Lewis and McCall to Fight for WBC Heavyweight Title

Lennox Lewis and Oliver McCall will fight for the vacant World Boxing Council heavyweight title, probably on Feb. 7, promoter Panos Eliades said Monday.

Eliades said Las Vegas, London and Atlantic City are prospective sites.

Don King last week was stripped of the right to promote the fight by a judge in New Jersey.

King failed to produce a contract to stage the fight within 15 days of winning the rights, as required under WBC rules. The rights were awarded to the next highest bidder, Main Events of New Jersey.

Dino Duva, head of Main Events, said the Feb. 7 date should be firm before the week is out.

Lewis and McCall are both former WBC champions.

Skiing

Two years after his last victory, Josef Strobl became a winner again with a surprising win in a men’s World Cup giant slalom at Park City, Utah.

Strobl proved he was more than a downhiller by defeating fellow Austrian Hans Knaus and Swiss star Michael Von Gruenigen. Strobl, the surprise leader by .52 seconds in the morning run despite starting 20th, showed it was no fluke by completing two runs in a combined 2 minutes 31.42 seconds.

He beat Knaus, a giant slalom specialist, by .42 seconds and Von Gruenigen, the defending World Cup giant slalom champion, by .48.

Southland

The NCAA is conducting a preliminary inquiry into the Cal State Fullerton athletic program and is planning interviews on campus next week, a Fullerton official said.

Judith Anderson, executive assistant to university President Milton Gordon, said she could not say which sport or sports are involved, or who might be interviewed. Anderson said she expects to receive “more specifics” next week.

“We really believe that integrity is the cornerstone of Cal State Fullerton athletics, and we welcome the inquiry and are cooperating fully,” said Anderson, who oversees the athletic department for Gordon.

The Times reported in August that two former members of the Fullerton athletic department were questioned by an NCAA investigator about men’s basketball recruiting during the summer of 1993, when Brad Holland was coach.

The questions involved allegations that four Titan men’s basketball recruits received living expenses, free housing, transportation and tuition payment for summer school and correspondence courses, which violates NCAA rules forbidding extra benefits for student athletes.

Holland resigned to become coach at the University of San Diego in 1994. He could not be reached for comment Monday.

Awards

Eleven 1996 Olympic gold medalists, four of them in swimming and three in athletics, have been nominated for the 1997 Jesse Owens International Trophy Award, International Amateur Athletic Assn. President Edwin Moses announced in New York.

American Michael Johnson--the first man to take Olympic gold in both the 200 and 400 meters, the 200 with a world record--could also become the first two-time Jesse Owens award winner, having received it this year. The 1997 award will be presented on Feb. 4 in New York.

Canadian Donovan Bailey, who set a 100-meter world record in Atlanta, and Marie-Jose Perec of France, women’s 200 and 400 meters winner, were the other track stars nominated.

The swimmers nominated were Penny Heyns of South Africa, Alexander Popov of Russia, triple gold medalist Michelle Smith of Ireland, and quadruple gold medalist Amy Van Dyken of the United States.

Two Chinese were nominated, diver Fu Mingxia and gymnast Li Xiaoshuang. Also nominated were Cuban boxer Felix Savon and Turkish weightlifter Naim Suleymanoglu.

Miscellany

Stanford won the men’s and women’s NCAA cross-country titles at Tucson, marking the first time since 1985 that one school won both titles. The last team to win both was Wisconsin.

The Stanford men beat Arkansas, although the Razorbacks did have the individual champion, Godfrey Siamusiye. The Stanford women scored 101 points to edge Villanova by five.

Siamusiye was clocked in 29 minutes 49 seconds over 6.2 miles to become the first repeating champion since Henry Rono of Washington State in 1976-77.

Arizona sophomore Amy Skieresz won the women’s race in 17:04.

Saxon C. Elliot, former Cal State Los Angeles basketball coach, died Nov. 19 in Montecito, after a brief illness. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Welch-Ryce-Haider Funeral Chapel in Santa Barbara.