Boxing
JOHN OUTPOINTS SATO: Bernard Hopkins wanted to make his point and put referee Joe Cortez on notice. In the end, though, the lure of at least $15 million and a fight with Oscar De La Hoya proved too much for him to resist.
Hopkins backed off his threat Friday to pull out of his middleweight title defense against Robert Allen, salvaging a card that could lead to a lucrative megafight in September with De La Hoya.
Just hours before the weigh-in for today's fights, Hopkins agreed to have Cortez as the referee despite believing that Cortez may be biased against him for throwing a Puerto Rican flag to the ground to promote his fight with Felix Trinidad three years ago. Both Cortez and Trinidad are Puerto Rican.
The turnabout means Hopkins will defend his undisputed title against Allen, while De La Hoya will fight undefeated Felix Sturm of Germany on the same card tonight (9 p.m. EDT, HBO pay-per-view) at the MGM Grand hotel-casino.
"They say I'm paranoid, but is it justified?" Hopkins asked. "I'll leave it to you all. What I have done, I believe, is the right thing. The world is watching now."
Gymnastics
HAMM WINS TITLE: A once-in-a-lifetime achievement for most was little more than a steppingstone for Paul Hamm.
Barely pushed by the rest of America's best, Hamm won his third straight national gymnastics title Friday night, mastering all six disciplines on the floor and looking every bit prepared for this year's big event, the Athens Olympics.
The real drama at U.S. Gymnastics Championships had little to do with Hamm, and lots to do with the other 31 athletes, all vying for one of 14 spots into the Olympic trials, June 24-27 in Anaheim, Calif. Brett McClure finished second, 1.7 points behind Hamm's total of 115.7 points, to ensure his spot. Hamm's twin brother, Morgan, was third and Todd Thornton was fourth.
Sean Townsend, the man Hamm supplanted as national champion in 2002, also advanced, along with Raj Bhavsar, Stephen McCain and Alexander Artemev. Scores from this meet will be combined with scores from trials, and the top two finishers will be guaranteed a spot on the six-man Olympic squad.
Football
TEAMMATES HELP HENRY: Travis Henry was back practicing with the Buffalo Bills this week after missing the previous week's session while working out on his own. The change of mind came after the starting running back was coaxed back by his teammates.
"I got a couple of guys that called me and that's all it really took," Henry said on Friday after the Bills wrapped up the second of four scheduled minicamp sessions.
"They really didn't have to say too much, just that I needed to be here, the whole team was here, and everybody's trying to get on the same page."
Henry, who had been working out with his personal trainer in Orlando, Fla., said his absence was not a sign that he was unhappy.
Hockey
PROBERT ARRESTED: Former NHL enforcer Bob Probert was arrested Friday in Delray Beach after a scuffle with police that led to him being shocked with a Taser gun. Police officers first spotted Probert just before 1 a.m. when he parked his vehicle pointing in the wrong direction on a downtown side street and began hanging out of his window to yell at several men. Four officers intervened when Probert got out of the car and tried to start a fight with one of the men, according to a report. He then fought with the officers and refused their orders to drop to the ground, the report said.
Soccer
U.S. SHORTHANDED: The Colorado Rapids refused to release Pablo Mastroeni until three days before the United States' World Cup qualifying opener against Grenada, causing American coach Bruce Arena to drop the defender and three Kansas City players on Friday. Colorado plays Kansas City next Wednesday and under FIFA rules, clubs aren't required to release players to the U.S. team until Thursday. The Americans open their home-and-home series against Grenada on June 13 at Columbus, Ohio.