LOCAL

LOCAL
Curbstone Coaches
BOARDMAN -- Joe DeRosa, NBA official from Lowellville, will be the guest speaker of the Curbstone Coaches at their weekly noon luncheon Monday at Lockwood House.
Benefit dinner
BOARDMAN -- The Lady Spartans Fastpitch Club, booster club of the Boardman High softball program will host a spaghetti dinner Dec. 29 in the Boardman High cafeteria, from 4 to 8 p.m.
All dinners are $6 each with carryout available. A Chinese auction will also be available with or without meal purchase. All proceeds will benefit the Boardman High School Softball Program. For more information contact, Jennifer Cambouris at (330) 783-0418 or email at jacambou@zoominternet.net
Boxing showat Mountaineer
CHESTER, W. Va. -- A night of five title bouts will end the year with a bang and a boom at Mountaineer Race Track & amp; Gaming Resort.
Three West Virginia State Title Bouts, an NABC America's Title and an IBC America's Title will be on the card when Mountaineer and World Class Promotions presents & quot;Wars of 2004 & quot; on Dec. 30 at The Harv.
The card will also feature two non-title contests.
The main event will be of huge local interest when a local boxer and rising national star takes on a legendary former World Heavyweight Champion. Brian & quot;The Beast & quot; Minto will defend his West Virginia Heavyweight Title when he battles Tony & quot;TNT & quot; Tubbs.
Minto has not fought since July when he knocked out 21-1 Vinnie Madalone in the 10th round with a single left hook.
Minto's contender is no stranger to boxing fans worldwide. A former WBA World Heavyweight Champion, Tony Tubbs makes his Mountaineer debut in his attempt to capture Minto's title. Tubbs (48-10, 25 KOs) won the Heavyweight Title from Greg Page and has stayed active of late stopping 16-13 Brian Sargeant with an overhand right in round one.
Current NABC Americas Featherweight Champ Verquan Kimbrough will vie for his second title with Terrell Hargrove of Louisville who scored a knockout over Scott McCracken. Kimbrough (9-0-1) will battle Hargrove (7-7) for the NABC Jr. Lightweight America's Championship Title in a co-feature bout.
Current West Virginia Jr. Lightweight Monty Meza-Clay brings his unbeaten record to the ring when he attempts to add the West Virginia Lightweight Title to his resume. The 23-year-old Rankin, PA native is 13-0 with nine knockouts. He will battle a fellow crowd favorite at Mountaineer when & quot;Irish & quot; Davey McBride of Salem comes to keep Meza-Clay from being a two time West Virginia champion. McBride has two knockout wins at Mountaineer, a third-round KO of Jim Gruber and a one-round stoppage of Margaro Senquiz. McBride was a National Amateur kick boxing champion and sports an 8-4 record as a pro.
The West Virginia Welterweight Championship will be at stake when a local favorite takes on a fighter who has been a spoiler at Mountaineer. George & quot;da Butcher & quot; Klinesmith will display his perennial crowd pleasing style when he takes on Tony Black of Columbus, Ohio. Klinesmith, a Bloomdale, Ohio native, is 19-8-3 with 12 knockouts. He recently fought for the West Virginia Jr. Middleweight Title, but came away with a disputed draw against 9-1-1 Jeremy Brown. Black, (7-3-1) has all his wins coming by a knockout and has never been stopped as a pro. Black recently shocked the crowd at Mountaineer's Grande Ballroom by stopping 14-2 Jacy Kuhn 23 seconds into the sixth and final round. Black was behind on all cards when he landed a left right combination that left Kuhn on the canvas for the ten count.
The newly crowned IBC America's champion Mike & quot;Fully Loaded & quot; Carr of Pittsburgh will defend his title against 8-1 contender Kyle Patrick of Columbus, Ohio. Carr is 13-1-2 with eight knockouts and won the title with a ten-round unanimous decision over 16-5 Gary Wolfe.
The card gets underway at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 - VIP, $60 - Gold, $40 - Reserved and $20 - General Admission and are available through all Ticketmaster locations or on site at Mountaineer's Roarin' 20's Players Club in the Downtown Speakeasy.
NATION
Alabama Statebeats Southern
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Keldrick Williams ran for four second half touchdowns, including the game-winner from three yards out with 6:23 remaining, to lead Alabama State to a 40-35 comeback win over Southern Saturday in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game at Legion Field.
Alabama State (10-2) trailed by 14 points two different times in the second half, but rallied as the game turned into a shootout.
Alabama State quarterback Tavaris Jackson was named the game's offensive most valuable player after passing for 275 yards on 17-of-34 attempts. Williams finished with 64 yards rushing, including touchdowns runs from 24, 3, 2 and 1 yards. His four scores set a SWAC Championship Game record.
It was the first SWAC title for Alabama State since 1991, and only the second one in school history. The win was also the first for a SWAC East Division team since the title game's inception in 1999. Southern (8-4) beat Alabama State in last year's title game.
Williams' second half runs spoiled an offensive display by Southern quarterback Thomas Ricks, who completed 27-or-42 passes for 380 yards, including three touchdown passes to Antonio Overstreet. Ricks also ran 22 times for 120 yards.
Southern led just 14-7 at halftime. In the second half, though, both defenses reverted to the same form they exhibited in Southern's wild 42-41 regular season win Oct. 2 at Alabama State.
Southern had two drives late that could have won the game, but Ricks threw interceptions both times. Southern had six turnovers in the game.
Grant outpointsPorras
MONTREAL -- Otis Grant outpointed Costa Rica's Henry Porras on Saturday in a 12-round super middleweight fight.
"It was easier than I imagined," Grant said. "I knew he was dangerous, so I didn't take any risks."
Grant (35-2-1) received winning scores of 118-110, 118-110 and 116-113 from the three judges. The bout was the 36-year-old Montreal fighter's fourth in his comeback after a car accident that sidelined him for nearly five years.
Snee to miss second game due to infection
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants guard Chris Snee will not play against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday because of a glandular infection.
Snee also missed last week's 31-7 loss against the Redskins.
The rookie has been hospitalized since Friday and is receiving treatment, team officials said Saturday. The infection is located in his neck.
Vindicator staff/wire reports