Former heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders, 46, killed by robbers

Corrie Sanders, the South African southpaw who knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in one of the most stunning upsets in heavyweight boxing, died early Sunday in Pretoria, South Africa, after being shot by robbers at a restaurant during a family member’s 21st birthday party.

The former World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Union champion was 46.

Police Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said three armed men entered the restaurant Saturday night in Brits, in South Africa’s North West province, with the apparent intention to rob it and shot randomly, hitting Sanders in the hand and stomach. No other injuries were reported. The robbers took a cellphone and a bag from customers, Ngubane said. No arrests have been made, but a murder investigation has been opened.

Sanders retired in 2008 with a 42-4 record, with 31 knockouts. Sanders was most known for the victory in the Klitschko fight, which he agreed to take on short notice and was a 40-1 underdog. The result was voted as the upset of the year by Ring Magazine.

SOCCER

England player John Terry quits

Former England captain John Terry unexpectedly quit playing international soccer Sunday before he was due to face a Football Assn. hearing on a racism charge, saying his place on the English team had become “untenable.” Terry, who had been cleared in court of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League match last year, was facing a lengthy ban if found guilty of the racism charges by an FA panel this week.

“I have always given my all, and it breaks my heart to make this decision,” Terry said.

The 31-year-old Chelsea defender was fired as England’s captain in February but was allowed to continue playing for the national team. Terry has no plans to stop playing for Chelsea, where he has spent his entire career.

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The Spanish league match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano was postponed because the floodlights at Vallecas stadium in Madrid failed to work adequately in a presumed case of sabotage. Rayo president Raul Martin Presa said unidentified “vandals” had “cut the cables” on some of the light towers at his club’s stadium.

ETC.

Brown takes NHRA title at Texas

Antron Brown raced to his fifth top-fuel victory of the season to move in to a tie for the points lead, beating teammate Spencer Massey in the NHRA Fall Nationals, the second of six playoff events in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, at Ennis, Texas. Brown beat Massey with a 3.898-second run at 311.49 mph.

Bob Tasca topped Matt Hagan the funny-car field in a final where both cars lost traction near mid-track but Tasca guided his car over the finish line. Funny-car series leader Ron Capps, who was eliminated by Hagan in the semifinals, increased his lead to 96 points over Mike Neff. Other winners were Allen Johnson (pro stock) and Michael Ray (pro stock motorcycle).

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Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won the Singapore Grand Prix for the second straight year, moving up to second place in the Formula One drivers’ championship. Vettel inherited the lead from pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, who led the race until a gearbox failure on Lap 22 forced him to drop out. It was Vettel’s second win of the season, the first coming at Bahrain.

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Stacy Lewis won the Navistar LPGA Classic at Prattville, Ala., for her third victory in five months and second in the state, closing with a three-under 69 to beat 17-year-old Lexi Thompson by two strokes. Lewis finished at 18-under 270. She parred the final two holes after a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 16. Thompson came up short despite a final-round 66 on The Senator course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex.

“Lexi was within one when we got to the 16th green and that’s the only time all day I actually knew what was going on,” Lewis said. “Making birdie there on 16 was huge to just kind of give me that cushion.”

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Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France won 85% of his service points to beat fifth-seeded Andreas Sepp of Italy, 6-1, 6-2, in the final of the Moselle Open at Metz, France.

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Third-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia defeated fourth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, 6-2, 6-3, to win his first career ATP title at the St. Petersburg, Russia, tournament. In the past seven months, the 23-year-old Slovak has moved up from No. 121 in the world to No. 45.

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Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark beat injury-plagued Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, 6-1, 6-0, to win the KDB Korea Open at Seoul.

It was the 19th WTA title for Wozniacki, who needed only about one hour to defeat the third-seeded Estonian.

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In the men’s road cycling world championships at Valkenburg, Netherlands, Philippe Gilbert of Belgium took the title after two British riders — defending champion Mark Cavendish and Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins — dropped out midway through the race.