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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 1996)
Leonard’s fight plans may be canceled ■ BOUT: There is a question about the promoter’s business dealings By John Curran The Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Plans for Sugar Ray Leonard’s come back bout unraveled Thursday when regulators sought to bar his promoter and the fight’s casino and television sponsors pulled out. The New Jersey Casino Control Commission is being asked to ban New Contenders Inc. from pro moting the Feb. 28 fight with Hec tor Camacho because of alleged ties to organized crime. If the commission agrees, the bout would almost certainly have to be canceled. It probably will be anyway. But Bernie Dillon, who re signed Wednesday as president of New Contenders, said the fight hadn’t been canceled. The state Division of Gaming Enforcement told the casino com mission late Wednesday that New Contenders should be barred from doing business with casinos be cause of links to the Gambino crime family. The allegation centers on New Contenders chairman Michael Blutrich, a lawyer for Scores, a New York topless dance club raided last month by federal agents investigating the Gambino link. Sun International Hotels Ltd. and Griffin Gaming & Entertain ment, which were to sponsor it, backed out Thursday. So did TVKO, the pay-per-view division of Time-Wamer Sports, which was to televise it. Dillon said he was seeking new sponsors and a new pay-per-view partner. “I’ve talked to the fighters, and they want to keep the fight togeth er,” Dillon told The Associated Press from the airport in Chicago, where a fight news conference was held Thursday. “I’m attempt ing to keep the fight together. “Everywhere we’ve gone (to promote the fight), the public and the media have been very respon sive to the fight.” Blutrich’s office was bugged as part of the investigation into whether the Gambinos are the se cret owners of the club, the New York Daily News reported. According to the Division of Gaming Enforcement, informa tion has been obtained that raises serious questions about the suit ability of New Contenders and Blutrich to do business with casi nos. Blutrich once hired Willie Mar shall, a bodyguard and driver for a reputed Gambino mob member, as a bouncer at a bar he owned in New Rochelle, N.Y., and helped get him a bouncer job recently at Scores, the DGE said. Marshall was present when two club employees were slain last June but refused to cooperate with police investigating it, according to a four-page letter Catania wrote to Bradford Smith, chairman of the Casino Control Commission. “This information, while not yet frilly developed, is so serious that action must be taken to pro tect the public interest and the policies established by the Casino Control Act,” Deputy Attorney General Rick McDonough said in a motion filed Wednesday. A woman who answered the telephone in Blutrich’s New York law office Thursday said he was out of town at a trial. The Scores connection isn’t Blutrich’s only legal problem. Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort is suing him for $500,000 it ad vanced him in credit last year that he hasn’t repaid, according to documents filed with the motion. The state of Delaware, mean while, is suing Blutrich and other corporate officers of the National Heritage Life Insurance Co. of Or lando, Fla. According to the suit, Blutrich and the others gave NHL bad legal advice and breached their fiduciary duty to the compa ny, causing losses of more than $50 million. New Contenders and Scores Entertainment had no relation ship with each other, Dillon said. Not so, said Frank Catania, di rector of the DGE. The companies have office space on the same floor as Blutrich, and each has loaned the other money in the past, he said. “I’m right now striving to keep the fight together because it’s a fight that we have gotten tremen dous support throughout the box ing and sports community for,” Dillon said. He wouldn’t identify his poten tial sponsors, but said the New Contenders problem shouldn’t stand in the way. “The fight should not be taint ed. It’s a sporting event. The fight ers have nothing to do with any of this,” he said. New Contenders, founded in 1989 by Blutrich, has promoted six previous fights in New Jersey, including a Roy Jones Jr.-Vinny Pazienza fight in June 1995. New Jersey gambling regulators are well known for their efforts to keep mobsters and accused crimi nals from working in or with casi nos. Last year, they barred Don King from promoting a Mike Tyson Buster Mathis Jr. fight in Atlantic City because of a pending indict ment in New York. Leonard, 40, has won world ti tles in five weight classes and has retired three times. He hasn’t fought since 1991, when he was battered by WBC super welter weight champ Terry Norris. Camacho, 34, also is past his prime. The former junior light weight and lightweight, who now fights as a middleweight, last fought Oct. 1, stopping Heath Todd in the sixth round. Men’s Basketball: Madden takes on hometown team ■ Continued from Page 11 from the comforts of home. If history has anything to say, Saturday’s game will be high scoring and close. When these two teams met last year, the Ducks held a 10-point lead with two minutes to play. But Fresno State came back to beat Oregon 83-82. In 1992, the Bulldogs took a two-point victory from the Ducks. Fresno State is led by guard Dominick Young, who is averaging 18.3 points per game. The rest of the starting five all average more than eight points per game. Kenya Wilkins had 23 points against Port land State, raising his average to 21.7 points per game. Kyle Milling averages 13 points and nine rebounds per game. Not only are the Ducks looking to avenge these two close losses, but one Oregon player also has a small personal stake in the meeting. After being suspended from the Ducks’ squad in May 1995, for not meeting academic stan dards, forward Henry Madden decided to try to take his talents back home to Fresno State. But during the summer, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament and Tarkanian didn’t want to take a chance on his rehabilitation. So Mad den and Oregon head coach Jerry Green worked out a deal late in the summer making Madden promise to work hard on academics for a year in order to get back on the team. Since his return in an Oregon uniform, Mad den has averaged 10 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. But despite the connection to the Bulldogs, Madden said he just wants to win. “I don’t have any personal feelings, but that’s just my hometown, and 1 kind of want to do good against them. If we get a victory, then we get a victory,” he said. Madden also said the Ducks are taking this just like any other game. “We don’t have anything to prove,” he said. "We’re just going to go out and play a regular game. We’ll do the things necessary to win the game and hopefully we’ll get the victory.” He cited three things necessary to win. “Execute our offense, box out, rebound — it’s just the little things that nobody thinks of doing that we have to do,” Madden said. Green was excited about the prospects about fac ing Fresno State for the second consecutive year. “I’m glad to be 3-0, glad to be back at McArthur Court and glad to get another oppor tunity to face them,” Green said. “I think it’s a high-profile game when a top 20 team comes into McArthur Court with a national champion coach like Tark is. I don’t think there will be a seat available in the whole place.” As of Thursday afternoon, the Duck Ticket Office reported that 6,700 tickets had already been sold for the game, but a representative re ported that they expected a near sellout. Preview: Oregon works on improving its offense ■ continued from Page 11 bugging you all night long,” Boev ing said. “If you stop them at the beginning and shut them down, then I think we’re really going to be able to control the momentum of the game. We just really want to protect our home court." UNLV enters this year’s match up losing three straight games af ter opening the season with a win against Sam Houston State. The Rebels are led by forward Celeste Taylor who is averaging a double-double with 13.8 points and 11.3 rebounds a game. UNLV also relies heavily on its backcourt. Guards Toby Girard and Taneisha Gossett are averag ing a combined 22.1 points a game. “I think [their line-up] counter balances us right now because we’re getting most of our scoring from the posts and less from the guards,” Boeving said. “Our coaches have definitely been telling us to shoot from the out side when we’re open to give us more balance.” il We just really want to protect our home court. — Betty Ann Boeving Women’s basketball -99 Following their win against Portland, in which the Ducks struggled offensively, the Oregon coaching staff dedicated the next day’s practice entirely to the of fensive scheme. “Yesterday was definitely a unique practice,” Boeving said. “Right now, we have quite a few different offenses that we are try ing to incorporate everybody into, and there are times when the newness of it all makes our [new comers] a step slow or just doesn’t get them to where they need to be. So we’re still trying to guide each other around on offense.” Oregon will try to improve its offense in game action starting at 7 p.m. BASKETBAII OREGON DUCKS VS. #13 Fresno St. Bulldogs Sat., December 7 • 7:05 p.m. McArthur Court Doors open at 6:05 p.m. Free Admission to UO Students (Valid student I.D. required) Mac Court Ticket Office M-F, 10-4 Duck Ticket Office,Casanova Ctr. M-F, 9-5 Mac Court Ticket Office opens 12 noon day of game for more information, call fire Duck Ticket Office 346-4484 • 346-5418 (Hearing impaired) HHHli 1 ^poppi'i^. ^/4na4olla. c 'The Land East'' ___ Traditional ; I Tpi Greek & Indian Food lunch : Monday through Saturday Dinner 7 Nights a Week 992 Willamette Eugene, Or 97401 343-9661 Oregon daily emerald worldwide http://darkwing. uoregon.edu/~ode
