Moorer Decisions `Bonecrusher' Smith In Heavyweight Fight

-- BOXING

Second-ranked World Boxing Association heavyweight Michael Moorer remained in the title picture by wearing down James "Bonecrusher" Smith to capture a 10-round unanimous decision yesterday in Atlantic City, N.J.

Moorer, 31-0 with 28 KOs, capitalized on the tiring Smith to land several flush left crosses during the final three rounds. The 25-year-old left-hander also cut Smith's bottom lip in the ninth round and had his 39-year-old opponent wobbling in the final minute of the fight.

Moorer, who weighed in at 218 pounds, rebounded from a slow start. The momentum permanently turned after Moorer won a toe-to-toe exchange capping round three. Smith subsequently tired and Moorer racked up points.

-- Under the watchful eye of champion Riddick Bowe, undefeated Herbie Hide stopped Michael Murray in the fifth round in London to win the vacant British heavyweight crown. Hide failed to impress Bowe, whom he hopes to challenge later this year for the WBA and IBF crowns.

-- TENNIS

Top seed Mary Joe Fernandez had three service breaks in the first set en route to a 6-3, 6-1 semifinal victory over No. 5 Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia in the Evert Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. No. 4 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa defeated Stephanie Rottier of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal.

-- Unseeded South African Marcos Ondruska continued his streak of upsets, beating eighth-seeded Andrei Chesnokov 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the finals of the Purex Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz. Ondruska will face second-seeded Andre Agassi, who beat Australian Mark Woodforde 6-2, 6-3 in the other semifinal.

-- Wild-card entry Anders Jarryd of Sweden beat fifth-seeded Alexander Volkov of Russia 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 to advance to today's final of the ABN-AMRO indoor tournament in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Jarryd will face Czech Karel Novacek, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Diego Nargiso of Italy.

-- Top-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain and second-seeded Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere of Switzerland advanced to the final of the EA Generali tournament in Linz, Austria. Martinez defeated fourth-seeded Leila Meskhi of Georgia 6-2, 6-2. Maleeva-Fragniere downed Judith Wiesner of Austria 6-2, 6-0.

-- HORSE RACING

Devoted Brass and Union City further clouded the 3-year-old West Coast thoroughbred picture with a one-two finish in the $157,500 San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita. The 3-5 favorite Stuka finished third, 12 lengths back. Art of Living, the 3-1 second choice, faded to fifth in the six-horse field.

-- Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, N.J., the premier thoroughbred race track in the Philadelphia area since 1942, may close later this year because of financial problems, according to a track official.

-- BOWLING

Ron Palombi Jr. captured the second jewel in the PBA triple crown yesterday by winning the Bud Light National Championship in Toledo, Ohio. Palombi now needs only the Firestone Tournament of Champions title to become the fourth bowler to win all three majors in a career.

-- Tish Johnson leads after five rounds of the LPBT's Nu Generation Classix in Yuba City, Calif. Johnson has a 12-4-0 match play-record and 7,984 pins, good for a 224 average and a 404-pin lead over Tacoma's Jeanne Naccarato.

-- AUTO RACING

Mark Martin completed an impressive double with a runaway victory in the Goodwrench 200 Busch Grand National stock car race in Rockingham, N.C. The win came two hours after Martin won the pole position for today's Goodwrench 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race on North Carolina Motor Speedway's 1.017-mile oval.

-- COLLEGE BASEBALL

Richard Lemons' pinch-hit, three-run triple in the seventh inning helped Arizona beat Stanford 13-8 in a Pacific-10 Conference game in Tucson, Ariz. The Wildcats improved to 3-2 in the Pac-10's Southern Division, 10-5 overall. Stanford fell to 0-2, 10-5.

-- CURLING

Washington's defending champions, from Seattle's Granite Curling Club, lost to Minnesota 7-3 in the men's national championships in St. Paul, Minn.