The Toronto Star from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 18

X4 Tuesday January 14 1992 THE TORONTO STAR i Unison fjoses bid to fight fer title ByRickraser TORONTO STAR Scotty (Bulldog) hopes fora world title bout have beenput on hold but the Edmonton native is confident succeed when the opportunity does come Olson stopped Pedro eliciano in the ninth round in Reno Jan 5to win the United States flyweight champi onship and it appeared his next bout would be against Interna tional Boxing ederation champi on Dave McAuley next month However the IB has ordered McAuley to make a title defence against the No 1 contender Rodol "aM fo Blanco of Co R'' lombia 'tC' really dis fc appointed I was psyched up over 1 the chance of get ting a world title Olson said Olson jn a telephone in terview from his training base in Las Vegas only have to wait for a few months and not long when you consider in the olden days guys had to wait for years to get a title Lee Samuels publicist for Top Rank Inc whicn handles Olson said another possible opponent for Olson is IB light flyweight champion Michael Carbajal goal is to win championships in four different weight Samuels said a chance he could move up to flyweight and fight Scotty for USBA champi Olson and Carbajal each have 20 0 pro records and Olson wouldjump at the opportunity to fight Carbajal They met three times as ama teurs and Carbajal won twice in cluding a victory over Olson in the 1988 Seoul Olympics with Carbajal has been on my mind almost every day since the Olson said better believe game for that Ironically Carbajal also is with Top Rank told Scotty not to get too friendly with Carbajal because probably end up fighting each Samuels said bajal thinks Scotty will be easy pickings We disagree more really wants Carbajal He talks about it just about every Olson believes McAuley might be a tougher opponent than Car bajal rMcAuley is a big guy for a he said "Carbajal is a very good technician but I be lieve my strength and power will wear him down and stop him in the later Samuels said superb performance against elicianoproved he is ready for a worldtitle shot fought a vety intelligent Samuels said of Olson Sherry set: It appears Bur Dan Sherry has cleared the last hurdle to a bout against Nigel Benn in London eb 10 Sherry was under suspension by the Ontario Boxing Commis sfon since being stopped by Mon Otis Grant Sept 27 in a match for Canadian middleweight title A 60 day suspension is manda tory if a boxer is stopped but the suspension was extended until Sherry filed proper medical re ports Ken Hayashi assis tant boxing commissioner told Canadian Press yesterday that the commission has now received medical reports and that I the ban has been lifted WISHUL THINKING: Jennifer Capriati signals to the crowd that she could be No 1 soon after knocking out Natalia Medvedeva 6 2 6 0 In first round match a hi wli i 1 I I' IM Aft Seles shoots down opponent and Madonna comparisons MELBOURNE (AP) Monica Seles laughed at the caricature her savagely twisted face on body In it she carried a racket and a long whip she exclaimed putting her hand to her lips in embarrassment over the taoloid TENNIS sketch her car toonist father surely did not draw would real ly like it if peo ple could get away from the Madonna (comparison) because not me" Seles said personality and everything is so different ii 7 said I liked one of her songs but that mean I want to be her You know not going to behave like her and dress like Seles barely 18 and skinny and giggly as ever looked rela tively sedate in her orange and white tennis togs as she Began defence of her Australian Open title with a perfunctory 6 2 6 0 romp yesterday over Akiko Kiji muta a three time loser in the first round here Seles who had been learning a bit of serve and volley tennis before her injury dropped her service in the first anti seventh games of the first set as she oc casionally experimented with forays toward the net Though she won $25 million last year while taking all three Grand Slam events she entered Seles shake the images that have grown around her the wannabe Madonna the mys tery girl the calculating conniv er has the smile of a child the charm of a princess and the eye of an one Melbourne newspaper wrote though in truth the only time Seles casts an evil look is when whacking a ball She thought about that de scription and laughed again rolling her eyebrows as her blue gray eyes sparkled only mystery that people might think was because I pull ed out of Wimbledon and I come forward with an ex Seles said I think a person at age 17 where happened so fast and then not being able to play few MET JRT 'wI' HL AP PHOTOS GRITTY LOOK: Monica Seles who has the eye of en assassin according to a Melbourne newspaper easi ly dispatches her opponent In the Australian Open Wimbledon be judged mysterious just for that It an easy decision or an easy time for Two Canadians saw first round action Rene Alter of To ronto whipped Barbara Paulus of Austria 6 4 6 0 in a match but Daniel Nestor of To ronto was eliminated from the draw losing 6 4 6 4 7 5 to Stefano Pescosolido of Italy In the draw top seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden ripped doubles partner Jeremy Bates of Britain 6 4 6 2 6 4 No 2 Boris Becker of Germany steamed 25 aces past Jan Gunnarsson of Sweden winning 6 1 6 4 6 2 ifth seeded Ivan Lendl a two time Australian Open champion beat native son Rich ard romberg 6 4 6 2 6 2 1 American Jeff Tarango came up with one of the only first round upsets coming back from two sets down to oust ninth seeded Petr Korda of Czechoslo vakia 4 6 4 6 6 3 6 3 6 3 His next match pairs him against fellow Stanford alumnus Patrick McEnroe who beat Mas simo Cierro 6 3 6 4 6 4 No 6 seed Pete Sampras of the United States withdrew with a sore shoulder Sprague foiled in bid to gain catching time By Neil MacCarl TORONTO STAR Things just never seem to work out as planned for the Blue Ed Sprague Sprague 24 had planned to re place Randy Knorr with the Lara Cardinales in the Venezuelan league after Christmas to gain some catching experience However he had some ham string problems while working out at nome in California and never got clear ance to go Meanwhile Lara has failed to make the playoffs even af ter climbing over the 500 mark following a slow start pulled a hamstring in a game in Anaheim in September and I thought it would clear up after the Sprague said in a telephone interview I started working out again I had some tightness I could do everything but the tightness was still there and I want to go down there and re injure been getting therapy and playing some games three or four times a week with a lot of other minor leaguers He will head for lorida in ad vance of the late ebruary report ing date think in a real good he admits think they want me in the backup type role I was in last Sprague who played for Stan two time College World Series champions and the US Olympic team was the top pick in the June 1988 draft After two seasons the high command decided his future was as a catcher rather than at third base He worked on the conversion in the lorida Instruc tional League in 1990 and then went to Syracuse for experience He got off to a great start and was leading the International League in runs batted in when he was promoted because of the in jury to Kelly Gruber and wound up staying even after Gruber re turned to the lineup He was hitting 281 at the all star break with two homers and 15 RBIs In the second half he got only 39 at bats Last minute filing: So far none of the nine Blue Jays with the necessary service require ments to qualify for salary arbi tration has filed They have until midnight to night and the last couple years agents have waited until the last minute to file Then the demands and the team offers will be exchanged on riday The Jays who are eligible are pitchers Todd Stottlemyre David Wells Duane Ward and Al Leiter catcher Greg Myers infielders Robbie Alomar and Manuel Lee and outfielders Devon White and Candy Maldonado Key improvement: trainer Tommy Craig is woHong with pitchers Jimmy Key and Mike Timlin in Dunedin Key suf fered a severe ankle sprain when he fell from a ladder at his home in lorida had the cast removed and his ankle was put in a rocker boot but now he has progressed to a compression Timlin who had a fine rookie season was on the disabled list in August because of a tired el bow Dr James Andrews did an arthroscopic examination in mid October He is in lorida already and he started playing catch last riday Snyder invited: Coty Sny der who was given his uncondi tional release by the Jays at the end of last season was signed yesterday to a minor league con tract by the San rancisco Gi ants who invited him to Their spring training camp 1 Met moves: Mel stottlemyre Jr the son of the Mets pitching coach and brother of Blue Jays pitcher Todd agreed yesterday with New York on a minor league contract with Tidewater of the Class AAA International League Pitchers Mike Birkbeck and Tom iler and infielder Steve Springer also agreed to minor league contracts with Tidewater WITH ILES ROM ASSOCIATED PRESS Tracy gets drive in 24 hourrace By rank Orr TORONTO STAR Paul Tracy of West Hill is the latest addition to the contingent of Canadian race drivers in top cars for the Rolex 24 At Daytona Tracy will co drive a Toyota Eagle MKIII for the Dan Gurney team of California in the 24 hour race eb 1 2 at the lorida track Juan Manuel angio II of Argentina and Andy Wallace of the US will share the driving witn Tracy angio and Wallace had the fastest times in a recent test session for the race which is under the banner of the International Motor Sports Association US drivers Jones Rocky Moran and Mark Dismore are the drivers in the second Gurney team Eagle Toyota A top Canadian driver as a teenager and winner of a Can Am big sports car race at 16 Tracy 23 won the American Racing Series (now irestone Indy Lights) series in 1990 with victories in nine of 14 races He signed with the Penske Racing team as test driver tor their Indy car program plus a ride in selected races He made his Indy car debut in the Marlboro 500 at Michigan Speedway in August' qualified seventh but suffered a broken leg in a fourth lap crash Tracy returned in the October race at Nazareth Pa and finished eighth Scott Goodyear of Willowdale (Jaguar) and Jer emy Dale of Toronto (Nissan) are tne other area drivers with definite entries in the Daytona race BASEBALL MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SPORTS CARD SHOW WED JAN 15 6 10 PM otTRAVELODGE HOTEL 8 HWY 401 Victoria Park SO ADM WITH THIS AD s2 ADM NO AD rw Hrfy Draw Wax Bi SpwtMrds Coming Shows Sun Jan 1 9 at HOLIDAY INN HOTEL ETOBICOKE I SUN JAN 26 HOWARD JOHNSON HOTEL OAKVILLE BI JAN 31 BEST WESTERN HOTEL BBANTOBD OR MOIE INO CALL 298 0020 or 402 8289 SkyBox for Sale Lease Sharing Luxury private SkyBox for sale or lease sharing 28 person capacityAvailable for all SkyDome sporting events special events and corpo rate meetings Please call (416) MOOAOtOOWOOOWitMO KELLY PROMOTIONS: 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