De La Hoya to Get $10 Million for Fight

Oscar De La Hoya, who carries a food stamp in his wallet as a reminder of how things once were, will earn $10 million for his April 12 fight against Pernell Whitaker.

“I’ll never forget where I came from,” De La Hoya, who is from East Los Angeles and now lives in Whittier, said of the food stamp. “It keeps my feet on the ground and my head on my shoulders.”

Whitaker will make at least $6 million for his World Boxing Council welterweight title defense at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The fight is being billed as one that will determine the best fighter “pound-for-pound” in the world.

Jurisprudence

Larry Spriggs, a member of the Lakers’ 1984-85 championship team who still lives in the Los Angeles area, said a story reporting that he had been charged with taking part in a nightclub brawl in Turkey last April was not true.

The Anatolia news agency reported last week that a Turkish prosecutor had charged Spriggs and Dallas Comegys, another former NBA player, in the incident that left one person dead.

Spriggs said, “I have not been charged with anything.”

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Ainsley Robinson, a 25-year-old Canadian Greco-Roman wrestler who competed in the Atlanta Olympics, has been arrested in Hamilton, Canada, on charges of conspiracy to traffic in crack cocaine and conspiracy to import hashish.

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Gerry Hart, a youth hockey coach who played for four teams in 15 NHL seasons, denied charges that he punched a 14-year-old opposing player and a referee after a weekend game in Smithfield, R.I. Hart, 49, told the Providence Journal-Bulletin that the player spat at him.

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Dallas police, criticized for naming Cowboys Erik Williams and Michael Irvin as suspects in a rape complaint by a woman now charged with perjury, have changed their policy and say they will wait until suspects are arrested or charged before identifying them.

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New York Yankee pitcher David Wells will not face charges in connection with a Jan. 12 fight outside a San Diego bar that left two men injured.

Wells and a friend said they fought with two men after they believed two other men had taken the keys to Wells’ car. Wells broke his left hand in the altercation.

He signed a $13.5-million, three-year contract with the Yankees last month.

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Heavyweight Andrew Golota is suing Riddick Bowe and Madison Square Garden over the riot after their first bout in July.

Golota and corner man Sam Colonna maintain that they were injured because Bowe was negligent in supervising his employees and because the Garden failed to provide adequate security.

Baseball

The Dodgers, who are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, have been selected to play in the annual Baseball Hall of Fame exhibition game in Cooperstown, N.Y., Aug. 4, but a scheduling conflict has to be resolved.

The Dodgers are expected to play the San Diego Padres at Cooperstown but would like their night game Aug. 3 against the Cubs in Chicago, scheduled for ESPN, to be a day game.

The Hall of Fame is hopeful of completing arrangements by the end of the week.

Baseball will honor Robinson throughout the season by having all players wear commemorative arm patches on their uniforms.

The Dodgers will also honor Robinson on April 5 in pregame ceremonies at Dodger Stadium.

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The New York Yankees will play an exhibition game at Grambling State University in Louisiana on March 13 to honor Tiger football Coach Eddie Robinson, who intends to retire after next season. Robinson has won 405 games in 56 seasons, an NCAA record.

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The Montreal Expos traded outfielder Yamil Benitez to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Melvin Bunch in an exchange of minor league prospects.

Swimming

China’s Lu Bin, competing for the first time outside her country after a two-year suspension for steroid use, won the 50-meter backstroke at a World Cup short course meet in Glasgow, Scotland, and insisted she was never a drug cheat.

“It’s a mystery to me how I tested positive,” Lu, 19, said after the race. “I didn’t use any drugs, and now I want to show my ability as a swimmer is natural.”

Miscellany

Southeastern Conference revenues grew 14%--to $62 million--last year, bolstered by steadily increasing payments from the league’s television contracts with CBS and ESPN, according to IRS documents filed by the SEC and reviewed by Associated Press.

The IAAF, track and field’s world governing body, dropped its appeal of a German court verdict that allowed Katrin Krabbe, the former sprint world champion, to seek compensation over a drug-related suspension.

Names in the News

Starting defensive end Cyron Brown has been dismissed from the Illinois football squad for violating team rules, new Coach Ron Turner said. . . . Former Washington coach Don James was named to the College Football Hall of Fame, along with former Georgia coach Wally Butts and former Tennessee coach Bowden Wyatt. . . . NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, 47, said he has a rare form of leukemia and is seeking to move his North Carolina trial on 15 federal counts linked to his car dealerships to Charlotte.