King Trial Witness Denies Seeing Fake Contract

An aide who prepared contracts for boxing promoter Don King testified Monday at his insurance fraud trial that she was never shown a contract King allegedly faked.

The aide, Gladys Rosa, said in federal court in Manhattan that the contract she watched World Boxing Council super-lightweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez sign in 1991 was for $1.5 million.

She said she never saw Chavez sign a contract for $2 million that included a paragraph referring to $350,000 in non-refundable training expenses. That clause was necessary for King to recover insurance money once the fight was canceled.

Prosecutors say King cheated Lloyd’s of London out of $350,000 by faking the front page of the contract for a June 28, 1991, bout between Chavez and Harold Brazier.

Chavez cut his nose two weeks before the fight and it was canceled.

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English boxer Chris Eubank announced he was quitting after a 10-year career.

The former World Boxing Organization middleweight and super-middleweight champion made the announcement five weeks after losing a title rematch to Steve Collins of Ireland, who ended Eubank’s 43-fight unbeaten streak.

Eubank has a record of 43-3-2.

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Restituto Espinelli of the Philippines, who fell into a coma Thursday after losing a 10-round fight, has died of a brain hemorrhage.

Espinelli, 19, collapsed 20 minutes after losing to Marlon Carillo in a flyweight fight in which he was not knocked down.

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Renewed calls for a ban on boxing following the death of Scottish fighter James Murray were rejected by the British government.

Sports Minister Iain Sproat, speaking in the House of Commons, called boxing a “terrific sport” and ruled out a ban.

Murray, 25, died less than two days after being knocked out by countryman Drew Docherty in the 12th round of their British bantamweight title fight in Glasgow.

Murray was the second boxer in 18 months to die of ring injuries in Britain.

Tennis

The U.S. Open is borrowing from “Super Saturday” in hopes of creating a sensational “Championship Sunday” by changing its format and moving the women’s final to the last day of the tournament.

The Open’s five-year television deal, signed last week by the U.S. Tennis Assn. and CBS, calls for the women’s final to shift from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, preceding the men’s final.

Steffi Graf lost a lucrative advertising contract when the General Motors subsidiary Opel canceled its sponsorship deal with her, saying it got nowhere in asking her advisers about an apparent “shell company” into which Opel had already paid millions.

The tax problems of the world’s top-ranked woman tennis player, whose father has been in jail for two months, appeared to be worsening.

Graf still faces a potential tax bill of $21 million to $28 million, and the whereabouts of most of Graf’s fortune, estimated at $70 million, is still unknown.

Soccer

Major League Soccer will announce the signing of U.S. national team players Tony Meola and John Harkes.

A news conference today will feature the allocation of the league’s marquee players.

Also to be announced are assorted sponsorships and the nicknames and logos of the league’s franchises: Boston, Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York-East Rutherford, N.J.; San Jose, Tampa and Washington.

An explosion in a soccer stadium killed six people, among them the president of the home team, in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

The blast appeared to have been caused by a bomb planted as part of a feud between rival gangs.

Miscellany

In an effort to quicken the game, the Royal and Ancient Club and U.S. Golf Assn., golf’s governing bodies, are introducing a one-stroke penalty rule for slow play to the 1996 rule book, beginning Jan. 1.

Basketball star Rebecca Lobo and speedskater Bonnie Blair were named sportswomen of the year by the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Maria’s Mon, winner of the Champagne Stakes and a leading contender for the 2-year-old thoroughbred championship, cracked his front left ankle at Belmont Park. Surgery was performed and the colt is expected to return to training next spring.