The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 77

gljf Atlanta AND CONSTITUTION F-3 BOXING AUTO RACING FEB. 22, 1990 seAIR Charlotte negotiating to purcha Holy field has his own plans for June fight Tyson 's sister dies, B6 ByJeffSchuKz Staff writer By Bill Robinson Staff writer Atlanta International Raceway (AIR) chairman of the board Walter Nix denied Wednesday the imminent sale of the facility in Hampton, saying "No deal has been closed." Schrader injured in crash Ken Schrader, who won the Daytona 500 pole and the Busch Clash, was injured in a wreck Wednesday at Rockingham, N.C.. Officials at Richmond County Hospital said he complained of soreness of the upper chest shoulders and neck. The accident occurred during a practice at the 1.017-mjle North Carolina Motor Speedway, where the Goodwrench 200500 double-header is scheduled March 4. Bill Robinson corporation.

Nix and DeWitt have owned majority interest since 1974. Nix is from Buford, while DeWitt, who also serves as president of North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, is from El-lerbe, N.C. Two NASCAR Winston Cup events are staged at AIR each year the Motor-craft 500 and the Atlanta Journal 500. Nix rescued the 1.522-mile track from bankruptcy in 1970, Recurring rainouts had plagued the track since it opened July 13, 1960. Seventeen of AIR's first 23 events were rained out and attempts at staging Indy Car races were unsuccessful.

In recent years Nix has been in failing health following a tractor accident Other prospective buyers reportedly include International Speedway owned by the France family that also runs NASCAR. Bruton Smith, owner of Charlotte Mo-- tor Speedway, reportedly is interested in purchasing AIR for $12 million to $15. million, and one source close to the negotiations said earlier Wednesday- that i "only a small snag or two" prevented the deal from being complete. Smith reportedly was negotiating with Nix and AIR president L.G. DeWitt late Wednesday night "We've talked to a number of people, including Charlotte, but as of this date no deal has been closed with anyone," said Nix.

The Associated Press Joining Smith in Charlotte to meet with Nix and DeWitt was Smith's attorney, William Poe. AIR is a publicly held I While Buster Douglas continued to sample the best restaurants and talk shows, stepping on a red carpet at every turn, Evander Holyfield began piecing tbgether a much different itinerary Tednesday. "My first priority now is just to get in shape," said the Atlanta heavyweight, trying to block out the soap opera-like events swirling around him. "And when rjiy opportunity comes, I'm going to cash in." Holyfleld's opportunity to win the heavyweight title likely will come in Sep-. tember, assuming Douglas, the new champion, sticks by his plans to make the No.

1 contender his first title defense. I Douglas signed a conditional contract Wednesday afternoon to make that' defense in September at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas for $25 million, The Los Angeles Times reported. Alan Feldman, i spokesman for the hotel, told the Times that the contract was contingent on Douglas breaking his promotional con- An itriVt fi Vi-ner Ua coil Via MirarfA White's out, fluorescence in for sporting goods Super Show Evander Holyfield said waiting until Sep-tember to fight Buster Douglas would be too long a layoff. Douglas manager John Johnson or Wynn, but added "I don't want to talk to Arum. I wouldn't believe anything that guy had to say anyway." Meanwhile, Holyfield asked trainer Lou Duva to fly to Atlanta from New Jersey Wednesday so the two could set up a workout schedule.

It will go something like this: Holyfield will go- fo Las. Vegas March 4 for two weeks to begin light sparring. He also will tutor former Olympic-teammate Meldrick Taylor, who will meet Julio Cesar Chavez for the super lightweight title March 17. After two weeks in Atlanta, Holy-field will return to his pre-fight training base in Houston. The only interruption in training before his next fight will be a 10- or 12-round charity exhibition against two or three sparring partners at The Omni.

It is likely to be held April 14 or 16 and benefit the Amateur Boxing Federation. Duva said, "I might try to get Bill Cosby to go. a few rounds with If Holyfield can't persuade Douglas to fight in June and it seems doubtful Duva will set up a bout that month against another opponent Holyfield hasn't fought since defeating Alex Stewart Nov. 4. Duva said only, "The fight will come against someone in the top 10, or close to it I'm not going to put him in there against a killer but I don't think there's a killer in the first 10 rankings anyway." Older athletes targeted, CI By Terence Moore Staff writer To keep the Super Show from becoming a Super Flop over the next three days, organizers for the annual sporting goods exhibition worked in harmony with machinery Wednesday on the bottom level of the World Con-.

gress Center. If a tractor wasn't delivering material to erect another of the 5,400 display booths, somebody was. twisting a football, T-shirt or golf club so the name of the manufacturer was visible to passers-by. Over in the Sportcraft section, Mike Sloane, from the company's headquarters in Bergenfield, N.J., was unloading large cartons stuffed with items ranging from billiard balls to table-tennis paddles. "We have about 400 different items in all," said Sloan, balancing two soccer balls in his hands.

"We're mostly into lawn games. But we also sell crazy and innovative types of games that nobody really needs, but games that everybody seems to buy anyway." There is the Ball-netto, for instance, which consists of an' expandable net and something that resembles a tennis smacked in the head with one of Worth's Reduced Injury Factor (RIF) baseballs isn't as likely to suffer serious -injury as someone hit with a competitor's brand. "This is mainly for Little said Worth spokesperson Ted Savage, from Stone Mountain. "Our ball is just as lively as the others, but it's built in such a way that it will cause somebody who is hit by it to receive only a fractured cheekbone, perhaps, instead of a concussion." There were no sports celebrities on hand Wednesday as the displays were being erected, but starting today around 180 stars from various sports are expected to push products they endorse. Many of the athletes, and buyers probably will spend some of their time around the adidas booth, where one of the flashiest shows will be staged.

Adidas representatives have constructed an elaborate stage that features strobe lights, a large sound system and a gigantic trestle that is shaped like an that rotates from below to above the stage during a fashion show. The performance features more i than a dozen dancers clad in adidas at-' tire ranging from bicycle shorts to sweat pants to sneakers. ball. When the net is yanked open, the ball on top of the net is designed to fly into the Ball-netto of somebody a few yards away. For Sportcraft as is the case for the more than 1,800 other companies represented at the Super Show this year, the buzz word, is "fluorescence." White soccer balls are almost yesterday's news.

Even most of the basketballs around this year's Spalding booth feature every color in the rainbow, plus three. Although the public is not invited to the Super Show, those involved with the Worth company did more Wednesday than make sure their aluminum bats sparkled under the World Congress Center lights to better appeal to the 85,000 potential buyers from 65 countries expected to attend. Worth officials hustled to construct a miniature batting cage in their booth that featured a pitching machine and the head of a dummy. After a flick of a switch, the machine will whirl a specially designed Worth baseball at the dummy's head. The objective of the display is to show potential buyers that a batter uavt niui asui ixiug nv gaiu uiv Joined Douglas Wednesday in filing suit against King for that I Asked what this turn of events means, Ken Sanders, Holyfleld's manager said: Beats me.

I understand Bob Arum is the (jo-promoter, too. I can't believe it They haven't made us an offer. I don't know what's, going on. I don't know exactly 1'here we stand legally." Sanders speculated that Arum insti-ated the conditional contract to force Holyfield to make a decision with the Ijiopes he'll turn it down, leaving an opening for Douglas to fight Arum client George Foreman. 'The deal is that Bob Arum is the sneak in this whole thing," Sanders said.

Sanders said that he would be agreeable to the conditional contract if Holy-field receives between $714 million to $10 million. He reiterated that he would take the fight to purse bids if he wasn't pleased with the offer. I He said he hopes to talk today with TMSBt a ATLANTA SCORE PHONE 1 I SCORES AS THEY HAPPEN Super (800)327-1563 KfiSi (2121 690-7500 (- V- 1 'Yd mm 1r mrnW VgP One of the nation's largest liquidators has been commissioned to liquidate the entire 18.000,000.00 inventory of a fine, hand-tailored brand name suit manufacturer at wholesale and below. Sold Nationally $250, tteucfofofi 99. 0 99.00 $300 $300 te MorfeiM WOOL BLENDS HAND-TAILORED BLENDS 100 WOOL WORSTED HAND TAILORED ALL WOOL $119.

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