Kovalev retains his titles

Sergey Kovalev had little trouble retaining his light-heavyweight titles Saturday night in Las Vegas, stopping Nadjib Mohammedi in the third round in a fight that was a mismatch from the start.

The unbeaten Russian dropped Mohammedi in the second round with a series of right hands, then put him down for good with a combination in the third at Mandalay Bay. Referee Kenny Bayless called a halt at 2:38 of the round.

Kovalev, who stopped Jean Pascal in his last fight in March in Montreal, was defending his 175-pound crown against the mandatory challenger from France. Mohammedi was so little thought of that oddsmakers would not even accept bets on the fight.

Earlier, former champion Pascal (30-3-1) beat Yuniesky Gonzalez by unanimous decision to set up a possible rematch with Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs).

Unbeaten Gennady Golovkin will make his payper-view debut on HBO when he fights fellow middleweight world champion David Lemieux of Canada in a title-unification bout Oct. 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York, promoters announced. World Boxing Assn. champion Golovkin (33-0, 30 knockouts) is considered by some to be boxing’s top pound-for-pound fighter. Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) holds the International Boxing Federation belt.

Beibut Shumenov scored a unanimous decision over B.J. Flores to win the WBA interim cruiserweight title at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

T.J. Dillashaw retained the UFC bantamweight title, stopping Renan Barao by technical knockout in the fourth round at UFC Chicago. Dillashaw (13-2), who shocked the MMA world by taking the title away from Barao (35-3) at UFC 173 in Las Vegas, scored an even more convincing win in the rematch.