Vargas Pulls Out of Fight

Fernando Vargas has pulled out of his scheduled Feb. 21 fight with former 154-pound champion Javier Castillejo because of a bad back.

Vargas, who stopped Tony Marshall in seven rounds Dec. 12, said he needed to rehabilitate his back fully before entering the ring again.

“I fought on Dec. 12 despite the pain because I had already postponed the Marshall fight once and it was too far along to postpone it again,” Vargas said. “But I think it’s in my best interest to take whatever time I need to resolve my back problems.”

Vargas has fought twice, winning both, since being stopped by Oscar De La Hoya in September 2002. The former Olympian and 154-pound champion earlier postponed his fight with Marshall from Oct. 3 because of a bulging disk in his back.

Vargas said he will not reschedule the Castillejo fight until he sees how his rehabilitation program is going.

*

Five-time world champion boxer Johnny Tapia was taken to an Albuquerque hospital for treatment of what police said was a possible overdose of pills.

Tapia, who has a history of drug abuse, was in satisfactory condition at the University of New Mexico Hospital, said Trayce Zimmermann, a spokeswoman for the boxer.

Jurisprudence

Former Minnesota Viking running back Ted Brown was charged after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her at a team fund-raiser in February.

Brown, who was charged with criminal sexual conduct, didn’t speak as he left the courtroom in Milaca, Minn. He was booked at Mille Lacs County jail and posted bail.

Brown, 46, played for the Vikings from 1979 to ’86 and is the fourth-leading rusher in team history.

A judge rejected Mike Tyson’s bid to have his assault case thrown out and ordered him to stand trial Jan. 20.

A separate trial will begin on the same date for the two men charged with menacing the former heavyweight champion before he is accused of attacking them at dawn Jun 21 outside a Brooklyn hotel.

Defense lawyers argued that the boxer acted in self-defense after two men challenged him to a fight.

Colleges

Damon Evans was hired as Georgia’s athletic director, the first black person to hold that job in the Southeastern Conference.

Evans, 34, also will be the youngest athletic director in the conference when Vince Dooley retires in June.

The SEC has been criticized for the pace of its minority hiring. Now, the appointment of Evans comes less than three weeks after the first black football coach in the SEC was hired -- Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State.

UCLA gymnast Onnie Willis Rogers won the NCAA Today’s Top VIII Award, to recognize her academic and athletic achievement as well as her character and leadership. Rogers will be honored with seven other recipients at a dinner Jan. 11 in Nashville.

Auto Racing

The Indy Racing League will eliminate private testing, one of several rule changes aimed at cutting costs next season.

Starting Jan. 1, a series of at least four open tests will be conducted by the IRL for all teams and by Chevrolet, Honda and Toyota for full-time teams that use their engines.

The changes come two months after Tony Renna was killed in a crash during a private test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. An IRL report issued Friday said driver error was likely to blame.

Still, the IRL said the changes were made to save money by cutting costs for travel, track rental and other expenses, and to ensure fairer competition.

Winter Sports

Norway’s Lasse Kjus won a super-giant slalom at Val Gardena, Italy, the first victory in two seasons for the two-time overall World Cup champion.

He was followed by Austrians Stephan Eberharter and Hermann Maier. Daron Rahlves of the United States shared fourth with Hans Knauss of Austria.

Kjus covered the twisting Saslong course in 1 minute 36.94 seconds. Eberharter, last season’s overall winner, was 0.10 seconds behind.

Olympic champion Armin Zoeggeler of Italy won a World Cup luge race at Lake Placid, N.Y., to take the lead in the season standings.

Zoeggeler had the two fastest runs of the day to finish with a total time of 1:47.275. American Tony Benshoof finished fourth in 1:48.329.

Russia’s Sergei Rozhkov won a 10-kilometer sprint in a biathlon at Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia, putting him in first place in the World Cup standings. Rozhkov won in 24 minutes 5.4 seconds.