Arum: Foreman Fight Still On

Posted: February 02, 1995

Heavyweight champion George Foreman, ignoring the World Boxing Association's threat to strip him of his title, will defend against German Axel Schulz in April, Foreman's promoter, Bob Arum, announced yesterday.

"It is full speed ahead with the Schulz fight. You have my absolute insurance that he won't change his mind," Arum told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The WBA's world championship committee last week voted unanimously against Foreman's request for an exemption to fight the lightly regarded Schulz instead of its highest-ranked available contender, Tony Tucker.

WBA President Gilberto Mendoza said Friday that Foreman "must defend the title in accordance to the rules and regulations of the WBA" or risk being stripped of his title.

The April 22 fight against Schulz will be sanctioned by the International Boxing Federation, Arum said.

Foreman, 46, holds both the WBA and IBF versions of the heavyweight title, which he won with a stunning 10th-round knockout of Michael Moorer last Nov. 5.

Arum said Foreman was guaranteed $10 million for the Schulz fight, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

SWIMMING

* Amy Van Dyken, 21, of Denver, set a world short course record of 26.73 seconds in the 50-meter butterfly at a World Cup event in Espoo, Finland. She clipped 0.20 seconds from the July 1993 mark set by Australia's Angela Kennedy.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

* Finnish telecommunications company Nokia reached a multimillion-dollar agreement to become the title sponsor of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Nokia replaces Baltimore insurance giant USF&G Corp., the sponsor since 1987.

OLYMPICS

* The Metropolitan Atlanta Olympic Games Authority unanimously approved

plans for an $8.9 million, 6,000-seat gymnasium for preliminary rounds of basketball at Morehouse College. This was the last pending construction contract for the 1996 Olympics.

TENNIS

* Zina Garrison Jackson, Gigi Fernandez and qualifier Debbie Graham were ousted from the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

SPORT STOPS

* America's Cup challenger and defender races in San Diego were postponed

because of a lack of wind. The defender race between America3 and Young America will be Tuesday. Racing resumes today with Young America facing Stars & Stripes.

* ITT Corp., which is close to completing its deal to buy the NHL New York Rangers and NBA Knicks and Madison Square Garden, said it will stop taking bets on those teams at its Nevada casinos if the $1.075 billion sale goes through.

* Francois Boutin, 58, the French trainer who tasted Breeders' Cup glory with Miesque and experienced Kentucky Derby disappointment with Arazi, died at a Paris-area hospital. He was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1993.

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