Sports in Brief: Camacho shot; on life support

The family of Hector "Macho" Camacho tried to decide Wednesday whether he should be removed from life support after a shooting in his Puerto Rican hometown left the former boxing champion clinging to life and his fans mourning the loss of a dynamic and often troubled athlete.

Doctors at the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan found that Camacho had irregular and intermittent brain activity late Wednesday, said Ernesto Torres, the center's director.

"We can't declare him brain dead," he said. "We're going to ask the people of Puerto Rico to keep praying."

Torres said doctors would conduct additional tests early Thursday, but he warned the prognosis remained dire.

The 50-year-old Camacho was shot as he and a friend sat in a Ford Mustang parked outside a bar. Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket, and a 10th bag open inside the car.

Camacho's mother, who flew in from New York, will lead the discussion about whether he should be removed from life support, said Ismael Leandry, a longtime friend and former manager who was also at the hospital.

SOCCER: Roberto Di Matteo's reign as Chelsea manager ended suddenly when he was fired only six months after guiding the club to an unlikely Champions League title. Rafa Benitez was appointed interim manager until the end of the season.

Russian owner Roman Abramovich displayed his trademark ruthlessness by getting rid of Di Matteo with the defense of the European trophy in tatters following a 3-0 loss at Juventus on Tuesday.

Hours later, Benitez was brought on board. He becomes the ninth manager under Abramovich. His hiring comes nearly two years after he was fired by Inter Milan. He previously coached Valencia and Liverpool, where he won the Champions League in 2005.

Chelsea is on the verge of becoming the first defending champion to be eliminated from the group stage.

BASEBALL: Chone Figgins was expected to give the Seattle Mariners a spark when he signed a $36 million, four-year contract with them in 2009.

Instead, he was an expensive burden in three lackluster seasons. The Mariners finally conceded the deal didn't work, designating Figgins for assignment Tuesday night.

ARENA FOOTBALL: The Soul have traded wide receiver Donovan Morgan to the New Orleans VooDoo in exchange for their No. 4 pick. The move was made at Morgan's request to be closer to his family.

In his two seasons with the Soul, Morgan is among the franchise career regular-season leaders in receptions (200), receiving yards (2,977), receiving touchdowns (63), and total touchdowns (65).

-Staff and wire reports