Sports briefly
Fight changed by a cut Floyd Mayweather remained the undefeated welterweight champion and dealt England's Ricky Hatton his first loss Saturday night by tying up the British bulldog, whacking him in the ribs in clinches and then teeing off on him with increasing efficiency, beginning in the third round.
By then Hatton was bleeding from above his right eye. Though the cut didn't bleed much, Hatton said it affected him mentally and that he wasn't the same after that.
"I thought I was doing well in the fight until then," Hatton said. "I don't think he was the hardest puncher tonight, but he was more clever than I expected. He's not the biggest welterweight I've ever seen, but I felt the difference tonight."
The fight was a lucrative one. Mayweather was guaranteed $11 million and a slice of pay-per-view profits. Hatton had a $6 million guarantee.
GOLF
Els collapses on 18th Ernie Els blew a two-stroke lead on the final hole of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, handing John Bickerton a one-shot victory by hitting two balls into the water in Malelane, South Africa.
"I'm shocked," Bickerton said. "I had no idea what was going on. I was busy signing a ball for a young boy when all of a sudden I got told I might be in a playoff, and then a few minutes later everybody's saying congratulations. I couldn't believe it."
• Woody Austin drained a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and won the Merrill Lynch Shootout in Naples, Fla., with teammate Mark Calcavecchia by a shot over tournament host Greg Norman and Bubba Watson.
WINTER SPORTS
Raich gets first victory Austria's Benjamin Raich, the 2006 overall champion, won the slalom Sunday in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria, for his first victory this season.
Ted Ligety of the United States failed to complete the first run, and teammate Jimmy Cochran did not finish the second. Bode Miller failed to qualify for the final run after finishing 45th in the first.
• Austria's Nicole Hosp won her first women's World Cup slalom this season in Aspen, Colo. Resi Stiegler was the top U.S. finisher, in eighth. Teammate Julia Mancuso was 19th. Two other U.S. skiers, Burnsville's Lindsey Vonn and Kaylin Richardson, failed to complete their second runs.
• Shani Davis of the U.S. won the men's 1,000-meter race in 1 minute, 8.39 seconds in a World Cup speedskating event in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
SOCCER
Southern Cal wins NCAA title Marihelen Tomer and Janessa Currier scored goals as USC beat Florida State 2-0 in the final of the NCAA Women's College Cup in College Station, Texas. The Trojans (20-3-2) had never advanced past the second round of the NCAA tournament before this season. The Trojans took the title with their fifth shutout of the tournament and 16th in 25 games this season. The Seminoles (18-6-3) led the nation with 81 goals this season.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
about the writer
His New Jersey high school retired the Wolves forward's uniform number Thursday, and he had a big game at Madison Square Garden the next night.