Whitaker Gets Oscar With Knockout

Pernell Whitaker, knocked down twice and his rich payday against Oscar De La Hoya apparently slipping away, knocked out Diobelys Hurtado with a savage barrage to the head in the 11th round at Atlantic City, N.J., on Friday night.

Whitaker, trailing on all three official cards, retained the World Boxing Council welterweight title and will fight De La Hoya in a big-money match April 12 at Las Vegas.

“I knew I had to keep the pressure on. It was only a matter of time until I caught him,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker, knocked down five seconds into the fight and again in the sixth round, caught the Cuban against the ropes with a left to the head, then followed with seven more smashing lefts as Hurtado was caught on the ropes. Hurtado almost fell out of the ring and then slumped to the canvas. Referee Arthur Mercante immediately stopped the fight and ruled it a knockout.

“He fought a terrific fight,” Whitaker said of Hurtado, 24, who defected from Cuba in 1994 and lives in Miami. “He fought like a champion.

“He’s the Boy Wonder, but I’m Batman.”

Whitaker is 40-1-1 with 17 knockouts. Hurtado is 23-1 with 13 knockouts.

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Former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, 47, lost a 12-round split decision to Brian Nielsen of Denmark at Copenhagen. Nielsen, a silver medalist in the 1992 Olympics, retained his International Boxing Organization heavyweight title.

Winter Sports

For the first time in 30 years, two women, Heidi Zurbriggen of Switzerland and Isolde Kostner of Italy, shared victory in a World Cup downhill ski race. The rarity occurred at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, where another first-place tie had occurred in a women’s super-giant slalom in 1994.

Zurbriggen and Kostner each completed the Olimpia delle Tofane course in 1 minute 30.81 seconds. Olympic downhill champion Katja Seizinger of Germany was third, .02 of a second behind the winners.

Luc Alphand of France posted the best time in both heats to win a World Cup men’s downhill at Kitzbuehel, Austria, and establish himself as the favorite for next month’s World Alpine Championships.

Oskana Gritschuk and Yevgeny Platov of Russia won the ice dance title at the European Figure Skating Championships in Paris. It was the third victory of the competition for Russia, in line for a title sweep. Defending champion Irina Slutskaya is the leader in the women’s event.

Former Olympic champion Donna Weinbrecht collected the 45th World Cup moguls victory of her career by four-hundredths of a point over Norway’s Kari Traa at Breckenridge, Colo.

Baseball

Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu says he wants to play in the major leagues, but not for the San Diego Padres.

“I have absolutely no desire to conclude a contract with San Diego,” Irabu said in Tokyo.

Earlier this month, the Padres acquired negotiating rights to the 27-year-old pitcher from the Chiba Lotte Marines. Irabu, 12-6 with a 2.40 earned-run average last season, said he still hopes to play for the New York Yankees.

Third baseman Mike Blowers, who played for the Mariners from 1992-95 before signing with the Dodgers last season, agreed to a minor league contract with Seattle. . . . The Angels have designated right-handed pitcher Shad Williams for assignment to make room for right-hander Shigetoshi Hasegawa on their 40-man roster. . . . Pedro Martinez, the ace of the Montreal Expos’ pitching staff, avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $3.5-million, one-year contract, more than 10 times his $315,000 salary last season. . . . Shane Reynolds, one of four Houston players eligible for salary arbitration, agreed to a three-year contract for $8.5 million. . . . The Boston Red Sox and outfielder Troy O’Leary have reached agreement on a $1.1-million, one-year contract.

Jurisprudence

A former University of Nebraska football player subpoenaed to testify in an attempted murder case has been charged with possessing marijuana with intent to deliver.

Abdul Muhammad, 23, was subpoenaed by the defense to testify in the attempted second-degree murder trial of his former roommate and teammate Riley Washington in Lincoln.

San Diego police have sent the case of Yankee left-hander David Wells to the district attorney’s office, meaning he could face felony charges for a street fight on Jan. 12. A decision on whether Wells will be charged is expected by next week.

Wells broke his pitching hand in the fight.

Names in the News

Carl Lewis was far from competitive in his first race of the year, finishing seventh in the 100 meters in a meet at Auckland, New Zealand. Lewis, 35, finished in 10.76, nearly half a second behind the winning time of 10.28 of fellow American David Oaks. . . . Warren Gaer, who coached Pepperdine’s first football teams from 1946-49, died of cancer in his hometown of Atlantic, Iowa. He was 84. . . . In international soccer, CONCACAF President Jack Warner was picked to fill the FIFA vice president’s spot left vacant by the death of Guillermo Canedo.