Boxer, Trainer Charged With Glove-Tampering

Boxer Luis Resto and his trainer, Carlos (Panama) Lewis, were arrested in New York Tuesday and charged with removing padding from Resto’s gloves before a fight in which his opponent suffered a beating that ended his career.

The case centers on a 10-round middleweight fight June 16, 1983, between Resto, who had a record of 20-7-2, and the late Billy Ray Collins Jr., 23, who was unbeaten in 14 fights. Collins was killed in a car accident last March.

Resto, previously known as a light puncher, beat Collins badly, raising lumps and opening cuts on Collins’ face. At one point between rounds, Collins reportedly complained to his father, who was his manager, “It feels like I’m getting hit with a rock.”

The elder Collins said that when he shook hands with Resto after the bout, “All I felt were knuckles and fingers; there was no padding at all.”

Lewis, who has trained Aaron Pryor, Roberto Duran and Vito Antuofermo, was accused of removing about half of the horsehair padding from Resto’s gloves.

Collins’ right eye was permanently damaged in the bout, and he never fought again.

More than 2,500 fans turned out in 40-degree Miami temperatures to welcome the Dolphins home after their 38-16 Super Bowl loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Coach Don Shula promised better days ahead. “Our commitment to you is to be back in the big game and walk away the winner,” he said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us Sunday in Palo Alto.”

The national TV rating for the Super Bowl was 46.4 with a 63% share of the audience, ABC said. The rating ties last year’s game as the fifth-highest rated Super Bowl. The highest was a 49.1 for the 1982 Super Bowl between San Francisco and Cincinnati.

A network spokesman said an estimated 110 million people watched, with the telecast reaching nearly 39.4 million households.

Six amateur athletes are winners of the Wheaties cereal “Search for Champions.” They are Doug Heir, 24, record-holding wheelchair athlete; Peter Gagarin, 40, national champion in orienteering; Jon Lugbill, 23, a canoeist; Jane Buch, 36, a marathon runner; Kim Rhodenbaugh, 18, a national champion swimmer, and Jim Hershberger, 53, holder of a number of age-group track records. Their pictures will appear on packages of the cereal.

Romania, which defied a Soviet boycott and competed in the Los Angeles Olympics, is sending a group of athletes to the Michelob Invitational indoor track meet here Feb. 15, among them Maricica Puica, who won the Olympic women’s 3,000-meter race in which Mary Decker and Zola Budd collided.

The Soviet Union will send a contingent to the Coors International Bicycle event, a 15-day tour through the Western United States in August.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies have forfeited their North American Soccer League membership for the 1985 outdoor season. They may return in 1986, depending upon finances.

Nebraska State Sen. Ernest Chambers has proposed a bill that would make University of Nebraska football players university employees. Although the bill does not give a dollar figure, Chambers said the payments should start at $50 a week for the players.

New York Jet running back Freeman McNeil has been dropped from the roster of the Pro Bowl, the American Football Conference announced.

AFC spokesman Tom Hoffman said McNeil would be unable to play because of a broken rib he suffered during the regular season. The team’s medical staff determined McNeil had not fully recovered, Hoffman said.

McNeil will be replaced by Greg Bell of the Buffalo Bills.

Names in the News

Shirley Muldowney was in good condition at Indianapolis after undergoing three hours of surgery on her right leg to repair damage done in a June drag racing crash.

Archie Griffin, former Cincinnati Bengal running back and two-time Heisman Trophy winner, signed a two-year contract with the Jacksonville Bulls of the USFL.

Defensive back Kenny Easley signed a five-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks for about $650,000 a year, plus incentives, the Seattle Times reported.