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

DAVID - an american football icon

David Beckham's bid to redefine football's place in the US sports landscape begins in earnest on Friday, when the Los Angeles Galaxy introduce their sleek European import.

The former England captain and his pop-star wife Victoria arrive amid a swirl of publicity befitting their new Hollywood home.

But it will likely be Beckham's abilities on the pitch that determine whether his tenure here will ultimately be judged an experiment or an era in Major League Soccer's development.

In America Beckham will face a twin challenge - infusing oft-overlooked football with enough glamour to attract new fans, while playing at a level high enough to satisfy serious sports spectators.

Some 14.5 million Americans play football, but its popularity pales in comparison to the top three sports: American football, basketball and baseball.

Sharapova pulls out of Fed Cup semifinal against U.S.

MOSCOW (AP) -Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Fed Cup semifinals against the United States because of a right shoulder injury.

In a statement posted on her Web site Tuesday, the 2006 U.S. Open champion said she had a "tremendous amount of swelling'' and doctors advised her to rest her shoulder for the next 10 days.

Sharapova reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last week, losing to eventual champion Venus Williams. Venus and Serena Williams are expected to play for the United States against Russia this weekend in Stowe, Vt.

"I know this withdrawal is very frustrating for all my Russian fans, but I promise you it is way more frustrating for me,'' Sharapova said. "Nothing would (have) made me happier than beating the Americans on American soil.''

Russia's remaining roster includes Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Anna Chakvetadze.

It's the second time this year Sharapova has withdrawn from the Fed Cup. She was expected to make her debut for Russia in April, but pulled out citing shoulder and leg injuries