BOXING
Scott LeDoux dies at 62
Scott LeDoux, a former heavyweight contender who took on Larry Holmes, George Foreman and Ken Norton and twice fought for the title, has died. He was 62. He died on Thursday at his home in the Minneapolis suburb of Coon Rapids after a nearly three-year battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease, longtime friend and attorney Bob Dolan said on Friday. Nicknamed “The Fighting Frenchman,” LeDoux was the son of a miner in the northern Minnesota town of Crosby who went on to fight professionally from 1974 to 1983. He had a record of 33-13-4, with 22 knockouts. He earned a draw with Norton and Leon Spinks and lost a title fight to Holmes by technical knockout in 1980 at the Met Center, the arena that was once home to the Minnesota North Stars. He fought Muhammad Ali in a five-round exhibition. LeDoux developed a reputation as a fun-loving fighter, who once accidentally knocked off Howard Cosell’s toupee while the sportscaster was doing a ringside interview with Johnny Boudreaux after a bout LeDoux believed he should have won. He entered the political arena after leaving boxing. He was an Anoka County commissioner until resigning a year ago because of declining health. His wife was elected to fill his seat.
RUGBY UNION
Fiji beat Tonga 27-12
France-based center Seremaia Bai kicked 12 points and tackled doggedly as Fiji beat Tonga 27-12 in a Rugby World Cup warmup match yesterday. Fiji scored three first-half tries to lead 21-5 at halftime, but Tonga pressured the home side throughout the second half. Bai’s goalkicking and rigid midfield defense was critical as Tonga fullback Viliame Iongi scored his second try of the match in a more closely fought second half. Fiji’s win avenged its 45-21 loss to Tonga during the recent Pacific Nations Cup. The teams will meet again in a final warmup match before Tonga meets New Zealand in the opening match of the World Cup in Auckland on Sept. 9.
FOOTBALL
Don Chandler dies at 76
Don Chandler, a Pro Bowl kicker who played on championship teams for the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers, has died at age 76, the Packers said on Friday. Chandler, who died on Thursday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a member of the Packers’ 1965-1967 title teams. He earlier spent nine years with the Giants, helping them win the 1956 NFL championship game. “We are saddened to hear of Don’s passing,” Packers chief executive Mark Murphy said in a statement. “He was a significant contributor to the Packers’ championship teams of 1965, ‘66 and ‘67, and represented the organization with class,” Murphy said of Chandler, who was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1975. He made All-Pro for the 1967 season, his last in the NFL, and was selected the punter on the NFL’s all-decade team for the 1960s.
FOOTBALL
Bills trade Evans to Ravens
The Buffalo Bills have traded wide receiver Lee Evans to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2012 draft pick, the team said on Friday. Evans, 30, had been the subject of trade rumors for several days, with receiver one of the Bills’ deepest positions. The Ravens are seeking to improve their receiving corps. A first-round draft choice of the Bills in 2004, he caught 37 passes for 578 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games last season after starting all 16 games for the 2007-2009 campaigns. He had 1,292 yards receiving in 2006 and 1,017 in 2008.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB