BOXING : Norris Retains Super-Welterweight Title

After earning a unanimous 12-round decision Friday in Paris, Terry Norris praised top-ranked challenger Jorge Castro of Argentina.

“He stayed in there,” Norris said. “He was a tough opponent. I’d give him an A-plus.”

Norris, a champion from Campo, Calif., found Castro more difficult than expected in defending his WBC super-welterweight title.

Already a victor this year over Sugar Ray Leonard and Donald Curry, Norris made his fifth defense of the title he won in March 1990 from John Mugabi.

Norris’ victory followed two other title fights on the undercard. Panama’s Victor Cordoba and France’s Anaclet Wamba, in their first defenses, each recorded 11th-round knockouts over Italian challengers: Cordoba over Vincenzo Nardiello for the WBC cruiserweight crown, Wamba over Massimiliano Duran for the WBA super-middleweight title.

Norris (30-3), 151 pounds, attacked Castro immediately, hoping to intimidate the challenger. But Castro (68-3-2), the No. 1-ranked contender by the WBA and WBC, rarely backed away.

“In the fourth round, I thought I beat him,” Norris said. “I think I broke his nose and I started going for his nose. But he came back. It was a big surprise for me.”

Norris’ younger brother, Orlin, won a unanimous decision over James Pritchard in a 10-round cruiserweight bout.

James Toney retained his International Boxing Federation middleweight title in a 12-round draw against former champion Mike McCallum at Atlantic City, N.J.

Toney (28-0-2) was ahead, 116-112, on one judge’s card, and McCallum (42-1-1) held a 115-113 edge on another. The third judge scored the bout, 114-114.

On the Toney-McCallum undercard, heavyweight contender Riddick Bowe forced Elijah Tillery to quit in the fourth round in the rematch of their ignominious fight six weeks ago.

Their first fight, Oct. 29 in Washington, ended when Tillery (23-6) was disqualified after the first round. The two had traded blows after the bell, Tillery began kicking Bowe (28-0), and Bowe’s manager pulled Tillery over the top rope.

In an earlier bout, Charles Murray (23-1) scored a unanimous 10-round decision over former lightweight champion Livingstone Bramble (31-8-2).

STILL CHAMPION: Terry Norris (left) retained his WBC super-welterweight title by defeating Jorge Castro. C2