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Nephew charged in Berbick's murder
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP-CP) - A 20-year-old nephew of Trevor Berbick and a second man have been charged with murdering the former heavyweight boxing champion, police said Friday.

Harold Berbick and an 18-year-old man from the same eastern region were charged late Thursday and were to appear in court Friday, Const. Courtney Gibbs said. The body of Berbick, 51, was discovered in a church courtyard Oct. 28 in his home parish of Portland, about 130 kilometres east of the Jamaican capital. Berbick suffered blows to the back of his head. A five-centimetre-thick metal pipe found at the scene was believed to be the murder weapon. Berbick's nephew and the second man, Kenton Gordon, were detained in Kingston earlier this week. Trevor Berbick was the last boxer to face Muhammad Ali in the ring and briefly held the WBC heavyweight title before losing it to Mike Tyson in 1986. Berbick fought at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, defeated Ali by unanimous decision in the famed champion's final bout in 1981, and won the WBC heavyweight title in 1985 with a decision over Pinklon Thomas. But Tyson - who was then 20 - knocked out Berbick in the second round on Nov. 22, 1986, to become the youngest heavyweight champ. Berbick fought from 1976 to 2000, finishing with a record of 50-11 with one draw and 33 knockouts. Following his retirement from the ring, Berbick was convicted in the U.S. for sexual assault, grand theft and burglary. He was deported, but slipped back into Canada. Berbick moved to Montreal and resumed his boxing career, eventually regaining the Canadian title in 1999. When Canadian immigration officials learned of Berbick's presence in Canada, they ordered him deported to Jamaica because of his criminal record in the United States. Berbick appealed the deportation and was granted a five-year stay. That was revoked when Berbick failed to keep in touch with officials and for moving to British Columbia without notification. Berbick became a landed Canadian immigrant in 1979 shortly after beginning his pro boxing career while living in Halifax. He quickly won the Canadian heavyweight title, then moved to south Florida in the early 1980s just as his boxing career was taking off. He was stripped of his Canadian title in 1985 because of inactivity.

WBC judges to give scores during fights
DUBROVNIK, Croatia (AP) - The World Boxing Council plans to spice up its title fights by announcing the judges scores after the fourth and eighth rounds.

A three-judge panel currently declares the winner at the end of 12-round contests. The experimental move is aimed at reducing controversial decisions and keeping fans updated throughout the fight. WBC executive secretary Mauricio Sulaiman said the system would motivate fighters who are trailing on points to make late rallies. ''The fighter and the crowd will have the opportunity to know how they are doing, injecting more vigour during the course of a fight,'' he said. The new system will be used at a limited number of WBC fights, including two WBC title bouts in Tokyo on Nov. 13 - Hozumi Hasegawa's bantamweight defence against Genaro Garcia, and Eagle Kyowa's strawweight defence against Lorenzo Trejo. It doesn't affect boxing's other governing bodies. The WBC said Thailand and Mexico have also agreed to use the new rules in upcoming fights. Although the system was ratified by a majority of WBC delegates, national associations are free to decide whether or not to use it. ''The WBC is always changing, looking for better solutions,'' Sulaiman said. ''We have been doing research and looked at lots of issues for many years. There were even proposals that scores be shown after every round, but it did not pass.''

Briggs aims to return title to the U.S.
PHOENIX (AP) - All the major world heavyweight titles belong to fighters from former Soviet bloc countries.

Shannon Briggs thinks that's wrong. And the Brooklyn-born-and-bred Briggs plans to change it by defeating WBO champion Sergei Liakhovich, a native of Belarus, on Saturday night at Chase Field. It's the first heavyweight title fight ever staged in Arizona. "There shouldn't be a heavyweight champion in Russia," Briggs said at a news conference Wednesday at a local Mexican restaurant. "I'm going to bring the title back to New York, because the heavyweight title ought to be in America." Actually, one of the titles resides in nearby Scottsdale, where Liakhovich has lived since 1999. Liakhovich isn't an American citizen but hopes to become one someday. "Never mind America, this title is staying right here in Phoenix," said Liakhovich's manager, Ivaylo Gotzev. "This is a chance for Phoenix to see that they have a true champion who lives here." Aside from the debate over geography, Wednesday's news conference offered plenty of hype and a threat of violence. A brief scuffle broke out as Liakhovich (23-1, 14 KOs) and Briggs (47-4-1, 41 KOs) posed with promoter Don King in front of a mariachi band. The fighters were separated before either could throw a punch. "I feel like this guy is a very disrespectful guy," Briggs told the audience. "I heard he said some racial comments about me." In an interview later, Briggs said "someone told me" that Liakhovich had used a racial slur, which Gotzev denied. "If anybody knows Sergei, they know he's not a racist," Gotzev said. "(Briggs) is trying to pump himself up. He's distressed and he's worried about Sergei. There's absolutely no way anybody can prove that Sergei made a racist remark." Briggs, who turns 35 Dec. 4, acknowledged that "I'm going to do anything I can to get my blood boiling." Ranked No. 3 in the WBO, Briggs has won 11 straight fights, most of them against anonymous opponents. In his lone title fight, Briggs lost to Lennox Lewis by TKO in 1998. "I wish the fight was (Thursday) or Friday," said Briggs' trainer, Chuck McGregor. "He's almost over-ready." This is the first title defence for the 30-year-old Liakhovich, who took the belt from Lamon Brewster in a bout that went the distance April 1 in Cleveland. The soft-spoken Liakhovich wasn't interested in trading trash talk with the outspoken Briggs. "I am just telling you this: on Nov. 4, I will hunt you down," Liakhovich said to Briggs. The Liakhovich-Briggs fight is one of three title events on the nine-bout card. Houston resident Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz (30-0 with 15 KOs) will put his WBA lightweight title on the line against Fernando Angulo (18-3 with 11 KOs) of Venezuela. In the third title fight, Nicaraguan Luis Perez (24-1 with 15 KOs) will defend his IBF junior bantamweight championship against Mexico's Ricardo Vargas (39-12-3 with 13 KOs).

Jones, Jr. to defend title versus Siaca
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - WBO NABO Light Heavyweight champion Roy Jones, Jr. will defend his title against Manny Siaca of Puerto Rico at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia on Saturday, December 9. The 37-year-old Jones (50-4-0, 38 KOs) won the title last July with a decision over Prince Badi Ajamu in Boise, Idaho. Siaca, who is currently ranked number two by the WBA in the Light Heavyweight division, has compiled a record of 2-1-0 with two KO's since moving up to the Light Heavyweight division in 2005. Additional undercard bouts will be announced at a future date.

Police make arrest in Berbick murder
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - Police have arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with the killing of former heavyweight boxing champion Trevor Berbick, who was bludgeoned and left to die in a church courtyard next to his family's home in a rural Jamaican hamlet.

Several residents of the remote farming community in Norwich district identified the suspect as a man who was involved in a land dispute with the troubled boxing champion, but police spokesman Les Green on Sunday refused to name the arrested man before his arraignment, which has not yet been scheduled. "We have some very good information from witnesses and we have recovered a weapon we believe was used in the assault," said Green, a Scottish detective who was appointed as the violence-wracked nation's assistant police commissioner earlier this year. Green would not say what kind of weapon was recovered or where it was found. Police have not disclosed a possible motive for the homicide or if others were believed involved in the slaying of Berbick, who is best remembered as boxing legend Muhammad Ali's final opponent in 1981. Investigators arrested the suspect several hours after Berbick's body was discovered around 6:30 a.m. Saturday in his hometown parish of Portland, roughly 130 kilometres east of the capital, Kingston. Berbick, who was believed to be 52, was pronounced dead by a local doctor in the church courtyard next to the three-bedroom house where he was raised. Det. Sgt. Kenneth Bailey of the Port Antonio police station in Portland told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper that Berbick was last seen alive early Saturday at a nearby bar. "The body had four wounds to the back of the head, as he was probably attacked from behind," Bailey told the newspaper. "The impression and damage done to the skull have indicated that a machete may have been used by his attacker or attackers to murder him." After beating Ali in 1981 in an unanimous decision in the Bahamas, Berbick went on to win the WBC heavyweight title fours years later in a decision over Pinklon Thomas. His reign was short, however, as a 20-year-old Mike Tyson knocked Berbick out in the second round of their bout on Nov. 22, 1986, to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history. The Jamaican national fought from 1976 to 2000, finishing with a record of 50-11 with one draw and 33 knockouts. He also fought for his Caribbean homeland at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Following his retirement from the ring, Berbick was beset by legal problems and had U.S. convictions that included sexual assault, grand theft and burglary. In 1991, Berbick was convicted of misdemeanour assault for attacking his former business manager, who testified the boxer put a gun to her head and accused her of stealing money from him. The following year, he was convicted of raping a family baby sitter in Florida and was sentenced to four years in prison. He also was convicted in 1992 of second-degree grand theft for forging his ex-wife's signature to get a mortgage on a home. After serving 15 months in prison, Berbick was deported from the United States. He went to Canada, where he lived for a time following the 1976 Olympics. He eventually moved back to the U.S., but was deported a second time.

Cintron stops Suarez for welterweight title
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Kermit Cintron stopped Mark Suarez in the fifth round to win the vacant IBF welterweight title Saturday night.

After building a lead the previous two rounds with single power shots, Cintron combined rights and left hooks to the head to stagger Suarez in the fifth. Cintron's combinations eventually forced Suarez to kneel and take a knockdown in the bout at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. When Suarez reached his feet after the eight count, Cintron (27-1, 25 KOs) was ready with additional combinations. Cintron, a native of Puerto Rico, continued to stun Suarez, of Riverside, Calif., with rights to the head. A defenceless Suarez (25-3) stood near the ropes as Cintron scored with a flurry of unanswered shots to the head, forcing referee Frank Santore to stop the fight at 2:53 of the round. The IBF belt became vacant when former champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. renounced his title to fight a more lucrative bout against WBC champion Carlos Baldomir Nov. 4 in Las Vegas. Cintron and Suarez weighed in at 146 pounds for the bout.