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South African Frans Botha will be allowed to keep his heavyweight crown despite testing positive for steroids after his title fight with Axel Schulz in December, the International Boxing Federation ruled yesterday. Botha received what amounts to a slap on the wrist in the big-money world of heavyweight boxing: He was fined $50,000 and ordered to fight a rematch with the German within 180 days. Ten members of the IBF championship and executive committees made the ruling after hearing nearly three hours of testimony regarding Botha's use of steroids before his victory over Schulz for the vacant heavyweight title Dec. 9 in Stuttgart.

They stood toe-to-toe for 36 brutal minutes, two skinny guys with hearts that threatened to bust out of their frail bodies. But, in the end, it was skill that won the match, not courage. Charles Murray, overpowering his opponent with jabs to the head and hooks to the body, scored a unanimous decision over Philadelphian "Rockin' " Rodney Moore in a 12-round junior-welterweight title bout yesterday afternoon at Trump Castle Casino Resort. Murray won the International Boxing Federation version of the title.

A little over two years after engaging in one of the best professional fights of 1995, Arturo Gatti Jr. and Tracy Patterson went at it again last night at the Atlantic City Convention Center. And once again, Gatti defeated Patterson for the IBF junior-lightweight title. In his first defense of the 130-pound title, Gotti scored a unanimous decision over Patterson, 118-108, 117-109 and 116-110. "I used my head more in this fight than I did the first time," Gatti said. Gatti, 23, a native of Jersey City, won for the 19th straight time to raise his record to 27-1 with 22 knockouts.

Julio Cesar Chavez, the International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight champion, must defend his title in a rematch with Philadelphia's Meldrick Taylor within six months, the boxing organization ruled yesterday. The IBF mandated the rematch by ranking Taylor as the No. 1 challenger. Taylor lost to Chavez in a controversial fight on March 17 in Las Vegas. Referee Richard Steele stopped the 12-round fight with two seconds remaining. Taylor was ahead on two of three judges' cards when he was knocked down by Chavez and the fight was halted.

Frank Tate, a 2-1 underdog, knocked down Michael Olajide Jr. twice and won the International Boxing Federation middleweight title on a 15-round unanimous decision yesterday in Las Vegas. In gaining the title, which had been vacant, Tate became the fourth member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team to win a world professional championship. Take knocked down Olajide in the 11th and again in the 12th round but was too arm-weary to put away his opponent. Judge Jerry Roth scored it 147-136, Judge Chuck Giampa saw it 146-135 and Judge Bill Graham 148-134, all for Tate.

Michael Spinks has been stripped of his International Boxing Federation world heavyweight title for refusing to fight top-ranked contender Tony Tucker, IBF president Robert W. Lee said yesterday. The action was taken after a vote by the IBF's championship committee, a seven-member international body. In a statement released by the IBF's office in Newark, Lee said the vacant title would be filled in an "immediate elimination series" between Tucker and No. 4 contender James "Buster" Douglas.

When Derek "Pooh" Ennis defends his USBA junior-middleweight title Friday against King Gabriel Rosado at the Arena, the Philadelphian will have a lot more on the line than just his championship belt. Ennis, who is 21-2-1 with 13 knockouts, is ranked No. 12 by the IBF. He is looking to break into the top 10 in his division, and possibly land a title shot in the near future. The 29-year-old Ennis has won his last nine outings. "It's important," said Ennis, who won his IBF championship in October with a unanimous decision over Eromesele Albert at the Blue Horizon.

A federal judge appointed a New Jersey lawyer as monitor for the scandal-ridden International Boxing Federation, the first time a U.S. sports organization has come under a stewardship generally reserved for mob-riddled labor unions. U.S. District Judge John W. Bissell appointed Joseph A. Hayden Jr. to oversee the operations of the East Orange, N.J.-based IBF, one of the sport's three major governing organizations. United States Attorney Robert J. Cleary's prosecutors asked for a monitor in November after indicting and suing IBF founder Robert W. Lee Sr. on charges he took bribes to rig the rankings of boxers.

George Foreman has decided to relinquish his International Boxing Federation heavyweight championship and not give Germany's Axel Schulz a rematch, the Los Angeles Times reported. The move would leave Foreman, who won the IBF and WBA heavyweight titles last November when he knocked out Michael Moorer, without a major title. Foreman, 46, was stripped of the WBA title because he wouldn't sign for a mandatory defense against No. 1 contender Tony Tucker. Instead, he fought Schulz in Las Vegas on April 22 and won a controversial majority decision.

A federal judge sentenced the founder of the International Boxing Federation, Robert W. Lee, to 22 months in prison for operating a corrupt organization, and Lee agreed to a lifetime ban from the sport yesterday in Newark, N.J. The sentencing on Lee's criminal convictions and related settlement in a government lawsuit end a case in which prosecutors claimed Lee manipulated the IBF's influential rankings for 15 years in return for bribes....

Bernard Hopkins waved his hands, stuck out his tongue, shook his head and smiled. The 48-year-old boxer relied on his defense and strong right hand on Saturday night along with his usual veteran tactics. But it was the strong punch that opened up a cut above IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud's left eye that put Brooklyn's Barclays Center crowd on its feet. "B-Hop, B-Hop," they chanted. And six rounds later the crowd was cheering the oldest fighter to ever win a world title as Hopkins won by unanimous decision over Cloud.

BERNARD HOPKINS knows he is old. He knows, still fighting at age 48, that he is an outlier, that most boxers his age would be taking a huge risk entering the ring. He knows this because it is always the first question he is asked, and it has been for almost 15 years. "I don't mind that question, I get it all the time," Hopkins said on Tuesday at a media workout at Joe Hand Boxing Gym. Hopkins is training for his HBO-televised challenge of undefeated IBF light-heavyweight champ Tavoris Cloud, scheduled for March 9 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. "How long they been calling me old?"

WHEN HE DROPPED a 12-round, majority decision to challenger Chad Dawson on April 28, a loss that ended his reign as the WBC light-heavyweight champion, Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins considered ending his 24-year professional ring career. He turns 48 on Jan. 15. "I won't be boxing forever," said Hopkins, the oldest man ever to win a widely recognized world boxing title. "That's not going to happen. Who knows? Maybe at this time next year, I'll go fishing. " For now, it would appear, the fish are safe.

THERE WERE TWO absolutely perfect punches that were thrown and landed late Saturday night, or, more precisely, very early Sunday morning. The latter of those takeout blows, an overhand right from Juan Manuel Marquez that landed flush to the face of Manny Pacquiao, put the Filipino superstar down and out in the sixth round at Las Vegas' MGM Grand as a live audience of 16,348 and a global television audience in the millions reacted with shock to...

JUST ABOUT A year ago what many fighters would consider a golden opportunity presented itself to North Philadelphia heavyweight Bryant Jennings and his manager-trainer, Fred Jenkins. And they passed. "I got a phone call asking if we had passports and would be interested in going to Europe so Bryant could be a sparring partner for one of the Klitschkos, I can't remember which one," Jenkins was saying recently at the Athletic Recreation Center at 26th and Master, the gritty city-run facility in North Philly where Jennings, the IBF's fifth-ranked heavyweight, trains.

Long before Jesse Hart's Olympic dream was left in the hands of a set of boxing judges, he was just a son who wanted to follow his father. In March, the 22-year-old Hart felt cheated and robbed when he fell in the finals of the USA National Boxing Championship in Fort Carson, Colo. After the electronic score system produced a tie, a panel of five judges ruled, 3-2, that Hart had lost the middleweight bout to Cleveland's Terrell Gausha. The son of legendary Philadelphia middleweight Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, Jesse Hart steamrolled his way through amateur boxing.

West Philadelphia's Yusaf Mack used a flurry of uppercuts while mixing in a few right hooks to score a unanimous decision over Omar Sheika and capture the vacant USBA light-heavyweight title at Atlantic City's Resorts Hotel Casino on Friday. Mack dominated the later rounds, roping his opponent in as he connected with close-range head shots. In the 12th and final round, Mack avoided Sheika's body shot in the center of the ring and connected with a left hook that sent Sheika to the mat. Sheika answered the count at three and was promptly sent into the lower ropes.

ATLANTIC CITY - Among the many funny things Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra is alleged to have said is "It's déjà vu all over again. " Maybe Yogi, that master of the malaprop, actually spoke those exact words at some point during his English-mangling baseball career. And maybe he didn't. There are those who will tell you that when boring facts conflict with colorful legend, always go with the legend. It's more interesting, easier to remember and more apt to be believed.

HOUSTON - Erik Morales lost his WBC super-lightweight championship without his Philadelphia challenger, Danny "Swift" Garcia, throwing even one punch. At Friday's official weigh-in, Morales (52-7, 36 KOs) was unable to make the 140-pound limit, coming in at 142. In accordance with WBC rules, the only Mexican to ever hold world titles in four separate weight classes was stripped of his super-lightweight championship. The HBO-televised bout in the Reliant Center will take place as scheduled Saturday night, and Garcia (22-0, 14 KOs)

HOUSTON - What potentially could be the biggest all-Philadelphia boxing event in decades is only two unclaimed world-championship belts from coming into sharper focus. The first of those belts could be cinched around Danny "Swift" Garcia's waist late Saturday night, when the WBC's No. 4-ranked contender from Juniata Park challenges WBC super-lightweight titlist Erik Morales at the Reliant Center. The scheduled 12-round main event is part of a doubleheader to be televised nationally by HBO, the lead-in of which is a 10-rounder pitting middleweights James Kirkland (30-1, 27 KOs)