earliest RTL could accommodate a Klitschko fight next year, Boente sai

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A former Vanderbilt football player was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison after he was convicted of taking part in the gang rape of an unconscious female student.Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins handed down the sentence for Cory Batey after the victim in the case said her life has been shattered as a result of the rape.The woman was a neuroscience and economics major when she was assaulted in a dorm on the Nashville campus in June of 2013. In all, four former football players were charged. The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual assault.The players used their cellphones to take pictures of the rape. One also videoed it and sent the footage to friends as it was happening.The victim said she learned of what happened to her when detectives showed her the graphic images retrieved from the phones.During her victim impact statement, she described the horror she felt seeing the images of herself.Ive seen with my own eyes what I was when Mr. Batey was done with me: a piece of trash, face down in a hallway, covered in his urine and palm prints, a photograph he took himself, the woman said. There are no words to describe the horror of the images from that night and how it feels to watch yourself be dehumanized.She wept throughout much of her statement as she described how her life and her belief in the fundamental goodness of people were both upended with the discovery of what happened to her.The victim has had to testify at multiple trials, and Bateys high-profile status and the international attention the case received left her in constant fear of being known as the victim. As a result, she said she feels the attack on her continues throughout every new court proceeding.Everything the defendant has done in this case and the media circus surrounding it have been a continuous disruption, repeatedly dragging me back every single step I try to take forward, she said. I can only feel that the defendant has intentionally wanted this to be as tortuous for me as possible.The sentencing comes amid widespread furor over a Stanford University swimmer who was sentenced to six months in jail for a similar crime: sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on a college campus.In Tennessee, the judge did not have the discretion to give Batey a lighter sentence. Batey was convicted in April of aggravated rape, which carries a sentence of 15 to 25 years.Prosecutors asked for the maximum, saying the crime was particularly egregious and that the punishment would send a message about campus rapes.Prosecutors have said Batey urinated on the woman and made a racial statement at the end of the attack. Batey is African-American and the woman is white. One of the four former players is also white. They did not say what the statement was.The victims said Batey violated her sexually in multiple ways, but it didnt end there.Mr. Batey continued to abuse and degrade me, urinating on my face while uttering horrific racial hate speech that suggested I deserved what he was doing to me because of the color of my skin.Batey, a 22-year-old who grew up in Nashville, apologized to the victim and to his family and mother. He also apologized to Vanderbilt University. He testified at one of his trials that he was drunk and blacked out at the time of the rape.My mother and family did not raise me in any way to mistreat anyone, let alone a woman, as I have been raised predominantly by women, Batey told the court. I hope that if not today, maybe one day, you will find it in your heart to forgive me for any damages that I may have caused.Batey and Brandon Vandenburg were convicted last year, but the verdicts were tossed because a juror did not reveal he was a victim of statutory rape. They have both been convicted a second time. Two other players are awaiting trial.In handing down his sentence, Judge Watkins said the case stood out among the thousands he has seen in 32 years of practicing law.Ive seen so many cases, and this is one of the saddest, Watkins said. Cyber Monday Shoes . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. 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Whether the heavyweight world title fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko is finalized hinges solely on whether the WBA will sanction the bout, Klitschkos manager told ESPN on Tuesday.Bernd Boente and Joshuas promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, have both said the fight terms are agreed to for what would be a Dec. 10 megafight at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. However, it was stipulated by both sides from the outset that they would only make the fight if another major title was at stake besides the IBF version Joshua holds.Klitschko lost the IBF, WBA and WBO titles to Tyson Fury by decision in a massive upset last November. The IBF stripped Fury of the title 10 days later for agreeing to a contractually obligated rematch with Klitschko rather than fight a mandatory challenger. Joshua eventually won that belt.When the troubled Fury pulled out of the Oct. 29 rematch with Klitschko because of a cocaine problem -- he failed two drug tests -- heavy drinking and mental health issues, the Joshua and Klitschko camps began negotiating the fight, figuring the titles would eventually become vacant with Fury unable to defend.Last week, Fury vacated the titles, but neither the WBO nor the WBA has officially ruled on how it will fill the vacancies.The WBO has no plans to approve Joshua-Klitschko for its vacant title. WBO president Francisco Paco Valcarcel told ESPN he wants there to be a four-man box-off among the organizations highest-ranked contenders to fill the title. The matter is scheduled to be decided Thursday during the WBOs annual convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico.The Klitschko and Joshua camps have both asked the WBA to sanction the bout, but WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. has yet to respond. Mendoza also has not responded to repeated requests from ESPN for comment, but the matter is expected to be decided soon.So Joshua and Klitschko are awaiting the WBA ruling. If the WBA declines to sanction the bout, Boente said the fight will not happen this year and that Klitschko would instead fight for the vacant WBA belt on Dec. 10 at the Barclaycard Arena, which is on hold, in Hamburg, Germany.Klitschkos probable opponent for that fight would be Australian contender Lucas Browne (24-0, 21 KOs), who won the WBAs secondary title by comeback 10th-round knockout of Ruslan Chagaev in March. Browne was quickly stripped of the title and suspended because of a positive doping test for clenbuterol in a sample taken a few days before the fight.We will go with the WBA ruling, Boente said. We hope they rule quickly because Dec. 10 is not far away.According to Boente, Klitschkos adviser, Shelly Finkel, and Brownes adviser, Leon Margules, have been negotiating the fight so they can be ready to go should the WBA decline to sanction Joshua-Klitschko.ddddddddddddFor Wladimir it is very important to have the WBA title in a fight with Joshua, Boente said. We made a deal with Eddie easily. We tried to find an agreement and we made a deal. If the fight doesnt happen now and Wladimir and Joshua both win their next fight, we can do the fight under the same deal next year and it would be even bigger. The framework is there.A fight with the 27-year-old Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs), regardless of which belts are stake, would be worth millions of dollars more to Klitschko (64-4, 54 KOs) than one against Browne. Boente said RTL, Klitschkos German television partner, would pay half as much for a fight with Browne, 37, as it would for Joshua.A Joshua-Klitschko bout would also generate a pay-per-view bonanza on Sky Box Office in Joshuas home country of England, where he is a pay-per-view star. But Boente said it is not only about money for Klitschko.For Wladimir, its also about the WBA title. For him, this is important, Boente said. It is his mission. He is serious when he says it is not only about the money.If they cant get everything worked out in time for Dec. 10 Klitschko -- already out of action for a year while waiting on the Fury rematch that was ultimately canceled -- would not fight until March or April. The reason is because that is the earliest RTL could accommodate a Klitschko fight next year, Boente said.As for the WBO, which ranks the 40-year-old Klitschko No. 2, he would be invited into a four-man box-off, but Boente said he is not interested in an elimination fight.The WBO wants a tournament, which is up to them, Boente said. We love the WBO. Wladimir held the WBO title for a long time and it was the first world title he won. He respects the WBO, but if they do a tournament Wladimir would not participate. At this stage of his career it makes no sense.If a Joshua-Klitschko fight is finalized, Boente said one of the major hurdles has been cleared -- the matter of American television. Klitschko has a contract with HBO and Joshua has one with rival Showtime. He said an agreement was made on that front but declined to specify how a U.S. broadcast would be handled, although a source with knowledge of the agreement told ESPN that the camps have made a two-fight deal under which Showtime would get the U.S. broadcast rights to the first fight and HBO would have the rights to a rematch.Showtime Sports general manager Stephen Espinoza and HBO Sports executive vice president Peter Nelson both declined to comment on the resolution. ' ' '