King Pitches His Heavyweights

For his next extravaganza, Don King is offering four fighters for a series that might lead the survivor to the man he calls the emperor of boxing -- World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

The fighters include four-time champion Evander Holyfield, top contender Chris Byrd and World Boxing Assn. champion John Ruiz. The fourth is Roy Jones Jr., the former middleweight champion and current light-heavyweight champion who is moving up in weight.

After he knocked out Mike Tyson last June, Lewis declared himself unimpressed with the credentials of Byrd, the No. 1 contender, and summarily surrendered the International Boxing Federation championship. Lewis was convinced by King, and the promoter’s $1-million payoff, that it was the right thing to do.

Armed with a vacant championship, King moved Thursday by matching Holyfield and Byrd for the IBF title Dec. 14 in Atlantic City, N.J.

The second part of his heavyweight plan is set for March 1 in Las Vegas when Jones will fight Ruiz.

King rented the Grand Ballroom at the Plaza Hotel in New York for the announcement, giving notice that this was a big deal.

Lewis, scheduled to work as a commentator on the telecasts, was making no promises.

“I’ll tell you after I see them box,” Lewis said.

King talked about the two fights as a heavyweight series but admitted that, for the moment, they are separate entities.

“We’re not saying anyone is signed for a unification,” he said. “But we’re hopeful.”

Auto Racing

Points leader Greg Biffle didn’t ease off despite a seemingly safe lead in the NASCAR Busch series and won the pole for the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix.

Biffle leads Jason Keller by 212 points entering Saturday’s event at Phoenix International Raceway. Keller wound up fourth on the grid.

Biffle qualified at 132.193 mph. Two-time Busch champion Randy LaJoie got the outside of the front row after qualifying his Chevrolet at 132.194. Winston Cup regular Jeff Burton, a five-time winner for Roush in Busch competition this season, qualified fifth.

Rick Crawford will try to overcome a 68-point championship deficit entering the next-to-final race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season when he starts today’s Chevy Silverado 150 race at Phoenix from the pole position. Crawford, Thursday’s final qualifier, posted an average speed of 128.329 mph.

Crawford qualified four spots ahead of championship leader Mike Bliss, who’ll start fifth in the 150-lap, 150-mile race. NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick qualified third.

Ray Evernham ended his one-year association with Ultra Motorsports, effectively costing 22-year-old driver Casey Atwood a permanent Winston Cup ride.

Jason Leffler, who raced on the Winston Cup series last season for Chip Ganassi and spent all of this year driving in the truck series for Ultra owner Jim Smith, will drive the team’s car this weekend.

Evernham had teamed with Smith this season to field the No. 7 Dodge, a partnership primarily designed to give Atwood a ride.

But Smith decided to replace Atwood in the car, beginning with this weekend’s race in Phoenix, so the two car owners ended their partnership.

Jurisprudence

A Canadian father is suing the New Brunswick Amateur Hockey Assn. in Toronto after his 16-year-old son failed to win the league’s most-valuable- player award.

Michael Croteau is seeking about $200,000 in psychological and punitive damages from the association. Croteau told the Globe and Mail newspaper that Steven was so crushed when another player won the award at a banquet in March that he lost his desire to play. The league’s nine coaches or managers select the MVP, and voting results are not disclosed.

Miscellany

Angel Cabrera birdied his last four holes on the way to an eight-under-par 63 in the first round of the Volvo Masters at Sotogrande, Spain.

Cabrera has a four-shot lead over Phillip Price of Wales. Five players are at 68. Cabrera’s round was one shot off the course record at Valderrama of 62 set by Bernhard Langer in 1994.

Retief Goosen shot a 73 and Padraig Harrington shot a 74.

Former Wimbledon junior champion Angelique Widjaja took advantage of a string of unforced errors to defeat Sandra Kleinova, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Volvo Women’s Open at Pattaya, Thailand. Widjaja, 17, next meets Shinobu Asagoe, who defeated Anastassia Rodionova, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Lina Krasnoroutskaya and eighth-seeded Silvija Talaja also advanced.

Bowling Green men’s basketball Coach Dan Dakich, who left for West Virginia in April only to quit and return to Bowling Green a week later, has signed a new five-year contract.

Terms of the deal were not released. The Falcons went 24-9 last season and played in the NIT for the second time in three years.

Dakich walked away from a $2.5-million deal at West Virginia. He wouldn’t say why he left.

Sailors competing in the America’s Cup will be drug-tested for the first time, race officials announced. New Zealand’s Sports Drug Agency and the International Sailing Federation are close to reaching an agreement on measures for urine tests for both performance-enhancing and recreational drugs on the International Olympic Committee’s banned list.

Cup defenders Team New Zealand and eight remaining challenge teams from six countries have welcomed the move to bring the 151-year-old sailing event into line with other international sports.