Mosley Sues His Boxing Promoter

Super-welterweight champion Shane Mosley is suing boxing promoter Cedric Kushner for more than $600,000 he said he’s owed from a 2002 title fight.

Mosley’s lawyer, Judd Burstein, said Mosley is owed the money from his July 2002 rematch with welterweight champion Vernon Forrest.

The suit was filed Tuesday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, and Burstein said his client received a money judgment against Kushner in California last year after the promoter “admitted he owes the money.”

Burstein said the judgment is now effective in New York, but he said Kushner claimed he doesn’t have the money.

The exact amount Kushner owes is $600,359, according to court papers.

Kushner said Wednesday he had not seen Mosley’s court papers, and had no comment.

Mosley is scheduled to defend the World Boxing Assn. and World Boxing Council super-welterweight titles he won from Oscar De La Hoya against International Boxing Federation champion Winky Wright on March 13 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

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Heavyweight James Toney ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon Wednesday throwing a left hook in a training session, forcing a postponement of at least three months of his Feb. 7 bout against Jameel McCline.

Toney, who was scheduled to fight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, had hoped to use the match as a springboard to a title fight.

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Featherweights Jorge Lacierva (23-5-4, 15 knockouts) of Mexico City and Marinho Gonzalez (14-3-1, 5) of Los Angeles headline a five-bout card in a scheduled 10-round fight at the Irvine Marriott tonight.

Winter Sports

Alpine skiing champion Janica Kostelic underwent surgery for a thyroid imbalance in Zagreb, Croatia, and is expected to resume rehabilitation for a knee injury in about five weeks.

Kostelic’s thyroid gland was removed, and she was to remain hospitalized for a week, according to Dr. Tomislav Anic, whose team performed the operation.

Kostelic, 21, the defending World Cup champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist, was sidelined at the start of this season because of a knee injury.

Swimming

Ed Moses won the 200-meter breaststroke and tied for first in the 50-meter backstroke at Moscow, extending his unbeaten streak in World Cup short-course races to eight.

Moses won the 200 in 2 minutes 8.27 seconds, well off the world record 2:02.92 he set Saturday in Berlin, and tied Roman Sludnov in the 50 in 27.44.

Miscellany

The Sparks open the 2004 WNBA season in Seattle on May 22. It will be part of a four-game trip that includes Washington on May 25, Connecticut on May 27 and defending champion Detroit on May 29. The Sparks’ home opener will be June 1 against Seattle.

The league will take a break Aug. 2-31 to allow players to compete in the Athens Olympics Aug. 13-28. The regular season ends on Sept. 19.

Keyshawn Johnson was mugged at gunpoint, robbed of money and jewelry but unhurt, police said. They said the former wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was accosted by two men as he was talking on his cellphone after walking out of a barbershop in Berkeley.... Baltimore Raven cornerback Corey Fuller exchanged gunfire with an intruder outside his home in Tallahassee, Fla., early Wednesday. Fuller and a house guest went outside when they were confronted by the gunman.

The Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles awarded grants of $1,203,958 to 24 organizations involved in youth sports and sport education programs in the Southland. Kids in Sports got the largest grant, $450,000, to provide sports programs at 14 parks and school-based sites to more than 9,000 youths.