Fighting Capsules: 'Nature Boy' Ric Flair looking for return

PHILADELPHIA - Ric Flair still has a few more trademark "Woooooo's!" left to howl inside the squared ring.

One year after the former WWE champ - and arguably the sport's most renowned name outside of Hulk Hogan - retired from wrestling, Flair is back on the mat for a Philadelphia-based wrestling company that hopes the "Nature Boy" can give the next generation of stars a brand-name boost.

The 60-year-old Flair is stylin' and profilin' again.

"If Brett Favre can come back once in a while, I certainly can," Flair said.

Flair isn't lacing up the boots for another main event when he appears Friday as an ambassador for the Ring of Honor promotion. He'll be pushing a company that prides itself on putting more emphasis on the sport of wrestling than on the WWE's often outlandish entertainment style.

"I do like working with the young guys and talking to them a lot," Flair said. "They've got some great kids. It's very professional. I wouldn't put my name somewhere I didn't think was professional."

Flair is scheduled to cut an extended promo and maybe dish out some of his trademark chest chops at Friday night's taping in Philadelphia. The promotion will tape six, hour-long "Ring of Honor Wrestling" television shows on Friday and Saturday for cable outlet HDNet.

That's about as different from World Wrestling Entertainment's method as an amateur wrestling match and a steel cage bout. Flair is still in the mix for the sport's No. 1 company, battling the bad guys from the outside at the signature Wrestlemania event, last month's pay-per-view card, and this week's live Monday Night RAW TV show.

Not bad for a wrestler who was forced into retirement when he lost to Shawn Michaels last year at Wrestlemania 24.

Flair hasn't donned his robe or assembled a new crew of Four Horsemen since that match. The WWE gave Flair an unprecedented emotional TV farewell that saw good guys and bad break character to pay tribute to his 35-year career.

It's one reason why Flair hasn't done the one thing all retired wrestlers do at one point - un-retire.

"I would like to, but I'm not going to do anything to rock the boat," Flair said. "I'm in the same kind of shape I was last year when I retired. It's hard to stay away from something you like so well, especially when you still feel like you can do it. If I did wrestle, it would be overseas, it wouldn't be here."

Still, Flair believes he will walk down that aisle, lock up and wrestle at least one more time.

"In my gut, I do," he said. "Do I think I will? Yes. I'm not going to take no easily. Like I've said, I haven't retired, they retired me."

Flair, who has lived in Charlotte, N.C., for 35 years, has become a popular pitchman in retirement. He makes appearances for Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola, and served as a celebrity judge in a burnout competition at NASCAR's All-Star race. He's booked for autograph signings and personal appearances almost every weekend on the independent circuit. Some of his and his family's legal troubles have also made him a staple on Web sites such as TMZ.

Everywhere he goes, fans flash Flair the four-fingered Horseman sign or want him to "Woo!" for the crowd.

He's happy to oblige, and wants to entertain the fans for the WWE, ROH or whatever company wants him. Flair just hopes the behemoth WWE will let him keep working his side job at spreading the word about Ring of Honor.

"They don't look at Ring of Honor as being competition to them," Flair said. "If everybody just focuses on their own brand and what they're trying to accomplish instead of worrying about the other guy, it usually works out much more better."

Rampage, Evans to coach in "The Ultimate Fighter"

LAS VEGAS - Former UFC champions Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans will coach heavyweight fighters in the 10th season of the mixed martial arts league's popular reality television show.

In a season dubbed "The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights," the show will follow two teams of the UFC's largest fighters for the first time since the show's second season. Jackson and Evans also will fight in December after the series concludes.

The show will be filmed this summer, premiering Sept. 16 on Spike TV.

Jackson and Evans both are former light heavyweight champions, with Evans losing the belt to Lyoto Machida last weekend. Jackson has recorded two impressive wins since losing the belt last year. He will be a coach on the show for the second time in four seasons.

Kotelnik relishes title defense against Khan

LONDON - WBA light-welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik says he will need to be "three times stronger" than challenger Amir Khan in order to retain his title next month.

Kotelnik, a 31-year-old Ukrainian, will defend his crown against Khan at the 02 Arena on June 27. He has lost just twice in 34 fights, but his record in three fights in Britain is mixed.

Kotelnik lost his European title to Junior Witter in Nottingham in 2005 and drew with Souleymane M'Baye in Liverpool in 2007, when victory would have handed him the WBA title.

At a news conference in London on Thursday, Kotelnik said he didn't believe British judges were biased against him but claimed he had been harshly treated.

"For me, the fight with Witter was a draw," he said. "And against M'Baye I was also in front - clearly in front. But I don't think people have something against me in Great Britain. It was a clean fight. I am looking forward to getting a fair judgment but I will have to be three times stronger (than Khan) to make sure I win."

Kotelnik finally captured the WBA title in his third visit to Britain in 2008, when he defeated Gavin Rees in Cardiff, Wales.

"I realized my dream in Great Britain," he said. "One year beforehand, I lost it but I waited a year for my chance with Rees and then I won it back."

Kotelnik has twice defended his belt, against Japan's Norio Kimura and the previously undefeated Argentina fighter Marcos Rene Maidana. Khan, who won an Olympic silver medal for Britain in 2004, has claimed Kotelnik was the "worst active world champion" on the circuit.

"I'm not an expert on Khan," Kotelnik said. "I know he is fast and that he has good reactions, but I'm also good in the ring and my boxing skills and technical skills are some of my weapons."

Khan, 22, who has lost once in 21 fights since turning professional, is moving up from lightweight. His one defeat, against Colombia's Breidis Prescott in Manchester last year, highlighted a soft chin, a weakness Kotelnik will look to exploit.

"I am always prepared to go 12 rounds," he said. "But if there's a chance of a knockout I will knock him out, why not? This is not table tennis."

Ortiz relishing potential title fight

LOS ANGELES - Victor Ortiz says he's already been through the wringer, so a fight with title implications against a knockout-happy fighter won't be too big of a challenge.

The 22-year-old Ortiz will fight Argentine Marcos Maidana on June 27 for the World Boxing Association light-welterweight interim title. The winner will get a shot at either Amir Khan or Andreas Kotelnik for the WBA title. Kotelnik and Khan also are fighting June 27.

Maidana (25-1) has knocked out 24 opponents in 26 fights and has taken out 10 fighters in the first round. Twenty-one of his opponents have not made it past the third round.

Those numbers don't phase Ortiz, a Kansas native who says he was abandoned by both parents before he was 12.

"My life is hell most of the time, but its OK," said Ortiz (24-1-1, 19 KOs). "It's still hell everyday I wake up, that's why I don't mind getting in the ring with one of these guys."

Ortiz' journey to this stage is one that many probably wouldn't envy. He said he came home at age 7 to find his mom gone. Five years later, his dad also was out the door.

From there, Ortiz carved his own way. He made a living by either working in the fields picking corn, alfalfa and beans or "slanging things," and lived in a trailer with no electricity where his parents left him.

"Stuff happens," Ortiz said. "My sister raised me for a while, I lived on my own from 12 and on. From there, I started slanging some stuff here and there, not the best of things to do, but I was 12."

He made his own way in boxing, too. He won the 2003 PAL amateur national championships without a trainer and made it to the 2004 Olympic trials before falling short.

That year, Ortiz moved to California to train with ex-world champion Robert Garcia. In 2008, he signed on with Golden Boy Promotions to garner more recognition. Now, he's being touted as one of the strongest prospects to come out of Oscar de la Hoya's camp.

To get a shot at a potential title 25 fights into his career is something he is relishing.

"Honestly, it didn't happen fast enough but I'm very patient," said Ortiz, who uses his past to fuel him. "I guess at the end of the day, I appreciate life. Sometimes I get caught up in the whole mist of my parents, but it's reality. I'm not the only one going through it so I can't sit back and curl up like a little pansy. I know there's kids out there that get left everyday so it's not a big deal you have to learn how to channel it and deal with it and take it to the top."

Golden Boy is hoping he'll do just that.

"Their stars are either retired or don't have long in the sport, so as they retire, naturally, there will be a void. Victor is being built, groomed and positioned to fill that void," said Rolando Arellano, Ortiz's manager.

Ortiz could face his toughest test in Maidana, who fought Kotelnik - the top dog in the division - to a split decision Feb. 7.

Ortiz isn't the only fighter headlining the event at Staples Center. Chris John and Rocky Juarez will fight in a rematch for John's WBA featherweight championship belt.

John (42-0-2, 22 KOs) fought Juarez (28-4-1, 20 KOs) to a draw in an exciting bout in late February and Juarez is seeking his first world title.

-- Solange Reyner

Ali helps honor Ky. students for raising money

LOUISVILLE, Ky.- Muhammad Ali posed for pictures, doled out hugs and helped honor elementary school students who raised $40,000 in a month for juvenile diabetes in his hometown of Louisville, Ky.

The former heavyweight champ and his wife, Lonnie, were joined by Olympic medalists Bill Evans and Doug Sharp on Thursday at Bloom Elementary School.

The school has raised more than $120,000 since 2005 to benefit the juvenile diabetes program at Kosair Children's Hospital. Students washed cars, manned lemonade stands and emptied their piggy banks to raise money.

Lonnie Ali said the Muhammad Ali Center and Alltec donated $7,500 to the cause.

Evans won a gold medal in 1956 in men's basketball and Sharp won a bronze in four-man bobsleigh in 2002. Ali, who has Parkinson's disease, won a gold medal in boxing in 1960.

Japan sumo trainer convicted in wrestler's death

TOKYO - A former trainer in Japan's traditional sport of sumo has been convicted and sentenced to six years in prison following the death of a wrestler suspected of being fatally battered during his training.

The Nagoya District Court says former trainer Junichi Yamamoto, who used to go by the name Tokitsukaze when he was a stable master, was convicted Friday on charges of assault leading to death.

Yamamoto was suspected of ordering three wrestlers in the name of practice to beat a young wrestler who later died allegedly of the injuries.