Sports News Roundup: Alex Ovechkin strikes twice in Caps'; NCAA takes on student-athletes in U.S. 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.

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 a 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.

NBA roundup: Wolves chase down Rockets with 22-0 finish

Karl-Anthony Towns finished two assists shy of a triple-double and was the linchpin of a remarkable closing stretch for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who erased a 19-point deficit in the second half to defeat the Houston Rockets 107-101 on Friday in Minneapolis. Towns finished with 29 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, tallying 14 points and two assists while the Timberwolves closed the game on a 22-0 run. They ended a three-game losing skid.

NHL roundup: Alex Ovechkin strikes twice in Caps'

shutout win Alex Ovechkin scored two more goals to continue his surge and the red-hot Washington Capitals cruised to a 4-0 victory over the visiting New Jersey Devils on Friday. The two-goal night gave Ovechkin 10 goals in his past 10 games as the Capitals improved to 9-1-0 over their past 10 contests and beat the Devils for the sixth time in as many meetings this season.

(With inputs from agencies.)