BYRD RETAINS IBF CHAMPIONSHIP.

Byline: Robert Morales Staff Writer

NEW YORK - Andrew Golota, who twice was disqualified for low blows in fights he was winning against Riddick Bowe, had no such problem against Chris Byrd on Saturday night in front of 15,195 at Madison Square Garden.

However, Golota had another problem - the judges. After appearing to out-point Byrd, when the scorecards were read the best he could get was a draw.

Each fighter won a scorecard by a 115-113 count. The third score was 114-114, meaning Byrd retained his International Boxing Federation heavyweight championship, much to the chagrin of a large contingent of Polish fans rooting heartily for Golota.

Golota, of Warsaw, Poland, is 38-4-1. Byrd, of Flint, Mich., was making the second defense of his belt. He is 37-2-1.

The Daily News scored it 117-112 for Golota.

``I thought I won the fight. Did you see his eyes?'' Golota said, referring to Byrd's left eye, which was nearly shut.

Byrd said: ``I thought I won the fight, but in was in the hands of the judges and they called it a draw.''

Those in attendance might not have been sure what they were watching in the semi-main event between WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz and challenger Fres Oquendo.

It looked like a combination of a wrestling match and a football game, considering all of the headlocks by Ruiz, a number of clinches and a few nice tackles by Oquendo.

When it was over, Ruiz had defended his belt with an 11th-round technical knockout in what could go down as the worst heavyweight title fight in history.

Referee Wayne Kelley stopped the bout at 2:33 of the round after what amounted to the first real damage done by either fighter. Ruiz connected with a nice right hand, and four more decent punches to the head, and Kelley stepped in and seemingly stopped the fight prematurely.

Oquendo did not go down.

Ruiz (39-4-1), of Methuen, Mass., is 39-4-1 with 28 knockouts. Oquendo, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, is 24-3.

The end of each round was met by a chorus of boos. Profanity-laced chants could be heard from the fans during the fight. There were no punch stats taken on the card and, seemingly in this case, none were needed.

Ruiz was ahead 96-94 on two scorecards and the third was 95-95.

``I hit him with my right hand and then I followed with my left hook and I knew I had him hurt,'' Ruiz said. ``I just kept throwing punches. I knew he was out on his feet.''

Oquendo was not happy about the stoppage.

``I was not even hurt,'' he said. ``I asked the referee, 'Why did you stop it?' ''

Kelley defended his action.

``It is my job to protect the fighter,'' he said. ``He took five or six shots and wasn't defending himself.''

Wayne Braithwaite defended his WBC cruiserweight championship with a unanimous decision over Louis Azille in the first title bout of the evening.

Braithwaite (21-0) dropped Azille with a left hook to the jaw in the third round and appeared on the way to his 18th knockout. But Azille (18-3-2) hung tough, surviving more shots to the head.

``I could have had a better fight, but I hurt both hands,'' said Braithwaite, who won 120-107, 119-108 and 118-107. ``I hurt my right hand more in the third round when I hit him in the head.''

Ricardo Mayorga, the former WBC and IBF welterweight champion, won a unanimous decision over Eric Mitchell in a 10-round junior middleweight fight.

Mayorga, of Nicaragua, is 26-4-1. He won 99-90, 98-91 and 97-92. Mitchell, of Philadelphia, is 16-4-1.

Robert Morales, [phone], Ext. 2213

robert.morales(at)sgvn.com

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Photo:

Chris Byrd, right, retained his heavyweight title with a controversial draw against Andrew Golota. Each fighter won 115-113 on one card, with the third 114-114.

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press