Cobb Loses His Fight With SI, As Appeals Court Tosses Award

A three-judge panel in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled yesterday that Sports Illustrated "didn't defame" heavyweight boxer Randall "Tex" Cobb in a '93 article entitled "The Fix Was In," which accused Cobb "of fixing a bout," and "threw out" a $10.7M jury award to Cobb, according to Greg Stohr of BLOOMBERG NEWS. But Cobb's attorney, George Bochetta, "vowed to appeal" to the U.S. Supreme Court (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/30).

WHO'S NEXT? In N.Y., Keith Kelly reports that US Weekly Editor-in-Chief Terry McDonell has "pulled ahead" of Esquire Editor-in-Chief David Granger "as a potential successor" to SI Managing Editor Bill Colson, who plans to step down after the '02 Games (N.Y. POST, 1/31).