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Wright fight ticket sales reset

By wire services
Published March 31, 2006

Tickets for the middleweight title fight between Jermain Taylor and St. Petersburg's Winky Wright on June 17 at the FedExForum in Memphis are scheduled to go on sale Wednesday morning. They originally were scheduled to go on sale today, but the venue has been resurveyed and the floor seating redesigned.

Tickets are $1,250, $1,000, $750, $500, $300, $150, $100 and $75, with some 6,000 seats priced at $100 or lower. They will be available through all Ticketmaster locations, by calling Ticketmaster at (901) 525-1515 or online at ticketmaster.com.

WBC TITLE FIGHT: The World Boxing Council ordered Hasim Rahman to fight Kazakhstan's Oleg Maskaev in defense of his heavyweight title, with the winner to face James Toney. Rahman, handed the WBC belt when Vitali Klitschko retired, drew in his first defense against Toney on March 18. Toney wanted a rematch but the WBC differed.

Mary DeScenza of Georgia was named the top college female in the sport for 2006 and becomes an automatic nominee for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award, which will be presented in June from among honorees in 12 sports. DeScenza won the 100- and 200-yard butterfly at the NCAA championships, and swam on two winning relays and a third that set the American record. She earned seven All-America citations, giving her the maximum 28 for her career.

SPRING CHAMPIONSHIPS: Omar Pinzon of Jacksonville Bolles won the 200-meter backstroke at the U.S. meet in Federal Way, Wash., with a time of 2 minutes, 1.69 seconds. Robert Margalis of St. Petersburg was fourth in 2:02.41. In other men's events, Justin Mortimer won the men's 1,500 (15:23.27), Dale Rogers the 100 free (50.38), Dominik Meichtry the 200 free (1:48.84) and Scott Clary the 400 individual medley (4:25.98). Among the women, Katie Ziegler won the 800 free (8:34.56) and 200 free (2:03.43); Olympian and three-time world champion Katie Hoff took the 100 free (55.41) and 400 IM (4:37.40), and Courtney Kalisz won the 200 butterfly (2:09.77).

Terry Kent has been elevated from sports director to active executive director of the troubled U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, becoming the fifth person in that role since January 2004. Kent, a three-time canoe-kayak Olympian, replaces Chris Overholt, the interim director for two months before resigning. The federation has recently endured, among other things, sexual harassment allegations levied against former skeleton coach Tim Nardiello, and a one-year drug-related suspension of men's skeleton racer Zach Lund. BOARD MOVE: The U.S. Olympic Committee has appointed IOC member Bob Ctvrtlik to its board, hoping to improve its standing on the worldwide scene and strengthen a possible American bid for the 2016 Olympics.

FISHING: Preston Clark of Palatka weighed in 39 pounds, 6 ounces of bass to lead the Santee Cooper Showdown at Manning, S.C., by four pounds.

HORSES: Zippy Shannon, claimed by trainer Richard Schosberg for $40,000 three starts back, won the $43,000 allowance feature at Aqueduct by 31/2 lengths in a race for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies. Zippy also has a second for Schosberg.

SOCCER: Former Brazilian star Romario, 40, will play for Miami FC this year during its first season in the United Soccer League, then return to his home country.

RUNNING: Elfenesh Alemu of Ethiopia, who finished second in the last two Boston Marathons, withdrew from this year's race because of a knee injury.

[Last modified March 31, 2006, 01:23:02]