Sports News Roundup: NCAA takes on student-athletes in U.S.; United States to face Honduras with Olympics berth on line and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Boxing: De La Hoya set to come out of retirement in July

Oscar De La Hoya on Friday said he is coming out of retirement to fight on July 3 against a yet-to-be-named opponent in what will be the 48-year-old's first bout since 2008. De La Hoya wants to take on Floyd Mayweather, Yahoo Sports reported, which is no surprise given the huge money their 2007 bout generated for both camps.

Top prospect Casey Mize makes Tigers' starting rotation

Former No. 1 overall draft pick Casey Mize will open the season in the Detroit Tigers starting rotation, manager A.J. Hinch announced Friday. The 23-year-old right-hander has struggled with his command for most of the spring, compiling a 1-2 record and an 8.36 ERA with 21 strikeouts, 10 walks and four homers allowed in 14 innings.

Figure skating: Shcherbakova wins gold in podium sweep for Russian women

Anna Shcherbakova led a Russian sweep of the women's singles medals at the figure skating world championships on Friday. The 16-year-old, who celebrates her 17th birthday on Sunday, secured her first world title with a 233.17 score after leading Wednesday's short programme with a personal best of 81.00 points.

Rallying: Greece replaces Chile on world championship calendar

Greece's Acropolis Rally will return after an eight-year absence to replace Chile on the world championship calendar in September, organisers said on Friday. Chile's round has been cancelled as a result of travel and governmental restrictions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

United States to face Honduras with Olympics berth on line

Looking to reach the Olympics men's soccer tournament for the first time since 2008, the United States Men's National Team under-23 squad will face Honduras on Saturday with a trip to Tokyo on the line. The United States finished second in Group A play at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament at Mexico, following a 1-0 defeat to the host country on Wednesday.

Honduras won Group B following a 1-1 tie against Canada on Thursday.

Red Sox P Eduardo Rodriguez scratched from the opener with 'dead arm' Boston Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez was scratched from his scheduled Opening Day start due to a "dead arm," manager Alex Cora announced Friday. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will take the mound instead when Boston opens the season Thursday at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles.

NCAA takes on student-athletes in U.S.

Supreme Court compensation dispute As the annual U.S. ritual of the "March Madness" college basketball tournament unfolds, the Supreme Court is poised to hear the National Collegiate Athletic Association's bid to preserve its limits on education-related compensation for student-athletes. The justices next week are set to hear oral arguments in an appeal by the NCAA, the major governing body for U.S. intercollegiate sports, of a lower court decision last year that deemed the organization's rules anti-competitive under federal law, called the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Japan looking to halve number of official travellers to Games: Kyodo

Japan's government will begin talks soon on potentially halving the number of official travellers to the country for this year's Olympics to around 30,000 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Kyodo news agency reported on Friday. Citing a source with knowledge of the matter, the report added that the government aims to cut the number of visitors who are not directly related to competition.

Olympics: Tokyo Games next 'Free Solo' moment for climbing

The Olympics could take climbing to new heights says Alex Honnold who might have had winning a gold medal as his goal growing up instead of a historic free solo climb up El Capitan if the sport had been part of the Summer Games. Honnold's heart-stopping ascent of Yosemite's 3,200-foot sheer granite slab in 2017 turned into an Oscar-winning documentary and was a watershed moment for the sport.

Mika Zibanejad, Rangers aim to ground Flyers again Not that long ago, Mika Zibanejad was struggling to score. How quickly things can change in less than a month.

(With inputs from agencies.)