Sports briefs for January 24, 2005

Monday, Jan. 24, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.

Lennox Lewis denies he'll end retirement

Former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis denied a published report that said he'll end his retirement to fight Vitali Klitschko in November.

The London tabloid the Sunday Mirror quoted Lewis as saying, "I'm making a comeback later this year. The money is up to 21 million pounds ($39.3 million) right now and I simply can't turn that much cash down.

"I need the money just like everyone else and it's just too good to turn down."

But later Sunday, Lewis released a statement saying he was not making a comeback.

"I want to reiterate what I said when I retired in February 2004 that I was fortunate to leave the sport on my own terms and that I will be one of the few heavyweight champions in history to retire on top and stay retired," he said.

Lucas, Medlen quickest

Second-year drivers Morgan Lucas and Eric Medlen were quickest during NHRA preseason testing this past weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Lucas powered his Joe Amato-owned Lucas Oil dragster to a weekend-best 4.573 seconds at 306.33 mph. Medlen, behind the wheel of John Force's Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang, covered the distance in 4.744 seconds at 326.40 mph for his best effort of the three-day test. Force was second quickest in Funny Car, posting a 4.747 at 329.75 in his Castrol GTX Start Up Mustang.

American triumphs

Jennifer Rodriguez became the first American woman in nine years to win the World Sprint Speedskating Championship by turning in her best performance ever at 500 meters in Kearns, Utah. Rodriguez set a personal best in the 500 for the second day in a row and had the fastest 1,000 meters in the women's field Sunday to claim the world sprint championship.

A nude Madden?

ABC's first choice for the infamous "Monday Night Football" dropped towel episode wasn't Terrell Owens -- it was announcer John Madden. For reasons that are unclear, Madden couldn't find the time to perform for the skit. Owens, the Philadelphia Eagles receiver, filled in for him in the steamy sketch that drew viewer protests and a network apology, said ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson on Sunday.