Boxing champ calls it quits after fan dies in a brawl

MANCHESTER: Paul Jones, a former WBO light middleweight champion, has quit boxing following the death of a man during a brawl between rival fans at his fight last weekend.

The 32-year-old Jones lost in the seventh round to Jason Matthews in a Commonwealth title fight in Oldham on Saturday night. The brawl erupted after the fight. “I just thought I don’t want any part of this,” Jones said on Tuesday. “If this is what comes with boxing I’m out. I’ll never fight again.”

Swede Ravelli hangs his boots

STOCKHOLM: Goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli, who earned a world record 143 caps for Sweden, announced he had decided to retire after 22 years in professional soccer. Ravelli, 39, has been considering his future since he left US Major League soccer club Tampa Bay Mutiny last November after a year with the club.Ravelli’s goalkeeping heroics helped Sweden reach the semifinals of the 1994 World Cup in the United States and earned the player a placeon the short list for Fifa’s all stars selection from the tournament. He made his senior international debut in 1981 and played his last match for Sweden in a 1-0 win over Estonia in October 1997.

US Senator Mitchell flays IOC

NEW YORK: Saying “the Olympic flame must burn clean once again,” a special US panel has condemned bribery in the awarding of the Games and said the Olympic movement should be reformed from top to bottom. The panel’s head, former US Sen George Mitchell, recommended that the governing International Olympic Committee IOC become a more open and accountable body with respect to its structure, finances and the way members are elected.

The group of lawyers, consultants and a union negotiator, was established by the United States Olympic Committee USOC in December following allegations that bribes helped bring the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City, Utah.

— Agencies