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December 8, 1999
(Fljf ÿtarUanô (fìbseruer
NFL
Vargas keeps IBF jr
middle crown by decision
A m erican Footbal 1 Conference
N ational Football C onference
A ssociated P ress
Fernando V argas had his knockout
streak snapped on S aturday and
needed a furious, late burst to retain
his IBF junior m iddleweight crown by
a m ajority decision over im pressive
Ronald “W inky” Wright.
Vargas, who had won all 17 o f his
p re v io u s p ro fig h ts w ith in th e
distance, w as pushed to the lim it by
Wright, a former WBO champion who
surprised the pow erful M exican-
A m erican by fighting him head on at
C hinook W inds Casino.
O nly arousing finish by Vargas saved
h istitle aso n e ju d g e ru le d ita 114-114
draw, w hile the other judges gave it to
Vargas by 115-113 and 116-112.
Vargas, 21, threw the heavier punches,
but W right show ed h im self to be the
m ore polished fighter, scoring on
stinging right-hand leads and holding
his ow n w ith a surprising inclination
to fight inside w ith the hard-hitting
champion.
Both fighters had sw elling around
both eyes in the action-packed bout.
There were no knockdowns.
V argas im proved to 18-0, w hile the
28-year-old W right dipped to 39-3.
“ I give W right a lot o f credit,” said
V argas, w ho said he had "a bad day”
b e c a u s e o f u n s p e c ifie d fa m ily
problem s that w eighed heavily on his
mind.
“He did w hat he had to do. H e’s a very
slick fighter. But he slept in a couple
o f rounds,” added Vargas, who clearly
dom inated the 1 Oth and 12th rounds.
W right was so confident he had won
the fight that he quit attacking in the
final round.
“I w on that fight. I dom inated that
fight,” insisted W right, w ho said
trading punches with V argas w as his
only shot at w inning a decision.
“ I w as box in g , m oving, com ing
forward. I know I w on this fight.”
A lonzo M ourning scored 17 points
an d Ja m a l M a sh b u rn ad d e d 16
Tuesday night as the M iam i Heat
defeated the cold-shooting Portland
Trail Blazers 86-76.
The Blazers w ere a disappointm ent in
the m atchup betw een tw o o f the
N B A ’s best teams. Portland shot ju st
3 5 percent after the first quarter, when
it led 25-24.
T he Blazers m ade ju st tw o o f nine
shots to open the fourth, and M iam i
slowly pulled away from a 67-65 lead.
A 3-pointer by V oshon L enard m ade
it 78-68 w ith 4:09 left, and Portland
couldn’t get closer than six the rest o f
the way.
G reg A nthony, starting for injured
W L T
N FC EA ST
W L T
Miami
7 1 0
NY G iants
5 3 0
Indianapolis
6 2 0
W ashington
5 3 0
N ew England
6 2 0
Dallas
4 4 0
Buffalo
6 3 0
A rizona
2 6 0
NY Jets
2 6 0
Philadelphia
2 7 0
A FCCEN TRA L
W L T
N FC C E N T R A L
Jacksonville
7 1 0
D etroit
Tennessee
6 2 0
M innesota
5 4 0
Pittsburgh
5 3 0
G reen Bay
4 4 0
Baltim ore
3 5 0
T am pa Bay
C incinnati
1 8 0
Chicago
C leveland
1 8 0
N FC W EST
Heat over Blazers 86, 76
A ssociated P ress
AFC EA ST
Fernando Vargas
B la z e rs p o in t g u a r d D a m o n
Stoudamire, scored 19 points but shot
just5-of-14.R asheedW allacehad 14
points.
M ourning, com ing o ff a season-high
25 points in a 99-91 win over the Los
A ngeles C lippers on M onday night,
m ade his first five shots and scored
11 points in the first quarter to go with
three blocks.
He was quiet after that and m issed his
first four shots o f the fourth until a 20-
foot jum per made it 75-67 M iami with
5:25 to go.
Miami rookie Anthony Carter, starting
his second straight gam e at point
guard for the injured Tim Hardaway,
had another strong game. H e scored
14 points, one night after getting a
season-high 20.
6 2 0
4 4 0
4 5 0
W L T
St. Louis
6 2 0
6 2 0
C arolina
3 5 0
K ansas City
5 3 0
San Francisco
O akland
4 4 0
A tlanta
San D iego
4 4 0
N ew O rleans
D enver
3 6 0
A FC W EST
W
Seattle
L T
3 5 0
2 7 0
1 7 0
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
WES FERNCONFERENCE
EASTERNCONFERENCE
W L Pct GB
ATLANTIC
11 3 .786 -
Miami
8 7 .533 3.5
Mew Y ork
7 7 .500 4
Triando
7 7 .500 4
3oston
7 8 .467 4.5
’hiladelphia
4 10 .286 7
Washington
2 12 .143 9
slew Jersey
CEN TRA L
Toronto
Charlotte
M ilw aukee
Indiana
D etroit
C leveland
A tlanta
Chicago
W L Pct GB
9 5 .643 -
8 6 .571 1
8 6 .571 1
8 7 .533 1.5
7 7 .500 2
6 6 .500 2
5 9 .357 4
1 12 .077 7.5
W L Pct GB
M IDW EST
12 3 .800 -
San A ntonio
8 6 .571 3.5
Utah
6 5 .545 4
M innesota
6 6 .500 4.5
Denver
5 10 .333 7
Dallas
4 11 .267 8
Houston
3 11 .214 8.5
V ancouver
NIKE FACTORY STORE
GRAND OPENING
DECEMBER I I
i?
W L T
I
W L Pct GB
PACIFIC
13 3 .812 -
Portland
Seattle
11 3 .786 1
9 2 .818 1.5
Sacram ento
10 4 .714 2
LA Lakers
9 4 .692 2.5
Phoenix
4 9 .308 7.5
LA Clippers
2 11 .154 9.5
G olden State