Sports Briefs

■ Boxing
De La Hoya v Mayweather
Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr will meet in a highly anticipated fight in May that could be one of boxing's richest bouts. Mayweather will move up in weight for the fight, which will be for De La Hoya's World Boxing Council super welterweight belt and will be held on May 5 either in Las Vegas or Los Angeles. Mayweather is generally regarded as the best kilo-for-kilo fighter in the sport and is coming off a near shutout win over Carlos Baldomir on Nov. 4 for the WBC welterweight title.

■ Ice Hockey
Agnew replaces Gallant
Gary Agnew might be the man to finally give the Columbus Blue Jackets some sting. The assistant coach of the National Hockey League team was promoted to interim coach on Tuesday, one day after the firing of coach Gerard Gallant. Agnew's debut came on Tuesday when the Blue Jackets hosted Nashville. With only five wins in 15 games, the Blue Jackets rank last in the league in goals with 32 and are on pace to continue a dubious legacy of at least 45 losses for their sixth year in as many seasons of existence.

■ Baseball
Next Classic set for 2009
Major League Baseball (MLB) players and club owners have agreed to stage the second edition of the World Baseball Classic in 2009. "Timing and format still have to be discussed, but we're going to go ahead with it," Bob DuPuy, MLB's chief operating officer, said on Tuesday at the US league's general managers' meetings. Japan won the first edition of the Classic in March, beating Cuba 10-6 in the final. After 2009, MLB hopes to stage the tournament every four years -- keeping it out of Olympic years.

■ Boxing
Mali official found dead
The Mali delegate found dead in a hotel elevator shaft during the International Amateur Boxing Association's (AIBA) congress in the Dominican Republic this month was sick three days before he was discovered, police said on Tuesday. Pierre Diakite, a journalist and delegate for Mali, was found covered with bruises, and had apparently died of trauma, police spokesman General Simon Diaz said. Diakite was last seen on Nov. 1 at 8:30pm, a few hours after he had been vomiting in his bathroom at the Melia Santo Domingo hotel, police were told by representatives of other African countries. The other delegates said they reported Diakite missing to hotel staff when he did not come back to his room that night. The 69-year-old Diakite's body was found by an electrician on Nov. 4 at the bottom of an elevator shaft, Diaz said.