Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — BOXING

Former champ Sanders dead

Corrie Sanders, the South African southpaw who knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in one of the great upsets in heavyweight boxing, has died after being shot by robbers at a restaurant during a family celebration in Cape Town, South Africa. The former WBO and WBU champion was 46. Sanders was shot in the hand and stomach at a family member’s 21st birthday party at the restaurant in Brits, in South Africa’s North West province, on Saturday night, police said. He died in a hospital in the capital city of Pretoria in the early hours of Sunday morning. Police Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said three armed men entered the restaurant with the apparent intention to rob it and shot randomly, hitting Sanders. No other injuries were reported. The robbers took a cellphone and a bag from customers, Ngubane said. No arrests had been made but a murder investigation has been opened. Renowned for his hand speed, Sanders, 6-4, was one of South Africa’s most successful and popular fighters after a nearly 20-year professional career. He retired in 2008 with a 42-4 record, with 31 knockouts. But he was most remembered for the shocking second-round knockout of Klitschko in Germany in 2003 that earned him the WBO title and respect across the world as a wily, fast and clever fighter and powerful puncher. It is one of only three losses for the Ukrainian and current WBO champion. Sanders agreed to the fight on short notice and was a 40-1 underdog. The result was voted as the upset of the year by Ring Magazine. He then lost to Wladimir’s older brother Vitali for the vacant WBC title the following year, Vitali’s first fight for the title he still holds. Sanders had earlier relinquished his WBU crown in a seventh-round stoppage by Hasim Rahman after being ahead in their fight in 2000. Born in Pretoria, Sanders began his professional boxing career in 1989 with a first-round TKO of King Kong Dyubele. Eighteen of the fast-starting Sanders’ 31 career knockouts came in the first round. Sanders hung up his gloves in 2008 after being knocked out by Osborne Machimana for the South African heavyweight title - in the first round.

BASEBALL

Scioscia to return

Mike Scioscia will return for his 14th season as Los Angeles Angels manager next year, and he called speculation about his job security and reported uneasy relationship with first-year General Manager Jerry Dipoto “ridiculous.” Angels owner Arte Moreno told MLB.com on Saturday that Scioscia would return regardless of what happens in the team’s remaining games, and said Dipoto would return, too. Scioscia said Moreno told him “a long time ago” that he would return in 2013. Scioscia, the longest tenured manager in the major leagues, signed a 10-year contract in January 2010 that runs through 2018. Two recent online reports, citing unnamed sources, said Scioscia and Dipoto, who was hired last season, have a “strained” relationship and Moreno has been upset with both of their job performances. However, Moreno told MLB.com “there’s no problem between those two” and he said reports suggesting otherwise were false. The Angels have missed the playoffs the last two years, and their hopes for this season are down to the wire. Last winter, Moreno made a splash by signing slugger Albert Pujols and pitcher C.J. Wilson. Pujols is batting .283, while Wilson has a 12-10 record with a 3.82 ERA. Scioscia is 1,149-947 in 13 seasons as a manager, guiding the Angels to the 2002 World Series and five AL West titles.

MOTOR SPORTS

Brown wins Fall Nationals

Antron Brown raced to his fifth Top Fuel victory of the season Sunday to move in to a tie for the points lead, beating teammate Spencer Massey in the final of the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas. Brown beat Massey with a 3.898-second run at 311.49 mph. Massey, tied with Brown for the lead in the season standings, finished in 3.945 at 300.60. Brown had fallen to fourth in the standings after a first-round loss last week in the playoff opener in Concord, N.C. Brown and Massey lead seven-time world champ Tony Schumacher by 24 points. “In that final, we had to give it everything we had,” said Brown, who beat Countdown contenders David Grubnic, Langdon and Morgan Lucas in the first three rounds. “We edged them, and it felt really good to win and to tie them in the points lead. We have four races left, and it’s going to be a slug fest to the end. Everybody’s throwing haymakers. It’s an all-out battle royal right now.” Bob Tasca topped the Funny Car field, Allen Johnson won in Pro Stock, and Michael Ray in Pro Stock Motorcycle in the second of six playoff events in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. In Funny Car, Tasca raced to his first victory of the season and fourth of his career in a tire-smoking final against defending series champion Matt Hagan. Both cars lost traction near mid-track, but Tasca was able to guide his Ford Mustang to the finish line in front of Hagan’s Dodge Charger. Neither driver is in the Countdown to the Championship. Series leader Ron Capps, who lost to Hagan in the semifinals, increased his lead to 96 points over Mike Neff. Johnson earned his fifth victory of the season and first in the Countdown playoffs by outrunning local favorite Erica Enders in the final round. Johnson’s Dodge Avenger pulled away at the start and finished with a 6.598 at 210.93, while Enders’ Chevy Cobalt slowed to a 6.835 at 209.39. Johnson increased his points lead to 93 over defending champion Jason Line. In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Texas native Ray claimed his first career victory, powering his Buell to a 6.920 at 192.77 to hold off Karen Stoffer’s Suzuki. Ray moved to fourth in the standings.

TENNIS

Wozniacki takes Korea Open

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki beat injury-plagued Kaia Kanepi 6-1, 6-0 to win the KDB Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea. Wozniacki from Denmark needed only about one hour to defeat the third-seeded Kanepi of Estonia to win the tournament on Seoul’s Olympic Park hard courts. It was Wozniacki’s 19th career WTA victory. She defeated Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in the semifinals while Kanepi advanced the finals after beating Varvara Lepchenko of the United States 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France routed fifth-seeded Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-2 to defend his Moselle Open title in Metz, France. The seventh-ranked Tsonga needed just 50 minutes to win, breaking the Italian’s serve four times. Tsonga was in control on his serve, winning 85 percent of his service points. He won nine games in a row to take a 4-0 lead in the second set. It is Tsonga’s second title of the year, after the Qatar Open in January, and boosts his chances of reaching the year-ending ATP finals in London.

Martin Klizan of Slovakia defeated Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-2, 6-3 to win his first career ATP title at the St. Petersburg (Russia) Open. The third-seeded Klizan broke the fourth-seeded Fognini twice in the first set and four times in the second. The last break came in the final game, when the left-hander hit a cross-court forehand winner to seal the victory. Klizan had used his only ace of the match to close out the first set. In the past seven months, the 23-year-old Slovak has moved up from No. 121 in the world to a career-high 45th. His breakthrough season included reaching the fourth round of the U.S. Open by beating No. 6-ranked Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. Fognini, ranked 53rd, was playing in his second ATP final but is still looking for his first title. Klizan reached the final in St. Petersburg by upsetting top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in a three-set match that lasted nearly four hours Saturday. After a short break, Klizan played a doubles semifinal, which he and his partner lost.