Manager Says Boxer Is ‘Clinically Dead’

Scottish bantamweight James Murray, who underwent brain surgery after a final-round knockout in a title fight Friday night, is “clinically dead,” his manager said Saturday night in Glasgow.

Manager Alex Morrison said neurosurgeon Garth Cruikshank told the fighter’s parents that they cannot switch off his life support machine until today because of the drugs still in the boxer’s system.

“They have been told he is clinically dead,” Morrison told reporters as he left Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital after visiting Murray. “They were advised to go home tonight, but they do not want to leave their son.”

Three hours after losing the British bantamweight title fight to Drew Docherty and being carried out of the ring on a stretcher, Murray had a blood clot removed from his brain. Although surgeons said the operation went well, Murray’s condition remained critical.

A hospital spokesman said further assessment of his condition would be made this morning.

Earlier, hospital spokesman Richard Morgan said: “No decision has been taken on turning the machine off.”

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German Henry Maske defended his International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight title for the seventh time, beating compatriot Graciano Rocchigiani in a unanimous 12-round decision at Munich.

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Ohio’s inspector general has been asked to look into complaints involving the chairman of the state’s boxing commission, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

The request was made by Sen. Anthony A. Latell Jr., the newest non-voting commission member.

Latell said that next week he will give to Inspector General Richard Ward documents that he found troubling. Latell would not discuss their contents.

The Plain Dealer said the complaints were expected to involve the time sheets and wages of commission Chairman Russell J. Schneider. Boxing commissioners are paid $10.01 per hour.

Tennis

Michael Chang and Australian Mark Philippoussis won tough three-set matches to advance to the final of the Seiko Super tournament in Tokyo.

Chang struggled to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory in his match against Henrick Holm of Sweden, which lasted 2 hours 43 minutes, only five minutes less than the total of Chang’s previous three matches.

Philippoussis broke Hendrick Dreekmann of Germany three times to win, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Gabriela Sabatini ended Anke Huber’s hopes of retaining her Porsche Grand Prix tennis title, dispatching the German, 6-4, 6-1, in Filderstadt, Germany. Iva Majoli of Croatia also advanced to the final, defeating Chanda Rubin, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-2).

MaliVai Washington defeated Aranaud Boetsch of France, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the final of the Czech Indoor tournament in Prague. Wayne Ferreira of South Africa defeated Germany’s Patrik Kuehnen, 6-2, 7-5, in the other semifinal to also advance to what will be a rematch of last year’s final.

Unseeded Jan Kroslak of Slovakia defeated David Wheaton, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, and Spain’s Javier Sanchez defeated Italian Stefano Pescosolido, 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (10-8), in the semifinals of the Israel Open in Tel Aviv.

Miscellany

Three of five U.S. wrestlers lost second-round matches at the Greco-Roman world championships in Prague, leaving two Americans still eligible for bronze medals.

Shawn Sheldon at 114 1/2 pounds and Matt Ghaffari at 286 can still earn bronzes after losing only one match.

Eliminated because of two losses were Dave Zuniga, Gordy Morgan and Randy Couture.

Blaine Johnson (Top Fuel), Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car) and Warren Johnson (Pro Stock) are the leading qualifiers for today’s finals of the Chief Auto Parts Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis. John Force of Yorba Linda, fourth in funny cars, needs to win two rounds today to win his record fifth NHRA world championship in the last six years.

UCLA sophomore Mebrahtom Keflezighi won the men’s individual title at the Iowa State Cross Country Memorial Classic in Ames, Iowa. The 5.3-mile course will be used in the NCAA championship Nov. 20. Keflezighi’s time of 26:19 was three seconds faster than Tennessee’s Tony Cosey.