Kelly Pavlik stopped Miguel Espino in the fifth round last night at Youngstown, Ohio, to retain his middleweight titles, ending a difficult year on a high note.

After a 10-month layoff because of a staph infection on his left hand, the WBC and WBO champ dropped Espino to a knee in the fourth round with staggering rights. Pavlik knocked Espino down again in the fifth, and referee Steve Smoger stepped in at 1:44 into the round.

It was the third successful title defense for Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs). He hadn't fought since beating Marco Antonio Rubio on Feb. 21.

Espino (20-3-1), of North Hollywood, Calif., was rated the No. 3 contender by the WBC.

SWIMMING

U.S. CLAIMS DUEL

Michael Phelps helped his American team trounce a group of European all-stars in the Duel in the Pool at Manchester, England, anchoring a relay to one of the eight world records the U.S. set over the two-day meet that ended yesterday.

The U.S. team won, 185-78, in the last major meet before the Jan. 1 ban on high-tech polyurethane suits.

Phelps, who already has reverted to wearing an old-style textile suit, anchored the U.S. victory in the 400-meter freestyle relay in a world-record time of three minutes, 3.3 seconds.

Two world records were set by American women yesterday: Julia Smit (2:04.6 in 200 individual medley) and Rebecca Soni (1:02.7 in 100 breaststroke).

ELSEWHERE

Golf: Spain's Pablo Martin shot an even-par 72 yesterday in the South African Open at Paarl, South Africa, to take a one-stroke lead over Italy's Edoardo Molinari. Martin, the 23-year-old former Oklahoma State star who won the Alfred Dunhill on Sunday at Leopard Creek, was 11 under after three rounds.

Baseball: Boston's Mike Lowell will have surgery to repair a ligament in his right thumb and need six to eight weeks to recover, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The diagnosis negates a trade that would have sent him to Texas.

Football: Levell Coppage had three touchdowns and Wisconsin-Whitewater (15-0) scored 10 points in the final 1 minute, 17 seconds to beat defending champion Mount Union (14-1), 38-28, in the NCAA Division III championship game yesterday at Salem, Va.

More boxing: Edwin Valero (26-0, 26 KOs) stopped veteran Hector Velazquez (51-14-2) after six rounds last night at Caracas, Venezuela, to keep his WBC lightweight title. It was Valero's first defense since winning the belt in April with a knockout of Antonio Pitalua in Austin, Texas.