Beijing bout postponed

Boxing: The WBA heavyweight title fight between defending champion John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield has been postponed because Ruiz has a stiff neck, promoter Don King said yesterday.

King said in a statement that no new date had been set for the fight scheduled for August 5th, but he expected to announce one soon.

The statement said Ruiz complained of a stiff neck on Tuesday and quoted Qu Minyang, the former director of Peking University's Institute of Sports Medicine, as saying the defending champion had degeneration of the spinal column.

Ruiz arrived in the country on Monday two weeks after Holyfield for China's first professional title fight -- and Beijing's first major international sporting event since it won the right to stage the 2008 Summer Olympics.

It will be the third fight between the two boxers and the victor is expected to face the winner of the WBC and IBF title bout between Lennox

Lewis and Hasim Rahman, which is tentatively scheduled for October.

Cricket: While the Leinster Senior 55 Overs League (sponsored by Whitney Moore & Keller) continues apace on both days, the match of the weekend will be tomorrow's Senior 2 Cup final confrontation between The Hills and Malahide at Milverton, reports Karl Johnston.

Thus, while next week's Conqueror Senior Cup final will be an all-southside affair featuring CYM and YMCA at Castle Avenue, this Senior 2 showdown will be an all-North County Dublin battle, and one played at a Fingal venue.

Clearly, home advantage at "The Vineyard" will be an important factor for The Hills, but in addition, their record in this particular competition is enviable indeed. This is their fifth Senior 2 final in six years, a span in which they achieved a hat-trick of victories between 1997 (when they won at Milverton) and 1999.

By contrast, Malahide's Senior 2 record is rather less impressive. The last time they reached the final was 25 years ago, and their last outright win was in 1972, when a youngster named Alan Hughes - subsequently an Ireland player of note - was one of the opening bowlers.

But this time around, Malahide's form under skipper Damien Ryan, like that of their opponents, has been excellent. En route to this final they comprehensively saw off the challenges of Balbriggan, Phoenix and Merrion, last year's Senior 2 Cup winners.

The experienced all-rounder Ryan has been playing well, and he will be looking for good batting support from the likes of near-veteran Brian Gilmore and Robert Weir, who has already hit two half-centuries in the campaign. Glenn Kirwan, son of the legendary Gerry, Andy Smith and Asif Ikram will be key members of the bowling attack.

The Hills, though playing in the Senior 3 League this season under the captaincy of Martin Byrne, saw off three Senior 2 sides - Leinster, YMCA and Railway Union - to reach the final. Byrne's six wickets won him the man of the match award in the 1999 final and he will again be a key player.

Batsmen Brendan Moore, Sean Hoare and all-rounder Nadem Akhtar are among the seasoned campaigners in The Hills' line-up, with players like Robert Byrne and Pat Bennett adding to the all-round armoury. Weather permitting, a memorable struggle seems in store and even the sponsors, Paddy Power Bookmakers, would be hard-pressed to know which side to back in this particular tΩte-α-tΩte.

Meantime, Clontarf, the Section A League leaders, are at home tomorrow to North County, while runners-up Merrion take on Leinster at Anglesea Road on Sunday.

Section B leaders Pembroke are away to Rush tomorrow, while Munster Reds, in hot pursuit of the Sydney Parade side, play Old Belvedere and Malahide at The Mardyke tomorrow and Sunday, respectively.