Boxing
SPADAFORA SENTENCED: Former IBF lightweight champion Paul Spadafora was sentenced to up to five years in state prison for shooting his girlfriend 16 months ago, but he could get out in six months if he completes a boot-camp program.
The sentencing closes the most serious chapter of several alcohol- or drug-fueled run-ins for Spadafora, and the relatively lenient sentence could enable him to resume his career.
In asking for leniency, Spadafora told Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning that he needs one last chance to kick his drinking problem.
"If you just could give me just a little chance, I'll make you so proud, I'll make this whole city proud by doing the right thing for my (fiancee) and my son," Spadafora said.
Spadafora pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a weapons violation in December for shooting Nadine Russo in the abdomen on Oct. 26, 2003, because he was upset she had flattened two tires on his sport utility vehicle. The couple has since become engaged and had a child, Geno.
Soccer
MARADONA'S APPEAL REJECTED: Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona was ordered to pay about $39 million in back taxes after an Italian court rejected his appeal.
Maradona accumulated the debt while playing for Napoli from 1985-91. But he appealed, claiming tax collectors failed to notify the payment injunction in time, his lawyer Vincenzo Siniscalchi said Wednesday.
The court, however, ruled that at least one of the notifications was properly issued, and ordered Maradona to pay the sum, Siniscalchi said.
Tennis
ANNA'S STALKER ORDERED AWAY: A homeless man accused of stalking tennis star Anna Kournikova was ordered Wednesday to stay at least 1,000 feet away from her if he gets out of jail.
William Lepeska, who is jailed in a Miami psychiatric unit on $250,000 bond, faces up to 30 years in state prison if convicted of two counts of battery on police officers, resisting arrest and burglary, all felonies. He also faces misdemeanor charges of stalking, indecent exposure and criminal mischief.
Lepeska, 40, allegedly swam nude across Biscayne Bay, bound for Kournikova's $5 million estate Jan. 30. He was arrested when he turned up on the pool deck at the wrong house and started yelling, "Anna! Save me!"
Basketball
STORM RE-SIGN JACKSON: The defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm re-signed All-Star forward Lauren Jackson on Wednesday. Jackson led the league in scoring last season, averaging 20.5 points a game, leading Seattle to the WNBA title. It was the first professional sports title for Seattle since the SuperSonics won the NBA championship in 1979.