BOXING

Joel Casamayor of Cuba scored a technical knockout over Radford Beasley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to remain undefeated and keep his World Boxing Assn. super featherweight title.

Casamayor, a 1992 Olympic champion for the Cuban national team, started a barrage of punches with a quick right jab and a left to the head early in the fifth round. Beasley, of St. Louis, fought back but had cuts over both eyes and was bleeding from his mouth when the fight was stopped.

Casamayor raised his record to 23-0 with 14 knockouts. It was his fourth title defense. The loss was Beasley’s first in 20 bouts.

Sharmba Mitchell dominated Felix Flores to retain his WBA super welterweight title, despite being knocked down for the first time in six years.

Mitchell, of Takoma Park, Md., won a unanimous decision to raise his record to 47-2 in his fifth title defense. Flores, of Juana Dia, Puerto Rico, dropped to 15-2.

The judges’ scores were 116-113, 116-111 and 116-111.

Flores stunned Mitchell with a left uppercut to the head late in the fourth round and followed with a right to the body and another right to the head to send Mitchell to the canvas. Mitchell hadn’t been knocked down since a loss to Steve Johnston in 1994.

In the first round, Mitchell tagged Flores with a right that knocked the challenger off balance. His glove touched the ground, but the referee ruled it a slip. Mitchell also slipped following an exchange in the ninth.

On the same card, William Joppy retained his World Boxing Assn. middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Hacine Cherifi of France.

One judge scored the fight 119-106 and the other two had it 118-107 for Joppy, who improved to 31-1-1.

Cherifi, the former World Boxing Council champion, dropped to 30-4-1.