Foreman, Holmes Ready to Fight

Former heavyweight champions George Foreman and Larry Holmes are returning to the ring for the ultimate fight for the ages--or aging.

Foreman, 49, signed for the fight against Holmes, 48, to be held between Oct. 3 and Jan. 10 in Atlantic City, N.J.; Louisiana, or Mississippi.

The purses reportedly will be $10 million for Foreman, $4 million for Holmes.

Tennis

Pete Sampras beat Magnus Norman of Sweden, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, at the Italian Open in Rome. Next comes a big test against Michael Chang, who defeated French qualifier Arnaud Clement, 7-5, 6-1. . . . Top-ranked Martina Hingis, unbeaten on clay this year, beat Silvia Farina of Italy, 6-0, 7-5, to reach the third round of the German Open in Berlin.

Pro Football

Pittsburgh Steeler cornerback Chad Scott tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a routine off-season workout and could sit out the season. . . . The Green Bay Packers traded defensive tackle Darius Holland to the Kansas City Chiefs for defensive end Vaughn Booker. . . . Free-agent defensive end Clyde Simmons signed a one-year contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. . . . The Oakland Raiders signed free-agent tight end Derek Brown, who played last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

College Basketball

Two months after leading St. John’s to its first NCAA tournament since 1993, Fran Fraschilla and the Red Storm have parted ways.

St. John’s said that it had reached an agreement with the coach to end their relationship because of “fundamental differences over the management of the basketball program.”

Fraschilla, who had two years left on his contract, would not comment about any of the specifics.

Skiing

Mountain High in Wrightwood received 18 inches of snow and reopened for skiing Wednesday. Mount Baldy is the only other Southland ski area operating.

Miscellany

Arrested in a roundup of deadbeat parents, former New York Giant star Lawrence Taylor spent about 10 hours in jail in Hackensack, N.J., and was released when a business associate paid $6,000--$4,500 for an overdue child-support payment and $1,500 for an outstanding traffic violation.

UCLA junior center fielder Eric Valent was named the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division player of the year. . . . The ABL’s expansion Chicago franchise named Jim Cleamons, former Dallas Maverick coach, as its coach.

Roy Lassiter scored in his fourth consecutive game in D.C. United’s 3-2 victory over New England at Washington, while Kansas City was a 2-1 loser at Tampa Bay in Major League Soccer games.