Boxing: Jacobs moves nearer fight for world title

GARY JACOBS, the European welterweight champion, improved his chances of meeting the World Boxing Council champion, Pernell Whitaker, when he made a second successful defence of his title at the Palais Des Sports in Paris on Tuesday night.

Jacobs outpointed Tek N'Kalankete after flooring the Zaire-born French challenger inside the first 30 seconds of their 12-round bout.

The European champion's manager, Mickey Duff, is having talks with Whitaker's promoter, Dan Duva, but much will depend on the attraction a fight against Jacobs has for the American cable network, Home Box Office.

'A fight against Whitaker is the one with most to gain, the least to lose, it's the best-paid fight out there,' Duff said. 'There is not a contender in the world who deserves it more than Gary.'

Michael Carruth, the Olympic welterweight champion in Barcelona in 1992, is turning professional with the London promoter, Frank Warren. The Dubliner will make his debut on the undercard of Nigel Benn's WBC super-middleweight title fight with Henry Wharton at Earls Court on 26 February. Carruth, a sergeant in the Irish army, had previously resisted all moves to tempt him into the paid ranks.