.

Mayweather (44-0) recently signed a six fight mega-deal with Showtime/CBS, and while Saturday’s fight did little to bring anyone to their feet it was clear that he has lost little of the ring mastery that has marked his career.

His next fight should be in the fall against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who likely will prove to be a much tougher opponent than Guerrero, a former world featherweight and super-...

UC Irvine became the first team since UCLA in 1996 to successfully defend an NCAA men's volleyball title, defeating top-seeded Brigham Young in straight sets, 25-23, 25-22 and 26-24, at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night.

The second-seeded Anteaters won the first set on a disputed kill by Kyle Russell. BYU players vehemently disagreed that any of them had touched the ball, which went out of bounds. Irvine had been behind by as many as three points in the opening set.

BYU had an 8-1 run to take command in the second set with an 11-4 lead before Irvine's Connor Hughes had a resounding kill to begin a run by the Anteaters. They scored five consecutive points to close the gap to 11-9 and force BYU into a timeout. The Cougars' Ben Patch stopped the streak with a kill.

But a service ace from Scott Kevorken tied the set at 12-12, and UC Irvine took a 16-15 lead on a Zack La Cavera kill. Another La Cavera kill gave the Anteaters an 18-16 lead, but his service error drew BYU to within 18-17. The...

LOUISVILLE, KY. — Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey is a man who looks like the embodiment of the nickname that is all anybody calls him by. Short and unassuming, he said this week he made an effort to enjoy the run-up to the Kentucky Derby, a race he has, like any trainer, dreamed of winning.

But the Hall of Famer knew, really, that there’s only one way to truly enjoy the Kentucky Derby: win it.

Running over a sloppy Churchill Downs track that left 19 contenders caked in mud, McGaughey’s horse Orb found stable footing and a late lead in the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Orb moved to the front with about 200 yards to go after laying back and surged past longshot Golden Soul to win the $2-million Derby by 2 1/2 lengths and secure the first jewel in horse racing's Triple Crown in front of 151,616.

Revolutionary, ridden by three-time Derby winner Calvin Borel, had been the betting favorite for most of the day, but a last-minute surge put Orb back...

In the olden days, NHL teams had quirky rinks that didn’t conform to the standard size of 85 feet wide by 200 feet long.

The ice surfaces at Boston Garden and Chicago Stadium were notorious for being 10 to 15 feet short of the regulation 200-foot length, with the distance coming out of the neutral zone. The Bruins and Blackhawks for years supposedly tailored their rosters to take advantage of that.

But now every rink is the same size -- or is it?

Blues Coach Ken Hitchcock, speaking after his team prepared for Game 3 of its opening-round playoff series against the Kings, said Saturday that the ice surface at Staples Center is “way smaller” than it should be. He said knowing that helped him prepare his team for its last visit here, on March 5. In that game, the Blues led 4-1 in the second period and 4-2 entering the third period, but the Kings rallied for a 6-4 victory.

“It’s such a different game here with the smaller ice surface,” Hitchcock said....

Other than the obvious -- score more goals and win a game -- what must the Kings do Saturday night at Staples Center to dent the St. Louis Blues’ 2-0 series lead?

Get a good start and draw on the energy of the home crowd seemed to be players’ consensus after their morning skate at Staples Center. The Kings this season had a club-record .813 points percentage at home, on a 19-4-1 home record.

“We get to play in front of our home fans and they’re going to have tons of energy in the crowd,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We need to use that energy with us and we need to be doing what they did to us in Game 1.

“Game 1 was tough for us. They came out hard in the first period and they banged our bodies. We didn’t start playing well until OT came around. We need to do the same thing to them tonight: Bang bodies early, and try to get a goal quick and don’t step off the pedal at all.”

Getting a goal at any time would be helpful for a...

Based on the defense pairs the Kings deployed in their morning skate Saturday at Staples Center, it appears they will make a change to their lineup for Game 3 of their opening-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues.

Alec Martinez, a puck-moving defenseman who has not played since April 2, was paired with veteran Rob Scuderi in the morning session. The other pairs were Robyn Regehr-Drew Doughty; Jake  Muzzin-Slava Voynov, and Matt Greene with Keaton Ellerby.

Greene, who was scratched from the lineup for the first two games, stayed out to skate with the extra players long after the rest of the team had returned to the locker room for a game-day meeting, which means he’s not scheduled to play. If Ellerby were going to play, he wouldn’t have been paired with someone who’s not going to be in the lineup.

The Kings made no changes in their six-man defense corps during their run to the Stanley Cup last spring, but they had a healthy Willie Mitchell and Greene was...

First things first: Grantland has a terrific look-back at Hunter S. Thompson's "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved." I always start the Derby primer with a link to this story -- and by always, I mean I also did it last year -- and this adds even more context to how the story came about.

A very popular question I receive from fellow Baltimoreans upon my return to our fair city by the bay is: How does the Derby compare to Preakness? The answer I ended up giving usually went something like this: The Preakness debauchery seems to be compressed into one day and in one spot, the infield, where once upon a time people ran across the portable toilets for sport. Take all of that energy, turn it up a few notches, and spread it around an entire town and over a few weeks and you have the Derby.

It's rainy here today, which means thousands of people walked to Churchill Downs under umbrellas they weren't supposed to bring into the facility (it enacted stricter rules for what people could...

DETROIT -- The chess game of lineup changes continued with the Ducks making a significant move on the back end and the Red Wings opting for a small change up front before Saturday’s Game 3 of their first-round NHL playoff series.

Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa, who missed the final six regular-season games with a lower-body injury, will make his series debut, and veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray is the odd-man out. For Detroit, Mikael Samuelsson is in for the first time in the series, on the fourth line with Patrick Eaves and Cory Emmerton.

“A little unexpected, but we didn’t win” Game 2, Souray said after the morning skate. “Whatever it takes at this point to win, you’ve got to respect. I haven’t talked to anybody. You have to ask him [Coach Bruce Boudreau]. We’ve got to win a hockey game, so we’ll go with the guys they feel they have the best chance with.”

Was he surprised by the development?

“Yeah, a little surprised,&...

Luol Deng will not be with the Chicago Bulls when they play Game 7 against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.

Deng remains hospitalized with an undisclosed illness, although earlier in the week he said he might have meningitis, and did not make the trip to New York.

The athletic 6-foot-8 forward, who averaged 16.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 38.7 minutes this season, was originally reported to have the viral flu when he missed Game 6, but he tweeted on Friday that he'd never sit out a game with flu-like symptoms.

Guard Kirk Hinrich, who has missed the last two games with a bruised left calf, will be a game-time decision, according to Coach Tom Thibodeau.

Deng played an average of 44.8 minutes a game against the Nets in the series, averaging 13.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists.

Now I'm back in the ER where I may have to spend the night... I want my teammates and Bulls fans to know I would NEVER miss a game bc of flu

— Luol Deng (@LuolDeng9) May 3, 2013

Earlie...

It was Metallica Night at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Friday when the Dodgers paid a visit to play the Giants.

The legendary rock 'n' rollers did their best Jimi Hendrix impersonation with an electrified version of "The Star Spangled Banner."

Among the promotions at the park were Metallica hats, photos of players in Metallica persona, guitars with a Giants theme that were autographed and auctioned off as well as personal appearances around the park by members of the band.

Lead singer and guitarist James Hetfield led a chant of "Let's Go, Giants" before the game and drummer Lars Ulrich threw the ceremonial first pitch.

Metallica, a nine-time Grammy Award winner, is currently working on its 10th album, scheduled for release in 2014.

The band, which has sold more than 100 million records, will also be featured in a 3-D concert film shot in IMAX to open in theaters on Sept. 27.

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Mickey Mantle corked bat goes on the auction block

Travis Pastrana takes Nationwide Series pole at...

Phil Mickelson, who has struggled mightily at times this year, heads a big-name field with some star power on the leaderboard in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.

Mickelson sank a 40-foot birdie putt at No. 9 during a round of five-under-par 67 on Friday that moved him two clear of fellow American Nick Watney and two others with a nine-under 135 after two rounds. Mickelson shook off a bogey at No. 12 to record back-to-back birdies at Nos. 14 and 15.

“It's fun to be in contention," said Mickelson, who has only two top-10 finishes this year -- including a victory at the Phoenix Open -- while missing a cut three weeks ago. "It's fun to be in the mix. It's great to be leading, but we're only halfway home. There is a lot of golf left. I have to come out and play very well.

"But I've been putting very well this week, and I've been driving the ball very well before I got here," the left-hander from San Diego said. "And I think if I drive the ball the way I've been before I...

LAS VEGAS -- Juan Manuel Marquez said Friday he's finished fighting Manny Pacquiao and wants to forever hang on to the feeling of his thunderous Dec. 8 knockout of the Filipino superstar.

Marquez, in a video interview with The Times, said he was content to accept a Sept. 14 bout with World Boxing Organization titleholder Timothy Bradley of Palm Springs because Bradley "is the champ."

Marquez, in Las Vegas for ESPN Deportes to cover the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Robert Guerrero fight Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena, said he also was not interested in traveling to Singapore or China to fight Pacquiao.

Pacquiao is expected to fight either Mike Alvarado or Brandon Rios in the fall in the Far East.

Marquez said he believes he won the three prior fights with Pacquiao before the knockout, even though judges awarded Pacquiao two decisions and a draw in those fights.

He said that after those frustrations hung with him for years in some cases, he wants the rivalry to end for good with his...