Body Shots

Body Shots, Michael Cristofer's dreary and dispiriting plunge into twentysomething sexual angst, is the kind of date movie that should do a lot to promote celibacy. Cristofer, an award-winning playwright and a talented screenwriter, and his scenarist, David McKenna, whose credits include the script for American History X, have both done much better work elsewhere. In Body Shots, they combine for a series of misjudgments in which ancient truisms and banalities about what men and women want from each other are trotted out as if they were blinding revelations.

Carl Griffith, returning to the ring for the first time since the match that left his opponent in a coma almost two months ago, scored a technical knockout over Roland Commings in the seventh round of a scheduled 10-round junior-welterweight bout last night at Harrah's Casino Hotel/Atlantic City. Griffith won the fight convincingly if not easily, absorbing punches as he overpowered his opponent with bruising body shots. Referee James Condon, acting on the advice of the ringside physician, stopped the fight after the seventh round.

Logically, the scheme makes sense. If your opponent covers his head like a blanket and exposes his kidneys, you attack. Ravage the body, the arms fall and the head becomes exposed. Then? Bam! Decision or knockout, it really doesn't matter, as long as victory is the result. For years, Brian Viloria has followed that strategy to one victory after another, evoking praise, creating expectations, fueling dreams of Olympic gold. Two rounds into the Olympics, Viloria learned that such a style would be better suited to the pros.

They stood toe-to-toe for 36 brutal minutes, two skinny guys with hearts that threatened to bust out of their frail bodies. But, in the end, it was skill that won the match, not courage. Charles Murray, overpowering his opponent with jabs to the head and hooks to the body, scored a unanimous decision over Philadelphian "Rockin' " Rodney Moore in a 12-round junior-welterweight title bout yesterday afternoon at Trump Castle Casino Resort. Murray won the International Boxing Federation version of the title.

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins didn't exactly promise a knockout, but he did say he had to "win big," and, well, even a lopsided decision victory wouldn't have been big enough to satisfy the International Boxing Federation middleweight champion. "I knew I was way ahead, so I guess I could have eased up in the later rounds and won on points," Hopkins said after he scored an 11th-round technical knockout of outclassed but very determined challenger William "Bo" James last night at Merv Griffin's Resorts.

Little Zahir Raheem, the 118-pounder from Philadelphia's Germantown section who wept when he was eliminated from the 1996 Olympic Games, has grown up. Now 21 and muscled up to 130 pounds, the Z-Man hammered out a fifth-round technical knockout over Shawn Powell (11-12-1) of Schenectady, N.Y., last night before a full house of about 1,500 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino. It was the 12th victory and sixth stoppage for Raheem, fighting on the undercard of the Terry Norris-Dana Rosenblatt middleweight bout for the International Boxing Association crown.

Nicole Polizzi, aka Snooki, might have taken the lyrics to the theme song for MTV's "Jersey Shore" - "Get Crazy" - a little too seriously. Cops in Seaside Heights said that Polizzi, 22, was arrested yesterday afternoon for disorderly conduct after beachgoers reported that she was bothering them. Polizzi, of Marlboro, N.Y., was allegedly acting disorderly while on the beach at Fremont Avenue, Seaside Heights Police Chief Thomas Boyd said in a statement. She was taken to police headquarters where she was processed and later released with a summons.

Julian Jackson, finally solving a style that confused him for most of the fight, knocked out Francisco DeJesus in the eighth round to retain his junior- middleweight title last night at the Las Vegas Hilton. The end of the bout on the undercard of the Mike Tyson-Frank Bruno heavyweight-title fight came at 2 minutes, 19 seconds of the round, with the challenger flat on his back. Jackson of the Virgin Islands, who owns the World Boxing Association version of the crown, is now 35-1 with 33 knockouts.

Tim Witherspoon, fighting an opponent who tried to turn the ring into a dance studio, went ballistic on the ballet artist. Witherspoon pounded out a unanimous decision over James Pritchard in a 10- round heavyweight bout last night at Harrah's Casino/Hotel Atlantic City. All three judges - Joe Pasquale, John Stewart and Phil Newman - scored it 100-90 for Witherspoon, giving the former heavyweight champion a shutout victory. Witherspoon, of Philadelphia, raised his record to 37-3; Pritchard, of Louisville, Ky., fell to 27-8-2.

At one point, he keeled over. At another, his body flopped back against the ropes as if it were an inflated dummy with rubber legs. Had it not been for the Olympic mercy rule, implemented to prevent serious injury, two outcomes would have been certain for Brazilian middleweight Cleiton Conceicao in his match against Jeff Lacy of the United States yesterday: He would have ended up flat on his back if the fight had gone into the final round,...

Nicole Polizzi, aka Snooki, might have taken the lyrics to the theme song for MTV's "Jersey Shore" - "Get Crazy" - a little too seriously. Cops in Seaside Heights said that Polizzi, 22, was arrested yesterday afternoon for disorderly conduct after beachgoers reported that she was bothering them. Polizzi, of Marlboro, N.Y., was allegedly acting disorderly while on the beach at Fremont Avenue, Seaside Heights Police Chief Thomas Boyd said in a statement. She was taken to police headquarters where she was processed and later released with a summons.

It started off as a controversy. What followed was mostly high drama, but one humdinger of a boxing match ended tragically with one of the gallant main-event fighters being carried from the ring on a stretcher. Some of the 1,500 or so spectators at the Blue Horizon who only moments before were screaming themselves hoarse last night were observed bowing their heads and praying that Francisco Rodriguez' injuries were not as severe as they appeared as medical personnel tended to him and administered oxygen.

The partially decomposed body of a man apparently shot in the head was found yesterday in the trunk of a car in West Philadelphia, police said. The car, with license plates registered to an address in North Jersey, had been abandoned in the lot of an auto-repair shop at 54th Street and Lancaster Avenue, police said. An odor prompted employees to call police after 8 a.m. The car was taken, with the unidentified body inside, to the Medical Examiner's Office in University City, officials said.

The first self-proclaimed victim flopped to the canvas - knee first, head second - incredulous at how the judges could reach such a decision. The second simply covered his face in disbelief. Both cried. Just like many in the crowd at the Sydney Exhibition Centre yesterday, Morocco's Hicham Mesbahi and Nigeria's Olusegun Ajose were in no mood to praise the virtues of the United States. After their defeats, both essentially claimed they had been robbed and appeared distraught, but gathered strength once they noticed the boos aimed at the United States boxers.

Over the course of about 36 hours, the United States boxing team had begun to resemble its predecessors, which wasn't good news. The team started out 11-0, but then one of the U.S. fighters got dropped to the canvas before losing a decision. Another never made it to the ring because he failed to meet the weight requirement. And Brian Viloria, the team's purported golden boy, got bounced out of the Olympics before the quarter finals even began. Then yesterday arrived, and things got at least a little brighter.

Logically, the scheme makes sense. If your opponent covers his head like a blanket and exposes his kidneys, you attack. Ravage the body, the arms fall and the head becomes exposed. Then? Bam! Decision or knockout, it really doesn't matter, as long as victory is the result. For years, Brian Viloria has followed that strategy to one victory after another, evoking praise, creating expectations, fueling dreams of Olympic gold. Two rounds into the Olympics, Viloria learned that such a style would be better suited to the pros.

At one point, he keeled over. At another, his body flopped back against the ropes as if it were an inflated dummy with rubber legs. Had it not been for the Olympic mercy rule, implemented to prevent serious injury, two outcomes would have been certain for Brazilian middleweight Cleiton Conceicao in his match against Jeff Lacy of the United States yesterday: He would have ended up flat on his back if the fight had gone into the final round,...

Mike Tyson, looking like the Iron Mike of old, scored a second-round technical knockout over British champion Julius Francis last night. Tyson, 33, knocked down Francis, 35, five times before referee Roy Francis ended the scheduled 10-round bout at 1 minute, 1 second of the second round. Francis, a 16-1 underdog with a 21-8 record, spent most of the short fight in retreat and hardly touched Tyson, who raised his record to 47-3, with 41 knockouts. It was a baby step toward Tyson's goal of regaining the world title that he lost to Evander Holyfield in 1996.

Body Shots, Michael Cristofer's dreary and dispiriting plunge into twentysomething sexual angst, is the kind of date movie that should do a lot to promote celibacy. Cristofer, an award-winning playwright and a talented screenwriter, and his scenarist, David McKenna, whose credits include the script for American History X, have both done much better work elsewhere. In Body Shots, they combine for a series of misjudgments in which ancient truisms and banalities about what men and women want from each other are trotted out as if they were blinding revelations.

Talk about an effective West Coast offense. The Eagles can only hope No. 1 draft choice Donovan McNabb, the quarterback from Syracuse, is as adept at taking what the defense gives him as was lightweight contender Angel "El Diablo" Manfredy. The human graffiti exhibit tattooed, if you'll pardon the expression, Nicetown's Ivan Robinson with a steady stream of crunching body shots en route to a 10-round, unanimous decision Saturday night at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. While the Eagles' draft-day performance will take some time to evaluate, there is no question Manfredy was an instant smash.