Guyana’s ‘Vicious’ Vivian Harris overcame a tough challenge from Mexico’s Jose Lazcano to win their World Boxing Council (WBC) super lightweight title eliminator on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. Earning the verdict from all three judges in a competitive battle at the Mandalay Bay Resort, Harris has now secured a shot at the current WBC super lightweight champion Junior Witter of Britain. Harris won by three points on two of the judges’ cards and by one point on the third to improve his ring record to 27 wins (18 knockouts) against two losses and one draw, while Lazcano slipped to 37 wins (27 knockouts) against three losses and one draw.

Guyana’s former world boxing champion Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite returned to winning form by beating Mexico’s Gustavo Enriquez on a seventh-round technical knockout in their non-title cruiserweight bout recently in Kissimmee, Florida. Inactive since September 2005, the 31-year-old ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite overcame a spirited challenge from Enriquez and pounded his opponent into submission at two minutes 56 seconds of round seven at the Silver Spurs Arena. "I am excited, I did not fight in like 16 months, so it was really good to be fighting again," Braithwaite said. With the win, Braithwaite improved his record to 22 wins (18 knockouts) against two defeats, and Enriquez slipped to 15 wins (12 knockouts) against seven defeats. The result also broke a two-fight losing streak for the former World Boxing Council (WBC) cruiserweight king.

‘Sixhead’, Dalton to fight third time

GUYANA’S first world boxing champion Andrew `Sixhead’ Lewis will make a return to the ring on April 7 for his third consecutive fight with national junior middleweight champion `Deadly’ Denny Dalton. The fight, dubbed `The Conclusion’ is being promoted by McNeal Enterprise in conjunction with two other promoters and will be held at the National Park. Promoter Odinga Lumumba declared that it will be ‘Sparks in the Park’ when the two meet for the third time. "This is something Andrew Lewis wants to do. He feels that there is incomplete business between himself and Dalton, and there is. He wants this fight since he thinks that he owes something to the public and the public wants answers," Lumumba said.

Laila Ali stops Guyanese O’Neil in first round

Laila Ali towers over O’Neil who was floored in 56 seconds of the first round

Laila Ali wasted little time in retaining her WBC and WIBA world titles, knocking out Gwendolyn O'Neil of Guyana at 56 seconds of the first round Saturday in their super middleweight fight in Johannesburg. The 29-year-old daughter of boxing great Muhammad Ali headlined the first women's professional boxing match in South Africa. She improved to 24-0 with 21 knockouts. "I have my cell phone back in the dressing room, and I will be giving my father a call," she said.

THE CRICKET PUNDIOT

THE THREE HUNDRED CLUB

In one hundred and thirty one years of Test cricket, there were over 2,240 players, half of them bowlers and only eighteen of these have taken 300 or more wickets. Cricketers refer to this small and important group of players as the 300 Club.

Gayle, star of the year
by PHILIP SPOONER

CHRIS GAYLE is the No.2 all-rounder in limited-overs cricket, but in the Caribbean, he's our No.1 man.

On Monday night the flamboyant Jamaican showcased his superstar appeal when he graced the stage in a black pin-striped suit to collect his International-Player-of-The-Year award at the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) awards ceremony. The 27-year-old arrived late at the Sherbourne Conference Centre, but he was in time to collect his trophy from Larry Howai, chief executive of sponsors First Citizens.

CWC TO HONOR LEGENDS

THE "SUPER MEN" of West Indies cricket who won the first two Cricket World Cups (CWC) in 1975 and 1979, will be the centre of attention on the first day of the tournament.

The CWC head office has decided to honour the legends who beat Australia at Lord's in the summer of 1975 and England at the same venue four years later. They will be honoured during the opening tournament match – on March 13 at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. The announcement was made by Chris Dehring, chief executive officer and managing director of the tournament, as he addressed the West Indies Players' Association awards ceremony at Sherbourne Conference Centre on Monday night. A brief ceremony prior to the West Indies clash against Pakistan will herald the achievements of the players who were led to victory by Clive Lloyd. The Prudential Cup, which the team won, will also make its way from Lord's to be handed over on Caribbean soil.

India's Dravid reaches 10 000 ODI runs milestone
India's Rahul Dravid became the sixth batsman to register 10, 000 runs in one-day internationals Wednesday. The 34-year-old achieved the feat in the third one-dayer against Sri Lanka in Margao, India when he reached 22 with a single off Sanath Jayasuriya to join team mates Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in the exclusive club.

Italy knocks Brazil off top perch

World Cup holders Italy have knocked Brazil off the top of FIFA's world rankings after four and a half years. Brazil, who won the 2002 World Cup but were eliminated by France in last year's quarter-finals, lost top spot after a 2-0 friendly defeat by Portugal last week, FIFA said Wednesday. Italy were last top in November 1993, just three months after rankings were introduced by the game's ruling body.