Morrison Undergoing Tests to Determine if He Has AIDS

Former heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison, who faces drug and weapons charges, is undergoing hospital tests at Fayetteville, Ark., to determine if he has AIDS.

Morrison was at Washington Regional Medical Center on Thursday at the urging of his attorney, who said he had noticed a recent change in Morrison’s physical and mental conditions.

Attorney John Hudson said he asked Washington County jail officials to have Morrison tested to see if his HIV had developed into AIDS.

“I requested it in order to determine if he merely has HIV or has full-blown AIDS, as well as to determine if he’s stable, in general, and well enough to be in the jail,” Hudson said.

On Tuesday, a judge revoked Morrison’s bond and ordered him to jail after a Thanksgiving Day arrest for drug and weapons charges in Madison County. At the time, Morrison was free while awaiting a Washington County trial on previous drug charges.

Morrison began taking medication a year ago to treat the virus that causes AIDS, Hudson said. But Hudson said he has been told that Morrison stopped taking the HIV drugs recently.

Morrison looked physically fit during an October arraignment in Washington County on charges of possession of cocaine, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia.

But on Tuesday, Morrison “looked gaunt,” Hudson said. “Mentally, I don’t know how to characterize it, but not well. And physically, not well.”

Morrison defeated George Foreman to win the World Boxing Organization title in 1993.

Winter Sports

Landing a clean quadruple toe loop while his top rivals faltered, Yevgeny Plushchenko took the lead after the men’s short program in the Russian Figure Skating Championships at Moscow.

Plushchenko, 17, got straight 5.9s for technique and three perfect 6.0s for presentation in a routine that also included a triple axel-triple toe loop combination.

Two-time world champion Alexei Yagudin stepped out of his quad attempt and landed only a triple axel-double toe loop combination to finish second through the short program, worth one-third of the total score. Roman Serov is third.

In the pairs short program, Tatyana Totmyania and Maxim Marinin took the lead, and Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov were second.

In the ice dance competition, Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh took the lead after compulsory dance in the absence of the world champions Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov, who have been forced to abandon the rest of the season because of Krylova’s back injury.

Miscellany

Results of tests conducted this month have prompted Rick Hendrick’s doctors to say he no longer needs chemotherapy and the disease can be declared to be in full remission.

Hendrick, who owns NASCAR’s Hendrick Motorsports, was diagnosed in November 1996 with chronic myelogenous leukemia, a rare form of the disease that, according to many medical experts, claims up to 95% of its victims.

But doctors prescribed a course of two injections of cancer-fighting drugs a day for nearly 1,100 days. The injections were halted earlier this month and doctors conducted a series of tests. With almost all of the reports back, Dr. Steven Limentani said he was confident in pronouncing the disease to be in full remission.

Vladimir Kondrashin, the coach who led the Soviet Union to their controversial Olympic basketball title in 1972, died of cancer at St. Petersburg, Russia, at 70.

In the gold-medal game in Munich, the Soviets trailed the favored United States by one point with only three seconds left. But Ivan Edeshko threw an inbounds pass the length of the court to Alexander Belov, who made the basket at the buzzer to hand the Americans their first Olympic defeat, 51-50.

A police officer at Harrisburg, Pa., is accused of paying a 10-year-old Little League pitcher $2 to hit an opposing batter with a fastball.

Prosecutors aren’t saying why Officer Shawn Phillips would want the batter out of commission.

Phillips is not related to anyone on either team, according to league managers.

Phillips was charged with solicitation to commit simple assault, corruption of minors and official oppression. He could face six months in jail if convicted.

A California man has been arrested and accused of fraudulently ordering media credentials for the Tennessee Titans-Atlanta Falcons game at Nashville, Tenn.

Daniel Glusketer of Laguna Niguel has used fictitious names to pose as a still photographer at NFL games in other cities as well, Nashville police and NFL security officers said. Their investigation is continuing.

A Massachusetts college student who gave up his football career to donate a kidney to his ailing brother is being honored with the NCAA Award of Valor. John E. Berry Jr. will receive the award at a ceremony Jan. 9 in San Diego.

USC football Coach Paul Hackett announced that Hue Jackson will work with the Trojans’ quarterbacks while continuing to serve as offensive coordinator.