Brief Sports News
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Kimbo Slice, the bearded street fighter who parlayed his internet popularity into a mixed martial arts career and worldwide fame, has died. He was 42.
Slice, whose real name was Kevin Ferguson, was taken to a hospital in Margate, Florida, near his home Monday, Coral Springs Police Sgt. Carla Kmiotek said. Slice’s death was confirmed by Mike Imber, his longtime manager.
”We lost our brother today,” Imber said in a text message to The Associated Press.
The cause of death was still unclear.
Slice was a strip club bouncer who began competing in unsanctioned street fights in 2003. Videos of his savage knockout victories in the bouts became wildly popular online.
He studied MMA and eventually competed in the UFC and Bellator, which staged his last two fights.
MUHAMMAD ALI
PHOENIX (AP) – Muhammad Ali and his family never seriously thought of donating his brain for research, according to the doctor who treated the boxing great.
”Not really,” was Dr. Abe Lieberman’s answer when he was asked if submitting the brain for research was considered.
Lieberman said he didn’t think boxing contributed to Ali contracting Parkinson’s disease but he couldn’t be ”a hundred percent” certain.
The doctor spoke at a news conference at the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.
Lieberman was among those who diagnosed Ali in 1984.
The doctor said he believes Ali had the disease earlier, when he fought Larry Holmes in 1980.
OLYMPICS
Stephen Curry has withdrawn from consideration from the Olympics, leaving the U.S. basketball team without the NBA’s MVP.
Curry said in a statement that he has decided to pull out for ”several factors – including recent ankle and knee injuries.”
He didn’t say what the other factors were that he referenced. Several athletes have expressed concerns about the water situation in Rio and the Zika virus.
The guard is the highest-profile absence for the two-time defending gold medalists, who will already be without NBA All-Stars Chris Paul and Anthony Davis.
Curry has won a pair of world titles with the Americans and was a starter when they won the 2014 Basketball World Cup. He had spoken of wanting the chance to win Olympic gold, but missed six games in the postseason with a right knee injury.
San Antonio forward LaMarcus Aldridge also pulled out of consideration for the U.S. team.
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – The International Weightlifting Federation says it has been notified of 20 positive tests, including medal winners, among the retested doping samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics
In a statement sent to The Associated Press, the IWF said it was informed by the International Olympic Committee of 10 cases from the 2008 Beijing Games and 10 from the 2012 London Games.
It said the Beijing tests were ”presumed” positives that still require ”B” sample analyses. The 10 from London were described as confirmed positives.
The IWF says the cases include medal winners. It did not give any names or nationalities.
The 20 cases account for a large part of the total of 55 positives which the IOC has reported so far, including 32 from Beijing and 23 from London.
MADRID (AP) – The World Anti-Doping Agency has suspended the accreditation of the official testing laboratory in Madrid.
WADA confirmed the suspension in a statement, saying it was a direct result of a decision on March 19 to declare the Spanish anti-doping agency, AEPSAD, non-compliant.
The suspension prohibits the Madrid lab from conducting any WADA-related anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples.
The Madrid lab could have maintained accreditation if, in the year before the AEPSAD had been declared non-compliant, at least 60 percent of samples analyzed were provided by anti-doping organizations outside of Spain. Evidence showed 69 percent of samples received in the year to March 19 were from AEPSAD.
The official anti-doping lab in Barcelona has maintained its WADA accreditation.
PRO FOOTBALL
BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) -NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he sees no avenue right now for a settlement with Tom Brady as the star Patriots quarterback appeals his four-game ”Deflategate” suspension.
Goodell told reporters that the league will move forward based on whether the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decides to grant Brady’s request for the full court to re-hear the case. A three-judge panel from the appeals court in April reinstated Brady’s punishment for his role in using underinflated footballs during the 2015 AFC championship game.
The type of appeal Brady is seeking is rarely granted.
Goodell spoke before Bills great Jim Kelly’s 30th annual charity golf tournament outside of Buffalo.
Goodell says he was right to discipline Brady under powers granted the commissioner by the collective bargaining agreement with players. He says it’s important for the commissioner to be responsible for matters involving the integrity and competitiveness of games.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) – California coach Cuonzo Martin has officially signed with the school more than two years after taking over the basketball program.
Athletic director Mike Williams announced the signing. Martin had been working off a binding term sheet that was in place when he was hired in April 2014. Martin’s average annual compensation is $1.64 million plus various bonuses.
Martin has a 41-26 record in two seasons and led Cal to the NCAA Tournament this year. Cal also posted a perfect 1,000 Academic Progress Rate score for the 2014-15 season.
Cal also said that an administrative review into the athletic department’s response to sexual harassment charges against former basketball assistant Yann Hufnagel showed all department employees responded properly after learning of the allegations. Hufnagel left the program in March.
