Ray Mercer charged with assault

Boxing

Boxing

Ray Mercer, the 1988 Olympic heavyweight boxing champion, has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend, Kim Melvin. Police were called to the home that the couple share in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Sunday. Miss Melvin was treated by ambulance workers and Mercer was taken to prison and ordered to stay there for 48 hours, as required by the state's domestic- violence law.

China plans to hire foreign boxing coaches and sparring partners and send their boxers abroad for training next year to boost their standards, it was announced yesterday. The boxing centre under the cabinet's State Sports Commission plans to hire coaches from Cuba, Russia and Europe, along with sparring partners from Cuba.