SPORTSLINE (07/24/05)

SPORTSLINE

Boxing

World Boxing Council Heavyweight Champion Vitalii Klitschko will face the winner of the August 13 Hasim Rahman-Monte Barrett bout. The fight has not yet been scheduled but it is planned to take place later this year.

The Hasim Rahman-Monte Barrett fight has been billed as an interim WBC heavyweight title bout, as the winner of that fight will face Klitschko.

Rahman, a former champion, and Barrett will fight on August 13 in Chicago. WBC President Jose Sulaiman said Klitschko must then meet the winner of that bout.

A letter from the WBC dated July 14 was sent to Klitschko, the management teams of Rahman and Barrett and Don King Productions. The letter said that Klitschko, as WBC champion, will get 65 percent of the purse, while either Rahman or Barrett will get 35 percent.

"Whoever I fight next, I will be ready. I will not be rooting for either Rahman or Barrett, but Rahman has been talking so much and saying so many bad things about me, I think I would love to personally shut him up once and for all," Klitschko told the Associated Press.

The Ukrainian boxer was injured recently and criticized for not returning to the ring sooner. Klitschko addressed his detractors and said he was ready to prove himself.

"There has been a lot of criticism against me lately, but now that I am healthy and able to fight, and know when my next fight will be, I am keen to go forward and show the critics and especially my fans who the real heavyweight champion of the world is," Klitschko said.

Meanwhile, Klitschko's younger brother, Volodymyr, lost a bid to be recognized as the mandatory challenger to International Boxing Federation champion Chris Byrd.

Volodymyr, who was dropped to the No. 4 spot in the May IBF rankings, sued for breach of contract. DaVarryl Williamson, who was beaten by Klitschko in their only meeting, moved into the No. 3 spot. The No. 1 and No. 2 slots in the IBF are currently vacant, leaving Williamson scheduled to fight Byrd next month.

Klitschko's attorneys asked U.S. District Judge William Martini to stop the Williamson-Byrd match. They alleged that Williamson promoter Don King had influenced the IBF to gain the higher ranking for his fighter.

According to the Associated Press, Klitschko (44-3) offered no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of King. Klitschko's attorneys relied on commentary by boxing analyst Max Kellerman, who speculated that the only explanation for the switch in the rankings had to be the result of King's influence.

The WBC and WBA also had Williamson ahead of Klitschko in their respective May rankings.

But after hearing two days of arguments, Judge Martini denied the request in an opinion filed on July 12 in Newark, N.J. Klitschko attorney Ronald A. DiNicola told the AP that his client is considering an appeal.

Ratings chairman Daryl Peoples said in an affidavit filed by the IBF that Williamson moved ahead of Klitschko based on their records, level of competition and activity. Both Klitschko and the 36-year-old Williamson (22-3) fought in April, with Williamson knocking out ranked boxer Derrick Johnson. Meanwhile, Klitschko defeated unranked Eliseo Castillo.

King denied any improprieties, the AP reported.

World Masters Games

Athletes from Ukraine are scheduled to compete at the sixth World Masters Games in Edmonton. The 2005 games, which are sanctioned by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), are billed as the largest international multi-sport event of its kind, attracting 16,000 elite and recreational athletes who will compete in 27 sporting events and 41 different disciplines.

The games, which are open to people of all skill levels, though an age minimum of 30 is typical for most sports, will run from July 22 to July 31. Sports in this year's games include: athletics, ice hockey, squash, badminton, lawn bowling, swimming, baseball, orienteering, synchronized swimming, basketball, rowing, table tennis, bowling, rugby, tennis, canoe/kayaking, shooting, triathlon, cycling, soccer, beach volleyball, diving, softball (fast and slow pitch), indoor volleyball, golf and weightlifting.

Ukraine will have 12 athletes competing in track and field events, 15 athletes competing in canoe/kayak events, one athlete competing in orienteering, 17 athletes competing in rugby, 19 athletes competing in soccer, two athletes competing in swimming, 11 athletes competing in volleyball and six athletes competing in weightlifting.

The IMGA awards the right to host the games every four years. Edmonton 2005, however, is the exception to this rule. The IMGA wanted to change the cycle of this event so it no longer coincides with other major multi-sport events such as the Olympics or Commonwealth Games. Following Edmonton, the games will once again revert to a four-year planning schedule.

Canada hosted the inaugural games in 1985, with over 8,000 athletes competing in 22 different sports. The games were held in Denmark in 1989, Australia in 1994, the United States in 1998 and Australia again in 2002, where the event grew to involve almost 25,000 athletes.

Among other reasons, the World Masters Games were created with a vision to promote the philosophy of "sport for life," and "motivate a goal-oriented, long-term attitude toward sport and physical fitness."

Track and field

Ukraine's Denys Yurchenko took first place in the men's pole vault at a Grand Prix event in Prague, Czech Republic, on June 27. His vault of 5.72 meters beat Germany's Danny Ecker, whose vault of 5.67 meters took second place. Daichi Sawano of Japan took third place with a vault of 5.62 meters.

Maryna Maydanova of Ukraine took third place in the women's 200-meter race, finishing with a time of 23.09 seconds. Brazil's Aparecida Moura Lucimar took first place with a time of 23 seconds, while Ghana's Vida Anim took second place with a time of 23.03. Ukraine's Anzhela Kravchenko did not finish the race.

In the women's discus, Olena Antonova of Ukraine took third place with a throw of 62.32 meters, while Vera Pospisilova-Cechlová of the Czech Republic took first place with a throw of 66.81 meters. Cuba's Yania Ferrales took second place with a throw of 64.52 meters.

Oksana Zubkovska of Ukraine took eighth place in the women's long jump with a distance of 6.46 meters, while Cuba's Yargelis Savigne took first place with a jump of 6.71 meters. Alina Militaru of Romania took second place with a jump of 6.63 meters, and Tünde Vaszi of Hungary took third with a jump of 6.61 meters.

Meanwhile, Ivan Heshko of Ukraine took fifth place in the men's 1,500 meters at an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) event in Paris Saint-Denis, France, on July 1. Heshko finished the race in 3 minutes and 32.13 seconds, while Kenya's Daniel Kipchircir Komen took first place with a time of 3:30.01. Bernard Lagat of the United States took second place with a time of 3:30.64, and Mehdi Baala of France took third with a time of 3:30.80.

Ukraine's Andriy Sokolovskyy took sixth place in the men's high jump, clearing a height of 2.24 meters, while Stefan Holm of Sweden took first place with a jump of 2.32 meters. Jaroslav Bába of the Czech Republic took second place with a jump of 2.30 meters, and Yaroslav Rybakov of Russia took third with a jump of 2.30 meters.

Tetiana Tereschuk-Antipova took sixth place in the women's 400 meter hurdles, finishing the race in 55.40 seconds. The event was won by Lashinda Demus of the United States with a time of 53.85. Anna Jesien of Poland took second place with a time of 53.96, while Jana Pittman of Australia took third with a time of 54.15.

Swimming

Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist Yana Klochkova has returned to competition after taking a break from the sport, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Most recently, Klochkova won the 200-meter individual medley and the 400-meter individual medley events at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She also won both events at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

After the 2004 Olympics, Klochkova left competitive swimming. It was the longest break the young Ukrainian has taken in her career. During that time she brushed up on her English and visited such tourist attractions as Disneyland, Universal Studios and Magic Mountain, while living in southern California for seven months, the Los Angeles Times reported.

However, over the last five weeks, Klochkova has trained with the Nadadores Swim Club of Mission Viejo, Calif. "I think she just wanted to take a deep breath and enjoy herself," Nadadores Coach Bill Rose told the AP.

"It's going to take a while to get back into competing shape," Klochkova said. "I should be ready in about six months."

Besides the Olympic golds, she has won also 10 titles at the swimming world championships and was awarded the Hero of Ukraine, the country's highest award. "She has strength and size. She also has a competitive spirit. She's a true athlete," Rose said of the 22-year-old, 6-foot, 2-inch Klochkova.

Klochkova will head back to Ukraine in August, reuniting with Nina Kozhukh, her longtime coach, and preparing for the World University Games in Turkey.

Klochkova already has her eyes set on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. If she medals there, she would become the third female swimmer to accomplish the feat, joining Australia's Dawn Fraser and Hungary's Kristina Egerszegi.

"I think I can do it, but it gets more difficult every time," Klochkova said. "It's easier for the younger swimmers because they're more powerful. But the older swimmers have the experience."

Olympic gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg - whose family immigrated to the United States from Ukraine in 1989 - recently plunged $100,000 of his earnings from motivational speaking and product endorsements back into the sport. He has also spent time and money to reopen pools at a community center in Los Angeles.

Krayzelburg won three gold medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and another last year in Athens.

The facility is the wellspring of his future, the site of the first Lenny Krayzelburg Swim School, which was christened July 6. Krayzelburg has not swum a lap since November 2004, when he had surgery on his left shoulder for the third time in five years. He has retreated from competition but has not officially retired from it.

Krayzelburg and his wife, Irina, whom he met on a blind date in New York and married in March, are expecting twin daughters in October.

| Home Page |