A Roundup Of The Week Sept. 26-oct. 2

BOXING—Unbeaten RON LYLE knocked out Buster Mathis in the second round of their heavyweight bout in Denver, prompting Mathis to announce he may retire (page 88).

Bob Foster knocked out Great Britain's Chris Finnegan in the 14th round of their light-heavyweight championship fight in London. It was Foster's 11th title defense, including bouts in which he did not have WBA recognition, since he won the championship by knocking out Dick Tiger in 1968.

Venice Borkorsor of Thailand captured the World Boxing Council flyweight title from Betulio Gonzales of Venezuela on a 10-round TKO in Bangkok.

PRO FOOTBALL—NFC: For Washington, it was a hard day's Knight. The Redskins appeared to have gained a tie with underdog NEW ENGLAND when Curt Knight kicked a 32-yard field goal with 1:39 left. But the Patriots were called for roughing him, and Washington accepted the penalty and first down instead of the field goal in order to go for a winning touchdown. New England's defense held, and Knight lined up for a 27-yard attempt—a pro chip-in. He missed, and the Patriots hung on to win, eventually, 24-23. It was no day for conference favorites. Dave Hampton set a team single-game rushing record of 161 yards as ATLANTA beat Los Angeles for the first time ever 31-3. GREEN BAY knocked off Dallas 16-13 on Chester Marcol's field goals from 44, 26 and 22 yards and John Brockington's rushing. Terry Bradshaw hit Frank Lewis on a 38-yard scoring pass with 1:06 left to give PITTSBURGH a 25-19 win over St. Louis. Greg Landry threw one touchdown pass and scored three himself as DETROIT outlasted Chicago 38-24. Bob Griese atoned for a poor passing start in the last two minutes of play by leading MIAMI, pro football's only remaining unbeaten team, to a come-from-behind 16-14 win over Minnesota. A seven-play, 59-yard drive culminated in his three-yard scoring pass to Tight End Jim Mandich with 1:28 remaining.

AFC: Joe Namath failed to equal last week's performance against Baltimore, but mistakes by his teammates and Skip Butler's four field goals had more to do with HOUSTON'S 26-20 win (page 38). Cincinnati fell to CLEVELAND 27-6 after Mike Phipps broke open a defensive struggle with a 68-yard touchdown pass to Frank Pitts early in the fourth quarter. Jan Stenerud's 22-yard field goal gave KANSAS CITY its first win in two starts, but barely, 20-17 over New Orleans, in a Monday night game. Six days later the Chiefs continued their strange, bumbling ways and were tied with Denver 17-17. Then Mike Livingston threw three second-half touchdown passes en route to a 45-24 Kansas City win. New Orleans, meanwhile, lost in more predictable fashion 37-2 to SAN FRANCISCO, whose Quarterback John Brodie picked the Saints' defense apart with 18 completions in 26 passes and two scoring throws. BALTIMORE won its first game after two losses, beating Buffalo 17-0; the Colts' Namath-struck defense stiffened and allowed only 229 yards total offense. Cid Edwards gained 97 yards rushing and caught six passes for 100 yards to give SAN DIEGO a 17-17 tie with favored OAKLAND.

GOLF—BOB CHARLES of New Zealand faltered in the final round with a 76, but won Europe's richest tournament, the $138,547 John Player, by a stroke over American Gay Brewer and Briton Peter Oosterhuis with a one-over-par 285 total, in Turnberry, Scotland.

Deane Beman won the $100,000 Quad Cities Open for the second straight year with a five-under-par 279 in Bettendorf, Iowa.

HARNESS RACING—SUPER BOWL ($2.80), driven by Stanley Dancer, won the $93,097 Yonkers Futurity by a length over Del Miller's Delmonica Hanover (page 93).

Ricci Reenie Time set two world records for 2-year-old pacers on a mile track while winning the $25,691 Meadow Lands Pace in Lexington, Ky. in straight heats. The son of Race Time's second heat of 1:56[1/5] broke Entrepreneur's mile record by [3/5] of a second and his combined time for two heats of 3:54[4/5] bettered the old mark of 3:56 shared by Bullet Hanover and Fulla Napoleon.

HOCKEY—TEAM CANADA staged a remarkable comeback in its series with the Soviet Union, winning the last two games in Moscow on late goals by Toronto's Paul Henderson and taking the eight-game series 4-3-1 after being down 3-1-1 (page 42).