Jones Defeats Barrera With Nonstop Punches

Junior Jones settled his rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera the simple way Friday night in Las Vegas, and with much less controversy.

Jones punched almost nonstop from the opening bell to score a unanimous 12-round decision over Barrera and retain the World Boxing Organization junior-featherweight title he won from Barrera in their first fight in November.

It was only the second loss for Barrera in 45 fights, and both have come at the hands of Jones (44-2).

But unlike the first fight, which ended in controversy after Jones hurt Barrera and the fight was stopped in the fifth round, Jones used a sheer volume of punches to win the rematch.

Statistics compiled at ringside showed Jones threw 1,005 punches to 556 for Barrera. He landed 316 to 280 for the former champion.

“There was no way I was going to let this go,” Jones said. “I worked too hard and wasn’t going to let anyone take this away.”

Jones won on scorecards, 116-111, 114-112 and 114-113.

In another title fight on the card, World Boxing Assn. welterweight champion Ike Quartey remained unbeaten by stopping Ralph Jones in the fifth round of a scheduled 12-round fight.

Quartey nearly stopped Jones in the first round, knocking him down twice.

Quartey finally ended the fight in the fifth round, hitting Jones with a vicious right hand that put him into the ropes. Referee Joe Cortez moved in and stopped the bout at 1:08 of the round as Jones was falling to the canvas.

“All I want to do right now is fight Oscar De La Hoya,” Quartey (34-0) said. “That is where the money is and where my career is.”

Jones fell to 30-2.

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George “Rock-A-Bye” Ross, who held the Canadian welterweight and middleweight boxing titles in the 1940s, died Thursday in Halifax. He was 75.

Gymnastics

UCLA’s women overcame a quick start by Michigan and a lead by Arizona State to win their first NCAA championship at Gainesville, Fla.

The Bruins, who came into the tournament No. 2, finished with a 49.525 score on the uneven parallel bars to move ahead of Pacific 10 rival Arizona State and take home the title with a final score of 197.150 points. Arizona State finished second with 196.850.

“It has not sunk in,” UCLA Coach Valerie Kondos said. “I didn’t believe it until I heard my team called up to the podium.”

The Bruins’ victory marked the first time in NCAA history that a team other than Georgia, Alabama or Utah won the title.

Twenty-two years after winning the NCAA men’s championship, California finally did it again, beating Oklahoma and Iowa at Iowa City, Iowa.

Olympic gold-medal winner Kerri Strug claims in a lawsuit filed in Tucson that a Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) promotion company cheated her out of $850,000. She signed with the 1996 World Gold Gymnastics Tour for about $1.1 million. Strug says she has been paid $280,000.

Olympics

Nine of 10 television viewers around the world tuned in to last summer’s Atlanta Olympics, making the Centennial Games the most watched sports event in TV history, according to the International Olympic Committee’s “Olympic Broadcast Analysis Report.”

Out of a potential global audience of 3.5 billion viewers, more than 3.2 billion people watched at least part of the Games, the report said.

The gross cumulative audience for the 17-day Games, which were shown in a record 214 countries and territories, reached 19.6 billion--18% higher than for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Pro Football

Two weeks after his San Francisco 49ers had lost to the Green Bay Packers in last season’s NFL playoffs, Steve Young discovered his injured ribs were not only cracked, but dislocated as well.

Despite treatment, it still felt like there was “a knife in my back,” Young told the San Francisco Chronicle. But two weeks later further tests revealed the dislocated rib in his back. It was popped back into place, and Young said he has been fine since.

Scott Brumfield, an offensive lineman whose career was jeopardized last season by a severe neck injury, has agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Cincinnati Bengals. . . . The Philadelphia Eagles traded defensive tackle Ronnie Dixon to the New York Jets for a seventh-round pick in this weekend’s draft. . . . The New England Patriots signed defensive end Ferric Collons for $1.25 million for two more seasons, matching an offer sheet he had signed with the Eagles.

Tennis

Top-seeded Richard Krajicek, near perfect on his serve, advanced to the Japan Open semifinals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over David Prinosil at Tokyo. His semifinal opponent will be No. 6 Patrick Rafter, who beat fellow Australian Todd Woodbridge, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

The semifinals of the Godo Seat Open at Barcelona, Spain, will be an all-Spanish affair as Carlos Moya, Albert Costa, Alberto Berasategui and Alberto Portas won quarterfinal matches.

Swimming and Diving

Erica Sorgi failed to advance to the final round of the three-meter springboard competition Friday at the U.S. Spring National Diving Championships at Auburn University.

Sorgi, a freshman at Capistrano Valley High who was representing the Mission Viejo Nadadores, finished in 14th place with 429.27 points. Only the top six advance. Kristen Marquis, a sophomore at Santa Margarita High, finished 16th with 420.48.

Tracy Bonner of Houston had the top score of the day with 459.78 points.

Olympic silver medalist Amanda Beard finished fifth in the 200-meter breaststroke in the World Swimming Short Course Championships Friday in Goteborg, Sweden.

Beard, a sophomore at Irvine High, finished in 2 minutes 27.29 seconds. Kristy Ellem of Australia won in 2:22.68.

Chad Carvin of Laguna Hills took second in the 400 meter freestyle in a time of 3:43.73.

Miscellany

A three-man battle for the starting quarterback position will be the feature of USC’s spring football game today at Howard Jones Field at 11 a.m. Sophomores Quincy Woods and John Fox and freshman Mike Van Raaphorst are rated even at the end of spring practice by Coach John Robinson and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson. The $20 admission fee includes a barbecue lunch.

Soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, extended a European ban on former World Cup referee Kurt Roethlisberger, who was accused of trying to arrange a bribe. . . . Miami of Ohio changed the nickname for its athletic teams from Redskins to the RedHawks. . . . Mississippi State football player James Jones pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and was fined $250 by a municipal judge in Starkville, Miss. . . . Heavyweight boxer Tommy Morrison pleaded not guilty to drunk driving and speeding and will stand trial June 12 at Fort Scott, Kan. . . . Loyola Marymount will honor basketball legend Pete Newell at the Pride of Lions Dinner and Auction today.