Bowe’s Odd Story Continues With Retirement at 29

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe retired Wednesday, apparently ending a sometimes bizarre career that featured a paraglider, a riot, two successful defenses by disqualification and an aborted stint in the Marines.

Bowe, the last undisputed heavyweight champion, will become a goodwill ambassador for HBO’s boxing community service program. He ended his career with a 40-1 record, with 32 knockouts.

“Although my time inside the ring has come to an end, it’s just the start of an exciting and important career for me,” Bowe said.

Bowe, 29, will be remembered as the man who dumped the World Boxing Council championship belt in a London trash can when the WBC demanded he fight Lennox Lewis; and as the man who won his last two fights against Andrew Golota on low-blow disqualifications, one of them touching off a chair-swinging riot in Madison Square Garden.

He will also be remembered for a three-fight series with World Boxing Assn. champion Evander Holyfield in which Bowe first won, then lost his title in a fight interrupted by a paraglider who landed in the ring at Caesars Palace.

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WBC heavyweight champion Lewis will defend his title against fellow Briton Henry Akinwande in Atlantic City, N.J., on July 12. . . . The Washington Post reported that former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson recently wed Monica Turner, his longtime girlfriend, in Bethesda, Md.

Tennis

Second-seeded Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden was upset by hard-serving Sandon Stolle of Australia, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, and sixth-seeded Alex O’Brien lost to Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, in the second round of the AT&T; Challenge on clay in Duluth, Ga.

Defending champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario lost to 74th-ranked Petra Langrova of the Czech Republic, 7-5, 6-3, in the Rexona Cup on clay in Hamburg, Germany.

The Spaniard, ranked No. 1 nearly two years ago, has fallen to No. 5 and has yet to reach a final in 1997.

In a match delayed more than two hours because of rain, Marc Goellner of Germany upset third-seeded Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, 6-3, 6-4, in the BMW Open at Munich. . . . The U.S. Open will award prize money totaling $11,821,890 this year, a record sum representing an increase of 8.54% over last year’s prize pool. . . . Martina Hingis, the world’s No. 1 woman player, has made her first tentative return to training since injuring her knee on a fall from a horse and requiring surgery a week ago.

Jurisprudence

A civil lawsuit by a woman who claims Vancouver Grizzly guard Anthony Peeler bit her and pointed a pistol at her has been moved to St. Louis County Circuit Court. Peeler has denied the allegations. He is on five years probation because of the 1992 incident after pleading guilty of carrying a concealed weapon, false imprisonment and third-degree assault.

Wayne Simmons, a linebacker with the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, was convicted of driving under the influence in Hilton Head Island, S.C. He had his license suspended for six months and was fined $200, plus $176 in court costs.

Football

The Dallas Cowboys restructured tight end Jay Novacek’s contract to create room under their salary cap, lowering his base salary of $1.25 million, even though they don’t know whether he’ll play this season.

Baltimore Raven center Wally Williams ruptured his right Achilles’ tendon during a team workout and is expected to be out six months. . . . The Miami Dolphins said wide receiver Daryl Frazier underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove torn cartilage in his left knee. . . . After reviewing game tapes, the NCAA has stripped Hartwick (N.Y.) College running back A.J. Pittorino of the Division III single-game rushing record apparently set against Waynesburg (Pa.) College last season, dropping him from 443 yards to 436 yards, five yards behind the mark of Marietta College’s Dante Brown.

Soccer

Paraguay took a six-point lead in the South American qualifying tournament for the 1998 World Cup by defeating Uruguay, 3-1, at Asuncion.

Paraguay is 7-1-2 in qualifiers for 23 points, far ahead of most of the rest of the nine-team field. The top four finishers, plus world champion Brazil, will qualify for the finals in France.

Uruguay is 4-5-1.

Germany got second-half goals from Oliver Bierhoff and Mario Basler in a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Bremen to climb into second place in Europe’s Group Nine of World Cup qualifying.

Another three-time World Cup winner, Italy, defeated Poland, 3-0, in Naples.

Romario scored three goals as Brazil routed Mexico, 4-0, in an exhibition before 51,500 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Basketball

UCLA has agreed to play in the 1998 Wooden Classic. No date or matchups for the 1998 game have been announced. In this year’s event on Dec. 6 at the Pond, UCLA plays New Mexico and Stanford faces Georgia. . . . Stanford’s 5-foot-10 Brevin Knight won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award for the nation’s outstanding small male senior player. . . . As expected, point guard Baron Davis has signed a letter of intent with UCLA. . . . Coach Bill Herrion was given a contract extension by Drexel through 2003.

Miscellany

Marty McInnis and Paul Ranheim scored in the final period to lead the United States to a 4-2 victory over Italy and a probable berth in the medal round of the World Hockey Championships in Finland. . . . European double sprint champion Irina Privalova will miss the Athens world track and field championships in August because of a leg injury, a Russian athletic federation official said. . . . China won its second title at the table tennis World Championships, defeating France, 3-1, in the men’s team final in Manchester, England.