tied for fourth at the Memorial, but missed the cut at the U.S. Open. He

After weeks of uncertainty, the WBA on Tuesday disclosed how it will handle its heavyweight situation, which was thrown into uncertainty when unified world champion Tyson Fury, dealing with alcohol, drug and mental health issues, vacated all of his belts last month.In the most significant development, the WBA said it would sanction a spring 2017 showdown for its super world title between Anthony Joshua, who also holds the IBF belt (which he would have to retain against Eric Molina on Dec. 10) and former world champion Wladimir Klitschko, who lost his belts to Fury in a huge November 2015 upset and had his Oct. 29 rematch canceled when Fury pulled out to deal with his personal problems.When that happened, the Joshua and Klitschko camps tried to make the fight for Dec. 10. However, with time running short to promote such a major fight, Klitschko suffering a minor calf injury, and the WBA still not having sanctioned the fight, they elected to put it off until March or April, probably in the United Kingdom, Joshuas home country.Klitschko manager Bernd Boente repeatedly told ESPN during the talks for the Joshua fight that having a WBA title on the line was a deal-breaker for Klitschko.Now Ukraines Klitschko (64-4, 54 KOs), 40, who has not boxed since the loss to Fury and will remain idle until the spring, has his wish; Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs), 27, will have a chance for a huge fight; and boxing fans will get perhaps the most anticipated match in the heavyweight division, provided the sides can finalize a deal, which both have said they do not believe will be an issue.Team Klitschko is very happy about this WBA resolution, Boente told ESPN on Tuesday night. Wladimir always was a proud and committed WBA super champion and now he wants to regain his title. From the beginning, Wladimir made clear how important it is to him that the WBA title is on the line in his next fight.Hopefully, Anthony Joshua wins his upcoming fight against Molina and then we have a mega event, a promoters dream fight coming true in March or April. Two Olympic super heavyweight gold-medal winners fighting each other, the young lion challenging the old lion. This is a fight each boxing fan around the world wants to see.Eddie Hearn, Joshuas promoter, earlier on Tuesday announced Joshuas fight with Molina, and suggested that things were on track for the Joshua-Klitschko showdown next year.Although the plans are for a major unification [fight] in the spring, this fight requires Anthonys full focus, Hearn said.In addition to agreeing to sanction Joshua-Klitschko for its super title, the WBA also said it would sanction a fight between Australias Lucas Browne (24-0, 21), 37, and 44-year-old Shannon Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs), a former two-time titleholder from Brooklyn, New York, for its vacant regular title as part of a legal settlement with Browne. Also, the winner of Browne-Briggs, a fight that was ordered to take place by Dec. 31, must face mandatory challenger Fres Oquendo within 120 days of the bout.Oquendo (37-8, 24 KOs), 43, of Chicago, won a case in U.S. federal court to force a WBA heavyweight title bout in the wake of his majority decision loss to Ruslan Chagaev for the vacant regular belt in July 2014. Oquendo had a rematch clause in the contract but Chagaevs team attempted to set up another title defense first. It got even uglier when Oquendo claimed he was not paid for the fight, and the Chagaev team claimed Oquendo failed a drug test.Oquendos team sued in federal court to force the rematch and won an injunction to stop Chagaev from defending the belt against anyone other than Oquendo. But Oquendo has been idle since because of a shoulder injury that required surgery in November 2015, and even though Chagaev has retired, the WBA is still obligated to give Oquendo a title shot based on the court order. But since Oquendo is not available, Browne was ordered to face the leading available WBA contender, Briggs.Since absorbing a wicked beating at the hands of Vitali Klitschko in a 2010 world title fight that put him in the hospital for about two weeks, followed by a four-year retirement, Briggs has won nine fights in a row since his 2014 return, although he has faced extremely low-level opposition, hardly the kind of opponents that would ordinarily put a boxer in position to fight for a world title.As part of its ruling, the WBA also stripped Luis King Kong Ortiz of the interim belt for his failure to face mandatory challenger Alexander Ustinov after Ustinovs team won a recent purse bid.Failure to comply with the purse bid obligations or other WBA rules will result in a loss of [title] recognition, the WBA champions committee wrote in its ruling, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN. Ortiz has therefore relinquished the interim title.WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. is in the process of ridding the organization of multiple world titles per division -- super, regular and interim belts -- and while it is not ideal to continue having multiple titles in the heavyweight division, Mendoza told ESPN that he remains committed to whittling each division down to one titleholder. But he said that Tuesdays resolution was the only one the organization had for its heavyweight title because it wanted to help facilitate the much-anticipated Joshua-Klitschko fight while also living up to its obligations to Browne and Oquendo.Initially my plan was to approve Klitschko versus Joshua for the WBA title, Mendoza said. The rest [I wanted] to have a box-off to earn the mandatory spot. Unfortunately, the justice system had a discrepancy with WBA new policy.As part of the WBA ruling, it said that Fury submitted a report from his psychologist confirming his clinical depression. The psychologist estimated that Fury would be fit to return to competition no earlier than late February 2017.The WBA went on to say that when Fury is prepared to fight again the organization will consider placing him back in its rankings and making him eligible to fight for its world title.Cheap Mets Jerseys Authentic . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Cheap Nolan Ryan Jersey . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. http://www.cheapmetsjerseys.com/ . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Cheap Tim Tebow Jersey . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Cheap Gary Carter Jersey . PAUL, Minn.SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- It is nowhere near as simple as making the hard part look easy and turning the simpler tasks into something far more difficult.But that is basically what Rory McIlroy finds himself faced with at the moment as he hits plenty of good shots but cant make the putts that would lead to good scores.The two-time PGA Championship winner who is ranked fourth in the world couldnt manage a single birdie Thursday at Baltusrol Golf Club, shooting a 4-over-par 74 that left him tied for 120th, 9 back of leader Jimmy Walker and searching for answers.You give yourself chances the first couple of holes, you dont convert, McIlroy said. You want to get off to a good start. I feel like, if I had holed one of those first two, it might have been a different story of the day. You get a little bit of momentum, and you get it going.With the poa annua greens, you start to look a lot into them. You read it from behind the ball and you see one line; you read it from behind the hole and it looks slightly different. You put yourself in two minds sometimes.Although the surface of the putting greens at Baltusrol might have given McIlroy fits, truth be told he has struggled with his putting for most of the year. He made a switch to a left-hand low grip in March, then changed back to a conventional grip in May despite winning the Irish Open with the new technique.Putting has typically been McIlroys nemesis, the part of his game that would be considered average or even substandard compared with the rest of his skills. He needed 35 putts Thursday despite hitting a respectable 9 of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens in regulation.His proximity to the hole average of 31 feet is another problem, and for the year he ranks just 84th on the PGA Tour in approaches to the hole from 100 to 125 yards. From 125 to 150, it is even worse, as McIlroy is 148th, averaging 24 feet, 6 inches.Considering how far McIlroy hits the ball -- he averages 304 yards off the tee and was 308 on Thursday -- his inability to hit it close with short irons helps explain some of the putting woes.Just not a lot of momentum out there, said McIlroy, who shot his first over-parr score in the first round of a PGA, this being his eighth appearance in the event.dddddddddddd. But Im happy with my game from tee to green. Driving the ball as well as I have, ever. Iron play feels good.Just, when I get on the greens, its just a different story. I need to try and figure it out for tomorrow. Try to shoot something in the mid-60s and get myself back into it.McIlroy is not working with a putting coach at the moment and said he has simply tried to figure things out on his own, hoping to find the proper feel and pace.It is somewhat how his year has gone. He tied for 10th at the Masters but played the third round in 77 without a birdie. He won the Irish Open and tied for fourth at the Memorial, but missed the cut at the U.S. Open. He was in contention at the French Open, where he finished third, but never felt as if he was in the tournament at The Open, shooting a final-round 67 to snag a share of fifth -- although he was 16 shots behind winner Henrik Stenson.I feel theres been times where I got a little bit of momentum, and then sort of got set back a little bit, McIlroy said before the tournament. Its been a little stop-start in a way. But its hard. Im trying to stay as positive as I can. I feel like I am positive because my game is in good shape. But I guess just maybe running out of patience a little bit and trying to make it happen.That would have been understandable Thursday. Its tough to continually hit long drives or good approaches and come up with nothing. McIlroy had six birdie chances inside 15 feet and made none of them. He missed a couple of makeable par putts, too.There was not much more he could say other than hed work on it.Ill try to spend as much as I can, he said. Obviously its very hot out here. Ill possibly just go back to the house that we rented, chill out a little bit, and maybe come back this evening and hit some putts when it cools off. Not that it cools off that much in the evenings.McIlroys putter might be the only thing that is cold around Baltusrol. ' ' '