Tim Austin exchanges punches with Adan Vargas in the second round. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        LAS VEGAS - Unbeaten Tim Austin, defending his IBF bantamweight title for the ninth time, stopped Adan Vargas in the 10th round of their scheduled 12-round championship fight Saturday night.

        Austin dominated the bout most of the way against the challenger from Hidalgo, Mexico, but there were no knockdowns. Austin, from Cincinnati, ended the fight with a flurry of punches that left Vargas defenseless.

        Referee Tony Weeks stopped it at 1:03 of the round.

        Austin, who weighed in at 118 pounds, kept Vargas off-balance with his jabs, and began landing left hooks in the later rounds. Vargas never backed off, but the punches he connected on did not seem to affect the champion.

        Austin is 25-0-1, with 22 knockouts. Vargas, the IBF's No.5 challenger, is 37-4-1, with 23 knockouts.

        Austin won the crown with an eighth-round knockout of Mbulelo Botile five years ago.

        In another bout on the undercard of the John Ruiz-Kirk Johnson WBA heavyweight title fight at Mandalay Bay Events Center, WBA super middleweight champion Byron Mitchell, knocked down twice in the opening round, came back to stop Julio Cesar Green in the fourth round when the ringside doctor halted the fight.

        Dr. Margaret Goodman determined the bout should be halted because Green had a deep gash below his left eyebrow, his pupil in that eye wasn't reacting properly, and he had deep cuts on the inside of his mouth.

        The fight was stopped at 1:55 of the round.

        Mitchell, from Ozark, Ala., improved to 25-1-1, with 18 knockouts. Green, a former two-time WBA champion from the Dominican Republic, is 25-5-1.

        Mitchell weighed 1671/2 pounds, and Green weighed 168.

        Pete Frissina defended his NABO bantamweight title with a unanimous 12-round decision over Jesus Perez. Frissina, from Tampa, Fla., weighed 117 pounds as he improved to 26-3-1, with 15 knockouts. Perez, 118 pounds, from Cordoba, Columbia, is 22-2-2.

        In scheduled 10-round bouts, Tommy Martin (240 pounds) of Davie, Fla., stopped Andy Sample (210), from Topeka, Kan., in 2:59 of the first round of their heavyweight match; Lamon Brewster (224) of Los Angeles stopped Willie Chapman (221) of Salt Lake City at 1:32 of the sixth round of their heavyweight match; and Jose Rivera (147) of Philadelphia stopped Elias Cruz (149) of Miami at 2:59 of t he second round of their welterweight bout.

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