Jones Gets Knocked Out Again

Glen Johnson knocked out Roy Jones Jr. in the ninth round Saturday night in Memphis, Tenn., to retain his International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight title and cast more doubt on the future of one of boxing’s most outstanding performers.

Jones lay on his back moving only slightly for almost four minutes after he was dropped by an overhand right, followed by a short left. Trainers filled a towel with ice and slid it under Jones’ head as he lay on the canvas.

Jones, 35, finally walked out of the ring with help from his trainers.

Johnson, 41-9-2, with 28 knockouts, came out the aggressor from the opening bell. He threw a total of 437 punches to 270 for Jones and kept him against the ropes for most of the fight.

By the seventh round, the crowd was booing and calling for more action from their favorite, Jones (49-3).

The knockout came on Jones’ first fight after a crushing defeat by Antonio Tarver on May 15 in Las Vegas that cost Jones the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight title. Tarver landed a left that sent Jones sprawling in the second round and unable to continue.

Jones tried to argue then that he could continue the fight against Tarver, but there could be no such claim against Johnson.

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There were those in boxing who were worried Riddick Bowe would get hurt making a comeback after eight years outside the ring. On Saturday, he was the one doing the hurting.

Bowe, clearly happy to be fighting again, knocked down an outclassed Marcus Rhode four times before the bout was finally stopped at 2:45 of the second round in a ring on a tribal reservation in Shawnee, Okla.

The former heavyweight champion was heavy and a step slow, but there was nothing wrong with the way he punched. He put Rhode down once with 10 seconds left in the first round and then knocked him down three times in the second round before Rhode’s corner stepped in and the fight was stopped.

The 37-year-old Bowe showed no ill effects from getting hit again, although Rhode didn’t hit him very much. In his last fight before retiring, Bowe showed signs of brain damage and there were worries that getting hit in the head could damage him more.

Motor Racing

Points leader Martin Truex Jr. took the lead with 12 laps to go and drove to an easy victory in the NASCAR Busch Series Stacker 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

The win was the fifth of the year for Truex, tying him with rookie Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle for the series lead. It also was his fifth career and increased his points lead over Busch to 152 after 27 of 34 races.

Truex led three times for 47 laps in his Chevrolet and averaged 122.013 mph in a race that finished under caution. Mike McLaughlin finished second in a Ford.

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Shane Hmiel passed veteran Todd Bodine heading into the final lap to win the Las Vegas 350 for his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory.

In the closing laps, Hmiel said he saw Bodine rounding the turn ahead of him on the 1 1/2 -mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He beat Bodine by 1.009 seconds, about three car lengths.

Hmiel’s average speed in his Chevrolet was 123.865 mph, well shy of the track record of 135.394 mph set in October 2002 by David Starr.

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Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was barely five seconds into his qualifying lap for today’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai and just starting the first turn when he lost control of his Ferrari and went into the gravel.

Schumacher will start from the next-to-last row, in 18th place out of 20, his worst starting position with Ferrari. He would have been in the back row, but Takuma Sato of BAR-Honda blew an engine in practice and was sent 10 places back in the grid.

Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher’s Ferrari teammate, earned the pole position. He was timed in 1 minute 34.012 seconds on the 3.388-mile circuit. Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes was second at 1:34.178.

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Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills closed out the 2004 Southern California Auto Club Late Model season by winning the Villa Roma 100 at Irwindale Speedway.

“It doesn’t quite top winning the championship, but it’s close,” said Huddleston. “I’m looking forward to getting a true Western States Championship set up in time for next year.”

Huddleston started on the second row but quickly jumped to the lead after five laps, pulling away from series champion Doug McComb. Andrew Myers finished a close second and Mike Johnson earned his first third-place finish.

Soccer

Arsenal extended its unbeaten record in the English Premier League to 47 games, winning 1-0 at Manchester City on a rare goal by Ashley Cole.

Cole took a deflected pass from Jose Antonio Reyes and scored with a left-footed shot in the 13th minute, his first goal in more than two years.

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Forward Clint Mathis entered as a substitute and scored late in the second half, leading Hannover 96 to a 1-0 upset of Schalke for its first victory this season in the German league.

Mathis, a spark for the United States during the 2002 World Cup, entered the game in the 81st minute. Ninety seconds later he stripped a Schalke player of the ball and beat two defenders off the dribble. He then passed and volleyed in a cross.

Tennis

Top-seeded Serena Williams overcame problems with her serve to defeat fourth-seeded Vera Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-3, and advance to the final of the China Open at Beijing against U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The second-seeded Kuznetsova defeated third-seeded Maria Sharapova, 6-2, 6-2, in the other semifinal.

Williams is working her way back up the rankings after being sidelined part of this year because of injuries. She sealed the victory with an ace, a rare quick point in a match dominated by baseline rallies.

“I think I played a decent match,” Williams said. “I didn’t want to lose serve today and I did, twice.”

Miscellany

Guard Doug Christie is expected to sit out most of training camp with the Sacramento Kings while recovering from pain in his left foot.

Christie, a 13-year veteran who started every game last season, underwent treatment on his heel to relieve pain that bothered him for much of last season. He will be sidelined for at least four weeks.

He averaged 10.1 points, 4.2 assists and 4.0 rebounds last season.