Evander Holyfield
insists he has at least one more great fight left in him. If he summons it tonight in Zurich, Switzerland, he'll become the oldest man to regain a world heavyweight title.
Standing between the 46-year-old American and a record fifth championship is the tallest and heaviest boxer to hold a major belt, Russia's 35-year-old
Nikolai Valuev
.
With Holyfield's skills clearly diminished, some observers fear he is risking his health by getting in the ring.
The Atlanta native, who is 42-9-2 in his career with 27 knockouts, is undeterred.
Holyfield will also concede nearly 100 pounds to the 7-foot Russian, who has lost once in 50 career bouts and comes in as the bookmakers' overwhelming favorite.
Delran's
Carli Lloyd
, a graduate of Rutgers who scored the winning goal for a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, was named the U.S. soccer female athlete of the year and goalie
Tim Howard
was named the top men's player.
The Washington Capitals, who enter today's game against the Flyers with a five-game win streak, removed goalie
Jose Theodore
from injured reserve (hip) and assigned
Simeon Varlamov
back to AHL affiliate Hershey after he won his first two NHL starts in net.
A woman has pleaded no contest to stalking Los Angeles Lakers forward
Luke Walton
.
Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney
Ann Ambrose
said Friday that 35-year-old
Stacy Elizabeth Beshear
of El Segundo entered the plea in Torrance Superior Court to one count of misdemeanor stalking.
Syracuse men's basketball guard
Eric Devendorf
must perform 40 hours of community service and be reinstated by the university before he can play after being accused of hitting a female student.
Also, point guard
Jonny Flynn
did not practice with the No. 11 Orange because of a hip injury and was listed as a game-time decision for tonight's game at No. 23 Memphis.
Elsewhere.
Mississippi point guard
Chris Warren
is out for the season after tearing a ligament in his left knee in the last minute of the 77-68 loss to No. 9 Louisville on Thursday. . . . Southern California football guard
Jeff Byers
, who missed two seasons with injury, had his request for a sixth year of eligibility approved by the NCAA, allowing him to return to the Trojans next season. . . . Backup linebacker
Archie Sims
won't be playing for West Virginia in next week's Meineke Bowl because he didn't meet NCAA eligibility requirements. . . . Hawaii has resolved its financial dispute with former football coach
June Jones
over the early termination of his contract, which occurred when he left to take the job at Southern Methodist. . . . Mississippi juniors
Greg Hardy
and
John Jerry
have filed paperwork asking the NFL to evaluate their likely draft position. . . . Georgia defensive tackle
Jeff Owens
, the Bulldogs' top defensive lineman, will return for his senior season in 2009.
Jim Furyk
had a two-stroke lead at 5-under 139 over
Anthony Kim
(70),
Camilo Villegas
(67) and
K.J. Choi
(71), after the second round of the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Elsewhere.
Seve Ballesteros
has returned to his home in northern Spain to begin chemotherapy treatment following recent surgery on a brain tumor. . . .
Michael Lorenzo-Vera
shot a second-round 65 and took a two-shot lead at 12-under 132 over
Ernie Els
and three others at the South African Open at in Paarl at Pearl Valley Golf Estate course.