MANILA, Aug. 25 -- Mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Randy Couture hopes former boxing champ James Toney is doing his homework before he steps inside the Octagon for a boxing versus MMA match in UFC 118.

The 47-year-old Couture has responded to Toney’s challenge for a classic battle between MMA and boxing. It will be settled at the TD Garden in Boston on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). “I think we will decide if James is just that cocky and arrogant that he thinks he's gonna stroll in there bully as a boxer and get the job done. I'm sincerely hoping that he's doing his homework and he's trying to learn some other things,” said Couture.

Couture, an accomplished Greco-Roman wrestler and 5-time UFC champion, said taking on Toney inside the Octagon would help settle the argument on which sport is better: boxing or MMA.

Source: www.abs-cbn.com

HOUSTON, Aug. 25 -- Houston Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming is confident that he'll be ready for the start of the regular season after a team doctor declared his surgically repaired foot fully healed.

Yao missed last season after undergoing complex surgery on his left foot in July 2009. Team doctor Tom Clanton has cleared Yao to resume basketball activities. The Rockets had said all along that they expected Yao to play in 2010-11. Yao was still relieved when he got the official diagnosis.

He landed awkwardly on his left foot at one point, wincing in pain. He resumed the workout a few seconds later, and said he's less afraid to test the foot than he was two months ago, when he started running again. "That's just the confidence," Yao said. "I think everybody would have that after a foot injury, and (I'm) just still a little bit weak on that. I just need to continue to build on that. Compared to two months ago, it's really a lot better."

Source: www.gmanews.tv

MANILA, Aug. 25 -- American coach Freddie Roach said he will make sure he will protect his prized fighter, WBO welterweight champ Manny Pacquiao, by barring challenger Antonio Margarito from using illegal hand wraps.

Roach said that although Margarito has already served his one-year ban from boxing for illegal hand wraps, he remains wary of what the Mexican may resort to. “They can’t get away with that against us. It won’t happen in this fight, I can tell you,” he said.

Margarito was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for at least year after a plaster-like substance was found in his hand wraps ahead of his fight against Shane Mosley in January 2009. “The Commission gave him a one-year suspension,” said Roach. “But deep down, you know, I’m the kind of person who thinks that if you do something like that, you should be suspended for life.”

Source: www.abs-cbn.com

CHARLOTTE, Aug. 25 -- The Charlotte Bobcats have signed center Kwame Brown, reuniting the former first overall draft pick with team owner and Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, the Bobcats said on Tuesday.

Jordan, then a Washington Wizards executive, had made Brown the number one NBA draft pick in 2001. But Brown never lived up to his potential as a top pick and was traded in 2005.

After stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons, the 28-year-old will get another chance to play for Jordan, who is the Bobcats' majority owner. Brown averaged 3.3 points and 3.7 rebounds with the Pistons last season, well off the career-highs he set in each category in the 2003-04 seasons when he averaged 10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds while playing for the Wizards.

Source: www.abs-cbn.com