Freitas Unifies Title by Beating Casamayor

Acelino Freitas of Brazil overcame some good counter punching by Cuba’s Joel Casamayor to pull out a narrow but unanimous 12-round decision in a title-unification bout between unbeaten 130-pounders at Las Vegas.

Freitas had blood flowing down his face at the end after the two fighters went toe-to-toe the entire 12 rounds

Freitas (31-0, 29 knockouts) added the WBA title to the WBO belt he already held. Casamayor, a former Olympic gold medalist, is 26-2 with 16 knockouts.

College Football

San Jose State’s Deonce Whitaker scored two touchdowns, and the West beat the East, 21-13, in the 77th Shrine All-Star football game at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco.

Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington left midway through the first quarter because of a strained ligament in the right knee.

UCLA’s Scott McEwan threw two fourth-quarter scoring passes and USC’s David Newbury kicked a 21-yard field goal in the second overtime, and the West defeated Utah-Colorado, 33-30, in the first Paradise Bowl at St. George, Utah.

One day after announcing plans to forgo his senior season for the NFL draft, Tennessee receiver Donte Stallworth changed his mind, his mother said.

Wrestling

A ninth grader died after apparently suffering a seizure during a match in a tournament at Chaska, Minn. Dennis Kingsbury, 14, hit his head and twisted his neck awkwardly on the mat before apparently going into a seizure, witnesses said.

Chaska Police Department spokesman Jon Kehrberg said the cause of death was unknown.

College Sports

NCAA President Cedric Dempsey said the organization has canceled its Jan. 20 meeting with the Collegiate Athletes Coalition.

Dempsey, speaking at the NCAA’s convention in Indianapolis, said the organization learned of the CAC’s affiliation with the United Steelworkers union during a segment of CBS’ “60 Minutes” last Sunday and the NCAA found the alliance troubling.

The CAC, co-founded by former UCLA football player Ramogi Huma, has said the NCAA should take better care of student-athletes.

Sophomore forward Bogdan Konontsuk of McLennan Community College died after collapsing during a basketball game against Grayson College at Waco, Texas.

Baseball

Former major league manager Whitey Herzog said Friday at an Iowa Cub function in Des Moines that major league baseball is sometimes guilty of reverse racism when it comes to hiring for management jobs, the Des Moines Register reported Saturday.

“We are so intent in our country today that we must do some things strictly opposite of what our country was built upon,” Herzog was quoted as saying.

“When our country was built, the best man always got the job. The most capable person was the guy. It didn’t make any difference what color he was.”

Soccer

Shannon MacMillan’s three goals and an assist led the U.S. women to a 7-0 victory over Mexico at Charleston, S.C.

Winter Sports

World Cup leader Stephan Eberharter won a men’s downhill at Wengen, Switzerland, completing the physically demanding 2.8-mile Lauberhorn course in 2 minutes 28.41 seconds. Hannes Trinkl finished second in 2:28.67. Josef Strobl was third in 2:28.86. Daron Rahlves of Sugar Bowl, Calif., the super-G world champion, was the top U.S. finisher, placing ninth in 2:30.72.

Hilde Gerg of Germany won a World Cup downhill at Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.... Germany’s Sven Hannawald scored 319.1 points, the highest total in ski jumping history, at Willingen, Germany, to win a record-tying fifth consecutive World Cup event.