Wednesday, Nov. 07, 2007

In Brief: Promoter is trying again to set up fight

LONDON -- Promoter Frank Warren is encouraged to hear Bernard Hopkins is ready to fight Joe Calzaghe. Unfortunately, he's heard it before.

After unifying three super-middleweight world titles Sunday to take his record to 44-0, Calzaghe wants to step up to light heavyweight and take on Hopkins.

Hopkins, a standout middleweight who successfully moved up two divisions to win another world title, responded by saying he welcomed the fight but on his terms.

That, Warren said, is where there could be problems.

"We did a deal with Bernard Hopkins. It took us 30 minutes to do the deal five or six years ago," Calzaghe's promoter said Tuesday. "We agreed to terms, the lawyers were on the telephone, everything's done. Twenty-four hours later, Hopkins demanded double the amount of money."

The fight never happened, and now Warren is trying to push them together at light heavyweight.

Hopkins was quoted on ESPN.com on Monday as saying he would look at what he would get out of a fight against Calzaghe. He argued that the Welshman needed the fight to gain true recognition in the United States.

Motor Sports

The Champ Car World Series Vegas Grand Prix won't return in 2008. Race officials said they were unable to find a new promoter to replace Phoenix-based DDB Ventures, which hosted the inaugural Las Vegas race over Easter weekend but canceled a December race in Phoenix. Steve Johnson, president of the open-wheel series, said, "The promoters of the 2007 Las Vegas event were the same promoters who canceled our Phoenix event. To make a long story short, we're not prepared to work with them again." ... Don Freeland, who drove in the Indianapolis 500 eight times and finished third in 1956, died Friday in San Diego following a period of declining health, according to an Indianapolis Motor Speedway report. He was 82.

Poker

Paul McKinney, a divisional winner of the World Series of Poker in 2005, was arrested with 15 other men during a gambling raid Friday that yielded almost $20,000, police in Kingsport, Tenn., said. Authorities said they seized cash, cards, chips and betting slips. McKinney was one of two people charged with aggravated gambling promotion on suspicion of organizing and promoting the event.

Soccer

The United States will host the CONCACAF under-23 championship, a qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympics. Games will be played in Carson, Tampa, Fla., and Nashville, Tenn., from March 10-23, U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF announced. Finalists in the eight-team tournament will advance to Beijing. The U.S., Mexico, Canada, Cuba and Haiti and three squads from Central America will participate.

Volleyball

Tayyiba Haneef-Park and former University of the Pacific player Jennifer Joines scored 10 points each as the United States coasted to a 25-9, 25-20, 25-10 win over Kenya at the Women's World Cup in Sendai, Japan. The U.S. team, 3-0 in the first round, will face unbeaten Brazil today.