Breland Injures Knee but Knocks Out Pineda

Mark Breland overcame a second-round knee injury and stopped Rafael Pineda with a quick three-punch flurry in the fifth round Saturday at Atlantic City, N.J., to retain his World Boxing Assn. welterweight title.

Breland had trouble throwing his jab after he hurt his left knee while avoiding a punch.

Breland, who improved his record to 24-1-1, used a big overhand right to stun Pineda in the fifth round and followed with a left uppercut and a right uppercut. Pineda, who is 20-1, turned his back on Breland and draped himself over the ropes. Breland hit him again in the back of the head, and referee Ted Pick stopped the fight at 1:14.