King Declares Innocence, Pays Bail in New York Court

Boxing promoter Don King pleaded not guilty to wire fraud charges and signed a $250,000 personal recognizance bond set by New York Magistrate Nina Gershon in U.S. District Court on Thursday.

“I believe in the American system of justice and I will be cleared,” King said outside the courtroom. “I’ve done nothing to warrant this action.”

King was indicted July 14 on nine counts of wire fraud. He is accused of filing false documents with Lloyd’s of London to collect $350,000 worth of training expenses after a fight between Julio Cesar Chavez, the World Boxing Council super-lightweight champion, and Harold Brazier was canceled in June of 1991. Chavez was cut on the nose eight days before the match.

If convicted, King faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

Gershon said King cannot travel outside the United States without permission.

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Former high school coach Paul Williams, linked to the gifts and cash given to Florida State football players, was sentenced to 30 days in jail in Tallahassee, Fla., after pleading no contest to felony charges of failing to register as an athletic agent.

Florida State officials said they planned to announce next week the suspension of players who violated NCAA rules by accepting the gifts.

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Retired New York Giant linebacker Lawrence Taylor has been subpoenaed to testify next week before a New Jersey grand jury investigating organized crime, according to a newspaper report.

The Newark Star-Ledger said, however, that Taylor was not a target of the probe of Genovese crime family operations.

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An accounting company is suing the Miami Heat’s John Salley, claiming he failed to pay $338,000 for services, loans and debts.

Papers filed in the suit also indicate Salley has a history of legal disputes over money, including a $400,000 claim by a Detroit bank.

Basketball

Officials of the new Vancouver NBA franchise are expected to name Wisconsin Coach Stu Jackson as the team’s general manager and vice president of basketball operations today, and the Milwaukee Sentinel reported that Jackson’s top assistant, Stan Van Gundy, will be named Wisconsin’s coach.

Wally Walker, who played on NBA championship teams in Seattle and Portland, has been given a five-year contract as president and general manager of the SuperSonics, replacing Bob Whitsitt.

The Lakers will open the 1994-95 season at Auburn Hills, Mich., against the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 4 in the first game of a four-game trip. Their first home game will be against the Denver Nuggets on Nov. 11.

Hockey

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman summoned all parties in the Mike Keenan dispute to a hearing at his office Monday.

It is not known when Bettman will rule.

Keenan left his job as coach of the Rangers last Friday and signed as coach and general manager of the Blues two days later.

The dispute centers on whether the Stanley Cup champion Rangers breached Keenan’s contract--as Keenan claims--and whether other teams were in contact with Keenan while he was still under contract to New York.

Any American hockey team that signs Canadian Bob Probert, cut by the Detroit Red Wings, probably will need a waiver from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service for him to play in this country because of his 1989 drug-smuggling conviction, immigration officials said.

Track and Field

Americans Sabrina Kelly and Aspen Burkett raced to a 1-2 finish in the women’s 100-meter final at the International Amateur Athletics Federation’s World Junior Championships in Lisbon.

It was the first individual gold medal for a U.S. girl since the junior championships began in 1986.

Kelly won in 11.36 seconds, followed by Burkett in 11.40 and Ghana’s Philomina Mensha in 11.43.

Nigeria’s Deji Aliu won the men’s 100-meter final in 10.21.

In the decathlon, Norway’s Benjamin Jensen topped the field with a score of 7,676 points.

Tennis

Mary Joe Fernandez and Lindsay Davenport won singles matches as the United States swept Canada, 3-0, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Federation Cup in Frankfurt, Germany.

Top-seeded Spain, Austria and Bulgaria also swept their singles and joined the second-seeded Americans in the round of eight. France, Japan, Germany and South Africa advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Marc Goellner, helped by an injury to Andrei Medvedev’s serving hand, upset the Ukrainian, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, in the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.

Goellner, ranked 78th in the world, then was ousted in the third round of the tournament by Lars Jonsson, 7-6 (13-11), 6-3.

In other matches, top-seeded Michael Stich, third-seeded Thomas Muster, No. 4 Alberto Berasategui and No. 5 Yevgeny Kafelnikov advanced to the quarterfinals.

Miscellany

The CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship tournament of soccer’s North and Central American and Caribbean region, will be played in January or February, 1996, instead of next summer, because of a conflict with other events.

Well on his way to a fourth consecutive Tour de France title, Spain’s Miguel Indurain made a bold move in the final downhill portion to finish second to Piotr Ugrumov of Latvia in the 18th stage--the last contested completely in the Alps. Indurain has a lead of 7 minutes 22 seconds over Richard Virenque of France and is expected to add to it during today’s 30-mile time trial.

Organizers of the 1996 Olympics picked a new site for yachting, ensuring that the competition will stay in Savannah after doubt raised when financing for a site fell apart. Sail Harbor Marina on Wilmington Island will serve as the marina. The boats will launch from uninhabited Williamson Island.

The Gator Bowl football game will be played Dec. 30 instead of Jan. 1, as originally scheduled.

Names in the News

Wide receiver Eric Scott, who played at Crenshaw High, will transfer from Northwestern, where he returned kicks as a freshman in 1993, to UCLA.

NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield breached his contract with another Winston Cup team team by signing with Cale Yarborough, a U.S. District Court suit alleges.

Bill Nuttall, general manager of U.S. Soccer Federation national teams, has resigned to enter business.