Federer Defeats Sampras in exhibition...

If Roger Federer expected an easy victory over his balding opponent, he found out early in their exhibition match that Pete Sampras still has his powerful serve. The world's top-ranked player came back to beat the man he is chasing for the all-time Grand Slam titles record. Federer won 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday in the first of three Asian exhibitions. These tennis greats of the past and present meet again Thursday in Kuala Lumpur and Saturday in Macau. "Pete was one of my idols growing up and it's great to play him," Federer said. "It wasn't easy for me; it wasn't easy for him as he's been retired five years. I am No. 1 and everyone Other Sports Photos Jeff Fisher Looking Into Pacman Incident 182 expects me to win." The 36-year-old Sampras brought cheers from the crowd at Seoul's Olympic Tennis Arena with two aces in his first service game against an opponent a decade younger. Sampras proceeded to break Federer's serve, then moved ahead 4-2 courtesy of a drop shot. Sampras' trademark serves and volleys were on display, but he understandably moved around the court slower than he did during his 1990s heyday. Federer took advantage of a slew of unforced errors to come back to win the first set. Other than three successive lobs that Federer served up to his opponent in the second game of the second set, the match was a competitive, though lighthearted, affair. By early in the second set, Federer was hitting his stride. He completed the straight-set victory with little trouble. "I feel pretty good," Sampras said. "I made it competitive, which was my goal. Obviously Roger is the best player in the world and I retired five years ago. I am grateful that he invited me." Federer was pleased with the workout a few days after winning his fourth Masters Cup. Sampras retired in 2002, a year after the only previous meeting between the pair at Wimbledon. Federer won that fourth-round match in five sets. Sampras won a record 14 Grand Slams, but Federer, who owns 12 titles, could break the mark in 2008. "I have no plans to come back from retirement," Sampras said. "You have to come back for a reason. I just stay home and watch Roger win on television."

Pacquiao Makes Barrera To Quit On Boxing

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Marco Antonio Barrera quietly signed autographs for eager fans, holding a pen in his left hand and his youngest daughter in his right arm. Barrera's daughter curiously poked at the still-fresh cut on her daddy's right eye, fiddling away until the Mexican champion flinched ever so slightly. Barrera wants to spend more time with his kids and less time in recovery. That's why the 33-year-old fighter, still a world-class competitor, but past his best nights,vows he's finished with boxing after losing a unanimous decision Saturday night in an entertaining rematch with Manny Pacquiao. "This is my last fight inside this beautiful sport," Barrera said Saturday night while his trainer, Sendai Tanaka, quietly wept a few feet away. "I say goodbye to this beautiful sport, but I fought the best fighters. I fought my best tonight. I'm happy." While many a brash boxer has reneged on a threatened retirement, Barrera doesn't seem to be bluffing. He's a serious, wealthy man who has never pretended to walk away before. Plus, Barrera probably sees he's not up to the lofty standard set by Pacquiao despite the Mexican champion's valiant effort in the rematch of their 2003 bout. "He is a great champion," Pacquiao said. "I am very honored to beat him." In front of a spirited, nationalistic crowd at Mandalay Bay, Pacquiao failed to put Barrera on the canvas, the first time that Philippines' favorite son didn't register a knockdown in seven fights since his last loss to Erik Morales in March 2005. Barrera never hurt Pacquiao, except for a shady blow while the referee separated them in the 11th round, leaving Pacquiao momentarily woozy against the ropes. The slight was forgotten when Pacquiao led the standing ovation for Barrera at their post-fight news conference. Pacquiao's victory was another boon to his native Philippines, currently bedeviled by battles between government troops and Marxist and Muslim insurgents. Some troops were drawn away from combat duties so they could watch the bout, while millions of fans emptied Manila's usually packed streets. Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, was content with almost every aspect of his easily distracted superstar's effort, though it's easy to sense Roach's mild frustration with the minor weaknesses that prevent Pacquiao from being essentially perfect. "Manny's in-and-out motion and the feints slowed (Barrera) down a lot," Roach said. "Manny's footwork was too much for him. He was fighting a smarter fight. Speed and power is not enough to stay in this game forever. I want him to keep working." While Barrera's skills might have slipped a bit, Pacquiao still seems to be at his peak, and he has plenty of options for his next step, including a move up to lightweight. "We've been talking about it," Roach said, adding that Pacquiao gained 14 pounds between Friday's weigh-in and fight night. "I think he definitely can fight at 135. It's getting a little harder to get down to 130, and I think he's ready to step up." Pacquiao's most intriguing future prospect at 130 pounds might be a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez, who fought Pacquiao to an entertaining draw in 2004. Pacquiao knocked down Marquez three times in the first round of that fight, but Marquez rallied fiercely. Marquez faces Rocky Juarez on Nov. 3 in Las Vegas in a bout that was postponed from Sept. 14. Since promoters Oscar De La Hoya and Bob Arum have settled their long-standing legal battles, Pacquiao might be eager to take on another Golden Boy power. Joan Guzman also appeared at Saturday night's news conference to publicly challenge Pacquiao, though Arum said Guzman should be worrying more about his 130-pound fight with Humberto Soto on Nov. 17. Both would be compelling matchups for Pacquiao, as would David Diaz, the WBC champion who knocked Morales into retirement in August. "I'll be happy whoever I fight," Pacquiao said. "I don't want to compare my talent. I just think I'm an ordinary fighter, that I can fight a good fighter or the best fighter. I don't think I'm the best."

Tyson GUILTY to Drugs, DUI Charges

Former Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson pleaded guilty Monday to charges of drug possession and driving under the influence stemming from a traffic stop last year as he was leaving a nightclub. Tyson quietly acknowledged to a judge that he had cocaine and was impaired when he was stopped for driving erratically in Scottsdale on Dec. 29. He pleaded guilty to a single felony count of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor DUI count and faces up to four years and three months in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 19. A felony charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and a second misdemeanor DUI charge were dropped as part of a plea agreement. Defense lawyer David Chesnoff said Tyson has been clean and sober for eight months. "It's obvious this was a crime he was committing against himself," Chesnoff said. Police stopped Tyson after the boxer had spent the evening at Scottsdale's Pussycat Lounge. An officer said he saw Tyson wiping a white substance off the dashboard of his black BMW, and that his speech was slurred. Authorities said they found bags of cocaine in Tyson's pocket and in his car. Tyson told officers later that he used cocaine "whenever I can get my hands on it," and that he preferred to smoke it in Marlboro cigarettes with the tobacco pulled out, according to court documents. He also told police that he used marijuana that day and was taking the antidepressant Zoloft, the documents state. Since his arrest, Tyson checked himself into an inpatient treatment program for what his lawyer called "various addictions." County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Tyson should be put in prison, noting that Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana in 1992 and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges in Maryland in 1999. "Mike Tyson is a repeat offender with a violent past," Thomas said. "I believe only a prison sentence will send the right message and properly protect the public." In 1986, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history when, at 20, he knocked out Trevor Berbick. He lost his title four years later when he was knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas. By 1997, Tyson's career hit a low point when he bit Evander Holyfield's ear during a fight. Tyson, 41, recently had been trying to revive his career with a series of boxing exhibitions.

USA on FIBA

Bronze medal winners at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, the US is desperate to win gold this time to go into the Beijing Olympics on a high.

Coach K spoke after the big triumph over the South Americans.

Coach Krzyzewski: "I am extremely happy with our first performance. We wanted to play hard and we played hard. Our talent was evident and it was excellent to watch how my players united to defend with intensity. I am satisfied with our debut performance in this tournament. I think our defense marked our play, but this time it was down to Kobe to go forward and assist his other team-mates.

"I reiterate, though, that it was our defense that was our best weapon. We left our opponents with 69 points, something which will not be likely to be seen later on in this tournament. We are fast and we were were aggressive on offense.

"Our players are communicating very well defensively. I think the key is that they are trying to play every possession very hard. In any case, this is
our first game and the first game in which these players have played together. We have eight new players on our roster and if I am not mistaken, it is the first international game for seven of them.

Philippines Drag World Cup

Despite Bautista's loss, the Philippines brought home the World Cup diadem as veteran Gerry Penalosa, AJ Banal and Z Gorres stopped their respective opponents to delight of the cheering Filipino crowd.

The Philippines zoomed to 5-0 lead when Penalosa upset highly-favorite Jhonny Gonzales (34-6, 29 KOs) to win the WBO bantamweight crown with a crippling body shot to the liver in the seventh round.

The 35-year-old Penalosa (52-6-2, 35 KOs) was behind on all three scorecards when he landed a lottery shot to the body that sent Gonzales down in serious pain.

The former champion, only 25 years old, stayed down for the full count and Penalosa flexed his muscles and kneeled down at the center of the ring to celebrate his big upset win.

Penalosa was overwhelmed with emotion as he received the championship belt, his first world title since losing the WBC flyweight title to Korean In Joo Cho in 1998 in Seoul.

Diosdado Gabi (30-3-1, 21 KOs) gave the Philippines an early lead via an eight-round unanimous decision against Jose Angel Beranza (30-10-2, 25 KOs) in a battle of junior bantamweight bout.

The second win of the Philippines came from Michael Domingo (32-14-2, 12 KOs) who scored an upset six-round decision over previously unbeaten junior featherweight Miguel "Mickey Mouse" Roman (21-1, 15 KOs).

Undefeated AJ "Bazooka" Banal (14-0-1, 11 KOs) stopped Jorge Cardenas (9-4-3, 6 KOs) in the third round to give the Philippines a 3-0 lead. Cardenas badly twisted his right ankle while going down from a Banal's punch.

Gorres (27-2-1, 15 KOs) made a successful comeback from a controversial split decision loss to Fernando Montiel by halting former WBC junior flyweight champion Eric Ortiz (26-7-1, 17 KOs) in the eight-round.

Ortiz suffered a deep cut above his left eye from a punch and the ring doctor advised the referee to stop the fight, giving Gorres the TKO win. (PNA)

Pacquiao - Barrera II

As a direct result of the settlement between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, the Manny Pacquiao vs Marco Antonio Barrera rematch is now calendared on October 6, 2007 at Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV, USA. Pacquiao, at 28, is on his prime while Barrera, at 33, is considering this fight to be his last. Will Barrera, badly beaten by Pacquiao in their first encounter, muster enough tricks from his brilliant boxing career to make this a competitive fight or will Pacquiao, like what he did to Morales in their 3rd encounter, bulldozed an aging Barrera into an early submission?

After being taken apart by Pacquiao, many believed that Barrera was finished. Seven months after losing to Pacquiao, Barrera stopped Paulie Ayala in 10 rounds. After fighting Ayala, Barrera agreed to fight fellow Mexican rival Erik Morales for the WBC super-featherweight title. Barrera and Morales had a bad history in and out of the ring with each other. In this fight everything was on the line, and both knew the winner would be viewed as the better fighter. And fighting at 130, Morales was thought to hold just about every advantage over Barrera as the fight approached.

Philippines Pride

Efren Reyes requires no introduction to any fan of the game today. The winner of more major events than can possibly be named here, a member of the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame and known as possibly the greatest 9-ball player alive today.

A native of the Philipines, Efren Reyes first introduced himself to the US pool scene by showing up for the 1985 Red' s 9-Ball, an imposing field of many of the best players of the time, which he blitzed through under the temporary pseudonm Cesar Morales. Not yet aquainted with One Pocket, Reyes was conspicuously absent from the One Pocket event that immediately followed (won by Grady Mathews). However, Reyes quickly found the game very much to his liking after spending some extended visits to the Chicago area, including time with One Pocket sage Freddy Bentivegna, and to Philadelphia, where he developed a long-lasting friendship with his state-side advisor, Mike LeBron.

Often called the 'Magician' because of his knack for delivering impossible looking shots in key game situations, Reyes certainly displays an uncanny imagination, drawing on his solid background in a variety of cue disciplines, including Rotation and Billiards. He may have been late discovering One Pocket, yet the game is clearly tailor made for his unique combination of talent and creativity.

As a tournament player, Efren has won six major One Pocket events, including topping the huge and talented fields at the Derby City Classic all five times he has entered:

• 1999 Derby City Classic One Pocket
• 2000 US Open One Pocket
• 2004 Derby City Classic One Pocket
• 2005 Derby City Classic One Pocket
• 2006 Derby City Classic One Pocket
• 2007 Derby City Classic One Pocket