Eddie Futch, an amateur sparring partner for Joe Louis who trained 20 world champions as one of boxing's greatest teachers, died Wednesday morning in Las Vegas. He was 90.

The Clark County coroner's office would give no further details except to say it would perform an examination today.

Futch, who retired four years ago, was still one of the sport's most recognizable figures.

Futch trained five heavyweight champions -- Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier, Riddick Bowe, Michael Spinks and Trevor Berbick.

Other champions Futch worked with during his Hall of Fame career included light heavyweights Bob Foster and Montell Griffin, junior middleweight Mike McCallum, lightweight Alexis Arguello and welterweights Don Jordan and Marlon Starling.

It was the "Thrilla' in Manila," the third fight between Frazier and Muhammad Ali, that brought Futch to the attention of the general public.

After the 14th round of the grueling fight, Futch told Frazier he was stopping it because Smokin' Joe was hardly able to see.

SOCCER: D.C. United fired coach Thomas Rongen, who was the Mutiny's coach in its first season in 1996, after the team's second straight losing season. ... The Mutiny and Revolution will play in an exhibition match Saturday 7 p.m. at Pepin/Rood Stadium. There will be a silent auction with items including the prototype Carlos Valderrama Bobblehead, which was produced before his trade to Colorado. Proceeds will go to the Soccer United Relief Fund. ... Preki's goal in the 53rd minute held up as the host Fusion beat the Earthquakes 1-0 in the opening game of their semifinal playoff series. ... South Korea's World Cup organizers said the tournament draw will be held Dec. 1 as scheduled, despite concern over military action in Afghanistan. ... England's players will vote Friday on a possible strike over their share of television revenue.

TENNIS: Martina Hingis, seeking to protect her No. 1 ranking, struggled to a 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Magdalena Maleeva at the Porsche Grand Prix in Filderstadt, Germany. Jennifer Capriati beat qualifier Miriam Oremans 6-1, 6-4. Anna Kournikova's problems continued as she lost to qualifier Anne Kremer 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. ... Hicham Arazi upset ninth-seeded Sjeng Schalken 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the Lyon Grand Prix in France. ... Top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov was upset at the CA Trophy tournament in Vienna, Austria, losing 7-6 (7-6), 6-3 in the first round to Bohdan Ulihrach. ... Monica Seles defeated Saori Obata 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the Kiwi Open in Shanghai, China.

COLLEGES: Tampa's women's soccer team beat Eckerd 2-1 with goals from Stacy Estes and Katie Calvin. ... Two Florida senior soccer players are members of national teams of the week following the Gators' three wins. Abby Wambach is a member of the Soccer America Team of the Week and Andi Sellers is a member of the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week. ... Coming off its first Elite Eight appearance, the Tampa men's basketball team was ranked third in Street & Smith's Division II preseason poll. Senior center Sylvere Brown was named honorable mention All-American by the magazine. ... NJCAA tournament MVP Antwain Barbour will transfer from Wabash Valley Community College to Kentucky.

HORSES: Dixie Dot Com, one of the top horses ever developed in Northern California, has retired. X-rays showed a minor stress fracture of the cannon bone in Dixie Dot Com's left front leg.

CYCLING: Arnaud Tournant became the first to ride under a minute for a kilometer, finishing in 58.875 seconds on the world's highest track in La Paz, Bolivia. He broke his record of 1:00.148 that he set a year ago in Mexico City. Arnaud Duble covered 500 meters in 25.850 seconds, passing the mark of 26.649 set by Alexander Kiritchenko in 1988 in Moscow. ... Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli rallied from a four-second deficit to capture the elite women's time trial at the world championships in Lisbon, Portugal. She covered the 11.7-mile circuit in 29:8.55.

SAILING: American Steve Fossett and his 125-foot maxi cat PlayStation set a trans-Atlantic world speed record of 4 days 17 hours 28 minutes 6 seconds. This beats the previous record by nearly 44 hours set 11 years ago by Serge Madec.

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