Khan knocked down Gomez twice, first in the opening round and again early in the fifth, before a huge right hand forced the former British super featherweight champion against the ropes for a final flurry - when referee John Keane stepped in to halt the fight 2:32 into round.

The victory kept the Olympic silver medallist unbeaten in 18 bouts as a pro and bolstered his stated desire for a title opportunity against WBO champion Nate Campbell next year.

Gomez lost for the fourth time in his last seven fights, and dropped him to 35-9 on his 31st birthday.

Khan tagged Gomez with a sharp left jab in the opening round and followed with a torrent of punches, finally dropping him with a big right.

After surviving the round, Gomez raced out for the second, and - having stormed through Khan’s sharp blows - hit Khan’s jaw with a left hook which briefly dropped him.

The injury-prone Johnson missed the entire 2007 season because of a broken leg. He’s been on the disabled list since May 15 because of a torn tendon in his right wrist.

“He still has soreness. We’re going to get another opinion to make sure there’s nothing else we can do at this point,” Washington general manager Jim Bowden said before Saturday night’s game against Texas. “It’s discouraging that he’s not any better after all this time.”

Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who’s been on the DL since May 26 with a small tear in his left shoulder, is making progress.

“Our medical people are optimistic…that he’ll be able to be back in the second half (of the season),” Bowden said.

“We finally did it. Congratulations to everyone,” yelled a young fan, wrapped in the Russian flag as he walked along the Manezh Square.

Others praised Dutchp-born Russian coach Hiddink. “Guus, Guus, Guus”, the fans shouted into the warm night air.

According to Moscow police, nearly 500,000 fans joined the celebrations.

“In the city centre alone we had more than 200,000 people celebrating the Russian victory,” a police spokesman was quoted as saying by Russian media.

Russia President Dmitry Medvedev also congratulated the team on their superb win.

“It was a great game and a great victory,” the Kremlin press office quoted him as saying.

The city centre came to a complete standstill as thousands of jubilant fans, waving national flags and yelling “Rossiya, Rossiya”, blocked traffic along the main roads.

Motorists honked their horns while some climbed on top of their cars and others set off fireworks.

It is 20 years since Russia, who next play Spain or Italy, last reached the semi-finals of a major tournament.

In 1988, as part of the Soviet Union, they made the European Championship final in Germany but lost 2-0 to the Dutch, whose current coach Marco van Basten was on the scoresheet.

Thousands of riot police were on guard throughout Moscow on Saturday to keep the celebrations under control but there were no major disturbances or serious injuries reported.

“I said we got closer and closer to scoring in the second half, got chances, were more active in front of the goal and then came the power outage,” Kinnear said. “That took the momentum away from us.”

The game was delayed for 18 minutes after the lights behind the east stands went out during the 69th minute.

The two-time MLS defending champion Dynamo (4-4-6) thought they had a goal in the 78th minute when Brian Ching sent a rebound into an empty net. But Ching, who got the ball after Brad Davis’ free kick, was stopped.

Referee Jeff Gontarek ruled Ching had used his hands to send the ball into the net.

“I hit it right here,” Ching said, pointing to his upper left chest. “I hit it right here and if (the referee is) straight across and I go down, how is he possibly going to see if it hits my hand?

“It didn’t hit my hand. He couldn’t be 100 percent sure.”

Kinnear wasn’t sure, either.

“I have to take a look at it again,” he said. “I thought we were going to have one.”

Two years ago he threw an engagement party here, and last year he celebrated the birth of his first child. The party this trip is daughter Ella’s first birthday, planned for after the garage closes Saturday at Infineon Raceway.

But if Gordon has it his way, the celebration will stretch to Victory Lane on Sunday with his first win of the year. He had already scored four of his six 2007 victories by this point last season, but the four-time Cup Series champion has struggled to duplicate those efforts this year.

He said he’s “not yet” frustrated by this winless streak. Instead, his aggravation is directed at the ups and downs his Hendrick Motorsports team is experiencing.

“I’m more frustrated that we’re not more competitive,” Gordon said. “To me, you can be the fastest car out there and not get wins. So that’s not really bothering me. What’s bothering me is that we’re hit or miss. We’ve put some top-fives together—some of them we earned, some of them we earned by strategy.

All he needed was a day off.

After being benched for one game, Upton hit an eighth-inning tiebreaking homer to lead the Diamondbacks to a 2-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday. He also doubled and scored Arizona’s other run.

“It has been pretty tough, but in the end, it’s a game where you’re going to fail a lot, and it’s something you have to live with,” said Upton, who had been 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts during a six-game homestand. “But to play the way I did today, hopefully it turns things around.”

Upton might have been a little surprised when he arrived at Chase Field on Thursday morning and saw his name in the No. 2 hole in the lineup. But manager Bob Melvin said he never lost faith in Upton, and Upton made him look smart.

Dominant in every way.

On a new parquet floor below aging championship banners hung in the rafters two decades back, the Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one—at last — for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen—their Big Three for a new generation.

After 22 long years, the NBA has gone green.

Lifted by ear-splitting chants of “Beat L.A.” early and cries of “Seven-teen” in the closing seconds by their adoring crowd, the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a season with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 on Tuesday night.

“It means so much more because these are the guys, the Havliceks, the Bill Russells, the Cousys,” Pierce said. “These guys started what’s going on with those banners. They don’t hang up any other banners but championship ones.

The Jazz say Harpring had surgery Thursday in Atlanta. The team wasn’t sure how long Harpring’s recovery would take.

Harpring is the team’s oldest player at 32. He just finished his 10th season in the league, averaging 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds as Utah’s sixth man.

It is a widely know fact that the average golf score has shown no improvement in the last 75 years or so. This in spite of the advances in ball and club technology that have the pros driving the ball 350 yards.

The reason for the lack of improvement over the years is that the putting of the average golfer has not improved. Even though the greens are in much better condition and the ball holds its roundness better, the average guy today takes just as many putts as the unlucky souls who used to have to play on sand greens.

As easy as putting should be on a good green with a round ball and a hi-tech putter head, the average player struggles. For many, the closer the ball gets to the hole the bigger the struggle.

Many golfers have made ridiculous looking changes in grip and equipment. The best that can happen is a temporary improvement.

Consider for a moment that the reason the average player doesn’t make more putts than they do is because the technique they know places a natural limit on the potential for success.

Just because putting has been done a certain way from the very first round of golf doesn’t mean that it is being done the correct way. One of the best ways you can improve your putting is to flush the last 150 years of putting instruction down the drain and look for the reason the average golfer has been limited in putting success.

Let me show you 2 ways to putt better

A low student-to-pro ratio. Ideally, your classes should have a ratio of four students to one instructor or less.

The time you’ll need to invest. How many days per week will you attend classes? Will this schedule work for you?

The amount of time on course. Especially if you’re a beginner, you’ll need to spend plenty of time on-course in order to get the hang of golf.

The best instructors. The instructors at your golf school should be certified under a professional. The best golf schools have at least a few instructors on staff who are well-known in the golf world.

The format of the classes. You can enroll in golfing classes for weeks, months, or even years. If you just want your swing to get better, you’ll have different needs than if you want to become a pro golfer.

The school’s facilities. Before choosing a school, ask to tour the grounds. The better the facilities, the more the school is likely to cost-but you may also get a better education.

Word of mouth. Ask around among golfers you know to see which golf schools are the best.

Golf school can be a big commitment for students. You’ll need to make sure you’ll get the best instruction possible from the school you attend.

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