Boxing: Wayne McCullough will bid for another world title when he fights Erik Morales for the WBC Superbantam-weight crown in Detroit on October 22nd. McCullough was due to fight Morales last May but sustained a back injury in training and the bout was postponed.
McCullough has not fought since last October when he lost on points to Naseem Hamed in Atlantic City. McCullough will have a preliminary, warm-up fight next Monday week, August 30th, in Las Vegas. He is down to fight Mike Juarez, although it is believed he is unhappy with the quality of the opposition and is seeking a sterner test.
Cycling: Tosh Lavery grabbed the first leader's yellow jersey in the Junior Tour when he was fastest in the opening stage time trial at Clonee last evening, writes Jim McArdle.
Lavery, riding with the Leinster team, was timed at three minutes 20.98 seconds for the 1.6 miles circuit, almost three seconds quicker than Denis Lynch of Ireland with Brian Ahern, another member of the Irish selection, another second back.
The next stage starts behind Dublin Airport at 6.30 this evening.
Tennis: Retired German tennis legend Steffi Graf yesterday nominated her former rival Martina Navratilova as unquestionably the best women's player this century. "For me she is the uncontested number one, she has left a mark on the sport like no one else," said Graf.
She also spoke about Navratilova's kindness, recalling a letter she had sent to her when, aged 13, and suffering from a thumb injury, she was stuck in a hotel room in Australia.
Navratilova wrote: "You still have lots of time. Your career is ahead of you. Don't worry, your time will come."
"I never forgot that letter, it consoled me and left a great impression." Graf said.
Hockey: Three of the most prolific attackers in Leinster hockey circles are on the move. Under-21 international Justin Sherriff is switching from Monkstown to Pembroke Wanderers, who have also recruited Irish trialist Gordon Elliott from Three Rock Rovers.
Cliff Bailey, another Monkstown member of the Leinster inter-provincial squad, is joining Avoca, whose coach this season will be Jonathan Cole.
Cycling: Ludo Dierckxsens of Belgium, kicked off out of the Tour de France after taking a hormone-based drug, has been banned from cycling for six months by the Belgian Cycling Federation.
Swimming: World champions Michael Klim, Ian Thorpe and Susie O'Neill risk losing any world record times if they wear revolutionary swim suits at next week's Pan Pacific Championship, Australia's head coach Don Talbot said yesterday.
The neck-to-ankle suits are yet to be accepted by world swimming body FINA, but Talbot said Klim, Thorpe and O'Neill intended to wear them at the championships in Sydney. Talbot said world records could be stripped if a swimmer wore the suit and it was later declared illegal by FINA because of buoyancy advantages.
