LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mike Tyson was knocked out in the fourth round Friday night in a shocking end to the latest comeback of the fighter who once was the most feared heavyweight of his era.

Unheralded British heavyweight Danny Williams landed a flurry of punches that sent Tyson sprawling into the ropes, perhaps ending his career with the same kind of fury that Tyson once unleashed on other fighters.

Williams, a heavy underdog, improved to 32-3 with 27 knockouts. Tyson, who was hoping to fight often and improbably regain his former glories to get out of millions in debt, fell to 50-5-2 with 44 KOs. The loss was Tyson’s first in 41 non-title fights.

Williams immediately proposed to his longtime fianc�e, Zoe, the mother of his two daughters, who accepted, and not because the Englishman made a $350,000 purse tonight with a lot more to come.

“Williams was laying on him,” said Tyson’s trainer, Freddie Roach. “I think it wore him out. He had a great amount of firepower. Mike moved his head well, threw a lot of good combinations, but Williams has a lot of heart. He took a lot of hard punches.”

The fighter once called the baddest man on the planet went down from a final right hand, then laid helplessly along the ropes, blood streaming down his face. Tyson tried to get up to beat the count, then fell down again and the fight was waved to a stunning close at 2:51 of the fourth round.

Damn, that may be all she wrote for Tyson, buddy been on a real loosing streak…

USC is beginning the 2004 season where many felt it should have ended the 2003 campaign — atop the Coaches’ poll.

The Trojans went 12-1 last season and routed Michigan in the Rose Bowl but earned just a split of the national championship. All but three of the 63 coaches — obligated to vote for the winner of the BCS title game — cast their first-place ballots for Louisiana State, which defeated Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

USC, which returns numerous stars from last year’s squad, earned 44 of the 61 first-place votes and 1,500 points.

The Sooners (12-2), who finished third in last year’s final poll, received 12 first-place votes and are second with 1,426 points. LSU (13-1) garnered the other five first-place votes and is third with 1,387 points.

Georgia (11-3), which finished sixth last year, is fourth, followed by Miami (11-2), which is joining the Atlantic Coast Conference this season.

Florida State (10-3) is sixth, followed by Michigan (10-3), Texas (10-3), Ohio State (11-2) and Florida (8-5).

West Virginia (8-5), which is expected to highlight a depleted Big East Conference, begins the season 11th, followed by Iowa (10-3), Kansas State (11-4), Tennessee (10-3) and California (8-6) – the only team to beat USC last season.

Clemson (9-4) is 16th, while Missouri (8-5), Auburn (8-5), Virginia (8-5), Maryland (10-3), Utah (10-2), Wisconsin (7-6), Minnesota (10-3), Purdue (9-4) and Oregon (8-5) complete the poll.

Nebraska (10-3), which is under first-year coach Bill Callahan, leads the group of others receiving votes.

Complete Coaches Poll Here – CLICK HERE

The Ricky Williams retirement news was startling to everyone in and around the Dolphins. No exceptions. You want to knock Dave Wannstedt over with a feather? You could have done that Friday afternoon in Naples, the tiny resort town on the west coast of Florida.

Here is some insight to how he felt:

“I don’t want to do it anymore,” Williams told Le Batard. “That’s it. I don’t want to do this anymore. If people really care about me, that would be enough for them.”

Ricky being Ricky. When I woke to the news Sunday, I have to say my first thought (after, of course, “Wow!”) was: I’m always surprised that more NFL players don’t retire before their time.

Two reasons. One: Have you ever stood on the sidelines of an NFL game? I have. It’s positively scary. Grown men — big grown men, hopped-up big grown men — are running into each other, often head-on, at full speed. The sound and fury is about three times what you see on TV. Maybe the players who’ve done it for so long are immune to it, but let me tell you something, people — those are car wrecks that go on out there. Bruce Smith once told me his job on Sundays was a series of car accidents, and he had to steel himself to the fact that he was sacrificing X number of years off his life to make the lives of his extended family members (and himself, certainly) better.

Second reason: This may come as a shock to you, but not every football player loves football. Ricky Williams didn’t love the game. He liked it, sure. But love? Not Williams. He likes too many things in life to be in love with football. Traveling, photography, his kids, being alone. And after making $16 million or so in football over his five seasons, he knew he could do what he wanted to do. When you read this, I’m sure many of you are going to think, “What’s there not to like about playing a sport and making millions for a living?” Well, to most people, nothing. And to most football players, nothing. But it is physically and mentally demanding. It should not be a crime for a man to want to do other things with his life than play football. Which is why, other than his timing (which is a severe betrayal to his teammates and employers, the same betrayal Barry Sanders inflicted on the Lions six years ago, and enough for a Dolphin fan to hate the guy), this decision ought to be perfectly fine with anyone. It’s America. A guy can do what he wants.

So long buddy, Im pretty sure that anxiety issue he had played a roll into his choice.

Jamaica’s Brigitte Foster falls to the ground after crossing the line in an attempt to catch Canada’s Perdita Felicien in the 100-meter hurdles. Foster took the silver medal.

Sanya Richards, right, held off Russia and Jamaica on the anchor leg to clinch the women’s 4×400-meter title for the United States.

After weeks of defending herself against doping allegations and trying to explain her subpar performances on the track, Marion Jones smiled and laughed as she poked a little fun at herself. An exhausted Jones pulled out of the 200 at the U.S. track and field trials to focus on the long jump and the relays — and perhaps even a spot in the 100.

“It’s extremely disappointing. I’m not going to candy coat anything,” she said. “My reasoning for pulling out of the 200 today is simply because of fatigue. There’s no other reason. After running my round yesterday I was simply tired, exhausted.”