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Show Daily Utah Chronicle Don King files defamation suit NEW YORK — For once, Don King kept quiet. Instead of pontificating, the boxing promoter stood stiffly in the background as his lawyer discussed a defamation suit King filed Wednesday against ESPN. The attorney said King is entitled to damages of more than $2.5 billion. The lawsuit says a "SportsCentury" segment aired last May accused King of being "a snake oil salesman, a shameless huckster and worse," claimed the flamboyant promoter underpaid Muhammad Ali by $1.2 million and claimed King — convicted in a 1967 beating death and acquitted in a 1954 killing — "killed not once, but twice." Most of the material in the program had been printed or broadcast earlier about King, who has spent much of his career in court, but the wildhaired promoter said he had just had enough. "I just felt that this was the straw that broke the camel's back and I can't take it anymore, and I'm going to fight back," King said at a news conference. "I seek justice." King, wearing a garish American flag tie and two flag lapel pins, then quietly stepped back and let lawyer Willie Gary answer questions. Gary called the SportsCentury segment "a story designed to orchestrate and create an impression that is not there," and said the network had refused to retract parts of the program that offended King. The suit, filed in state court in Broward County, Fla., names ESPN and its parent company, Walt Disney Co., among the defendants. Also named are Disney-owned ABC Cable Networks and Advocate Communications, a Florida-based cable and satellite system. "We have not seen a copy of the lawsuit, so we are not in a position to comment on it," said Mike Soltys, ESPN's vice president of communications. "However, SportsCentury is a Peabody- and Emmy-award winning series of more than 250 biographies that is widely respected for its journalistic quality and integrity." The suit also says SportsCentury accused King of threatening to break the legs of heavyweight Larry Holmes and of cheating boxer Meldrick Taylor out of $1 million from a fight and then threatening to have Taylor killed. "It was slanted to show Don in the worst way. It was onesided from day one," Gary said. "Don is a strong man, but he has been hurt by this." King has represented fighters from Ali to Mike Tyson, and has been sued by several of them — including a $100 million lawsuit filed against him by Tyson. King paid $7.5 million to former middleweight champion Terry Norris in late 2003 to settle a suit. King sued former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis for libel. King also has beaten federal charges, including tax evasion and fraud. He served nearly four years in prison for the 1967 beating death of a man who owed him money. In 1954, he killed a man who was robbing a numbers house he operated in Cleveland, but it was ruled self-defense. Thursday, January 13, 2005 Jazz knock off another top team SALT LAKE CITY — Mehmet Okur had 21 points and 17 rebounds, and Utah beat the Phoenix Suns 115108 Wednesday night for the Jazz's second straight win over one of the top teams in the Western Conference. Utah, which beat San Antonio on a last-second shot by Okur on Monday, rallied from an early 14-point deficit and never gave up the lead after taking it late in the second quarter. Raja Bell returned after missing five games with inflammation in his right knee and scored 19 points, Keith McLeod finished with 10 points and n assists and Matt Harpring had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Jazz. Steve Nash had 22 points and 11 assists for the Suns, who wore down at the end after beating the Miami Heat 122-107 t n e night before. Phoenix had won seven in a row and 18 of 19, but the Suns' bench was outscored 67-6 by Utah's. All five Suns starters finished in double figures, but Nash was the only one who appeared to have anything left at the end. Quentin Richardson scored 24, Shawn Marion finished with 20 points and Amare Stoudemire finished with 19 points. Joe Johnson added 17 points for the Suns'. Phoenix was able to run at will early, but the Jazz took control in the second quarter and held off everything the Suns had down the stretch for their second straight win after losing nine in a row. After falling behind by n, the Suns cut Utah's lead to 83-82 on a three-point play by Stoudemire with 51 seconds left in the third quarter. But Utah closed the quarter with six straight points, getting two fee throws by Curtis Borchardt, a layup from Howard Eisley on a goaltending call and Kris Humphries 'layup just before the buzzer after stealing an inbounds pass. After Nash cut it to 9486, Kirk Snyder went in for a dunk off a pass from Eisley to put the Jazz back up by 10 with 8:50 remaining. Jake Voskuhl scored his only points of the night to get the Suns back within single digits, but Borchardt hit a field goal and Raul Lopez added back-to-back 3-pointers during an 8-2 run for the Jazz. Every time the Suns would make a run and cut into the lead, the Jazz would answer. Stoudemire's two free throws with 3:25 cut the margin to 110-100, and Utah came right back with a 3-pointer by the 7-foot Okur, who had just tipped in the Jazz's previous basket. After a 3-pointer by Marion, Harpring made a layup to make it 115-103 and Gordan Giricek made a steal at the 2-minute mark on the other end that finally knocked out the Suns. The Associated Press BASKETBALL KUDIYA continued from page 7 continued from page 7 Rams typically gather about 10 more rebounds than their opponents. U junior Shona Thorburn, the MWC's leader in assists, said the battle for rebounds would define the game. "They have a really good post presence," Thorburn said. "It should be a very physical game and I expect them to crash the boards hard." Impressed by the development of CSU's squad over the last few years, Elliott hopes to have the Utes in a similar position a couple of years down the road. "Colorado State has a nice team," Elliott said. "They have a really good junior class and they're maturing well. Their team is the kind of team we hope to be in a few years when our freshmen are juniors." With a stable of returning veterans, the Rams have an advantage over the Utes. Elliott's squad contains nine underclassmen including six freshmen. The Rams have several young players as well, but they haven't had to use them as much as the Utes. Thorburn, the Utes' point guard, said that CSU's experience could make the difference in the game if the Utes aren't careful. "They have lots of returning players who saw playing time last year," Thorburn said. "So we can't take anything for granted." The Utes will play another home game Saturday afternoon against Wyoming before embarking on a threegame road trip. tsmith@ chronicle.utah.edu (and it isn't as if the team does not have good receivers, already.) Madsen keeps improving and will be back as one of the main targets. Travis LaTendresse may get an extra year if he gets approved for a medical redshirt. The upcoming sophomore receivers can be very good. If Thomas Huff decides to get motivated and work his butt off, he has the talent to be better than both of the star receivers the team had this year. Derrek Richards is the fastest player on the team and will have chance to get stronger and will get much more playing time next season. Although much of the questions are on the offensive side of the ball, I believe the defense will be the reason the Utes will be just fine next season. While the offense will go through obvious struggles and growing pains, the defense will continue to be what it has been since Kyle Whittingham has been here. Even with the loss of Scalley, the Utes could have Justin Walker come in and be an all-conference player. Walker is the guy who always returns kicks even, if they land in the back of the end zone, and he has recently been switched from receiver to safety. The defense is the reason that the Utes will be in every single game they play this season. With Steve Fifita anchoring the line and Spencer Toone coming back at linebacker, the front seven will be OK. Ryan Smith and Eric Weddle will be back and the Utes should be good in the secondary. The main reason why the Utes will not collapse is their schedule. Who is that great in the conference? BYU? Air Force? Texas Christian is the new. team in the conference and the toughest game on the schedule will be at TCU or maybe at North Carolina. Since TCU was added, the schedule will get a little funky and Air Force will come to Rice-Eccles for the second year in a row. The Utes will be at Colorado State and at BYU, but neither of those teams will figure to be very good. Please tell me five games on the schedule the Utes will lose. With a very good defense and an offense that has a lot of potential, they have a good chance to win the conference title. If they can do that, then the team can pick up where they left off after next season. akudiya@chronicle.utah.edu Visit The C h r o n i c l e on the World Wide Web. www.clailyutahchronicle.com J ICO. A 15-minute call could save you 15% on car insurance. ANNUAL FACT8RY BL9W-8UTSALE Wed-Sat! Jan 12-15 Killer local prices on tons of gear! SNOW-FISH-HUNT >53 W. 1700 S., wwvw.vortexoutdoors.com Ask for student/faculty discount HIGH-END SPORTS CARDS Now In Stock! 1513 N. Hillfield Rd.r Suite 3 (801) 298-9336 CABBS1 GEICO ECT • Sports Cards All Sporia: B-Bell. F-Ball. 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Open for Dine-in and Take-Out 7 Days a Week. 9 Locations along the Wasatch Front, including: 809 East 4th South 2254 South 1300 East SMITH continued from page 7 proven and there is no one to get them the ball. Maybe Brian Johnson will get a lot better this offseason, but right now things are not looking too good. Don't get me wrong—I want the Utes to be good—I just think that being realistic about the future of the program is more important than getting our hopes up only to have them crushed next year. Kyle Whittingham has all of the makings of a great coach, but he will need some time to recruit and to get a feel for head coaching. He has a dynamic personality and he strikes me as a natural leader, so I think the long-term outlook is good. But next year could be tough to stomach, especially after the success to which we have become accustomed. tsmith@chronicle.utah.edu EALTHY M E N Tbink about (he future. 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