Taylor easily retains two titles

Jermain Taylor won a unanimous decision over Kassim Ouma on Saturday night at North Little Rock, Ark., to retain his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization middleweight titles.

Taylor, fighting in his home state for the first time since winning the title in 2005, was in control throughout despite a cut around his left eye that appeared to bother him in the later rounds.

There was little suspense at the end -- open scoring was used at the fight and showed Taylor with a big lead after eight rounds.

Taylor became the middleweight champion in July 2005 by beating Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas, then beat Hopkins there again that December. Taylor escaped with a draw against Winky Wright this July in Memphis, Tenn.

After three consecutive decisions, Taylor (26-0-1) hoped for a knockout in front of his home fans, but Ouma (25-3-1) made the Little Rock native fight the full 12 rounds.

Taylor started well, knocking the smaller Ouma off-balance with a right uppercut in the first round, but Ouma lived up to his reputation as an aggressive fighter. He ran right at Taylor several times, although Taylor seldom stayed on the ropes for long.

Taylor landed most of the big punches, and toward the end, Ouma’s only chance was an unlikely knockout. Taylor won the first six rounds on all three judges’ cards and the first nine on two cards.

Ouma threw 701 punches to Taylor’s 597, but Taylor had a clear edge in punches landed, 244-177.

Two-time heavyweight champion Michael Moorer made quick work of his first fight since December 2004, stopping Cliff Couser in the first round at Hollywood, Fla.

Moorer landed a counter right to the head in the scheduled 10-round bout at the Seminole Hard Rock hotel and casino. Couser dropped hard to the canvas, and referee Jorge Alonso didn’t bother to count and ended the fight at 1:36 of the round.

The 39-year-old Moorer is 48-4-1 with 38 KOs. Couser’s record fell to 25-11-2.

BASEBALL

Padilla agrees to

remain a Ranger

Pitcher Vicente Padilla is staying with the Texas Rangers, agreeing to a $33.75 million, three-year contract that includes a $12 million club option for 2010.

The signing keeps one of the top free-agent starters with a team in need of pitching. The 29-year-old right-hander went 15-10 with a 4.50 earned-run average. In setting a career-high for wins, he threw 200 innings.

“It’s exciting to have Vicente back in the fold for the next few years,” General Manager Jon Daniels said. “He was a horse for us last year, and demonstrated he can pitch and win in our park.”

The New York Mets prohibited Jose Reyes from playing winter ball, not wanting to take any chances with the health of their star shortstop. The 23-year-old Dominican had expressed interest in playing in the winter league for the Cibao Gigantes.

“Reyes is an important part of our team,” General Manager Omar Minaya told a Dominican Republic TV station. “That’s why the Mets organization decided that he will not play.”

Reyes batted .300 with 19 home runs, 81 RBIs and stole 68 bases in 153 games last season.

PRO FOOTBALL

Panthers activate

rookie Basanez

The Carolina Panthers promoted rookie quarterback Brett Basanez to the active roster, another signal that Jake Delhomme may not be able to play today against the New York Giants.

Delhomme did not practice all week because of ligament damage in his right thumb suffered during Monday night’s loss to Philadelphia. If he can’t play, Chris Weinke would make his first start in more than four years.

The Panthers had only two quarterbacks on the active roster, so Basanez was signed off the practice squad to back up Weinke if Delhomme sits out.

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

UCLA defeats Hawaii

in women’s quarterfinals

Kaitlin Sather and Nana Meriwether each had 13 kills to lead fourth-seeded UCLA (33-3) to a 30-16, 30-23, 30-23 victory over 12th-seeded Hawaii (29-6) at Honolulu in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I women’s tournament.

The Bruins advance to the semifinals at Omaha, where they play top-seeded Nebraska (31-1).

Jamie Houston had a match-high 35 kills to lead the Rainbow Wahine to a 28-30, 30-21, 21-30, 30-27, 15-5 victory over fifth-seeded USC (27-5) in a third-round match late Friday night. Hawaii won 11 consecutive points in the fifth game.

GOLF

Sweden takes one-shot

lead at World Cup

Carl Petterson had five birdies, four of them on the back side, to help carry Sweden to a one-shot lead over Argentina after three rounds of the World Cup at St. James, Barbados.

Petterson and Henrik Stenson combined to shoot an eight-under-par 63 for Sweden, which is seeking its first World Cup title since 1991, nine years before the event was added to the World Golf Championships schedule.

Argentina’s Andres Romero and Angel Cabrera saw their run of 42 consecutive holes without a bogey end at the eighth hole. They shot a 67.

Stewart Cink and J.J. Henry shot a 63 to put the U.S. in a seven-way tie for fourth at 11 under. They closed the front nine with seven straight birdies.

SOCCER

Manchester United

extends league lead

Manchester United defeated Manchester City, 3-1, to extend its English Premier League lead to nine points over defending champion Chelsea.

Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo scored for United, which won for the 14th time in 17 games and has 44 points. Chelsea, which plays today at Arsenal, has 35 points.