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Las Vegas, NV - Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins will step out of retirement and into the ring Saturday night at Mandalay Bay, where he will take on Ronald “Winky” Wright in a light heavyweight bout.

The 42-year-old Hopkins (47-4-1, 32 KOs) hasn’t fought since beating Antonio Tarver in a 12-round unanimous decision last June, a fight that had been billed as Hopkins’ last before retirement. A former middleweight champion, Hopkins moved up to light heavyweight for the Tarver fight.

The 35-year-old Wright (51-3-1, 25 KOs) is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Ike Quartey last December. Although giving up some size to Hopkins, who, at six feet and one inch, is almost three inches taller than Wright, the younger fighter is well-known for his jab and good defense.

Wright, a southpaw, has not lost a bout since December 1999, when Fernando Vargas topped him in a controversial decision.

A common link between the fighters is trouble with current middleweight champ Jermain Taylor. Taylor ended Hopkins’ reign as champ at that division with a split-decision win in February 2005, and retained his belts by beating Hopkins in a unanimous decision in July that same year.

Taylor fought Wright to a 12-round draw in June 2006, the only fight Wright has not won in the past eight years.

Neither fighter is known as a knockout puncher, instead both are known as technically sound boxers, leading most experts to predict a decision, with Hopkins listed as the favorite. But few are overly confident in “The Executioner”, who is well beyond his prime as a fighter.

Indianapolis, IN - The United States Grand Prix will not be part of the 2008 Formula One schedule.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George and Formula One Management CEO Bernie Ecclestone could not reach an agreement on a contract extension, ending the circuit’s eight-year run at the famous track.

“After several discussions, Bernie Ecclestone and I were unable to agree how to keep Formula One in Indianapolis for the near term,” said George in a statement Thursday. “However, we have agreed to leave the door open for a potential future date.

“It has been a pleasure having the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, and I hope that as we approach our Centennial Era at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an opportunity might present itself that would allow its return.”

The U.S. Grand Prix was the only Formula One event in the United States.

British rookie Lewis Hamilton won the 2007 event on June 17.

Nurburg, Germany - Kimi Raikkonen captured the pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Europe Formula One race. The No.6 Ferrari circled the 3.217 miles, 13-turn, road course in one minute, 31.450 seconds to edge out two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.

However, the most important fact of the day was not the pole win by Raikkonen, but the fact that points leader Lewis Hamilton put his car into a tire wall. It appears that a right-front tire failure was the cause of the incident. Hamilton was taken to the medical center by ambulance but did give a wave to the fans from the stretcher.

According to team boss Ron Dennis, Hamilton has no serious injuries or broken bones, but will be kept under observation for at least a couple of hours.

Starting on the front row with Raikkonen will be Alonso, who posted a second- best time of 1:31.741.

Felipe Massa (1:31.778) and Nick Heidfeld (1:31.840) will start in row two.

While Hamilton and Raikkonen led all the practice sessions, Alonso was quickest in the first qualifying session that saw the elimination of Jenson Button, Scott Speed, Vitantonio Liuzzi, David Coulthard, Adrian Sutil and newcomer Marcus Winkelhock.

Winkelhock is a replacement for Christijan Albers who parted company with the Spyker team in a contract dispute. He is the son of Manfred Winkelhock, a former F1 driver and the team’s official test driver.

Massa won the second session. Dropped from the final competition were: Nico Rosberg, Giancarlo Fisichella, Rubens Barrichello, Alex Wurz, Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato.

While Ferrari drivers have won five of the nine Formula One races in 2007 they still find themselves trailing McLaren in every other category.

Hamilton is the series points leader having won twice (Canada, United States) and been on the podium in all nine races. Hamilton’s teammate, Alonso, is second overall with two wins and six podiums. As a team, McLaren owns a 25- point lead over Ferrari in the manufacturer’s championship (128-103).

Yet there is still reason for optimism at Ferrari. While the Ferrari lacked the speed in the two North American races, when the series returned to Europe their speed miraculously returned.

At Magny-Cours it was all Ferrari as Raikkonen and Massa swept to a one-two finish. The series next went to Silverstone and again Raikkonen led the way.

The pole victory was Raikkonen’s second of the season and 13th of his Formula One career.

The race is set to drop the green flag on Sunday at 8 a.m. (et).

Rome, Italy - Roma legend Francesco Totti announced on Friday that he was retiring from international soccer.

Totti made 58 appearances for Italy during his international career and tallied nine goals. He was a member of Italy’s World Cup champion squad in 2006, and said that he would take an extended break following the tournament. He has now decided to stop playing for the Azzurri all together.

After breaking his ankle prior to last year’s World Cup, Totti rushed back to play in the competition after having surgery to insert a plate in his ankle.

The result of last year’s World Cup is a nice way for Totti to make his exit. His last effort on soccer’s biggest stage in 2002 ended with Italy being eliminated in the Round of 16 by Korea after Totti had been sent off for picking up his second yellow card.

“The word finished is ugly but I have taken this decision to end the chapter with the national team for various physical reasons and not technical,” Totti said at a news conference. “I have weighed up for a year after the World Cup what to do and I have decided to finish with the national team in order not to create problems for the Azzurri staff. I am sorry, but health is the most important thing.”

The 30-year-old Totti has always been a supremely talented player, but his international career has never quite lived up to the one he enjoyed domestically. He was an inconsistent performer at times with the national team, while he is a legend at Roma, the club he has played his entire career at since his debut at age 16.

Totti captured the European Golden Boot last season as he recorded 26 goals to lead Serie A while helping Roma to a second-place finish in the league.

Stuttgart, Germany- Top-seeded Rafael Nadal continued his domination on clay with an easy quarterfinal victory Friday at the Mercedes Cup.

Nadal, who won this title in 2005, rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over eighth- seeded Argentine Juan Monaco. The Spaniard has won 91 of his last 92 matches on clay and is on course for his sixth title of the year.

Next up for the three-time French Open champ is fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who advanced with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 triumph over sixth-seeded countrymate Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Lopez and Nadal will meet for the third time, with each winning once previously. Lopez’s victory came four years ago on carpet in Basel, while Nadal captured the last meeting just last year on clay in Barcelona.

Saturday’s other semifinal will pit seventh-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina against Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka.

Chela rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, while Wawrinka needed just an hour to dispose of Czech qualifier Jiri Vanek, 6-1, 6-4.

Wawrinka has just one ATP title to his credit, capturing the crown last year in Umag, while Chela is trying for his fifth career title and second this year. He won at Acapulco in February.

The lone previous meeting between these two players went to Wawrinka in the first round of last year’s U.S. Open.

New York, NY - An NBA referee is apparently under investigation by the FBI for allegedly betting on and fixing games that he worked during the past two seasons, in a gambling scam that reportedly involved members of the organized crime community in New York.

The New York Post broke the potentially earth-shattering story on Friday, saying that the year-long investigation included one NBA referee who allegedly was making calls to affect the outcome of the games he worked — ensuring that the referee and those involved with the scam profited from the result.

Later Friday afternoon, both ESPN.com and CBS Sportsline cited sources as saying the referee in question was veteran Tim Donaghy.

The referee allegedly had a gambling problem, and fell into debt with bookies that had mob ties. Games were allegedly fixed during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, the Post said. The story reported that the number of games affected are in the double digits.

The NBA released a brief statement in response to the Post story on Friday, which said, “We have been asked by the FBI, with whom we are working closely, not to comment on this matter at this time.”

Carnoustie, Scotland - Spain’s Sergio Garcia played a very steady round of golf on Friday with an even-par 71 and is still on top in the middle of the second round of the British Open Championship at Carnoustie.

He finished 36 holes at six-under-par 136 and is still two ahead of Paul McGinley, who has yet to off on Friday.

“I managed to get around,” said Garcia. “I hit a couple bad shots here and there, but I hit some really good ones coming in with long irons. I managed to put a decent round in.”

Garcia’s fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez played sensational golf down the stretch. He birdied 14, nearly holed his tee shot at 16, then missed a six- foot birdie chance at the difficult closing hole to shoot a one-under 70.

Jimenez is in the clubhouse at three-under-par 139, while Steve Stricker and Stewart Cink are at the same number on the front nine of round two.

Tiger Woods began Friday at two-under par and remarkably found disaster right away. He badly pulled his opening drive out of bounds, then put his third shot, an iron off the tee, into the first cut on the right side.

Woods hit his fourth shot 20 feet left of the hole and missed the bogey putt. He tapped in for a double and dropped to even-par.

However, the two-time defending champion answered the only way he could. Woods stuffed a five-iron three feet from the hole at two and rolled in the birdie putt to get back to red figures.

That puts him five shots behind Garcia, who had trouble of his own at No. 1. Garcia pushed his approach right into high grass, but hit an amazing chip that stopped a few feet from the hole. He tapped in for par, but was not as lucky at four, when he missed a four-footer to fall back to minus-five.

At the par-five sixth, Garcia’s second landed long in a bunker. He blasted out to inches and kicked in the short birdie effort to get back to six-under par for the championship.

Garcia drove into a bunker at 11 and had no choice but to blast back to the fairway. He could not get up and down for par, but tallied a pair of nice two- putt pars from almost 40 feet at both 12 and 13.

Garcia, now with his group on the clock for slow play, missed the fairway left at the par-five 14th. He tried to muscle a three-iron to the green, but came up short. Garcia putted his eagle try from off the green to five feet, then converted that putt for a birdie.

He missed a birdie putt at 16, but missed the green at 18. Garcia nearly holed his chip for a birdie, but the ball ran almost 10 feet past the stick. He sank that putt and walked off with a two-shot lead.

Garcia’s belly-putting was the story on Thursday, but he needed 32 slaps with the long stick on Friday. It was enough to put him in prime position heading to a weekend that could net him his first major title.

“At the very least, six-under should be pretty close,” said Garcia. “That’s a good thing. I can get a good rest. I’m looking forward to the weekend and hopefully I can have a good one.”

Jim Furyk bogeyed the last to shoot his second consecutive round of one-under 70. He is minus-two, one shot better than U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera (73), Andres Romero (70) and Lee Westwood (70).

Phil Mickelson will not make the cut for the second consecutive major championship. After missing the mark at the U.S. Open thanks to a wrist injury, Mickelson double-bogeyed the last to shoot a six-over 77 and finish the tournament at plus-six.

Los Angeles, CA - Carlos Beltran homered for the second straight game and the New York Mets scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a throwing error in a 4-1 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

ANOTHER ONLINE CRUSH SHOT WINNER METS 7-1 LAST 8

David Wright also drove in a run and Oliver Perez threw 7 1/3 strong innings, as the Mets took the second contest of the four-game series after winning 13-9 on Thursday.

Perez (9-6) allowed six hits and a run, walked three and struck out eight, as the NL East-leading Mets won for the fifth time in seven games. Billy Wagner threw the final inning for his 21st save.

“I felt real good,” Perez said. “I changed speeds and made my pitches. They have a good hitting lineup and I was just trying to keep my team in the game.”

Mets second baseman Jose Valentin suffered a fractured right tibia when he fouled a ball off his leg in the fourth inning. This is the second time Valentin has hurt his right leg this season. He suffered a partial tear of the ACL in his right knee and was on the disabled list from April 29 until June 7.

“It’s not a complete fracture, but it’s enough to keep me out for six weeks,” Valentin said. “I have to live with it and take it a day at a time.”

Nomar Garciaparra homered for the Dodgers, who have dropped three of four.

Brett Tomko gave up five hits and an unearned run over six innings in the start for Los Angeles. Roberto Hernandez (0-1) allowed two hits and three runs — two earned — in the eighth inning.

With the game tied 1-1, Jose Reyes doubled to start the eighth and Marlon Anderson then put down a bunt. Hernandez raced to field the ball, which trickled toward third base, but his throw to first was low and the ball got by James Loney, as Reyes scored. Beltran clubbed the next pitch over the wall in right-center field.

Garciaparra flied out to center field, leaving runners at the corners to end the eighth before Wagner retired the side in order in the ninth.

Wright singled in Anderson in the first, but Garciaparra led off the second with a homer to center.

Game Notes

Garciaparra has only three homers this year…Juan Pierre extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the first inning for the Dodgers. He then stole second and third base to bring him to 40 for the season…Jeff Kent had two of LA’s seven hits.

San Diego, CA - Chase Utley went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run as the Philadelphia Phillies downed the San Diego Padres, 7-3, in the second of a four-game series at Petco Park.

Ryan Howard went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored while Shane Victorino scored a pair of runs for the Phillies, who had lost four of five coming into the game.

Adam Eaton (9-6), making his first start against his former team, gave up just two runs on seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Eaton spent the first six seasons of his career in San Diego. He played last year with Texas before the Phillies signed him prior to the start of this season.

Adrian Gonzalez drove in a pair of runs and Russell Branyan also drove in a run for the Padres, who had won four of five coming into the contest.

Justin Germano (6-4) got the loss as he was charged with four runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the fourth, the Phillies took the lead in the frame with three runs. Utley led off the inning with a walk, Howard followed with a single and Aaron Rowand then blasted a double to score Utley. Pat Burrell followed with a groundout to score Howard for the lead. Eaton later helped his cause with a single to center to score Rowand for a 4-2 advantage.

Philadelphia padded its lead in the seventh as Utley hit a two-out, two-run home run to straightaway center for a 6-2 lead.

San Diego had two men on base with one out in the seventh, but Ryan Madson struck out Michael Barrett and Branyan to end the inning.

The Phillies plated another run in the eighth as Jimmy Rollins’ single scored Michael Bourn, but the Padres countered with a run in the bottom of the inning as Gonzalez’s sac fly plated Geoff Blum to make it a 7-3 game.

Antonio Alfonseca, who got the final out of the eighth inning, closed out the ninth inning to pick up his seventh save of the season.

The Phillies grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first as Victorino hit a one-out single, stole second, and after Utley struck out, crossed the plate on a Howard single.

The Padres got the run back in the second as Khalil Greene led off with a double and later scored on a single from Branyan.

San Diego took a 2-1 lead in the third as Brian Giles led off with a walk, moved to third on a single from Milton Bradley and came home on a double from Gonzalez. Eaton limited the damage to just the one run as he got Mike Cameron to fly out to shallow right and then struck out Greene and Barrett to end the inning.

Game Notes

The Phillies have won 13 of their last 18 games against the Padres…Burrell had a 10-game hitting streak stopped…The Phillies are 37-8 this season when leading after six innings…It was Germano’s fourth loss in his last five decisions…San Diego stranded 15 runners.

Oakland, CA - Major league strikeout leader Erik Bedard fanned 11 batters over seven one-hit innings, as the Baltimore Orioles routed the Oakland Athletics, 6-1, in the opener of a three-game series at McAfee Coliseum.

Bedard (9-4), who has 167 strikeouts in 2007, is also 6-1 in 12 road starts this season, and defeated the Chicago White Sox his last time out on July 13 at Camden Yards. Bedard was scratched from Wednesday’s scheduled start due to a stiff neck, and Daniel Cabrera stood in, yet walked only three batters in Friday’s sterling performance en route to winning his fifth straight decision.

All nine batters had a hit, except Ramon Hernandez who had two, for the Orioles, who dropped two of three at Seattle after taking three of four from the White Sox last weekend.

Mark Ellis homered for Oakland, which put to rest a nine-game losing streak with Wednesday’s 6-0 win over the Texas Rangers in the finale of a three-game series. Shannon Stewart and Bobby Kielty both singled to account for the only other hits in the game for the A’s.

Joe Blanton (8-7), who has dropped his last three starts, allowed six runs - five earned - on 10 hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings for Oakland.

Baltimore put up a run in the first when Corey Patterson singled, stole second, and scored on Nick Markakis’ single.

The O’s added another run in the second, as Jay Payton lined a lead-off single, and later scored on Luis Hernandez’s single courtesy of a fielding error by Stewart.

Baltimore added a run in the fourth, as Aubrey Huff doubled before later coming home on Ramon Hernandez’s single; and in the fifth when Nick Markakis walked and advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch before Kevin Millar’s RBI single.

The Orioles tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Gibbons singled, moved to second on a passed ball, to third on a Ramon Hernandez single, and both baserunners scored on Brian Roberts’ double.

Oakland got its lone run in the bottom half on Ellis’ homer to left field on a 1-0 pitch, ending Bedard’s 21-inning scoreless streak, during which he struck out 31 and allowed only five hits. Bedard had retired 13 straight prior to the long ball.

Game Notes

Oakland center fielder Nick Swisher left in the seventh inning with a sprained right shoulder after attempting a diving catch at the warning track in center field…Baltimore activated pitcher Steve Trachsel from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game and optioned pitcher Garrett Olson to Triple-A Norfolk…Oakland is 3-3 against the Orioles this season, but Baltimore has won the last three matchups. The A’s are 20-9 over their last 29 meetings with the O’s.