Doctor Tells Bentt to Stop Boxing

Michael Bentt, who collapsed after losing the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title to Herbie Hide, suffered significant injuries to the brain and should never fight again, his doctor said Sunday.

Bentt, 28, was floored in the third round and again in the seventh when the referee counted him out Saturday night at the New London Stadium.

Dr. John Sutcliffe also said Bentt has no memory of the fight nor any event in the four to six hours leading up to the bout and that he had a similar collapse a month before the fight, though dehydration was blamed for that.

at the time.

Bentt, who had a long, successful career as an amateur, won the WBO title last October in his 12th professional bout with a first-round knockout of Tommy Morrison at Tulsa, Okla.

*

Undefeated Orzubek Nazarov (19-0) pummeled South African Dingaan Thobela (29-3-1) over 12 rounds to retain the World Boxing Assn. lightweight title on a unanimous decision at Pretoria.

Figure Skating

Nicole Bobek, the 16-year-old replacement for Tonya Harding at the World Figure Skating Championships in Chiba, Japan, was eliminated today when she failed to survive the qualifying round.

Bobek, who was told Wednesday she would be competing in Japan, finished 13th in her group. She had to be in the top 12 to qualify.

Harding resigned from the U.S. Figure Skating Association last week as part of an agreement in which she pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution in the investigation into the January attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.

“My feet just didn’t feel under me,” said Bobek, who fell on her opening triple lutz and took another spill on a triple toe loop.

Hockey

New York Islander forward Brian Mullen, trying to come back from heart problems, suffered a seizure at practice in Uniondale, N.Y., the team said.

“The cause of the seizure is unknown, but it is not uncommon in stroke victims,” the Islanders said in a news release. “He suffered no paralysis and no long-term effects and is resting comfortably at North Shore University Hospital.”

Mullen, 32, suffered a mild stroke last Aug. 11 and underwent surgery to repair a small hole in his heart last Sept. 13. He had been taken off blood thinners Feb. 16 and had resumed practicing with the team.

Boston Bruin winger Cam Neely is scheduled to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam today on his right knee, injured near the end of Saturday’s 8-6 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Speedskating

Johann-Olav Koss of Norway capped his season with a gold medal in the combined 5,000- and 10,000-meter speedskating World Cup events at Heerenveen, Netherlands.

In another race, Manabu Horii of Japan broke the track record in the final 500-meter World Cup race of the season, clocking 36.25 seconds, and beating Dan Jansen, who had already won the overall gold medal.

Jansen said he would not decide until the summer whether to continue skating another season.

Miscellany

The senator intent on stripping baseball of its antitrust exemption critized the club owners.

“By refusing to hire a commissioner and by downgrading that job, the owners have broken their word to the Congress and breached faith with the fans,” Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) said.

Metzenbaum was to deliver his statement today at a hearing on baseball’s antitrust exemption. Bud Selig, president of the Milwaukee Brewers and chairman of the ruling executive council, was to testify for the owners.

The team of Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes won the $100,000 Old Spice Boca Raton Open beach volleyball championship in Florida with a 15-13 victory over Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh.

The defending world champion U.S. women’s soccer team was defeated by Norway, 1-0, in the championship match of the first Algarve Cup in Faro, Portugal.