‘Prince’ Keeps His Crown By Knocking Out Vazquez

Unloading a full range of shots, “Prince” Naseem Hamed scored a seventh-round knockout of former champion Wilfredo Vazquez Saturday at Manchester, England, to retain his World Boxing Organization title for the 10th time.

Vazquez, 37, former World Boxing Assn. champion from Puerto Rico, was floored twice in the seventh and was being battered by the young, unbeaten British fighter before referee Gino Rodriguez stopped the fight 2:29 into the round.

Hamed (30-0), who was knocked down three times in his last fight against Kevin Kelley before scoring a spectacular fourth-round knockout, tightened his defense and threw more jabs against Vazquez (50-8-3).

Also on the card, Chris Eubank lost a unanimous decision in his latest bid to win a world title when he was beaten by WBO cruiserweight champion Carl Thompson, and British WBO heavyweight champion Herbie Hide needed less than a minute to stop American Damon Reed.

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At the Olympic Auditorium, Antonio Diaz knocked down challenger Alberto Cortes twice, then stopped him at 1:33 of the second round of a 12-round bout to retain the International Boxing Assn. super-lightweight title.

Former Olympian Floyd Mayweather improved to 16-0 with a unanimous decision over Gustavo Cuello of Argentina in a 10-round super-featherweight bout.

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At Seoul, Choi Yong-soo of South Korea knocked out Venezuela’s Gilberto Serrano in the ninth round to defend his World Boxing Assn. junior lightweight title.

Tennis

Monica Seles looked like the No. 1 player she once was and Lindsay Davenport also won as the United States took a 2-0 lead over the Netherlands in a best-of-five first-round Fed Cup match at Kiawah Island, S.C.

Seles beat 53rd-ranked Miriam Oremans, 6-1, 6-2, and Davenport, after a slow start, defeated 200th-ranked Amanda Hopmans, 6-4, 6-1.

If the U.S. wins, it will advance to the July 25-26 semifinals against either Germany or Spain, which split their two singles matches Saturday in Saarbrucken, Germany.

Andrei Pavel of Romania finally stopped Jan-Michael Gambill’s advance in the Japan Open at Tokyo, beating the American upstart, 6-4, 6-3, in the semifinals. Pavel will play Byron Black of Zimbabwe, who beat Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 7-5.

Japan’s Ai Sugiyama overcame American Corina Morariu, 6-3, 6-3, for her second consecutive women’s title.

Todd Martin beat Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), to become the first American since 1979 to reach the final of the Conte de Godo Open at Barcelona, Spain. Martin will face Alberto Berasategui, who advanced by beating fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4.

Motor Sports

Former NFL coach Jerry Glanville, 56, now a commentator for Fox and HBO, broke several ribs and his left ankle when he wrecked his car during a qualifying run for the NASCAR Winston West Phoenix 150 stock car race.

Drag racer Cruz Pedregon of Moorpark recorded the fastest pass in NHRA Funny Car history at 318.58 mph, with an elapsed time of 4.889 seconds, during qualifying for today’s finals of the Fram Nationals at Atlanta.

Names in the News

Larry Shyatt, a former assistant to Rick Barnes who was selected Western Athletic Conference coach of the year in his only season at Wyoming, is Clemson’s new basketball coach.

Dennis Horan Jr. took advantage of an open frame in the title game to beat Parker Bohn III, 245-202, and win bowling’s $40,000 Touring Players Championship at Akron, Ohio.

Jenny Lingamfelter won the women’s 3-meter competition and Mark Ruiz won the men’s platform in the National Diving Championships at Indianapolis.

San Francisco police were searching for former Stanford kicker Eric Abrams, 24, who they say claimed he was a police officer and tried to kidnap a 13-year-old boy off the street.

University of Miami running back James Jackson spent a night in jail after his arrest for battery of a female student.

Pete Rose was hired by Fox Sports Net to be a guest co-host for three nights next week on “The Last Word.” Rose will team with Jim Rome Tuesday through Thursday.

South African Elana Meyer withdrew from Monday’s Boston Marathon because of a back injury. Meyer was the runner-up among women in last year’s race.