Newsday from New York, New York • 75

Death Knell Pre With a New Look at the Top BOXING During the last year the demise of the International Boxing Federation seemed imminent Bob Lee president and founder of the IBF was on trial for racketeering and charged with accepting bribes to rig the ratings After a lengthy and well-publicized trial Lee was convicted bn lesser charges but still sentenced to nearly two years in prison and banned from oozing In addition the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was signed into law by President Clinton and one of its focuses was to strip organizations such as the IBF of their power But the IBF the only major governing body based in the United states seems to be operating better than ever A federal monitor has been overseeing the IBFs day-to-day operations in Newark In six months though control likely will be turned over to new president Hiawatha Knight a former commissioner from Michigan and rhnmpinnuhip chairman Joe Dwyer a boxing judge and retired New York City policeman from Floral Park "No one can dispute what went on" Dwyer said "That was a letdown to many people I had the highest regard for Bob background in law enforcement has given the IBF a much-needed dose of legitimacy In addition to being a boxing judge who has scored 30 world-title bouts he was chief inspector of the New York State Athletic Commission from 1983-95 Dwyer 62 was appointed to his new role in July and he personally approves all championship fights and is a member of the raf was still a boxing judge he ratings have to have susi at some of the fighters wl Dwyer said "All ratings worldwide are lut Ithi ers But I think you are going to see a more level swer to anyone who is One of moves was to vacate certain titles and mandatory ratings In the current IBF rankings the No 1 position in nine of the 17 weight divisions is vacant That was done to promote activity to get fighters to Dwyer said "You reach the No 1 spot now through attrition To get there it will take a fight between two fighters in the top mmmm five The winner gets the spot That might drive people away because of the Organizations such as the IBF WBC WBA and WBO flourish by imposing a sanctioning fee on the fighters who participate in world title fights It is generally 2 or 3 percent from each purse The governing bodies have long been vilified for splintering world titles and producing shoddy rat-been easily manipulated erful promoters the Ali act include the establishment of ratings criteria and the empowerment of state athletic commissions which would reduce the role sanctioning bodies play in assigning officials in world-title fights The Ali act has good Dwyer said "But for the most part the people who run the state commissions are political hacks with no boxing background Can boxing police itself? Not fully I think we need oversight on the federal level with input from people in Quick Jabs After winning the WBA middleweight championship May 12 Felix Trinidad has vacated the junior-middleweight title The IBFs top two contenders Winky Wright and Robert Frazier will meet for the vacant title Duva Boxing will promote a card June 26 on the deck of the USS Intrepid at Pier 86 in Manhattan The main event is a 1 0-round feather- rit bout between David Toledo of Paterson NJ Victor Polo playing field in our ratings Now Til personally an River Plate Stays Alive in Copa Catolica (Chile) Group two: Flamengo (Brazil) Olimpia (Paraguay) Nacional (Uruguay) Argentina qualifier Group three: Corinthians (Brazil) Cruzeiro (Brazil) Inoependiente (Argentina) Colo Colo (Chile) Group four: Sao Paulo (Brazil) Penarol (Uruguay) two Argentina qualifiers Group five: Palmeiras (Brazil) Gremio (Brazil) River Plate (Argentina) Universidad de Chile (Chile) The Copa Merconorte a corresponding tournament that indudes northern South American Central American and North American teams is expected to invite two representatives from Mqjor League Soccer when its draw is made Mexico Final Pachuca grabbed a slender 2-1 lead in the first leg of the Mexican final Thursday night but Santos has home advantage when the teams meet Sunday afternoon in the finale A disputed penalty kick gave Pachuca the edge after both teams scored in the opening five minutes of the match Trlfecta for Liverpool Liverpool completed a remarkable triple when it outlasted Alaves of Spain in UEFA Cup final The English team had already won the English League Cup and the English FA Cup before an own goal in overtime gave it a 5-4 victory over the Spaniards The quarterfinal pairings are set for the South American dub championship after the completion of the second round of the annual Copa Libertadores With River Plate staging a minor comeback to remain in the hunt for top prize in the Latin American dub game it can be argued that the final eight is the strongest in many years Heading the quarterfinal list is a clash between Brazilian power Vasco da Gama and defending Libertadores champion Boca Juniors of Argentina There is also an all-Brazilian match between Palmeiras and Cruzeiro Completing the lineup will be Rosario Central of Argentina against perennial Co- WORLD lombia power America de Cali and River Plate facing ovAObn tm Trecfcw first-leg defidt to crush Emelec of Ecuador 5-0 Thursday night to earn its place in the next round Cruz Azul also used home advantage to rebound from a first-leg loss defeating Cerro Por-teno of Paraguay 3-1 in Mexico City for a 4-3 aggregate success Palmeiras needed penalty kicks to eliminate its neighboring Paulis ta League team Sao Caetano after the teams exchanged 1-0 home wins success was impressive the Colombians defeating Nacional of Montevideo 5-1 on aggregate winning both legs of the series Only Cruzeiro equaled that performance as it took both matches from El Nacional of Ecuador for a 6-2 overall This Week on TV Copa Mercosul The draw for the 2001 Copa Mercosul features some big-name dubs but the made-for-television event designed to rival the Copa Libertadores has had limited success One problem: Teams have not always fielded their strongest sides because of conflicts with their own national league competitions The groups: Group one: Vasco da Gama (Brazil) Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) Boca Juniors (Argentina) Universidad 230 pm ESPN2 UEFA Champions League Final Bayern Munich vs Valencia CF.