JOEL KACHINGA

If you wanted to know the story of  Chelsea ’s first Champions League away trip of the 2017-18 campaign – and of the first European night at Atletico Madrid’s new crown jewel, the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano – all you had to do was train a set of eyes, or a camera, on Antonio Conte. The fiery Italian manager rode a roller coaster of emotions through a pulsating 2-1 win in Madrid that was settled less than five seconds before the final whistle. Michy Batshuayi popped up to give Chelsea a deserved three points And Conte jumped for joy, running through his technical area, his hair flapping wildly as he did. Minutes later, he couldn’t stop pumping his fists in the direction of the traveling Chelsea supporters. He knew what a memorable night this had just become. The previous 90-plus minutes had given him plenty of reason for both pride and exasperation. His Blues gave a fantastic account of themselves. But he knew they had played well enough to claim a victory.

There was speculation that  Canelo Alvarez may not rush right into a rematch with Gennady Golovkin  despite the demand being white-hot after their controversial split draw that took place in Las Vegas on Sept. 16. But the Mexican superstar made it clear that he will seek no other opponent until he settles the score with the man known as GGG. “I want [GGG] to be my first fight of 2018,” Canelo said via statement to  Boxing Scene . “I do not want another fight that is not the tiebreaker with Golovkin, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.” It won’t be a difficult fight to put together considering that their initial battle was a smash at the gate. According to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Canelo-GGG raked in $27,059,850 from 17,318 tickets sold at the T-Mobile Arena. 934 complimentary tickets were issued. Those numbers represent the third-highest gate in boxing history. The all-time record is held by Floyd Mayweather’s blockbuste...