Boxer Guilty in Sex Case

World champion boxer Dave Hilton Jr. was convicted Friday in Canada of sexually abusing two young sisters for three years.

Judge Rolande Matte, who made the ruling in the nonjury trial in Montreal, said the girls’ testimony was credible and called much of the defense’s testimony confusing. She said Hilton had “a talent for improvisation.”

“I disbelieve the testimony of the accused,” Matte said.

There was no reaction from the 37-year-old Hilton when the verdict was read. He was denied bail and is to return April 19 for sentencing arguments. He could get up to 14 years in prison.

Hilton, the World Boxing Council super-middleweight champion, was charged with nine sex-related counts after he was arrested in April 1999. The abuse was said to have begun when each of the girls was 12 and lasted from 1995 to 1998.

Cordrea “Dre” Brittingham, one of three Navy football players charged with raping a female classmate, also is accused of raping a Baltimore college student.

Eastern Shore authorities are investigating allegations that Brittingham, 21, raped the Baltimore woman at his Berlin (Md.) home four days before the June 29 off-campus party that led to the charges involving the female midshipman.

Former Michigan defensive back and captain James Whitley, kicked off the team after his arrest on a gun charge, pleaded guilty in a deal that spares him any jail time.

Prosecutors have dropped drunken-driving charges against Montana football player Dylan McFarland after learning the Breathalyzer used had possibly been compromised.

A motion to release a man accused of stalking tennis star Martina Hingis at a tournament last year was denied in Miami.

Motor Sports

Sports car ace Bob Wollek, 57, a winner of the world’s premier endurance races at Daytona and Le Mans, died after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle near Sebring International Raceway in Florida.

John Force of Yorba Linda, seeking his seventh Gatornationals title, led funny car qualifying for the National Hot Road Assn. event at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway. . . . Three-time world champion Michael Schumacher took the pole position for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, edging Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello at Sepang.

Miscellany

The New York Jets declined to match Miami’s three-year, $2.75-million offer sheet for backup quarterback Ray Lucas, a restricted free agent. . . . Carolina signed free-agent offensive guard Kevin Donnalley away from the Miami Dolphins. . . . Offensive lineman Ryan Schau has signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Iowa, trying for a seventh consecutive NCAA wrestling title, rebounded from a shaky quarterfinals performance and advanced four wrestlers into today’s championship round at Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes regained the team lead from top-ranked Minnesota, which had a 13 1/2-point lead after the quarterfinals, before all six Gophers lost in the semifinals.

Natalie Coughlin of California set one U.S. record and two NCAA marks in the NCAA Division I women’s swimming championships at East Meadow, N.Y. Coughlin won the 100-yard butterfly in 51.18 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 51.23.

The Secret Service rejected use of a light-rail line during the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics because it could pose an opportunity for terrorists to hide explosives.

Ryan Riley dazzled the judges with a triple maneuver to win his first U.S. freestyle moguls title, and local favorite Hannah Hardaway took her second moguls championship at Waterville Valley, N.H.

The Ice Dogs got three second-period goals in a 4-2 West Coast Hockey League victory over the Tacoma Sabercats.