HBO, the highest-rated boxing network, made the extraordinary decision Monday not to buy fights from Golden Boy Promotions, one of the sport's two biggest promoters, for the foreseeable future. For now, rising star Adrien Broner is no longer "Mr. HBO Boxing." (AP Photo)

That will mean the exodus of a number of Golden Boy stars, including lightweight champion Adrien Broner and light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins.

The irony in this decision is that Golden Boy was founded in large part because of the close relationship between the network and Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya fought virtually his entire Hall-of-Fame career on HBO and never appeared on Showtime.

A number of top Golden Boy fighters debuted on HBO only to switch to Showtime. Among those are Amir Khan, Danny Garcia and Canelo Alvarez.

Showtime also recently signed Floyd Mayweather Jr., the sport's pound-for-pound king, who had been with HBO. Mayweather works closely with Golden Boy, but wasn't under its promotional umbrella.

Khan, Garcia and Alvarez are, though, and

Read More »from HBO, boxing's top network, makes unexpected decision to part with Golden Boy Promotions

MONTREAL – The personal animosity was greater, the atmosphere more intense. But the welterweight championship bout that headlined UFC 158 at the Bell Centre on Saturday was almost a clone of so many Georges St-Pierre victories over the last five years.

The only difference following St-Pierre's punishing five-round victory over Nick Diaz was what came after.

St-Pierre dominated in the Octagon, easily winning all five rounds on all three judges' cards. But then Diaz showed up in the late stages of the news conference and once again stole the show.

Among the nuggets he dropped: 

• He'd like a rematch, after losing 50-45 on all three cards and mounting next-to-no offense.

• He believes St-Pierre has little power and "hits like a girl."

• He wants to retire. Georges St.Pierre's hand is raised after a win over Nick Diaz. (USA Today Sports)

• He thinks he matches up well with pound-for-pound champion Anderson Silva.

• And, most amazing of all, he said he hasn't paid taxes ever in his life.

"I'm probably going to jail," Diaz said as UFC

Read More »from Even after convincing defeat, mercurial Nick Diaz steals spotlight with outrageous claims

MONTREAL -- No matter what Nick Diaz had to say, it didn't faze Georges St-Pierre. Diaz dominated the pre-fight trash talk by a large margin, but St-Pierre dominated the fight in an equally wide manner at UFC 158. Georges St-Pierre throws punches at Nick Diaz during their welterweight fight. (USA Today Sports)

It was a typical St-Pierre fight: He repeatedly took Diaz down, though he rarely did much with those opportunities. He landed some hard shots in the first, clearly his best round. But as the fight progressed, he simply controlled Diaz, who was unable to land many significant strikes.

All three judges had it 50-45 for St-Pierre, the same as Yahoo! Sports saw it.

"I knew he was good in boxing range and I wanted to stay out of his boxing range," St-Pierre said. "I used my karate."

When the match ended, St-Pierre tentatively offered his hand to Diaz, who grabbed it and shook it. Diaz then patted St-Pierre on the face. St-Pierre later told the crowd that Diaz is a good guy.

Diaz offered precious little offense. He couldn't land much in the striking

Read More »from Georges St-Pierre uses smothering wrestling to win easy decision over rival-turned-chum Nick Diaz

UFC 158, featuring the welterweight title fight between Georges St-Pierre and bitter rival Nick Diaz, is live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Join the conversation as Yahoo! Sports' MMA analysts break down all the action.

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Read More »from UFC 158 live chat and analysis

Ruslan Provodnikov, Manny Pacquiao's sparring partner, may defeat Timothy Bradley, the guy who defeated Pacquiao, when they meet on Saturday for the WBO welterweight title in the main event of an HBO-televised card at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

However unlikely, Bradley and Provodnikov may even put on what turns out to be the 2013 Fight of the Year.

Timothy Bradley may have a win over Manny Pacquiao but his career still lacks traction. (Getty Images)Regardless of how compelling the fight may be, though, there is no reason that Bradley should be fighting a relative unknown such as Provodnikov following a victory over Pacquiao.

Whether it is Bradley's fault for being difficult to work with; promoter Top Rank's fault for being too concerned about Pacquiao and not enough about Bradley; or some other person's fault is beside the point, however. This simply should never have been allowed to occur.

Bradley is an unbeaten world champion coming off of a victory over one of the biggest names in the sport.

That alone should have gotten Bradley another major fight.

Read More »from Timothy Bradley is wasting the momentum, opportunities gained after defeating Pacman

MONTREAL – A palpable buzz filled the room on the second floor of the Bell Centre. A small army of reporters, photographers and television cameramen were heatedly debating whether Nick Diaz would show up at the impending UFC 158 news conference to promote his welterweight title fight Saturday with Georges St-Pierre.

Diaz notoriously had skipped a pair of news conferences in 2011 that got him yanked from a planned fight with St-Pierre. On Wednesday, the mercurial Diaz opted to sleep in rather than attend an open workout.

Nick Diaz took the mic Thursday at the prefight news conference and didn't stop. (Getty Images)It was Elvis-like as word came via social media that Diaz was, indeed, in the building.

A hush fell over the room as UFC president Dana White and the fighters filed in from the holding room in single file, all eyes trained upon Diaz. White took his place at the dais and immediately opened the floor for questions, prompting a reporter to announce, "This question is for Nick."

White quickly interceded and verbally spanked the reporter. He predicted –

Read More »from Nick Diaz dominates UFC 158 prefight hype, but dominating Georges St-Pierre is a taller order

The first thing you notice about Claressa Shields is that she laughs.

A lot.

A trip to the mall, a favorite day out for plenty of 17-year-old girls, is not always so simple for Shields.

Claressa Shields doesn't mind the perks that come with being a local celebrity. (AP Photo)"I never thought there would be days I didn't want to go outside, or go to the mall, because I didn't have privacy," she said. "It's not horrible, but I don't have much privacy. It's like I'm a celebrity."

The thought that she's a celebrity causes her to break out in giggles. It's hard for anyone who had fame suddenly thrust upon them, but it is particularly difficult for a 17-year-old high school senior.

In particular, it's tough for a 17-year-old high school senior who lives in a city with one of the most depressed economies in the country. Shields is a bona fide celebrity in her native Flint, Mich., and hardly a day goes by when she doesn't pose for a photo or sign an autograph.

Even adults more than twice or three times her age want to stand next to her, to pat her on the

Read More »from Claressa Shields is just your average, everyday 17-year-old Olympic boxing gold medalist

MONTREAL – For all the talk of Georges St-Pierre's dark place prior to UFC 158, imagine how Johny Hendricks must feel.

Over the last two years, Hendricks learned that simply winning isn't enough.

Johny Hendricks is once again hoping a win leads to a title shot. (MMA Weekly)Nor, he learned to his dismay, is winning in spectacular fashion enough to get a shot at St-Pierre's UFC welterweight title.

Hendricks will face Carlos Condit on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 158 at the Bell Centre when he believes with all his heart that he should be facing St-Pierre for the belt in the main event.

That honor, though, will go to Nick Diaz, who was handpicked specifically by St-Pierre.

In defending the decision to fight Diaz instead of Hendricks, St-Pierre said he felt Diaz should have gotten the decision over Carlos Condit in their match at UFC 143. St-Pierre also said he felt Hendricks got a gift win over Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3 last May.

[Also: Condit still composed after difficult loss to St-Pierre ]

St-Pierre is a lot of things for the

Read More »from An unfair fight: Factors outside the Octagon keeping Johny Hendricks from a shot at GSP