Australian Boxer Critical After Post-Fight Surgery

Australian featherweight boxer Lance Hobson was in critical condition in a Melbourne hospital after collapsing in the sixth round of a scheduled eight-round fight Monday. The 23-year-old Hobson stumbled from his stool and crashed to the canvas while his opponent, Liu Gang of China, was still in his corner.

Neurosurgeons later removed a blood clot from the outside of the boxer’s brain. Officials said the operation appeared successful.

Featherweight Juan Manuel Marquez (15-1) of Mexico City won his 15th consecutive bout with an eighth-round knockout of Julio Gervacio (30-5-2) of Puerto Rico at the Pond of Anaheim.

Tennis

Monica Seles has filed a civil suit against the organizers of the tournament in Germany at which she was stabbed three years ago. The suit seeks $16.2 million in actual damages--Seles’ loss of income for the 2 1/2 years she was unable to play after she was stabbed in the back by a deranged fan of German star Steffi Graf.

The suit, filed in Hamburg, is against the German Tennis Federation, which organized the Citizens Cup tournament. The three-year statute of limitations for suing expires today. Seles has refused to play in Germany since the stabbing.

Felix Mantilla of Spain upset top-seeded Tomas Enquist of Sweden, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, and advanced to the second round of the Czech Open in Prague. . . . Third-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia overpowered Thomas Johansson of Sweden, 6-1, 6-4, in the first round of the BMW Open in Munich. MaliVai Washington, seeded fifth, lost to unseeded Carlos Moya of Spain, 6-2, 6-3. Unseeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden beat Alberto Berasategui of Spain, 6-3, 6-2.

Basketball

Pepperdine received a signed grant-in-aid from omm’A Givens, signaling his intention to transfer to the school in the fall, Coach Lorenzo Romar said.

The 6-foot-10 Givens played the last two seasons at UCLA but asked to be released from his scholarship so he could rejoin Romar, who recruited Givens as a Bruin assistant and has a close relationship with the player.

Givens will have two years of eligibility remaining after sitting out next season.

California forward Tremaine Fowlkes won an appeal before a university committee to be released from his scholarship, allowing him to talk to other schools about transferring. The 6-7 sophomore from Crenshaw High had been denied a release by the athletic department.

Fowlkes is said to be considering several schools, including Pepperdine. He is the second player from last season’s Cal team to be released. Sophomore guard Jelani Gardner transferred to Pepperdine last month.

John Leonard, 36, an assistant basketball coach at Villanova the last four years, will become coach at Manhattan, succeeding Fran Fraschilla, who became the coach at St. John’s earlier this month.

Auto racing

NASCAR favorite Bill Elliott, who suffered a broken left thigh bone in a crash-marred Winston Select 500 on Sunday at Talladega, Ala., underwent surgery at a hospital in Birmingham. He is expected to resume driving later this season, a team spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, driver Ricky Craven was discharged from another Birmingham hospital. He was involved in another crash involving 14 cars and complained of back pain.

Miscellany

Slovakia defeated Germany, 4-1, in the final game in Pool A in the World Ice Hockey Championships in Vienna, completing quarterfinal pairings. Today, the United States will play Sweden and Finland faces Canada. Wednesday, Russia will play Italy and the Czech Republic will play Germany.

Terrance Bowen beat fellow Americans Tod Long and Dennis Mitchell in the 100 meters at the Oda Memorial track and field meet in Hiroshima, Japan. Bowen won in a meet-record 10.15 seconds. American Lamark Carter won the men’s triple jump, leaping 54 feet 11 1/4 inches. Juliet Campbell of Jamaica won the women’s 200 meters in 22.81 seconds.

Notre Dame reserve quarterback Thomas Krug was to undergo a brain scan today as doctors try to learn more about a rare congenital neck defect that may end his career. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound junior suffered a neck injury in last week’s spring intrasquad game, and subsequent X-rays revealed that in two areas, vertebrae are fused together.

Steve Bornstein, president and CEO of ESPN, will receive the Vanguard Award for programming on Wednesday at the National Cable Television Assn. convention.

Chicago Bear running back Rashaan Salaam will undergo surgery to repair a broken right thumb but is expected to be ready for the start of the season.

* Allan Malamud is on vacation.