[attach id=548411 size="medium"]Billy Joe Saunders... middleweight champ.[/attach]

Boxing: Billy Joe Saunders took his time before coming to life in the first defence of his WBO middleweight title against Artur Akavov at the Lagoon Leisure Centre, in Paisley, late Saturday. After a slow start to the title fight – understandable as the Hatfield boxer had been out of action for almost a year – he eventually got going and finished the 12-round contest strongly. The three judges called it 116-113, 116-112, and 115-113 in his favour to take his record to 24-0. The Englishman was supposed to defend the belt last week in Cardiff but issues with medical paperwork from the Russian fighter’s team saw the bout postponed.

Rugby Union: Australia coach Michael Cheika will be looking for improvement from the Wallabies next year after losing nine of 15 tests in 2016 but they will have to find it without David Pocock as the standout loose forward embarks on a sabbatical. The year off was agreed by an Australian Rugby Union desperate to keep the world’s best poacher out of the clutches of wealthy European clubs, and the three-year deal that included it means he will be back in Wallaby gold for the 2019 World Cup. Pocock said he had originally intended to retire by the time he reached 28, his current age.

Snooker: Mark Selby last night fended off a late charge from Ronnie O’Sullivan to land his second Betway UK Championship title and shred any remaining doubts about his credibility as snooker’s world number one. In a match that peaked with a jaw-dropping stretch of play in the evening session that included three consecutive total clearances, Selby emerged a 10-7 winner. As he lifted the trophy at the York Barbican, the 33-year-old from Leicester became the sixth player in the sport’s history to secure the World Championship and UK titles in the same calendar year. O’Sullivan’s two centuries in that streak had come either side of a 137 from Selby, with all three being clearances.

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