Hamed Is a Knockout at the Garden

Prince Naseem Hamed entered the Madison Square Garden ring Friday night in a shower of confetti and to loud music and spotlights. His entrance was nearly as spectacular as his fourth-round victory over Kevin Kelley.

Each man was knocked down three times in a wild fight that ended when Kelley was counted out at 2:27 of the fourth round.

The victory enabled the 23-year-old British-born Arab to retain the World Boxing Organization featherweight championship and remain unbeaten in 29 fights with his 27th knockout.

In another title match, Kennedy McKinney knocked down Junior Jones and stopped him in the fourth round to win the WBO super bantamweight championship.

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Thulane Malinga, 38, regained the World Boxing Council super-middleweight title with a unanimous decision over unbeaten defending champion Robin Reid in London.

Baseball

After refusing to exercise their 1998 option, the New York Yankees reversed course and agreed to a $900,000, one-year contract with outfielder Tim Raines. Outfielder Darryl Strawberry refused the Yankees’ offer of salary arbitration. . . . Harold Baines, Baltimore’s designated hitter last season, agreed to a $1.15-million, one-year contract with the Orioles. . . . The Houston Astros will not offer 1998 contracts to third baseman Sean Berry or outfielder Chuck Carr, making both free agents. . . . Catcher Brian Johnson has signed a one-year, $1-million contract with San Francisco. . . . Veteran infielder Nelson Liriano and outfielder Sherman Obando have agreed to minor league contracts with the Colorado Rockies. Second baseman Mike Lansing, acquired by the Rockies last month in a trade with Montreal, has agreed to a four-year contract with a club option for a fifth season.

Florida got rid of yet another player, trading infielder Kurt Abbott to the Oakland Athletics for right-hander Eric Ludwick. Marlin third baseman Bobby Bonilla underwent surgery on his left wrist to repair torn ligaments.. . . The Chicago White Sox traded two relief pitchers, Al Levine and Larry Thomas, to the Texas Rangers for shortstop Benji Gil. . . . Pitcher Bobby Witt accepted the Rangers’ offer of salary arbitration.

Closer Heathcliff Slocumb, traded by Boston to Seattle last July 31, agreed to a $3-million, one-year deal with the Mariners. . . . Pitcher Matt Anderson, the Detroit Tigers’ first-round draft pick, agreed to sign for a bonus believed to be more than $2.5 million.

Jurisprudence

A Cobb County (Ga.) State Court jury decided not to award damages in a civil suit involving St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Ron Gant and Connie Mack IV stemming from a 1992 bar fight in an Atlanta suburb.

Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo was cleared of charges after his arrest earlier this week after authorities said he had been seen doing nothing wrong. Bobo, 23, was charged with obstruction of a police officer after he ran from police outside an Athens bar.

Three Maine hockey players accused of threatening a black student-athlete have been suspended from the team and face criminal charges.

Winter Sports

Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni kept her winning streak alive, but Germany’s Katja Seizinger lost hers at a World Cup ski race in Val d’Isere, France.

Compagnoni rallied from fourth place after the first run to win her eighth consecutive giant slalom. Seizinger’s overall winning streak ended at six races when she couldn’t finish the second run.

Fog forced postponement of the first of two men’s World Cup downhill races this weekend, after only 12 skiers made it to the finish line at Val Gardena, Italy.

After their figure skating short programs, Tara Lipinski and Canada’s Elvis Stojko lead at the Champions Series Final at Munich, Germany.

Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin staked a claim to a berth on the U.S. Olympic luge team with their third World Cup doubles victory of the season at Calgary.

Jan Wustenfeld led a 1-2-3 sweep for Germany in the men’s sprint event at the biathlon World Cup at Kontiolahti, Finland, and World Cup champion Uschi Disl and Martina Zellner of Germany finished 1-2 among the women.

American freestyle skier Jonny Moseley dominated both runs to win a World Cup moguls event at La Plagne, France.

Miscellany

The flame that will burn at the Nagano Winter Olympics got off to a soggy start in the birthplace of the games in Greece. Rain and near-freezing temperatures forced officials to use a flame ignited by the sun earlier in the week to light the Olympic torch. . . . Ronaldo and Romario scored as Brazil beat the Czech Republic, 2-0, for a berth in the FIFA Confederations Cup soccer final against Australia, which upset Uruguay, 1-0, in overtime at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. . . . Senior setter Misty May, who led the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team to a No. 1 ranking until it was upset by Stanford on Thursday night, was named the NCAA Division I player of the year by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn.