BRIEFLY.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Boxer on road to recovery

Ruben Contreras, in his first public appearance since sustaining a brain injury and lapsing into a coma 10 weeks ago after a fight at Staples Center, on Friday thanked one of the surgeons who saved his life.

Energetic and conversing in his native Spanish, Contreras, 32, was using a walker after his release from the rehabilitation center at California Hospital Medical Center.

``I'm very, very happy to see him this way,'' said Dr. David Duarte, a surgeon who operated on the Mexican fighter May 28.

Contreras quit in the sixth round of an eight-round bout against Brian Viloria. Less than 10 minutes later, the flyweight from Cuidad Juarez collapsed and had a seizure.

``I felt that something was wrong,'' Contreras said of his quitting the fight. ``God told me to stop. If I hadn't stopped, I probably wouldn't be here today.''

FOOTBALL: Hunter Kelly, whose battle with Krabbe disease, a fatal nervous-system ailment, inspired his Hall of Fame father Jim Kelly's charitable works, died of respiratory failure in Buffalo, N.Y. He was 8.

Jim Kelly, the former Buffalo Bills quarterback, established Hunter's Hope Foundation with his wife, Jill, in 1997 and raised more than $6 million to help those with leukodystrophy and other neurological disease-related research.

BASKETBALL: USC announced that men's coach Tim Floyd hired former San Jose State coach Phil Johnson and former NBA player Rudy Hackett as assistant coaches. Hackett's son, Daniel, is a guard at St. John Bosco High in Bellflower. Floyd also hired DeMarlo Slocum, an assistant at Dixie Junior College in St. George, Utah.

- Scott Wolf

TENNIS: Kim Clijsters lost a match in the United States for the first time in nearly two years, dropping a 6-4, 6-4 decision to unseeded Shuai Peng of China in the quarterfinals of the Acura Classic in Carlsbad.

Peng, ranked 46th, will face sixth-seeded Mary Pierce in today's semifinals. The other semi will pit Japan's Ai Sugiyama against countrywoman Akiko Morigami.

--Andy Roddick rallied to beat Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4 and advance to the semifinals of the Legg Mason Classic in Washington.

SOCCER: UCLA's men's and women's teams were ranked in the top five in preseason rankings from college soccer-oriented Web sites. Soccer Buzz, which covers the women's game, has 2004 NCAA runner-up UCLA at No. 3 and USC at No. 18 in its preseason top 30.

--Real Madrid is ``in negotiations with the mayors'' of Miami and Beijing to construct theme parks, club president Florentino Perez told Spanish sports daily AS.

--COLLEGES: The NCAA executive committee gave president Myles Brand a two-year contract extension through 2009.

MOTOR SPORTS: Dennis Setzer earned his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season at Indianapolis Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind.

JURISPRUDENCE: Former NFL Pro Bowl running back Chris Warren has been sentenced to five years of probation and 500 hours of community service for failure to pay child support.