International Boxing Federation

Michael Nunn defends his International Boxing Federation title against Donald Curry tonight in Paris.

Nonito Donaire appeared to be on the precipice of boxing stardom last year when he scored a sensational second-round technical knockout of veteran champion Fernando Montiel. Donaire's performance, with a mix of speed and power, compared favorably to his Filipino countryman Manny Pacquiao. But since then Donaire (28-1, 18 knockouts) has lost some of his career momentum. First, he squabbled with his promoter, Bob Arum, and didn't fight for eight months, then Donaire returned to gain a sluggish decision followed by a split-decision in claiming the World Boxing Organization junior-featherweight title.

Iran Barkley will defend his International Boxing Federation super-middleweight championship against James Toney, the IBF middleweight champion, Feb. 13 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

World junior welterweight champion Lamont Peterson has tested positive for synthetic testosterone, jeopardizing his May 19 title defense against England's Amir Khan at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and Richard Schaefer, Peterson's promoter, confirmed Tuesday they've been notified of the positive test by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Assn. Kizer received a letter Tuesday explaining the result from Peterson's attorney.

Thailand's Pichit Sitbangprachan knocked out Rudolfo Blanco of Colombia with powerful combinations in the third round and took away his International Boxing Federation flyweight title in Bangkok.

Abner Mares' hard road to a world championship reached its destination Saturday, with a huge 11th-round push to the finish line by referee Russell Mora. Mares defeated champion Joseph Agbeko by majority decision in a thrilling clash for the International Boxing Federation bantamweight title at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Judges Oren Shellenberger and Adalaide Byrd each scored the bout 115-111 for Mares, and C.J. Ross had it 113-113. The scoring was spoiled by Mora's decisions, with the worst gaffe being his 11th-round decision to award Mares (22-0-1)

Boxing is a lot like the Bible, goes the old maxim, in that 'tis better to give than to receive, and as the holiday season descended upon the storm-lashed Eastern Seaboard, aging Evander Holyfield abruptly got religion Saturday night in the form of a decisive whipping administered by a younger, quicker Chris Byrd.

It wasn't the clean knockout federal prosecutors had hoped for, but they still won a solid decision Thursday when a jury found International Boxing Federation founder and former president Bob Lee guilty on six of 38 counts in a New Jersey racketeering trial. The 66-year-old Lee, charged with taking $338,000 in bribes from promoters and managers to fix rankings and sanction fights, was found guilty of tax evasion, money laundering and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

Jurors in the racketeering case against International Boxing Federation founder Robert Lee Sr. got their first glimpse Friday at hidden-camera videotape of Lee receiving alleged bribe money. The flickering tape shows Lee in a hotel suite with longtime IBF rankings chairman Douglas Beavers. Beavers pulls up his pants leg and removes a packet from his sock. "Christmas cheer," he says. Lee takes the packet and asks: "What, how much is this?" "It's $5,000," Beavers says.

The State Attorney General's office, at the request of the California State Athletic Commission, has launched an investigation of boxing promoter Bob Arum, based on Arum's sworn statement that he made improper payments to the International Boxing Federation in 1995. Although it appears unlikely, Deputy Attorney General Earl Plowman wouldn't rule out the possibility that his action could jeopardize the Oscar De La Hoya-Shane Mosley welterweight title fight June 17 at Staples Center.

The case files from United States of America v. International Boxing Federation read like a spy novel. There are clandestine meetings and phone calls filled with code words. Don King is referred to as "Fuzzy Wuzzy" and another promoter is called "the fat man." Alleged bribes are "turkey" and "stuffing." At the center of the racketeering probe, IBF President Robert Lee Sr.

Executives from the embattled International Boxing Federation have been videotaped handling alleged bribe money in a motel room, according to a source close to a long-running federal investigation. The videotape, recorded by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, shows former IBF ratings chairman Doug Beavers pulling a roll of cash from his sock and handing it to President Robert Lee Sr. Don Brennan, who served on the federation's executive board, was also present, the source said.

The embattled International Boxing Federation suffered another blow Wednesday when a federal judge in Newark, N.J., appointed a monitor to oversee its operations, the first time such legal measures have been taken against an American sports organization. Government stewardship has historically been employed against mob-tainted labor unions. In this case, U.S. District Judge John W. Bissell gave the monitor--New Jersey attorney Joseph Hayden Jr.