Sporting Digest: Boxing

Julius Francis, the British heavyweight champion who beat Pele Reid to retain his crown in London in January, has been handed a shot at the European title. Francis will fight the Croatian Zeljko Mavrovic for the belt which has been relinquished by Vitali Klitschko, the mandatory challenger for Herbie Hide's WBO title. Francis has fought Mavrovic before - when he was stopped in the eight round in Vienna in February 1997.

Manchester's Michael Brodie has been ordered to make the next defence of his European super-bantamweight title against the British champion Patrick Mullings, from Harrow.