Boxer Bowe Pleads Guilty to Abducting Wife, Children

Former heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe pleaded guilty Thursday to abducting his estranged wife and children at knifepoint from their Charlotte, N.C., home. He faces at least 18 to 24 months in prison.

Bowe pleaded guilty to interstate domestic violence. Under the plea bargain, he will get a lighter sentence than the 10-year maximum. He will be sentenced within three months.

Bowe, 30, of Fort Washington, Md., showed up at his wife Judy’s home Feb. 25 in Cornelius, a Charlotte suburb, and forced her and their five children to accompany him to his Maryland home. He threatened to use duct tape, a knife, pepper spray and handcuffs, investigators said.

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A drunk-driving charge against Cincinnati Bengal running back Corey Dillon has been dismissed, but he must serve a day in jail after pleading guilty to negligent driving and driving with a suspended license in Seattle.

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Atlanta Falcon linebacker Cornelius Bennett is getting out of jail earlier than expected after serving 35 days in a New York state prison for sexual abuse, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Bennett, 32, entered the facility April 30 after pleading guilty in Buffalo, N.Y., to charges stemming from a May 1997 incident with a longtime female acquaintance. The reason Bennett was not required to serve the full sentence was unknown.

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Trainer Kevin Rooney is a step closer to having a $4.4-million jury award against Mike Tyson reinstated. New York’s highest court found validity in an oral contract in which Tyson agreed to keep Rooney as his trainer “for as long as the boxer fights professionally.” Rooney claims in a breach-of-contract lawsuit that Tyson broke that pledge when he fired him in 1988.

Women’s Basketball

Chamique Holdsclaw had 20 points and 13 rebounds as the United States defeated Slovakia, 89-62, in Berlin to gain a place opposite Brazil in the semifinals of the women’s world championships.

Phoenix Mercury Coach Cheryl Miller broke the big toe on her right foot when she kicked the scorer’s table during a WNBA exhibition game at Phoenix. Miller grew irritated at events in the second half of Phoenix’s 74-66 victory over the Utah Starzz.

Miscellany

New York’s two NFL teams are going to get a chance to play on natural grass fields at Giants Stadium, at least during most of the upcoming exhibition season. The Giants, Jets and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates Giants Stadium where the teams play, announced they have agreed to test the viability of the teams playing home games on natural grass.

World Cup-bound South Korea played China to a 1-1 tie in a warmup soccer match at Seoul.

An American College of Sports Medicine panel told doctors, athletic trainers and researchers at its convention in Orlando, Fla., there have been no significant health problems associated with the use of creatine, a dietary supplement that helps build body mass.

A fire damaged the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, R.I., which houses memorabilia from tennis legends and is the site of the oldest grass-court competitions in the United States. There appeared to be little if any damage to the memorabilia, an investigator with the state fire marshal’s office said.

Tony Stewart, last year’s True Value 500K pole-sitter, had the fastest practice laps on a 104-degree day at Fort Worth when Texas Motor Speedway temperatures reached 138. He turned a lap of 221.675 mph in the afternoon and 223.224 in the twilight session.

Names in the News

Shirley Povich, the longtime sports columnist, war correspondent and sports editor of the Washington Post, died Thursday night of a heart attack. He was 92. . . . Jeff Hartwig set an American pole vault record, soaring 19 feet 8 1/4 inches at a meet at St. Denis, France, and becoming only the eighth vaulter to reach the six-meter mark. . . . After several tests confirmed that boxer Maria Nieves-Garcia of Mexico was pregnant, she was pulled from Saturday’s fight against Christy Martin on the undercard of the Evander Holyfield-Henry Akinwande heavyweight title fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden. . . . Five Nebraska football players, including running back DeAngelo Evans and quarterback Eric Crouch, were given an extra year of eligibility by the Big 12 Conference after being out with serious injuries. . . . Tennessee Oiler running back Eddie George underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in Nashville. Team officials said he will be at full strength by the start of training camp July 24.