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Jones likely to lose heavyweight title

LAS VEGAS - Roy Jones Jr.'s reign as a heavyweight champion is about to end. Jones has scheduled a news conference for Saturday to announce a fight Nov. 8 against Antonio Tarver, who holds two light heavyweight titles Jones used to own.

Taking the fight means Jones probably will lose the WBA title he won in March from John Ruiz in his only fight as a heavyweight. The WBA has scheduled a purse bid for Monday for David Tua and Hasim Rahman to box for what it labels an interim title fight.

Tarver (21-1 with 17 knockouts) won the bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics and beat Montell Griffin in April to win the WBC and IBF 175-pound titles vacated by Jones when he moved up to the heavyweight division.

American Kelli White is expected to compete at the inaugural World Athletics Final this weekend in Monaco despite testing positive for modafinil, a stimulant, at the World Championships. Modafinil is listed as a minor stimulant that does not warrant suspension.

GREEKS SUSPENDED: Greek runner Maria Tsirba and hammer thrower Stamatis Papantoniou were suspended for two years after testing positive for banned substances, barring both from next year's Olympics. Tsirba is the Greek record-holder in the women's 3,000 meters.

Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol scored 14 in a row during the fourth quarter, leading Spain past Israel 78-64 in the European Championships quarterfinals in Stockholm, Sweden. Spain plays Italy, which beat Greece 62-59, in Saturday's semifinals. France faces Lithuania in the other semifinal.

JAZZ: Restricted free-agent guard Jason Terry signed an offer sheet, which Atlanta has 15 days to match. Last season, he averaged 17.2 points and a 7.4 assists.

MAGIC: Rookie free agent Britton Johnsen signed. In 109 games at Utah, the forward averaged 9.6 points and 5.2 rebounds and was named the Mountain West Conference's player of the year after his junior season.

David Nalbandian withdrew from Argentina's Davis Cup semifinal this weekend against Spain because of a wrist injury. Guillermo Coria, ranked fifth in the world, pulled out for Argentina on Wednesday because of a leg injury. The No. 9-ranked Nalbandian hurt his left wrist during his U.S. Open semifinal loss to Andy Roddick. No replacement was announced for Nalbandian. No. 25-ranked Mariano Zabaleta will replace Coria.

BRASIL OPEN: Top seeds Rainer Schuettler and Sjeng Schalken reached the quarterfinals in Costa Do Sauipe, Brazil. Schuettler beat Paul Goldstein 6-0, 6-1, and Schalken beat Gregory Carraz 7-5, 6-4.

WISMILAK INTERNATIONAL: Conchita Martinez was upset by unseeded Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-1, 6-3 in Bali, Indonesia. Vento-Kabchi, who beat Chanda Rubin in the first round of the U.S. Open, has victories against three top 20 players in her past four events.

Robert Sloan is expected to find out today if he will remain as Baylor's president. The school's 36-member board of regents planned a closed meeting for today that follows the summer killing of basketball player Patrick Dennehy, the arrest of former player Carlton Dotson on murder charges and the ensuing disclosure of major NCAA violations in the basketball program.

ILLINOIS: The contract of women's basketball coach Theresa Grentz was extended through 2007-08. Grentz is the winningest coach in school history at 148-98. Her base salary was increased from $152,860 to $160,000, and the total package is worth $260,000 for this season.

MISSISSIPPI: The school is looking for a new mascot despite a student poll that shows most want to keep Colonel Rebel. More than 1,600 students participated, and 94 percent want to keep Colonel Rebel. Chancellor Robert Khayat said the vote will be considered as a search for a mascot continues.

CYCLING: Isidro Nozal won the sixth stage of the Tour of Spain in Zaragoza and held the overall lead for the third consecutive day. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano was second overall, 2:27 behind.

JUDO: Olympic champion Kosei Inoue won the under-200-pound title, one of three golds for Japan on the first day of the World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Yasuyuki Muneta won the over-220 title, and Noriko Anno won the under-172 final.

OLYMPICS: Milan, Italy, will bid for the 2016 Summer Games. Turin, just west of Milan, hosts the Winter Games in 2006, but Milan officials said they are not worried that will hurt the bid. The site will be picked in 2009.