Ex-Champion Bowe Sentenced to 18 Months

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in federal prison for the 1998 abduction of his estranged wife and children.

Bowe was in court for the three-minute hearing, at which U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen followed through on an appeals court’s October sentencing order.

Mullen twice previously had given Bowe lighter sentences that were rejected by the appeals court.

After Bowe is released from prison, he must serve supervised release for two years.

Bowe’s lawyer, Robert Altchiler, indicated the fighter could return to the ring after he serves his time.

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Thomas Hearns, 44, won’t return to the ring just yet. His scheduled 10-round cruiserweight bout tonight in Southhaven, Miss., was called off because opponent Thomas Reid has the flu.

Football

Former University of Arkansas coach Frank Broyles received a lifetime achievement award from former Texas coach Darrell Royal, whose Longhorns beat the Razorbacks in the “Game of the Century” in 1969.

The award was presented by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Assn. during ceremonies at the Bear Bryant Award dinner. Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel won the Bryant honor as the national college football coach of the year.

North Carolina State players Marcus Hudson and Corrie Dawson were arrested and charged with a felony for using a campus debit card that did not belong to them. ... Former Washington Redskins linebacker Monte Coleman was named linebacker coach at Arkansas Pine Bluff.

Miscellany

IMG founder and chairman Mark McCormack was in critical condition after having a heart attack. IMG said the 72-year-old McCormack had immediate medical attention and was hospitalized. The company did not say where he was being treated.

McCormack’s Cleveland-based company represents dozens of major sport stars including golfers Tiger Woods and David Duval, New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter and tennis stars Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati.

Pairs figure skater Kyoko Ina’s four-year suspension from Olympic-eligible competition has been reduced to two years by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency said that Ina, of Greenwich, Conn., agreed to the two-year sanction. Ina, who already has turned professional, originally was punished for not taking a mandatory drug test in July, but now is being banned for not properly notifying authorities she was becoming a pro.

Florida International, a former power in men’s soccer, eliminated the program because of financial reasons.

Florida International won national championships in 1982 and 1984 while competing at the Division II level. It also reached the 1996 Division I championship game against St. John’s.