Bugner, 46, Stopped In Another Comeback

BERLIN - A right hook that broke a rib ended 46-year-old Joe Bugner's latest comeback and his long career last night.

The referee stopped the fight after Scott Welch sent Bugner to the canvas in the sixth round with a stiff right to retain the WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title.

Bugner, who had fought Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, was caught in the second round by the hook, which he believes snapped a rib.

"I just couldn't recover from that," he said. "I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe."

The Hungarian-born Australian said the loss, his first in three fights since coming out of retirement in September, was his last.

"Absolutely," he said. "There's no question about it. This is the end of the story."

The fight was stopped at 2:48 of the sixth round, when Bugner was defenseless against Welch, the British and Commonwealth titleholder. Welch ended the fight when he caught Bugner against the ropes, then crumbled him with a straight right.

After Bugner took a standing eight-count, Welch charged after him, punishing him with combinations until the referee stepped in and stopped the bout.

Welch, 28, said he had a tougher time than expected against a man he admired while growing up.

"He surprised me with his speed," Welch said. "His hand speed was good."

Bugner, who had an earlier comeback end in 1987 when he was stopped by Frank Bruno, finished his career with a 78-14-1 record.

Welch's record now is 17-2 with 15 knockouts.

Bugner weighed 262 pounds, Welch 231.

Holmes wins 160-pound title

LAS VEGAS - Keith Holmes needed only one punch to turn a tactical fight into a smashing championship win.

Holmes used a devastating right hand in the ninth round last night to upset Quincy Taylor and win the WBC middleweight championship in his first bid for a professional title.

The ninth-ranked contender was narrowly ahead on the cards of the three ringside judges when he threw a right-hand counter that put Taylor on the canvas for the first knockdown of the fight, which was on the undercard of Frank Bruno's WBC heavyweight title defense against former champion Mike Tyson at the MGM Grand hotel.

Taylor, 160, got up but was shaky and Holmes went right after him, landing a succession of head punches that prompted referee Richard Steele to step in and stop the fight at 1:43 of the ninth round.

Earlier in the day, Bernard Hopkins successfully defended the IBF version of the 160-pound crown with a spectacular fourth-round knockout of top-ranked contender Joe Lipsey.

Until the knockdown, the two left-handed middleweights had fought a cautious and tactical fight as Taylor tried to defend for the first time the 160-pound crown he won last Aug. 19 by stopping Julian Jackson.

Holmes (28-1, 18 knockouts), 159, never appeared to hurt Taylor but was ahead by two points on two scorecards and one point on another when the fight was stopped.

Taylor (26-4), of Dallas, earned $150,000 for the title fight, while Holmes, of Washington, D.C., was paid $50,000.

Notes

-- German Rolf Rocchigiani, fighting before his hometown fans in Berlin, floored American Jay Snyder twice in the fourth round to retain the WBO cruiserweight title. The fight was stopped with 55 seconds remaining in the round after Snyder staggered under two hard rights by Rocchigiani and appeared in danger of going down again. Snyder (19-2) rose to his feet, but Rocchigiani (38-7-7) floored him again seconds later.

-- Naseem Hamed retained his WBO featherweight title by stopping Said Lawal in just 31 seconds in Glasgow, Scotland.