Like father

CORY Spinks, the son of former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, took the IBF welterweight title from Italian Michele Piccirillo with a unanimous decision on Saturday.

Piccirillo, 33, beat Spinks in a unanimous decision in the same city last April, but on Saturday he trailed throughout and ended the match bleeding from a cut on his left eyebrow. Piccirillo landed his powerful rights only in the sixth round, and he faded after that.

"He was faster, more aggressive. I knew I was going to have problems against his left-handed boxing," said Piccirillo, who added that he plans to retire by the end of this year.

The 25-year-old Spinks, who improved to 31- 2, raised his hands in triumph well before the scores were announced, and he broke into tears when he was given the IBF world championship belt.

American Judge Albert Bennet scored it 117- 111 in Spinks' favour.

Leon Spinks earned short-lived glory in February 1978 when he stunned Mohamed Ali, winning the world heavyweight title in a unanimous decision. Ali won back the title with a 15-round decision seven months later.

Finn win

KIMI Raikkonen eased to his maiden Grand Prix victory in Malaysia after world champion Michael Schumacher made a costly error at the first corner.

An assured drive took the Finn to the top of the championship standings and gave McLaren their second win in a row following David Coulthard's success in Australia two weeks ago.

The 23-year-old Finn finished 39.2 seconds ahead of Rubens Barrichello in the Ferrari, with pole-sitter Renault's Fernando Alonso in third after leading for the first 12 laps.

Coulthard retired from second place behind Alonso on the third lap with an electronics problem, while Michael Schumacher recovered to sixth place after causing a pile-up at the start.

The German drove into the back of Jarno Trulli at the second corner when under pressure from Coulthard, causing a multiple accident that also took Juan Pablo Montoya out of contention.

Schumacher had to go into the pits for a new nosecone and was soon hit with a drive-through penalty before recovering to take sixth place from Jenson Button on the final lap.

Too much

ENGLAND coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has again criticised his Football Association bosses over the gruelling fixture schedule facing English players.

On the eve of naming his England squad for the Euro 2004 qualifiers with Liechtenstein and Turkey, Eriksson spotlighted one of his biggest gripes in the English game. The Swede believes the number of games facing players in England is having a detrimental effect on his players. "I talked before and after the World Cup about too many games in this country and I would like to mention it once again," said Eriksson.

"I am not talking only on behalf of the national team, I am trying to defend the clubs as well.

"There is only one English team playing in Europe before the end of March and I don't think that is because we don't have good clubs -- it is because we play too much football and we pay very heavily.

"Italy and Spain both have three teams left in the Champions League and we have one, and I don't think we are worse than Italy or Spain.

"We play more football than any other country and we don't have any breaks.

"I am sorry to say it once again but things will not change in the future if we don't change the number of games. I say it with my heart and I believe it strongly."

No more

IN A MOVE that will leave Africa's football fraternity dumbfounded, Liberia has withdrawn from all international competitions for a five- year period.

The dramatic decision was announced by the West African country's Ministry of Sport in a statement issued in the capital, Monrovia.

The ministry attributed the development to "the grim financial situation" plaguing the government as a result of the ongoing rebel war.

"The high cost associated with the preparation, training and travel of the Lone Star team and the fact that government continues to grapple with the maintenance of security makes it imperative that we take this decision," the statement said.

The statement went on to describe the decision as "regretful" but said it was a prudent move. It also added that the period of international inactivity would be used to foster the development of youth football in the country.

Liberian President Charles Taylor, the national team's chief financier, reportedly told FA chief, Edwin Snowe, that his government was more interested in fighting the rebels than funding football activities.

Snowe had apparently flown back to Monrovia from his base in the United States in a vain attempt to stay the government's hand.

Ghana reconsiders

GHANA's sports minister said his country may "reconsider" its collaboration with Nigeria in a joint 2010 World Cup hosting plan.

Edward Osei Kwaku believes the comments by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who told the BBC that the idea was not "feasible", are too strong to ignore.

"The statement by Mr Blatter is weighty and has dealt the bid a big blow by saying categorically that it is not feasible.

"We have to reconsider the project after consultations with our Nigerian partners," Kwaku told BBC Sport.

"I don't fault Mr Blatter for making the statement before seeing our bid presentation, but these comments are sad for us. Ghana is Nigeria's main partner in a bid that includes Benin and Togo. Cameroon is also being considered.

Rare loss

OLYMPIC and world champion Cathy Freeman lost her first 400 metre race in nearly five years in Sydney on Saturday, being beaten by more than a second by compatriot Jana Pittman.

Freeman had won 25 consecutive races until her showdown with Pittman, the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games 400m hurdle gold medallist.

It was 30-year-old Freeman's first defeat over the distance since July 1998 in Oslo, where she competed with an injured foot to finish fourth.

Pittman and Freeman were together over the first 200m of Saturday's race before Pittman pulled away with 150m to run.