Former Champion Douglas Reportedly in Coma

Former heavyweight boxing champion Buster Douglas was hospitalized and was reportedly in a diabetic coma in Columbus, Ohio.

WBNS-TV, citing no sources, said Douglas, 34, was upgraded from poor to stable condition at Grant Medical Center, but a hospital spokeswoman said the family asked that no information be released.

Unidentified relatives of the former boxer had told the station Douglas was taken to the hospital Monday and had slipped in and out of a coma since then.

It was not known whether Douglas had been diagnosed as a diabetic or which form of the disease he might have.

Douglas, a native of Columbus, was the heavyweight champion only eight months.

He was 42-1 and an underdog when he won the title in February of 1990 with a 10th-round knockout of then-undefeated Mike Tyson in Tokyo. Eight months later, an out-of-condition Douglas lost his first title defense in three rounds to Evander Holyfield.

Douglas took home a $24.1-million purse from the Holyfield fight. He used some of his winnings to build a community center near the neighborhood where he grew up.

Basketball

Top Rank of Louisiana asked a federal judge in New Orleans to reconsider a decision that stopped state court proceedings about the fight over ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Top Rank, which last month agreed to buy the NBA team for $152.5 million and move it to New Orleans only to see the NBA reject the deal, also asked U.S. District Court Judge James Rosenbaum to dismiss the case.

The Lakers will conduct their preseason training camp in Hawaii for the sixth time in seven years. The Lakers said they will begin their workouts at Klum Gymnasium on the University of Hawaii campus Oct. 7 and start their eight-game preseason schedule with two games against the Sacramento Kings at Blaisdell Center in Honolulu on Oct. 14-15.

Miscellany

A fan of John Curry, a British figure skater who died of an AIDS-related illness, bought his three gold medals for $33,000 at an auction in London. The medals were auctioned at Sotheby’s to raise money for Curry’s widowed mother, Rita, and his family.

Curry won gold medals at the Olympics, World Championships and European Championships in 1976.

Curry, who died in April, was the first Englishman to win an Olympic figure skating title. His performance at the 1976 Games in Innsbruck is considered among the greatest in skating history.

Dave O’Brien was appointed athletic director at Long Beach State. O’Brien had served as acting director for nearly three years.

Belgium’s Johan Museeuw took the lead in the Tour de France after the team time trial, and American Lance Armstrong moved into fifth place while heading a surge by his team.

In competition between the two favorites, three-time winner Miguel Indurain of Spain gained a slight edge over Tony Rominger of Switzerland.

The team time trial, the Tour’s third stage, covered 41 miles from Calais to the Channel Tunnel.

American Greg LeMond, who won the World Championship twice and the Tour three times, was in 40th place, 1 minute 35 seconds behind.

John Candy will be remembered this season by the Toronto Argonauts, the CFL team he owned along with Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall. The team announced its players will wear embroidered gold crests in the shape of a Hollywood star with Candy’s initials on their uniforms.

The comedic actor, who became a part owner of the team in February 1991, died March 4 of a heart attack while filming a movie in Mexico. The Canada native was 43.

Golf

Police in Niles, Ohio, have questioned a man who said he and a friend were target shooting near the site where professional golfer Kim Williams was shot. Williams was shot around 9 p.m. Saturday as she was walking into a discount store in Niles about 60 miles southeast of Cleveland. She was in town for the Youngstown-Warren LPGA Classic, which was Friday through Sunday.

Police said doctors at Cleveland MetroHealth Center did not remove the bullet from Williams. Hospital spokeswoman Sue Kalas said the bullet, which hit Williams in the neck and traveled through her shoulder, was deeply embedded in a rib and doctors believe it would be better to leave it.