Briefs | Boxing: De La Hoya defeats Forbes before 27,000 fans

Boxing

De La Hoya dominates: Oscar De La Hoya showed he could still beat a contender. Next up is cashing in again like a champion.

In what was little more than a tuneup for a much bigger fight, De La Hoya kicked off his retirement tour Saturday night before an appreciative crowd of 27,000 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., by pitching a near shutout against overmatched Steve Forbes.

De La Hoya, 35, got a chance to shake off ring rust and put on a show. He didn't disappoint, battering Forbes, 31, on his way to an easy 12-round decision in his first fight in a year.

The victory set up a September rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., who beat De La Hoya by split decision in May 2007. Even though De La Hoya was a 17-1 favorite, his solid performance against Forbes will likely do what De La Hoya wanted by helping to sell the second fight with Mayweather.

De La Hoya won all 12 rounds on one judge's scorecard and 11 out of 12 on the other two.

Tennis

Nadal to face Ferrer for title: Three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain cruised past Denis Gremelmayr of Germany 6-1, 6-0 to reach his fourth consecutive Barcelona Open final in Spain.

"I played nearly perfectly," Nadal said.

Nadal will face second-seeded David Ferrer of Spain in today's final. Ferrer defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (10-8), 6-3.

Nadal, 21, is 19-1 in clay-court finals, including 3-0 in Barcelona.

Gonzalez eliminates El Aynaoui: Fernando Gonzalez of Chile remained unbeaten on clay this year, beating 36-year-old Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the BMW Open final in Munich, Germany.

Gonzalez, seeded second, will go for the title today against Simone Bolelli, an Italian who upset top-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4).

El Aynaoui is the oldest semifinalist on the ATP Tour since Jimmy Connors. Connors was 40 when he made the semis in San Francisco in 1993.

College football

Oregon State receiver has spring in his step: Senior receiver Sammie Stroughter had three receptions for 58 yards to help the White team defeat the Black team 22-3 in Oregon State's spring intrasquad game as 6,852 watched at Reser Stadium in Corvallis.

Stroughter is coming back from a tumultuous 2007 season. Last fall, he missed early practices and the first game of the season after two people close to him died. He returned to the team for the second game, but suffered a lacerated kidney in the fourth game. He was granted a medical hardship, giving him a second senior season.

Swimming

Ilchenko retains open-water crown: Larisa Ilchenko of Russia defended her 10-kilometer open-water world crown in Seville, Spain, and amputee Natalie Du Toit of South Africa qualified for the Beijing Olympics by finishing fourth.

Ilchenko swam the four loops of the Guadalquivir River course in 2 hours, 2 minutes, 2.7 seconds. Last year, she won the title in Melbourne, Australia.

Du Toit, 24, was 5.1 seconds behind Ilchenko. Du Toit lost her left leg after being hit by a car in 2001.

Volleyball

Penn State men take NCAA title: Top-ranked Penn State won its first NCAA men's championship in 14 years, rallying for a 27-30, 33-31, 30-25, 30-23 victory over second-ranked Pepperdine in Irvine, Calif.

"This replaces the 1972 Derry [Pa.] Little League championship for me," Nittany Lions coach Mark Pavlik said of his first NCAA title. "The strength this team had was singularity of purpose. They certainly played much better than I can coach."

Matt Anderson had 29 kills for the Nittany Lions (30-1) and was voted the tournament's most outstanding player.

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