Terry Flanagan knows something about the courage it took Orlando Cruz to become the first active professional boxer to announce he is gay.Cruz (25-4-1, 13 KOs), who came out in 2012, challenges Flanagan for his WBO world lightweight title on Saturday and will become the first openly gay boxing world champion if he wins at the at the Matchpoint Arena in Cardiff.Boxing this year has seen two of the sports biggest global stars -- Manny Pacquiao and Tyson Fury -- make homophobic remarks.But Flanagan (31-0, 12 KOs) only has admiration for Cruz after seeing his sister Chelsea also announce she was gay.To come out in such a sport like boxing which is a macho combat sport, you have to admire it, Flanagan told ESPN.It takes bravery and courage. It doesnt affect me at all as my sister Chelsea is openly gay.I remember well when she came out and what it was like. Shes had it hard, she came out in her teens and shes a better person for it now.Shes a footballer herself [for Sheffield FC in the Womens Super League] and there are a few girls in womens football who have come out. But there arent any in the mens game.There are more and more people coming out so people dont look at it as a bad thing and its good for boxing what Orlando has done.Puerto Rican Cruz, who married his partner Jose Manuel Colon earlier this year, was knocked out by Orlando Salido in a shot at the WBO world featherweight title in 2013.The 35-year-old has won his last five fights -- the last four were at super-featherweight -- and he will be Briton Flanagans challenger for the WBO belt he won in 2015.He looks quite classy, he can punch, and hes got a few knockouts, Flanagan said.He uses his short height to an advantage and looks a bit tricky. He lost to Salido, but Salido is a great fighter who has a win over [Vasyl] Lomachenko.Cruz is arguably Flanagans highest profile opponent yet, but the Briton is still yearning for a big fight.Flanagan, 27, had hoped to face fellow Manchester-based boxer Anthony Crolla (31-5-3, 13 KOs), who lost his WBA version of the world title on points to Jorge Linares (41-3, 27 KOs) in September.Flanagan now hopes victory over Cruz sets up a mandatory defence against Puerto Ricos dangerous Felix Verdejo (22-0, 15 KOs) or a unification fight.Verdejo is my mandatory and hes boxing after Christmas and then I will be looking at defending my title against him in March, or maybe it will be a unification fight, Flanagan said.?Ive heard there will be a rematch between Linares and Crolla so I wont be fighting either of them in the near future. Ive got my mandatory due in March so its maybe at least two fights away.Linares got offered the fight against me and took less money to fight Crolla again than he would against me, so he chose the safer option in fighting Crolla.I thought [WBC champion] Dejan Zlaticanin had accepted an offer to come over here and fight this month but then we heard he was fighting Mikey Garcia next instead. I thought it was done but was only a verbal agreement. Hopefully we can make it in the future.I just hope one of these big fights comes off for me in 2017.Flanagan says he would consider stepping up to light-welterweight and challenging for the vacant WBO world title, if American Terence Crawford relinquishes the belt to move up to welterweight.I would jump at the chance of fighting for the world title at the next weight, Flanagan said. If Terence Crawford is stepping up to welterweight then I would happily jump up.Crawford went from being WBO lightweight champion to fighting for the WBO light-welterweight title and Ive heard there are rumours that he will step up again if the fight is right. I would go straight into a world title fight if I stepped up. Yasser Corona Jersey .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Diego Reyes Jersey . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. http://www.nationalsoccermexico.com/jurgen-damm-mexico-jersey/ . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. 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OLYMPICSBUDAPEST, Hungary -- Eleven weightlifters, including three Russian medalists, have tested positive for banned drugs in the latest retests of samples from the 2012 London Olympics, the International Weightlifting Federation said.The IWF said in a statement that all 11 athletes, six of whom were medalists, had been provisionally suspended until their cases are closed.Four of the 11 are Russians, who all tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, an anabolic steroid.The positive Russian tests came from Alexandr Ivanov, silver medalist in the mens 94-kilogram division; Nataliya Zabolotnaya, silver in the womens 75-kilogram division; Svetlana Tzarukaeva, silver in the womens 63-kilogram division; and Andrey Demanov, who placed fourth in the mens 94-kilogram division. Ivanov also tested positive for tamoxifen, a hormone modulator.MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin hit out at discrimination against the countrys banned track and field athletes at a Kremlin send-off ceremony for its depleted Olympic team.Fencers, triathletes and table tennis players became the latest team of Russians to be cleared to compete in the Olympics by the governing bodies of their sports ahead of the Moscow ceremony, but the IAAF rejected a bid by the bulk of the track and field team to be reinstated.More than 100 Russians from the 387-strong Olympic team have been banned so far from going to Rio de Janeiro.Putin said the athletes banned from the Olympics were victims of a campaign to present Russian sports in a bad light. He spoke with two-time Olympic pole-vaulting champion Yelena Isinbayeva, the most high-profile of the 67 track and field athletes banned from the games, standing beside him.PRO BASKETBALLNEW YORK -- The National Basketball Players Associations player representatives have voted unanimously to fund health insurance for all retired NBA players with at least three years of service.The game has never before been more popular, and all the players in our league today recognize that were only in this position because of the hard work and dedication of the men who came before us, Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul, the union president, said in a statement. Its important that we take care of our entire extended NBA family, and Im proud of my fellow players for taking this unprecedented step to ensure the health and well-being of our predecessors.The June 26 vote in New York established a health insurance program through UnitedHealthcare. Under the current proposal, for example, retired players with between three and six years of NBA service time, but who are not yet eligible for Medicare, would be offered a plan that includes medical, hospital and prescription drug coverage with modest out-of-pocket costs for deductibles and co-pays.PRO FOOTBALLNEW YORK -- A person familiar with the negotiations says the New York Jets have re-signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to a one-year deal worth $12 million, ending months of speculation and uncertainty surrounding the teams quarterback spot.Fitzpatrick set the franchise record with a career-high 31 touchdown passes last season while helping lead the Jets on a playoff push in Todd Bowles first season as coach.The person who spoke on condition of anonymity because tthe team had not announced the signing.ddddddddddddThe well-traveled 33-year-old veteran appeared to be a certainty to re-sign in the weeks leading to the start of free agency, but Fitzpatrick and the Jets became locked in a contract stalemate over financial terms.UNDATED -- Tom Coughlin will be joining the NFLs football operations staff, a person with knowledge of the agreement tells The Associated Press.The two-time Super Bowl-winning coach will work closely with Troy Vincent and with the NFLs game-related committees in an advisory role.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL has not yet announced the hiring.Coughlin won 170 games in his 20 years as an NFL head coach, including the 2007 and 2011 league championships when the Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowls. He also was the original coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and got them into the playoffs in 1996, their second season. He left the Giants after they went 6-10 in 2015, their fourth straight season out of the playoffs.Considered an offensive mastermind, Coughlin sought several coaching jobs last offseason, but didnt take any.COLLEGE FOOTBALLEAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan States athletic department is establishing a scholarship fund to honor Mike Sadler, the former Spartans punter who died in a car accident Saturday in Wisconsin.Sadler and Nebraska punter Sam Foltz died in a crash after attending a kicking camp in Wisconsin.The Mike Sadler Legacy Football Scholarship Fund will enable a Michigan State football player to receive a scholarship each year in his honor.Sadler was a four-year starter and four-time academic All-American at Michigan State. He finished his college career after the 2014 season.Michigan State is holding an event to celebrate Sadlers life Sunday at Spartan Stadium. It is open to the public.PRO HOCKEYST. PAUL, Minn. -- NHL Commissioner Gary Bettmans reluctance to link hits to the head in hockey with a degenerative brain disease found in several deceased former players has reached Congress.League attorneys filed Bettmans letter to Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal with U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, whos presiding over the concussion lawsuit against the NHL. Bettmans 24-page response to Blumenthal was dated Friday. He said research on the link between concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy remains nascent.The Connecticut Democrat wrote June 23 to Bettman about the leagues stance on CTE.He cited in his letter the discovery of CTE in the brains of six former players after their deaths in recent years. Blumenthal is the ranking member of the Senate subcommittee on consumer protection, product safety, insurance and data security.BASEBALLMIAMI -- MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says more rule changes are needed to improve the pace of play, and one proposal under consideration is a limitation on relief pitching changes in an inning or a game.The majors shaved several minutes off the average game time last season, but games have been slightly longer in 2016.Manfred has said hes in favor of a limitation on relief pitchers but didnt lobby for it Wednesday. ' ' '