Tyson Knows Date of Fight but Not Opponent’s Name

Mike Tyson’s fight calendar has been filled. Now all he needs to do is line up some opponents for his latest boxing comeback.

Tyson, 33, will return to the ring Oct. 2 in Las Vegas for his first fight since he stopped Francois Botha in the fifth round Jan. 17, his manager said Wednesday.

If all goes well, his manager, Shelly Finkel, said, the two-time former heavyweight champion will fight again Dec. 11 on a pay-per-view card. Both fights will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Possible opponents for Oct. 2 include Zeljko Mavrovic of Croatia and Axel Schulz of Germany.

Pro Basketball

Player representatives for the 29 NBA teams were told at the player union’s annual meeting at Nassau, Bahamas, to advise their teammates of the league’s new drug policy, which includes testing for marijuana.

Steroids were also added to the league’s list of banned substances during the last collective bargaining negotiations, and all players will be tested for marijuana and steroids, among other drugs, when training camps open in October.

As expected, the Cleveland Cavaliers hired Randy Wittman, a longtime Minnesota Timberwolf assistant with no head coaching experience, to fill their coaching vacancy left when Mike Fratello was fired last month.

Tennis

Lleyton Hewitt will make his Davis Cup debut when Australia faces the United States in next week’s quarterfinals. Hewitt will replace injured Mark Philippoussis for the July 16-18 matches in Brookline, Mass. . . . Venus and Serena Williams will make their U.S. Fed Cup debut this month, joining Monica Seles and Mary Joe Fernandez on the team that will play Italy July 24-25.

The ATP prevented the Swiss Olympic Committee from making an unannounced drug test on Swiss players at the Swiss Open at Gstaad. The ATP said the SOC might be allowed to conduct such tests in the future if they asked permission.

In Wednesday’s matches, Vince Spadea, seeking his first tournament title, upset top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), in the second round.

Defending champion Leander Paes of India breezed into the second round of the Hall of Fame tournament at Newport, R.I., with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Nenad Zimonjic of Yugoslavia.

Hockey

King Coach Andy Murray named Mark Hardy and Dave Tippett as assistants.

Hardy, a former King defenseman, will handle duties involving play when the other team has the puck.

Tippett, who was a forward for 11 seasons with the Hartford Whalers, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, will work with the King offense.

Murray is seeking one more coach to work with computer analysis, and the Kings also will hire a goalie consultant, rather than a full-time goalie coach.

Miscellany

Jeff Agoos and Brian Kamler scored for D.C. United in a shootout, giving the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference leaders a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Crew before 18,101 in Columbus, Ohio. . . . Wolde Harris scored two first-half goals to lead the Colorado Rapids to a 2-1 MLS victory over the Kansas City Wizards before 4,631 at Kansas City, Mo.

The Japanese Equestrian Federation denied that bribery was involved in the $29,000 an Olympic rider gave to three of its officials.

Federation head Shozo Hara said the money from Yoshinaga Sakurai was intended as a gift, payments to set up a training camp for Sakurai and a loan, not as an inducement to get him a berth on the team for the 1992 Olympics.

USC swimmer Mark Warkentin of the United States won his fourth gold medal of the World University Games in the 400-meter freestyle at Palma De Mallorca, Spain. The U.S. women’s basketball team was upset by Ukraine, 81-70. . . . An Aug. 16 trial date was set for former NBA and Mississippi State basketball player Dontae’ Jones on charges stemming from a nightclub shooting at Nashville. . . . Michigan State basketball players Mateen Cleaves and Antonio Smith are likely to go to trial after prosecutors refused to dismiss theft charges against them at East Lansing, Mich. They are charged with the theft of a 40-ounce bottle of beer from a convenience store. . . . Sterling Marlin’s crew chief, Scott Eggleston, was fined $50,000 by NASCAR for making illegal changes to Marlin’s Chevrolet before Saturday’s Pepsi 400. . . . Former U.S. Open champion and Ryder Cup captain Tom Kite pulled out of next week’s British Open, citing recent poor form. . . . Champion weight thrower Bob Backus has died at 72 after several years of poor health. He won seven consecutive American titles for the 56-pound weight throw, from 1953 to 1959.