De La Hoya-Mayorga Fight Tentatively Set for May 6

Golden Boy Promotions has signed tentative agreements for a series of fights involving Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley and Jesus Chavez.

De La Hoya will face Ricardo Mayorga for the World Boxing Council 154-pound title on May 6, 2006. De La Hoya is president of Golden Boy, but it is unclear if he will promote his own fight. His former promoter, Bob Arum, has exercised his right of first and last refusal on one additional De La Hoya bout, so Golden Boy must wait to see if Arum will accept the terms negotiated between Golden Boy Chief Executive Richard Schaefer and Don King, Mayorga’s promoter.

Mosley will face Fernando Vargas on Feb. 25 in a bout between fighters on the comeback trail.

Chavez will face Marco Antonio Barrera on March 25. Chavez’s last bout, in September, ended with the death of his opponent, Leavander Johnson. But, with the encouragement of the Johnson family, Chavez has tentatively agreed to put the gloves back on to face Barrera, the reigning WBC and International Boxing Federation super-featherweight champion.

-- Steve Springer

PRO BASKETBALL

Another Setback for Grant Hill

Orlando Magic forward Grant Hill is expected to miss three to six weeks after he has surgery for a sports hernia.

Hill, the Magic’s second-leading scorer last season, saw several specialists after he was pulled from the lineup Oct. 19.

“It’s better than three to six months or three to six years,” Hill said in Orlando, Fla.

A sports hernia is different from a regular hernia. A sports hernia is a pulled groin muscle that worsens over time and affects the abdominal wall.

Finally healed from an ankle injury that sidelined him for most of the previous four seasons, Hill made a career-best 50% of his shots and averaged 19.7 points last season.

Hedo Turkoglu has been starting in Hill’s absence for the Magic.

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COLLEGE SPORTS

Newberry College to Keep Nickname

Newberry College’s president, Dr. Mick Zais, said the school would continue to call its sports teams the Indians and labeled a ban on such nicknames by the NCAA “the height of arrogance.”

The 149-year-old private college in Newberry, S.C., is the first to say it is keeping its nickname after losing an appeal to the NCAA.

The NCAA has banned American Indian nicknames and mascots from its championships on the grounds they are “hostile and abusive.” Newberry was among 18 schools mentioned in the NCAA’s policy, adopted in August.

Newberry is one of three schools to have an appeal turned down, along with Bradley (Braves) and North Dakota (Fighting Sioux). Florida State (Seminoles), Central Michigan (Chippewas) and Utah (Utes) successfully appealed and were removed from the list.

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The NCAA committee on academic performance recommended establishing a $10-million annual incentive fund that will pay schools with teams that consistently excel or demonstrate significant improvement in the classroom.

Details, such as standards and a timeline for when money would start being disbursed, have not yet been worked out. But the program’s blueprint calls for schools to receive rewards of up to $100,000.

TENNIS

Roddick Rolls Past French Qualifier

Top-seeded Andy Roddick beat French qualifier Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (5), 6-3, in the second-round at the Lyon Grand Prix in France.

Fellow American Vincent Spadea beat Michael Llodra of France, 6-4, 6-3.

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Top-seeded Guillermo Coria and defending champion Jiri Novak were among four seeded players to lose in the second round of the Swiss Indoors at Basel.

Belgian qualifier Kristof Vliegen downed Coria, 7-6 (0), 7-5, damaging the Argentine’s chances of qualifying for the season-ending Masters Cup.

Jose Acasuso of Argentina ousted third-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3; Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand topped seventh-seeded Novak of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-2; and Cypriot qualifier Marcos Baghdatis defeated eight-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany, 6-2, 6-3.

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Top-seeded Kim Clijsters of Belgium beat Karolina Sprem of Croatia, 6-2, 6-0, to reach the quarterfinals of the Gaz de France at Hasselt, Belgium.

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Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia beat Paul Goldstein, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.

Second-seeded Thomas Johansson of Sweden downed Andrei Pavel of Romania, 6-2, 6-2, and fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia took only 49 minutes to beat Cyril Saulnier of France, 6-1, 6-1. Fullerton’s Kevin Kim was eliminated by seventh-seeded Greg Rusedski, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

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Former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez quit her second-round match because of an arm injury while trailing, 2-6, 6-0, 3-1, against sixth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia at the Generali Ladies Open at Linz, Austria.

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Amelie Mauresmo of France has become the latest player to qualify for the season-ending WTA Tour Championships at Staples Center, Nov. 8-13.

GOLF

Brehaut’s Early Lead Keeps Chances Alive

Jeff Brehaut shot a six-under-par 65 to take a two-shot lead in the Chrysler Championship at Palm Harbor, Fla., keeping alive his hopes of getting into the Masters or even the Tour Championship, limited to the year’s top 30 money-winners.

Charles Howell III, Retief Goosen, Tom Lehman, Ben Crane and Dean Wilson were at 67.

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Colin Montgomerie moved closer to winning the European Tour money title, shooting a four-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead in the Volvo Masters in Sotogrande, Spain.

U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell had a 72 and was 23rd in the 55-man field. Montgomerie leads Campbell by $182,000.

HORSE RACING

Valenzuela Rides Five Winners

Patrick Valenzuela rode five winners on the eight-race card at Santa Anita’s Oak Tree meeting, including Excess Temptations in the $45,000 feature race.

Excess Temptations covered a mile on turf in 1:34.29. Valenzuela didn’t ride last week because of a sore foot.

AUTO RACING

Martin Will Return for Roush Racing

Mark Martin isn’t retiring just yet from the Nextel Cup series. Roush Racing said Martin would drive his 19th season in 2006 in the No. 6 Ford. Todd Kluever, who drives for Roush in the NASCAR truck series, will replace Martin in 2007. Jamie McMurray was originally picked to replace Martin but has been unable to gain an early release from Chip Ganassi Racing.

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Super stocks, street stocks, extreme trucks and SUVs, cruisers and hornets will be racing Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway in their final tune-up for the Five Star Championship race Nov. 12. Most titles have been determined, but Art Peterson of Cathedral City and Kenny Mann of Torrance are battling in the truck-SUV class, and the championship in street stocks still is in doubt.

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California Sports Car Club will be running its last regional race of the season this weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.

HOCKEY

Roenick a Candidate for Olympic Team

Jeremy Roenick of the Kings was added to the long preliminary list of candidates for the U.S. Olympic hockey team, according to Canadian Press. Defensemen Chris Chelios and Mathieu Schneider of the Detroit Red Wings were also added to the list, which included the 39 players who attended an orientation camp in Colorado Springs in September. The Turin roster will be announced by Dec. 22.

SOCCER

Referee Admits Guilt in Game-Fixing Trial

The soccer referee at the center of a game-fixing scandal testified in Berlin that fraud charges against him were mostly true.

Robert Hoyzer is one of six defendants in the biggest soccer corruption case in Germany in more than 30 years. He is charged with 11 counts of fraud for manipulating games and testified that “except for some minor details” the charges were “in most part” correct.

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Former Manchester United standout George Best, 59, who had a lifesaving liver transplant three years ago, was put on a ventilator and is apparently fighting for his life in London.

PASSINGS

Former Bruin Is Dead at 69

Daniel Peterson, a former UCLA football player and assistant coach, died Tuesday at 69 of esophagus cancer. Peterson played center and linebacker from 1954 to ’57 and coached for the Bruins from 1958 to ’62.