A roundup of the week Aug. 15-21

BOXING—ROGER MAYWEATHER retained his WBA junior lightweight title with a first-round knockout of Benedicto Villablanca, in Las Vegas.

GOLF—Shooting a 16-under-par 268 for 72 holes, Curtis Strange earned the $54,000 winner's prize in the Greater Hartford Open by one stroke over Jack Renner and Jay Haas.

Joanne Carner shot a six-under-par 282 to take the $65,000 winner's check in the World Championship of Women's Golf in Shaker Heights, Ohio by two strokes over Ayako Okamoto.

HARNESS RACING—RALPH HANOVER ($3.60), driven by Ron Waples, won the $559,230 Cane Pace at Yonkers Raceway, the second jewel in pacing's Triple Crown, by six lengths over Vankirk. Ralph Hanover ran the mile in a stakes-record 1:57.

HORSE RACING—BATES MOTEL ($3.60) ridden by Terry Lipham, won the $279,200 Monmouth Handicap at Monmouth Park by 2½ lengths over Island Whirl. The 4-year-old colt covered the mile and an eighth in 1:47[1/5].

Capitol South ($14.60), Jerry Bailey aboard, won the $121,200 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga Springs by 2¾ lengths over Don Rickles in 1:17[2/5] for the 6½ furlongs.

MOTOR SPORTS—CALE YARBOROUGH averaged 147.511 miles per hour in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS to win a $300,000 NASCAR race in Brooklyn, Mich. by .86 second over Darrell Waltrip.

PAN AMERICAN GAMES—In Caracas, American swimmers swept 21 of a possible 24 gold medals. STEVE LUNDQUIST lowered his world record in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:02.34, and RICK CAREY beat his world record in the 100-meter backstroke with a 55.19. In diving, GREG LOUGANIS won golds in the men's springboard and platform. KELLY McCORMICK and WENDY WYLAND won golds in the women's springboard and platform, respectively (page 10).

SOCCER—NASL: The Cosmos won two games to clinch their sixth consecutive Eastern Division championship. Steve Moyers' goal at 3:47 of the second overtime led the Cosmos to a 1-0 victory at Toronto, while Giorgio Chinaglia scored the final two goals in a 5-3 victory over Chicago. Golden Bay also won twice, earning its first playoff berth since 1977 and extending its home winning streak to 13. The Earthquakes defeated Fort Lauderdale 5-3 behind Chris Dangerfield's three second-half goals, then beat San Diego 4-2. Tulsa wrested first place in the Southern Division from Fort Lauderdale with two victories. Barry Wallace and Adam Krupa combined for three goals and three assists in the Roughnecks' 4-1 defeat of Tampa Bay, and Laurie Abrahams scored two goals as Tulsa nipped Team America 3-2. Montreal missed a chance to move past Toronto and into third place in the Eastern Division when it lost 2-1 in a shootout to the Blizzard. Earlier, Montreal had edged Seattle 3-2 when Alan Willey scored 5:20 into overtime. David Cross had a pair of goals and Goalkeeper Tino Lettieri recorded his 11th shutout as Western Division leader Vancouver defeated San Diego 3-0. Lettieri lowered his goals-against average to a sparkling 0.72. Fort Lauderdale dropped a 3-0 decision to Seattle as Sounder rookies Neil Megson and Tim Bartro scored their first NASL goals. Chicago beat Team America 3-0 before 21,913 in Soldier Field, the largest home crowd for the Sting this season.

TENNIS—MATS WILANDER defeated John McEnroe 6-4, 6-3 to win the $375,000 ATP Championship, in Mason, Ohio.

Martina Navratilova beat Chris Evert Lloyd 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to win the $250,000 Player's Challenge tournament in Toronto.

TRACK & FIELD—At the European Cup championships in London, ULRIKE MEYFARTH of West Germany and TAMARA BYKOVA of the Soviet Union both surpassed Meyfarth's year-old world record in the women's high jump by one-half inch with leaps of 6'8".

At an international meet in Berlin, HENRY MARSH broke his American record in the steeplechase by 3.31 seconds with a time of 8:12.37, and TYKE PEACOCK cleared 7'7¾" in high jump, breaking by one-half inch the American record he shared with Dwight Stones and Del Davis (page 20).

MILEPOSTS—FINED: The SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS, $10,000, by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle for violating the league's rule against tampering. Rozelle determined that Coach Bill Walsh had broken the rule when he said in an April 11 guest column in the Houston Chronicle that he was interested in trading for Oiler Running Back Earl Campbell. Under NFL rules, teams cannot approach publicly or express interest in players currently under contract to another team.

FIRED: LEE ELIA, 46, as manager of the Chicago Cubs. General Manager Dallas Green named CHARLIE FOX, 61, onetime manager at San Francisco (1970-74) and now a Cubs consultant, to replace Elia. In almost two seasons Elia guided the Cubs to a 127-158 record.

NAMED: Coach of the NHL St. Louis Blues, JACQUES DEMERS, 39. In two seasons (1978-79, 1979-80) as coach of the Quebec Nordiques, Demers had a 66-78-16 record.

SENTENCED: 1959 Heisman Trophy winner and former AFL star BILLY CANNON, 46, by U.S. District Court Judge Frank Polozola, to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine—the maximum penalty—for participating in a $6 million counterfeiting scheme; in Baton Rouge, La.

TRADED: By the Detroit Lions, Tight End DAVID HILL, 29, to the Los Angeles Rams for Cornerback ROD PERRY, 29, and the Rams' third-round draft choice in 1985.

By the Kansas City Chiefs, Quarterback STEVE FULLER, 26, and Cornerback ERIC HARRIS, 28, to the Rams for Running Back JEWERL THOMAS, 25, and Cornerback LUCIOUS SMITH, 26.

DIED: EARL AVERILL, 81, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame; of pneumonia; in Everett, Wash. In 13 seasons, most of them with Cleveland, Averill batted .318, with 238 home runs and 1,165 RBIs.