Klitschko Stands Up for Unanimous Victory

Wladimir Klitschko scored a unanimous decision over Samuel Peter on Saturday night in Atlantic City, N.J., despite being knocked down three times in a 12-round heavyweight brawl.

Using his size and quickness, Klitschko dominated early and rallied late to hold off awkward, hard-hitting Peter. The fight looked to be Klitschko’s early on but changed suddenly in the fifth round, when Peter knocked him down twice.

Klitschko (45-3) recovered and Peter seemed to tire in the next four rounds of the IBF elimination bout. Klitschko, 29, kept him at bay with quick combinations and a long jab that repeatedly forced the 25-year-old Nigerian to resort to overhand punches, some as the fighter broke from clinches.

But Peter, wielding a powerful right hand, nearly ended it in the 10th. He connected on an overhand right that staggered Klitschko, and he chased him into the corner and unloaded about a dozen more punches.

Klitschko escaped, but his legs were rubbery and as he retreated, Peter caught him again with a right to the face and Klitschko went down for the third time in the match.

But Peter (24-1) was out of gas, and Klitschko dominated the last two rounds, scoring at will with left-right combinations. All three judges scored it 114-111 for Klitschko, who is now the mandatory challenger to IBF champion Chris Byrd.

In the undercard match, junior welterweight Miguel Cotto rallied from an early knockdown to stop Ricardo Torres and take his WBO 140-pound title. Cotto, unbeaten in 25 fights, knocked Torres down four times, the last time for good in the seventh round.

Tennis

Maria Sharapova quit because of a chest injury while trailing in the China Open semifinals in Beijing, sending Russia’s Maria Kirilenko into the title match against Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Kirilenko, ranked 45th, was ahead, 6-4, 2-1, and “very surprised” when Sharapova stopped. The decision by the top-ranked Russian prompted boos from the crowd.

Sharapova said a muscle on the right side of her chest is inflamed, causing recurring pain. The problem began in Zurich, Switzerland, last October, and she said a switch to heavier balls in that tournament may have been a factor.

The pain “comes on unexpectedly from day to day,” she said. “It’s very mysterious.”

Sharapova said her father, also her coach, decided to end the match.

Groenefeld defeated Poland’s Marta Domachowska, 7-5, 6-3, in the other semifinal.

Sixth-seeded Katarina Srebotnik defeated Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, 6-2, 6-2, in Portoroz, Slovenia, putting her in the Slovenia Open final with a chance to win a title before her home fans.

Srebotnik will play fourth-seeded Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic, who beat Vanessa Henke of Germany, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Second-seeded Elena Likhovtseva of Russia lost to Karolina Sprem of Croatia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, in Calcutta, India, in the Sunfeast Open semifinals.

Sprem, seeded seventh, will play for the title today against top-seeded Anastasia Myskina of Russia, who defeated Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, 6-3, 6-1.

Basketball

Dirk Nowitzki’s basket with 3.9 seconds left lifted Germany into the final of the European Championship with a 74-73 win over Spain in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.

Germany will face Greece, which rallied to beat France, 67-66, on a three-point shot by Dimitrios Diamantidis. The win sends Greece into its first tournament final since 1989.

Nowitzki finished with 27 points and seven rebounds, going five for 10 from three-point range.

Jose Calderon, who will play for the Toronto Raptors next season, missed a three-point shot for Spain at the buzzer.

Soccer

Blackburn won at Manchester United for the first time since 1962, a 2-1 English Premier League victory in London.

Morten Gamst Pedersen scored in the 33rd and 81st minutes for Blackburn, and Manchester United got its only goal when Ruud van Nistelrooy beat American goalkeeper Brad Friedel in the 67th minute off the rebound of Wayne Rooney’s 30-yard shot, which Friedel had saved.

First-place Chelsea improved to 7-0, beating Aston Villa, 2-1, behind two goals by Frank Lampard.

Chelsea allowed its first league goal of the season when Luke Moore scored in the 44th minute at Stamford Bridge.

Getafe beat cross-town rival Atletico Madrid, 1-0, in Madrid to move atop the Spanish League. Argentine defender Mariano Pernia scored in the 77th minute with a free kick from the edge of the penalty area for unbeaten Getafe’s third win on the road.

Barcelona routed Real Betis, 4-1, for its second win of the season, getting two goals from Samuel Eto’o and one each from Mark van Bommel and Santi Ezquerro.

Miscellany

Germany’s Regina Schleicher won cycling’s road race at the world championships in Madrid, edging Britain’s Nicole Cooke by a length.

Schleicher covered the 78 miles in 3 hours, 8 minutes, 52 seconds. She was followed by Cooke and Australia’s Oenone Wood.

Dymtryo Grabovskyy, 19, won the 104-mile under-23 road race in 3:56.23. The championship finishes today with the men’s elite event.

Australia’s Craig Mottram won the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, pulling away from premier American miler Alan Webb in the final quarter mile.

Mottram finished in 3 minutes 49.9 seconds in the run that began at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and ended at the foot of Central Park. Webb finished at 3:51.4 in his road-race debut in the 20-block dash.

Canada’s Carmen Douma-Hussar, the world indoor silver medalist, won the women’s race in 4:28, edging Americans Amy Rudolph (4:28.5) and Treniere Clement (4:28.7).

T.J. Simers has the day off.