Nunn Scores Easy Victory Over Smith

You know it isn’t much of a fight when there is more action at the weigh-in than there is in the ring.

That was the case Wednesday night at the Forum where Michael Nunn thoroughly dominated Randy Smith in winning every round on every card to gain a unanimous decision in their 10-round match.

But that didn’t stop the crowd of 3,995 from showering the ring with boos in a match that looked more like Michael Nunn against a human punching bag.

It was pretty much a standoff. Smith rarely threw a punch at Nunn, but Nunn couldn’t come up with a knockout punch. So despite a 16-0 record, including 11 knockouts, the question remains: Does Nunn have a knockout punch? Not Wednesday.

After the fight, Smith claimed he had suffered a cracked rib in the third round and was taken to a nearby hospital for X-rays.

“I don’t think much of him,” Smith said of Nunn, who fights out of the Ten Goose Boxing Club of North Hollywood. “A man as weak as I was and he couldn’t do nothin’ to me.”

Which brings us to the weigh-in, the scene of the real action.

Originally, Smith, who lives in Arizona, was scheduled to fight Lindell Holmes on this card in a super middleweight (165 pounds) bout. Nunn was supposed to face Ramon Perez in a 160-pound middleweight bout. The California State Athletic Commission, however, disallowed both fights, saying both figured to be mismatches.

So a bout between Nunn and Smith was arranged to salvage the card. Would it be a middleweight or a super middleweight fight?

That wasn’t decided prior to Wednesday morning’s weigh-in. Nunn showed up at a little over 161 pounds, Smith at 167 3/4. A compromise was worked out, with a new contract written for a 167-pound bout. That still meant that Smith had to lose one pound Wednesday afternoon.

“I had to lose five pounds in the last few days,” complained Smith after the bout. “I’m not saying I wasn’t in shape, but it was too much weight to lose. That takes a lot out of you, makes you real weak.

“That’s it. From now on, I’m a light heavyweight.”

Smith didn’t fight much at all Wednesday night, choosing instead to peek at Nunn from behind his gloves, which were mounted firmly in front of his face throughout the match. At one point, referee John Thomas warned Smith to start fighting. Smith, who has lost four in a row and six of his last seven to drop his record to 15-7, didn’t seem to get the message.

Although he expressed his disdain for Nunn’s punching power, Smith couldn’t hide the obvious pain in his midsection as he talked after the match.

“I’ve fought 11 years,” he said between gasps for air, “and I’ve never been hit like this.”

Joe Goossen, Nunn’s trainer, had a little disdain for Smith as well.

“My guy can’t have guts for two fighters,” Goossen said. “I think Michael threw every punch in the book and connected on about 90 percent of them. He did what he could to make it a competitive fight.

“I think they should have stopped it in the sixth or seventh round. It was obvious Smith wasn’t going to fight back.”

Said Nunn: “He laid in a shell and I knew I couldn’t get to him, so I went to the body. He was just trying to survive, looking for a paycheck. Well, he got it.”

On July 25, Nunn will face his next opponent, Charlie Boston, ranked fifth last month by the World Boxing Association, in a 10-round bout in Las Vegas.

Boston figures to be a lot tougher. He’s expected to fight back.