IN BRIEF

BOXING

Mexico’s Cazares keeps WBO crown with KO

Mexico’s Hugo Cazares retained his WBO junior flyweight title Friday, stopping Colombia’s Wilfrido Perez in the second round at the MGM Grand Garden.

Cazares, making his fifth defense, dropped Perez, the No. 1 contender, twice in the first round.

Cazares (25-3-1, 19 knockouts) floored Perez (23-2-3, 16 KOs) 25 seconds into the second round and the fight was stopped.

In the 10-round welterweight main event, Francisco Bojado (17-2, 11 KOs) of Los Angeles unanimously outpointed Dairo Esalas (29-8, 24 KOs) of Brea, Calif.

Also: Heavyweight Eddie Chambers (29-0, 16 KOs) of Philadelphia won a unanimous decision over Dominick Guinn (28-5-1, 19 KOs) of Houston in the main event of a card at the Palms.

In the heavyweight co-main event, Chris Arreola (20-0, 18 KOs) of Riverside, Calif., stopped Malcolm Tann (23-3, 12 KOs) of Chandler, Ariz., by technical knockout at 1:07 of the eighth round.

Las Vegas’ Jesse Vargas, fighting at 141 pounds, is the only local boxer still alive in the National Junior Golden Gloves Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn. Vargas, 17, decisioned Philadelphia’s Tahree Carroll 4-1 in Friday’s semifinals at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

In another semifinal, Las Vegas’ Louie Padilla lost at 112 pounds to Qa’id Muhammad of Atlantic City, 5-0.

Vargas will meet Brad Solomon of Douglasville, Ga., in tonight’s 141-pound title match. Solomon won his semifinal match over Andre Sherard of Milwaukee, 3-2.

Former heavyweight champion Greg Page has agreed to settle a lawsuit he filed against Kentucky boxing officials for $1.2 million after he had career-ending injuries in a 2001 fight in northern Kentucky.

Page suffered severe head trauma after being knocked down in the 10th round of a fight against Dale Crowe. He went into a coma and suffered a stroke during post-fight surgery, leaving him paralyzed on his left side, physically frail and prone to pneumonia. FOOTBALL

Two Penn State players to stand trial for fight

Two Penn State football players were ordered to stand trial after authorities said they were involved in an off-campus fight, but charges were dismissed against four other players.

Centre County (Pa.) District Judge Carmine Prestia ruled at a preliminary hearing that there was enough evidence against Anthony Scirrotto and Chris Baker in the April 1 melee at an apartment that their cases should go to trial. They face burglary, criminal trespass, simple assault and harassment charges.

Charges were dropped against Jerome Hayes, Lydell Sargeant, Tyrell Sales and Justin King.

Also: Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones will meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Friday in New York to appeal his season-long suspension.

The New Orleans Saints signed former Pro Bowl punter Chris Hanson to a one-year contract. TENNIS

Venus Williams falls in Poland tournament

Svetlana Kuznetsova rallied to beat Venus Williams 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach a semifinal matchup against Alona Bondarenko at the clay-court J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland.

Bondarenko advanced when Julia Vakulenko withdrew with a sprained right wrist while trailing, 6-2, 3-1.

Top-ranked Justine Henin and fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic will play in the other semifinal.