Eddie Futch Quits As Riddick Bowe's Trainer

Eddie Futch thinks Riddick Bowe is wasting his time, so he will no longer train the former undisputed heavyweight champion.

"I'm withdrawing my services from Riddick Bowe because of irreconcilable differences," Futch, 85, told The Associated Press last night from his home in Las Vegas. "It's been in the works for a long time.

"When I started with Bowe (in 1988) I told him not to waste my time, that I was not going to let him or anybody waste my time."

Futch said he had not talked to the Bowe, but had informed manager Rock Newman.

"I told him I can't deal with it anymore," Futch said. "He told me, `I could see it coming.' "

Futch, who will continue to train other fighters, said he was embarrassed by Bowe's performance against Andrew Golota in a July 11 fight at Madison Square Garden that Bowe won in the seventh round when Golota was disqualified for low blows. Bowe was behind and was being battered when the match was stopped. A melee then broke out that led to several arrests.

"I was shocked by the way he looked when walked to the ring," Futch said. "He acted like all he had to do was swat the guy and it would be over."

It was not known who Bowe's trainer would be for his rematch against Golota on Dec. 14 at Atlantic City, N.J.

TENNIS

Michael Chang beat Javier Frana of Argentina with ease today to move into the semifinals of the Singapore Open along with Seattle's Jonathan Stark and Britain's Greg Rusedski.

Top-seeded Chang outclassed Frana 6-4, 6-1 and will play Rusedski in the semis. Rusedski beat Russian Andrei Olhovskiy 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

Stark, firing 12 aces, defeated Germany's Martin Sinner in a two sets, both going to tiebreakers, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3).

-- Steffi Graf can breathe a little easier at the Leipzig Open after Helena Sukova knocked Arantxa Sanchez Vicario out of the quarterfinals today.

Sukova upset Sanchez Vicario 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) to advance to the semifinals, where she will play Iva Majoli of Croatia.

Majoli struggled to outlast Olympic champion Lindsay Davenport 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3) in the day's other quarterfinal match.

Graf, meanwhile, practiced for her semifinal match tomorrow against fellow German and defending champion Anke Huber, seeded No. 4.

-- German star Steffi Graf beat Austrian Judith Wiesner 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of Germany's Leipzig Open. Graf will face 1995 winner Anke Huber of Germany, who edged Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) in a rematch of last year's final.

-- Fourth-seeded Albert Corretja of Spain beat Johan van Herck of Belgium 6-3, 6-2 in the Marbella (Spain) Open to advance to a quarterfinal match with Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay. Filippini edged Franco Squillari of Argentina 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

-- France's Lionel Roux beat Chris Woodruff 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the Lyon (France) Grand Prix.

AUTO RACING

Robby Gordon's bid to put a Dale Earnhardt-owned car into the UAW-GM Quality 500 in Concord, N.C., was stopped by a concrete wall.

Gordon, who had the 13th-fastest speed in Wednesday night's first round of time trials, lost control of the car during practice and slammed into a retaining wall. The Chevrolet was too badly damaged to repair.

COLLEGES

Purdue assistant coach Frank Kendrick, who admitted he gave a basketball recruit a ride in violation of an NCAA rule, has been reprimanded, fined and forbidden to recruit off-campus for 10 days.

-- NCAA executive director Cedric Dempsey was given a three-year contract extension, to Dec. 31, 2001, the association announced.

BOWLING

George Brooks, a regional player who has never bowled in a PBA tour event, averaged 248 during the final round of match play to earn the No. 1 seed in the finals of the 1996 U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis.

The Aurora, Colo., native went 17-6-1 during match play and downed 12,992 pins in 56 games.