Ex-cop will fight Rodney King

As we had guessed, the man chosen to fight Rodney King has a law- enforcement background. Former Chester Police Officer Simon Aouad, now an aspiring actor, has been selected to take on King Sept. 12 at a Celebrity Boxing Federation fight at Maple Sports Zone in Boothwyn, promoter Damon Feldman has confirmed. We reported recently that King, involuntarily infamous for his videotaped 1991 beating by LAPD officers, was seeking a challenger. King, 43, is 14 months sober, and was battling alcoholism when he appeared on VH1's "Sober House" and "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew."

Tickets for the bout are available by calling Center Stage tickets at 800-677-8499. The fight will also be streamed on Internet pay-per-view at gofightlive.com.

With sympathy

Our condolences to 610 WIP's Howard Eskin, whose father, Donald, died last week at age 82. The sports broadcaster says his father was "one of the biggest reasons I'm doing what I'm doing. He was a big sports fan with lots of opinions; he started me down this road. So blame my dad for me. I will miss my dad, but I will never forget our memories," said Eskin.

Before he retired to Florida, near Clearwater, where he caught a lot of Phils games, Donald ran the family truck-body business called S.J. Eskin, at 31st & Master streets. "He gave me a scouting report on Ryan Howard before I even knew who Ryan Howard was," said Eskin, of his father, who was grandfather to 94 WYSP's Spike, aka Howard's son Brett. Eskin told us that while he debated his father about sports as he does his callers, he never called Donald a "moron," "nitwit" or "dope," or hung up on him.

Out and about

* Actor Christopher Meloni and a

few friends stopped Saturday afternoon for beers at McGillin's Olde Ale House (1310 Drury), where the "Law & Order: SVU" star answered to his character's name, Stabler, and graciously posed for pictures and talked with fans.

* BJ Penn, the UFC lightweight

champ, who retained his title by defeating challenger Kenny Florian in UFC 101 Saturday night at Wachovia Center, dined at DelFrisco's (15th & Chestnut) Friday night along with Josh Hendricks and former UFC champion Chuck "The Ice Man" Liddell. Ring announcer Bruce Buffer was also in Friday and UFC President Dana White showed up that night for a late dessert with a party of 16. He had eaten at the steakhouse the night before.

UFC fighter Pat Miletich and fellow mixed-martial arts fighter Ramiro Hernandez hung out Friday night at the World Famous Gold Club (1416 Chancellor).

* UFC fighter Kurt Pellegrino,

a Point Pleasant, N.J., native, and a party of 12 came by Ralph's (760 S. 9th) for dinner Friday night. The next night Pellegrino defeated Josh Neer during UFC 101.

* Gerard Butler, who was a reg-

gular at Rouge (205 S. 18th) while in town shooting "Law Abiding Citizen," dropped by for a burger there yesterday while lunching with a few pals. "Law Abiding Citizen," co-starring Jamie Foxx, opens Oct. 16.

* After calling Thursday's

Phillies game, Gary "Sarge" Matthews stopped by O'Neal's (611 S. 3rd), where he sipped Patron and let fans try on his World Series ring.

* Reese Witherspoon and Paul

Rudd dined together Thursday at Alma de Cuba (1623 Walnut).

The pair are starring in the annoyingly untitled James L. Brooks comedy shooting here through October. Rudd and Owen Wilson sat outside at Parc on Rittenhouse Square the other night where they were friendly to fans who approached but declined photo requests.

A couple of nights back, during a break from shooting at Drexel University's Armory, Wilson rode a bicycle around the track of Penn's Franklin Field. A field- hockey player told him that bikes weren't allowed on the track and that "Miss Kim," referring to field-security officer Kim Taylor, would kill him. Wilson, laughing, obliged and stopped riding.

Luukko's 50th B-day surprise

Comcast-Spectacor President Peter Luukko was genuinely surprised Thursday by a surprise 50th-birthday party for him at the Wachovia Center's Lexus Club, where Comcast-Spectacor spokesman Ike Richman had lured him, telling him he was scheduled to do a live interview with the NHL Network. Instead, Luukko, whose birthday was July 30, was met by 150 family members and friends including 76ers President Ed Stefan-ski; Flyers GM Paul Holmgren; Flyers coach John Stevens; players Braydon Coburn, Jeff Carter and Riley Cote, and former players Gary Dornhoffer, Joe Watson, Don Saleski and Bob Kelly.

Also present were Phillies President David Montgomery; 93.3 WMMR's Matt Cord; Comcast SportsNet's Neil Hartman; Live Nation concert chief Larry Magid; John Dougherty, boss of electricians union Local 98, and Paul Muller of Toyota and Mike Anton of McDonald's, big Wachovia Center sponsors. Luukko's wife, Casey, and assistant Cheri Arnao planned the party. Absent was Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, who was out of town.

Visit PhillyGossip.com for Dan's latest updates or follow PhillyGossip on Twitter. Have a tip? Call 215-854-5963, or e-mail grossd@phillynews.com. For recent columns, visit go.philly.com/dangross.