Sharmba Mitchell

Joel Casamayor of Cuba scored a technical knockout over Radford Beasley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to remain undefeated and keep his World Boxing Assn. super featherweight title. Casamayor, a 1992 Olympic champion for the Cuban national team, started a barrage of punches with a quick right jab and a left to the head early in the fifth round. Beasley, of St. Louis, fought back but had cuts over both eyes and was bleeding from his mouth when the fight was stopped.

The butterflies flutter when a fighter steps into the ring, but they usually fly away after the first tentative blows. When Sharmba Mitchell steps into the ring tonight at the Glendale Arena near Phoenix, his nerves may be settled merely by seeing Kostya Tszyu, his opponent in the International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight title fight, step into the ring. That will end 3 1/2 frustrating years of dashed hopes and shattered dreams for Mitchell.

The butterflies flutter when a fighter steps into the ring, but they usually fly away after the first tentative blows. When Sharmba Mitchell steps into the ring tonight at the Glendale Arena near Phoenix, his nerves may be settled merely by seeing Kostya Tszyu, his opponent in the International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight title fight, step into the ring. That will end 3 1/2 frustrating years of dashed hopes and shattered dreams for Mitchell.

Joel Casamayor of Cuba scored a technical knockout over Radford Beasley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to remain undefeated and keep his World Boxing Assn. super featherweight title. Casamayor, a 1992 Olympic champion for the Cuban national team, started a barrage of punches with a quick right jab and a left to the head early in the fifth round. Beasley, of St. Louis, fought back but had cuts over both eyes and was bleeding from his mouth when the fight was stopped.

Sharmba Mitchell retained his World Boxing Association super-lightweight title Saturday night at the MCI Center in Washington with a decision over Reggie Green in a bout influenced by open scoring. Because scores were given on a round-by-round basis, it was apparent that only a knockout in the 12th round would prevent Mitchell from successfully defending his title for a third time. "I played it safe at the end, even though he was punching hard," Mitchell said.

Jose Luis Castillo of Mexico retained his WBC lightweight title Friday night, fighting to a 12-round draw with hometown favorite Stevie Johnston at Denver. The judges scored it 114-114, 115-114, 114-114. Castillo (41-4-1) was making his first title defense since taking the championship from Johnson (30-2-1) on June 17 in Bell Gardens. On the undercard, super heavyweight Eric "Butterbean" Esch of Jaspar, Ala., stopped Marcus Rhode of Detroit Lakes, Minn., at 2:06 of the third round.

Larry Coker, 52, was hired as the coach of the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday, five days after Butch Davis resigned to become coach of the Cleveland Browns. Coker, the Hurricanes' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach since 1995, will have a $650,000 annual salary, a university source said. "Even if there had been 500 people, I knew I was going to get this job," said Coker, who emerged as the leading candidate for the job when Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez pulled out of contention Friday.

Let's hope the book is closed on open scoring. Instead, one promoter, Dan Goossen, would like to open a school for boxing officials. Resurrected in the ugly wake of the controversial draw in last month's Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis heavyweight title fight, open scoring in last week's fight card in Washington pointed out flaws in the system. On the surface, open scoring might seem like a good idea.

In her first match since taking over the top ranking, Lindsay Davenport battled to defeat Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, on Saturday to reach the final of the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany. "I never thought I'd be No. 1 and I was very nervous," said Davenport, whose opponent in today's final will be Sandrine Testud of France, a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Dominique Van Roost of Belgium. "It was difficult today. Arantxa was very difficult to play."

Kostya Tszyu retained his International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight title Saturday night at Glendale, Ariz., stopping Sharmba Mitchell in the third round of the long-awaited rematch between the former titleholders. Tszyu knocked Mitchell down four times, three in the third round. The last time, Tszyu dropped Mitchell to his knees with two combinations, then hit him with two right hands, two lefts and a right before referee Raul Caiz stepped in at the 2:48 mark.

Sharmba Mitchell retained his World Boxing Association super-lightweight title Saturday night at the MCI Center in Washington with a decision over Reggie Green in a bout influenced by open scoring. Because scores were given on a round-by-round basis, it was apparent that only a knockout in the 12th round would prevent Mitchell from successfully defending his title for a third time. "I played it safe at the end, even though he was punching hard," Mitchell said.

Serena Williams exceeded her expectations at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Playing for the first time after an eight-month layoff following her Wimbledon title, she routed Elena Dementieva, 6-1, 6-1, Saturday to win the title. The 50-minute women's final was the most one-sided in the 20-year history of the tournament. "I think the rust has definitely worn off," Williams said. "Honestly, I didn't expect to win my first tournament back."

The University of Washington has acknowledged that eight football recruits, instead of the four originally reported, were visited a week ago in violation of NCAA regulations. Also, of those visited on Jan. 31, the five who signed letters of intent with the Huskies have been ruled ineligible by the university.