RUELAS TAKES A POUNDING FROM TSZYU.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

Kostya Tszyu, the former IBF junior middleweight champion, hammered Rafael Ruelas early, often and for good in the ninth round Saturday night in a WBC super-lightweight elimination bout at El Paso, Texas.

The Russian-born Tszyu, now based in Australia, peppered Ruelas, the former IBF lightweight champion, with left and right combinations from the opening bell. All three judges had Tszyu winning every round.

Tszyu (21-1-1) nearly put Ruelas (52-4) down in the first and eighth rounds before Ruelas' handlers threw in the towel just before the referee was going to stop the match.

Saturday's victory earned Tszyu a WBC world super-lightweight title fight against Miguel Angel Gonzalez in the fall.

Also on the card, Luisito Espinosa of the Philippines won a controversial 11-round split decision over Mexico's Juan Carlos Ramirez to retain his WBC featherweight title.

The scheduled 12-round fight was stopped at the 2:22 mark of the 11th when the fighters accidentally butted heads. The ringside physician declared Espinosa unable to continue, forcing referee Lawrence Cole to go to the judges' scorecards at that point.

Espinosa (43-7) was ahead on two of the three judges' cards, giving Ramirez his first professional loss after 14 victories.

Looking much like his father, Hector Camacho Jr. used superior speed and ring savvy to run his record to 17-0 with a fourth-round knockout of Mexico's Margarito Navarro in a junior welterweight bout.

In a battle of true heavyweights, 315-pound Wolfgramm of New Zealand took an eight-round majority decision over 257-pound Jorge Luis Gonzalez of Cuba.

Wolfgramm improved to 16-1, and Gonzalez dropped to 25-5.

Olympic fights: For the first three rounds at the Olympic Auditorium, heavyweight Lamon Brewster took his time, landed a few left jabs and a couple of right hands.

Then Brewster doled out a beating to Everett ``Big Foot'' Martin that forced the veteran from Texas to quit after the fourth round.

The victory, Brewster's 19th without a loss, goes down as a fourth-round technical knockout.

Brewster, of Los Angeles, began his demolition of Martin by knocking him to the canvas and almost out of the ring early in the fourth round, and after rising, it was all Martin could do to last the round before quitting.

``They (veterans) look at us young guys as impatient and strong,'' said Brewster, 25, who has 17 knockouts. ``I wanted to be patient, keep picking at him, picking at him. I didn't let the crowd affect me.

Melchor Cobb-Castro (52-6-4, 23 KOs) of Mexico scored a knockout of countryman Tomas Rivera (14-4-2) at 1:25 of the seventh round to win the International Boxing Association flyweight championship.

Cobb-Castro appeared to win every round, sending Rivera to the canvas for good with three straight left hands. Rivera, bleeding profusely from a cut on his forehead caused by a head butt, was counted out by referee Pat Russell.

``I didn't feel his power, Cobb-Castro said. ``I felt very strong. I was very focused, very intelligent. And my left was very powerful.

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Photo

PHOTO Rafael Ruelas covers up to avoid a flurry of punches by Kostya Tszyu on Saturday night.

Victor Calzada/Associated Press