Ruddock stops Page in eight rounds

Donovan "Razor" Ruddock (26-3-1) ushered in the post-Mike Tyson heavyweight era by using his powerful left hook to stop former heavyweight champion Greg Page (34-10) at the end of the eighth round last night in Las Vegas.

Ruddock (26-3-1) hadn't fought since losing a 12-round decision to Tyson in June.

"I hit him hard and harder and harder," Ruddock said. "I knew Page had come to fight."

Page, a 12-1 underdog, lasted in the scheduled 10-round fight until he was hit by a series of nine punches to the head in the eighth.

Also on the card last night, Julian Jackson (43-1) stopped challenger Ismael Negron (16-9-1) in 50 seconds to successfully defend the World Boxing Council middleweight title; heavyweight Bert Cooper (27-8) stopped Cecil Coffee (20-4-2) in the second round; former heavyweight champion Tony Tucker knocked out Kimmuel Odum in the second round; and heavyweight James "Bonecrusher" Smith (32-9-1) won a unanimous 10-round decision over Mark Wills (15-10-1).

* Michael Carbajal (23-0) of Phoenix kept his International Boxing Federation super-flyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision in his hometown over Marcos "Bang Bang" Pacheco (23-4-1) of Mexico.

Carbajal, a 1988 Olympic silver medalist, had 13 knockouts in his first 19 fights, but has gone four straight without stopping an opponent.

A head butt in the final 15 seconds opened a five-stitch cut above Carbajal's left eye. Bob Arum of Top Rank Inc. said a physician would determine this week whether the cut would allow him to fight March 20 on the undercard of a match between Tommy Hearns and Iran Barkley.

* Robert Quiroga of San Antonio retained his International Boxing Federation junior bantamweight title with a 12-round decision over Carlos Mercado of Colombia in Salerno, Italy.