In brief: Pavlik knocks out Taylor for middleweight title
Kelly Pavlik knocked out Jermain Taylor in the seventh round to win the world middleweight title on Saturday night at Atlantic City, N.J.
Far behind on points after absorbing a brutal beating in the second round, Pavlik cornered Taylor and stunned him with a hard right to the jaw, then sent him down with a flurry of lefts and rights.
Pavlik (32-0, 29 knockouts) handed Taylor (27-1-1) his first loss.
Taylor entered the fight looking to buff up his image after what some perceived as a lackluster decision over Cory Spinks in May. He did that almost immediately, pounding Pavlik in the second round with a flurry that sent Pavlik down on all fours.
Pavlik survived the round and regained momentum in the third, backing Taylor into a corner and landing several lefts and rights to the head.
“At Sacramento, Calif., Chad Dawson remained unbeaten and successfully defended his WBC light heavyweight title by knocking out Epifanio Mendoza in the fourth round.
Horse Racing
Street Sense upstaged
Hard Spun turned the tables on Street Sense, going right to the lead and then holding off the Kentucky Derby winner to take the $350,000 Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.
Hard Spun broke from the inside post and was taken to the lead immediately by jockey Mario Pino, with Street Sense outside him just a half length back. They ran that way down the backstretch, until Hard Spun pulled away by a length near the far turn.
“Tiago edged Awesome Gem by a nose to win the $500,000 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita at Arcadia, Calif.
Basketball
U.S. moves to final
Rebekkah Brunson scored 20 points and the United States routed Argentina 104-53 at Valdivia, Chile, to advance to the gold medal game at the FIBA Americas tournament and leave the team one win shy of a 2008 Olympic berth. The U.S. (4-0) will play Cuba in the final.
“The New Orleans Hornets traded forward Cedric Simmons to the Cleveland Cavaliers for David Wesley and undisclosed cash considerations.
Miscellany
Williams advances
Top-seeded Venus Williams advanced to the final at the Hansol Korea Open by defeating Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2, at Seoul, South Korea. Williams will face Russian No. 4 Maria Kirilenko in today’s final.
“Alan Webb capped a strong season by winning the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile in New York with a time of 3 minutes, 52.7 seconds.
“American soccer goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann was on the wrong end of a rout in London when Portsmouth beat Reading 7-4 in the highest-scoring game in the Premier League’s 15-year history.
“Former Penn State football player LaVon Chisley Jr., 23, was convicted of first- and third-degree murder and immediately sentenced to life in prison for stabbing a student to death in Bellefonte, Pa.