Talk » of a strong performance in Saturday

First middleweight titleholder Billy Joe Saunders called out unified titleholder Gennady Golovkin and then promptly turned down a career-high seven-figure payday to face him.Then, when offered a guaranteed fight with superstar Canelo Alvarez if he would first defeat Gabriel Rosado, Willie Monroe Jr. or Curtis Stevens -- his camps choice -- in the co-feature of Alvarezs fight with Liam Smith on Sept. 17, Saunders rejected all of those second-tier opponents.Englands Saunders (23-0 12 KOs) wanted only to face unknown Russian Artur Akavov (16-1 7 KOs), but since he was not even a second-tier contender and was wholly unknown, Golden Boy declined to put that fight on Alvarezs card.But on Friday, Saunders got his man. He will face Akavov on Oct. 22 at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Wales, promoter Frank Warren announced.After turning down the fight with Golovkin, Saunders was scheduled to make his first title defense against Ukraines Max Bursak on April 30 in London, but pulled out after suffering a left hand injury.Then Saunders, 27, was supposed to make his first defense on the Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko II undercard on Oct. 29 in Manchester, England, but the fight was moved up one week when the heavyweight championship rematch was canceled last week due to Furys withdrawal.Now he will make defense No. 1 against fellow southpaw Akavov, nearly a year after he eked out a majority decision to win the 160-pound belt from Irelands Andy Lee in December.Nothing comes easy in boxing and Im definitely not taking Akavov for granted, Saunders said. Hes a strong fighter and very dangerous and if I dont come in 100 percent, then he could cause an upset in my first title defense. Im going to make sure Im in the shape of my life and give Akavov the toughest night hes ever had. Hes never been stopped before so this is going to be a first for him.Warren still hopes to still make an Alvarez-Saunders or Golovkin-Saunders unification fight in 2017 but said Saunders needed to get back into the ring before either is possible.This is Bills first fight in 10 months, Warren said. The Russian is a tough guy who is capable of making things awkward. Hopefully, Bill will shake off the ring rust with a successful defense to set up a super fight for early [in the new] new year.Akavov, 28, has won 11 fights in a row since an eight-round unanimous decision loss to novice pro Oleg Liseev in 2012 in Russia, but he has never faced even a fringe contender. He has fought all but four of his bouts in Russia with two in Estonia and his past two in New York after linking up with promoter Lou DiBella.I know why they picked me as an opponent, Akavov said. Although I am very honored and proud to fight for the WBO world championship, at the same time, I promise to prove that the Saunders camp [was] gravely mistaken with whatever they were expecting of me in the ring. I represent my family first and my country and that alone will not let me fail.Said DiBella: I know that the champion Billy Joe Saunders is a professional, so I hope hes not looking past Akavov. Artur Akavov is a tough SOB who will bring the fight to Billy Joe. If this is a keep busy fight, the champion better be prepared for a tough night. Artur is no joke.British junior middleweight champion Liam Williams (15-0-1, 10 KOs), 24, of Wales, is also on the card in a defense against Londons 28-year-old Ahmet Patterson (17-0, 7 KOs). Lavoy Allen Jersey . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Ben Simmons Jersey . 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BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Carl Edwards is looking for Sprint Cup gold and there are few more successful spots him this season than Bristol Motor Speedway.Edwards won from the pole at the track in April and on Friday led Joe Gibbs Racings Olympic-style, 1-2-3 sweep of the top three spots in qualifying for the Saturday night race.Hopefully, well be sitting here tomorrow night at the end of this deal talking about how we did it in the race, Edwards said. Thatd be pretty neat.Edwards had a fast lap of 131.407 mph on the concrete surface of the half-mile track in the final segment of the three-round knockout qualifying. He bested teammates Denny Hamlin in second and Kyle Busch in third.Hamlin set the Bristol qualifying record of 131.668 mph in the first round of NASCARs three rounds of knockout qualifications.Ryan Blaney was fourth, his Ford disrupting a quartet of JGR racers as he finished a tick in front of Matt Kenseth.Chase Elliott was sixth, followed by Martin Truex Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.Jeff Gordon was 11th, his best showing in the four races he has subbed for injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.Chris Buescher, the winner at Pocono last month, rounded out the top 12.It looks difficult for anyone to crack what appears to be JGRs dominance. While most of the garage is scrambling for position to make the championship Chase, Gibbs four drivers are already locked into the 16-driver field with a combined 10 victories in the seasons first 22 races.All of our cars were all very fast, Hamlin said. When youve got drivers that have equal equipment, all good drivers, it will be close.Edwards claimed his 21st career Sprint Cup pole and fourth at Bristol. Hamlin will start in the top 10 for the 21st time this season while Busch will make his 16th top-10 start of the year.---Other things from Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday:BIFFLES APPROACH: Greg Biffle might want to take a different tack att Bristol.ddddddddddddThe Roush Fenway Racing driver spun out and slid -- without hitting the wall -- during Sprint Cup practice early Friday. Then during qualifying, Biffle did a way-too-similar spin slide.He said he thought the car was strong and he was heading to a fast lap when he felt the car get loose and slip away.Biffle is in need of a strong performance in Saturday nights race. After not finishing in the top 10 in the first 16 races, he had an eighth, sixth and fifth the next three weeks at Daytona, Kentucky and New Hampshire. The spurt didnt last and Biffle has ended 39th, 25th and 39th the past three races.Biffle is starting 34th for the race.LOGANO THREE-PEAT?: Joey Logano has won the past two summer night races at Bristol and believes he can make it three in a row this weekend.Logano, locked into the championship Chase since winning at Michigan, has a string of consistently high finishes eight top-10s over the past 10 races -- six of those top five or better. He will start 10th on Saturday.The last driver to win two straight August events was Kyle Busch in 2009 and 2010. The last to win three straight summer events here was Darrell Waltrip in 1981, 1982 and 1983.DALE JRS REGIMEN: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is missing his fifth race this week since doctors believe he had a concussion from a hard crash at Michigan two month ago. Hes keep fans and friends updated on his progress with a series of videos with things he must do to improve his balance and his focus on objects in the distance while moving his head.Theres one of him playing basketball. In another one, he details visual performance enhancement he must do for 25 minutes. It crosses your eyes and makes them do all kinds of funny things, Earnhardt said. It trains your eyes to work together and I need that. ' ' '