BRIEFLY : FOREMAN-HOLMES BASH SET FOR JANUARY.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

George Foreman has his 50th birthday party planned: It will be at the Astrodome, Larry Holmes is invited and there's going to be a fight.

The two heavyweight champions of yesteryear - both grandfathers - met at the Dome on Monday to announce their Jan. 23 bout, billed as the ``Birthday Bash.''

Foreman, fighting in his hometown, hits 50 on Jan. 10. Holmes turns 49 on Nov. 3.

``Usually, the doctors check a fighter's heart, but with Larry and me, they're just going to see if we have a pulse,'' Foreman said.

It will be the first fight in the Astrodome since November 1982, when Holmes defeated Randall ``Tex'' Cobb in a one-sided bout that disgusted the late sportscaster Howard Cosell - the last pro fight he called.

Holmes (66-6) expects a better fight this time.

``This will be a classic, it's history,'' he said. ``It's two men who over the decades never fought. Two men with lots of pride. Two men will give it all and only one will win. I'm sure that it will be me and George thinks it will be him.''

Foreman (76-5) ended 10 years of retirement in 1987 and became the WBA champion Nov. 5, 1994 with a 10th-round knockout of Michael Moorer.

Foreman was champion in 1973-74 before he lost his title to Muhammad Ali Oct. 30, 1974. Holmes' championship career lasted from 1978-1985.

Foreman reportedly will receive $10 million and Holmes $4 million.

BASKETBALL: The National Basketball Association's most-recent proposal for a new collective- bargaining agreement won't end the lockout and might even prolong it, a union official said.

The league's offer on Friday included about 14 pages of secondary issues that haven't been negotiated in the 89 days since the lockout was imposed, the official said. The official wouldn't be specific.

The union said that the league's proposal includes a hard salary cap, which sets an absolute ceiling on what teams can pay their players. As in their previous offer, owners also want to phase out the Larry Bird exception over four years. The exception allows teams to re-sign players for any amount.

The NBA already canceled some exhibition games and postponed the start of training camps. The regular season is scheduled to start on Nov. 3.

Richie Adams, a former UNLV basketball star, was convicted in New York of manslaughter in the 1996 beating death of a 15-year-old girl.

A jury deliberated for nearly four days before finding the 35-year-old Adams guilty of a lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter in the beating death of Norma Rodriguez. The high school student was found Oct. 15, 1996 in the hallway of a housing project in the Bronx where both she and Adams had lived.

Adams, who has been in and out of jail for several felony convictions since the 1980s, was once considered a defensive whiz at UNLV. He played under coach Jerry Tarkanian and was known for his shot-blocking and rebounding talents. The 6-foot-9 Adams was nicknamed ``The Animal'' because of his intense playing style.

TRACK AND FIELD: Viljo Akseli Heino, the last of the track stars called the ``Flying Finns,'' has died at age 84, the International Amateur Athletic Federation said.

Heino died Sept. 15 in Tampere. The cause of death was not given.

Although Heino was not as well known as others known by the nickname, such as Paavo Nurmi and Viljam Ritola, he set world records even after suffering a leg injury in Finland's 1939 war against the Soviet Union.

In 1944, Heino set the world record for 10,000 meters of 28:38.6 at a race in Helsinki. He was also given credit in the same race for setting a world 6-mile record.

HOCKEY: The Kings have assigned three players. Right wing Pavel Rosa was sent to Long Beach of the IHL, goalie Frederic Chabot went to Houston of the IHL and center Donald MacLean was sent to Springfield of the AHL.