BRIEFLY : TRINIDAD AWAKENS IN TIME TO KEEP IBF TITLE.

Sometimes, it seems, Felix Trinidad just needs someone to catch his attention and let him know he's in a fight. Kevin Leushing did just that Saturday night in Nashville, Tenn., and then paid the price.

Leushing knocked Trinidad down in the second round, giving the IBF welterweight champion the wakeup call he needed to come back a round later and knock Leushing down three times to retain his 147-pound title.

It was the sixth time the undefeated Trinidad has been knocked down in fights, five of them in the second round. Each time he has come back to stop his opponent. The win at 2:59 of the third round was the 11th title defense for the Puerto Rican slugger, who has won all 31 of his fights, 27 by knockout.

It came just before Terry Norris beat Nick Rupa to retain his IBF and WBC 154-pound titles and set up a planned Trinidad-Norris fight for May or June that could make both fighters millions.

In the only upset among the four title fights before an announced crowd of 9,000 at Nashville's new downtown arena, Frankie Randall lost big in what was supposed to be his homecoming celebration.

Randall's return home was spoiled by a Frenchman fighting outside Europe for the first time, costing him both his WBA junior welterweight title and the promise of million-dollar fights to come.

Khalid Rahilou outboxed and outpunched Randall before finally stopping him with an unanswered flurry of head blows 58 seconds into the 11th round to win the 140-pound championship in his first title fight.

Earlier, Henry Akinwande defended his WBO heavyweight title with a lopsided win over fellow British fighter Scott Welch.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Three of the 13 Boston College players suspended in November for gambling will now be suspended for the rest of the school year. The three lost their scholarships and were permanently barred from playing football.

All-Big Ten wide receiver Brian Alford won't return for his senior season at Purdue after being declared academically ineligible. Alford, a junior, has decided to try to enroll in a smaller college for his final year of college eligibility.

Running back Billy West, the 1994 Big East Offensive Player of the Year, said he will return to Pitt as a fifth-year senior instead of declaring himself eligible for the NFL draft.

WINTER SPORTS

Petra Behle and Ushi Disl led Germany to a 1-2 finish in the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint at a World Cup biathlon competition in Ruhpolding, Germany.

Lloyd Langlois of Canada, who crashed in the morning practice, shook off dizzy spells to win a men's aerials event in a World Cup freestyle ski competition at Lake Placid, N.Y.

TENNIS

Pepperdine tennis coach Glenn Bassett announced his retirement, ending a distinguished 28-year career. Bassett, who was head coach at UCLA for 27 seasons from 1967-93, had a career record of 614-99-2 (.860). He was a volunteer coach at Pepperdine for two seasons before assuming the top position last season from Allen Fox.

Michael Chang got the new year off to a positive start by beating Pete Sampras 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, in the final of the Colonial Classic in Melbourne, Australia.

ETC.

Veteran driver Eliseo Salazar of Chile suffered a back injury on the Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Fla., when his car went into a spin and hit a wall during testing. . . .

If he passes a physical on Monday, veteran Terry Cummings confirmed that he plans to sign a contract with the Seattle SuperSonics. . . .

New York Islanders defenseman Rich Pilon was suspended by the NHL for receiving a match penalty during Friday night's game when he slashed Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux. Pilon was required to sit out Saturday night's game at Tampa Bay and will have a hearing on Monday. . . .

A Seattle group has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to try to stop King County from issuing $336 million in bonds to pay for a new ballpark for the Seattle Mariners.

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Photo

Photo: Felix Trinidad celebrates his victory over Kevin Leushing as he retains his IBF welterweight championship.

Associated Press