Vegas Hotel Drops Tapia-Romero Fight

The junior bantamweight title fight between Johnny Tapia and Danny Romero will go on next week, although it has been moved to the Thomas & Mack Center on the Nevada Las Vegas campus after the Las Vegas Hilton pulled out as the site Monday.

Earlier, the Hilton said the July 18 fight had been canceled because of the failure of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to “provide a certificate of insurance to the Hilton.” The hotel also said that ticket refunds were to be made.

Hours later, Arum announced that the bout had been moved.

A fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Dan Connelly, scheduled for July 25 in Uncasville, Conn., has been postponed indefinitely. Leonard reportedly said he needed more training time.

Mike Tyson has been dropped from the World Boxing Assn. rankings, the organization saying its regulations stipulate that a boxer who has been suspended by a local commission cannot be rated by the organization.

South Africa’s Francois Botha took Tyson’s No. 1 position.

Pro Basketball

Travis Knight, the 7-foot backup with the Lakers last season, officially signed with the Boston Celtics for a reported $22 million over seven years. In order to fit Knight under the salary cap, the Celtics had to renounce the rights to all nine of their free agents, including captain Rick Fox.

The New York Knicks gave Coach Jeff Van Gundy, 35, a multiyear contract extension. Terms were not disclosed. . . . The Denver Nuggets, trying to clear money under the salary cap to sign their three first-round picks, renounced the rights to six players, among them guard Sarunas Marciulionis. . . . The Cleveland Cavaliers signed first-round draft picks Derek Anderson and Brevin Knight.

The Vancouver Grizzlies are expected to announce today that they have agreed to terms on a contract extension with 7-foot Bryant “Big Country” Reeves. . . . Former Clipper guard Darnell Valentine was moved from intensive care and upgraded to good condition at a hospital in Tualatin, Ore. Valentine, 38, was hospitalized with an abdominal aneurysm.

Hockey

Sergi Mnatsakanov, team masseur for the Detroit Red Wings who, along with two players, was seriously injured in a June 13 limousine accident, has regained consciousness and was starting to communicate with relatives by writing.

Doctors also said that defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov has been taken off a ventilator and shows signs of gradually regaining consciousness.

Konstantinov and Mnatsakanov have been hospitalized in Royal Oak, Mich., since the accident less than a week after the Red Wings had won the Stanley Cup.

Wayne Cashman was officially named coach of the the Philadelphia Flyers and stressed the importance of communicating with the players and instilling a desire to play for each other. Former Flyer coach Terry Murray was criticized for lacking communication skills.

The New York Rangers, who had trouble checking Eric Lindros and his Philadelphia linemates in the NHL’s Eastern Conference finals, signed defense-oriented forwards Mike Keane and Brian Skrudland.

Kris King, an unrestricted free-agent left wing who spent last season with the Phoenix Coyotes, signed a four-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Rudy Poeschek, a free-agent defenseman who spent the last four seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, signed a three-year contract with the St. Louis Blues.

Golf

The sport continues to reap the benefits of Tiger Woods’ popularity, with CBS agreeing to a contract extension in which the network will pay twice as much as it has for the PGA Championship. Under the extension, CBS will pay $30 million over seven years for rights to the PGA Championship through 2005.

Miscellany

A jury in Philadelphia ruled that three women rowers at Temple who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the university did not have their civil rights violated.

A judge in Chistianburg, Va., dismissed an abduction charge against Brad Baylor, a Virginia Tech football player accused of forcing Todd Pringle, a University of Virginia student, to stay inside a house and drink so many shots of alcohol that he had to be hospitalized.

The NFL’s Pro Bowl will remain in Hawaii for at least another four years, according to an agreement reached Monday.

Six of the 38 starters in the Transpac Yacht race from Long Beach to Hawaii have dropped out, including the 75-foot Zephyrus IV, the race’s early leader, because of a broken mast. Bob Lane’s 56-foot Medicine Man, which turned another 305-mile day Monday, is the projected winner.

Names in the News

The St. Louis Rams filled their top off-season priority a week before training camp, signing free agent cornerback Ryan McNeil, formerly of Detroit. . . . Rookie tight end Damon Jones of the Jacksonville Jaguars, a fifth-round draft pick, was arrested at a Jacksonville night club for allegedly taking a swing at an off-duty police officer. . . . Former University of Oklahoma and Detroit Lion running back Billy Sims pleaded innocent to a misdemeanor charge of failing to pay child support.

Midfielder Cobi Jones of the Galaxy has been added to the Western Conference team for Wednesday’s Major League Soccer All-Star game at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Forward Brian McBride of the Columbus Crew was added to the East team.

New USC women’s basketball coach Chris Gobrecht has hired Erika Lang and Stacy McIntyre as his assistants. Lang, 26, was an assistant to Gobrecht at Florida State last season, and McIntyre, also 26, was an assistant coach at Nevada for two years.