Nunn Records 9th-Round TKO Over Owens

LAS VEGAS — Again, the victory.

Again, the frustration. You would think a fighter like Michael Nunn of North Hollywood, owner of a 25-0 record, 17 knockouts, including five in a row, ranked fourth among middleweights by the World Boxing Council and sixth by both the World Boxing Assn. and the International Boxing Federation, would not have much to be frustrated about.

Yet there was more hand-wringing than hand-slapping in Nunn’s locker room Tuesday night after he recorded a ninth-round TKO over Frankie Owens of Oklahoma City in a scheduled 10-rounder, the co-main event of a card staged in the Goldwyn Ballroom of the Bally’s hotel.

Nunn was clearly in command. He was ahead by 10 points on two score cards and by nine on the other when the fight was stopped 51 seconds into the ninth by Dr. Flip Homansky because of a deep cut over Owens’ left eye.

Nunn already had put Owens down twice--in the fifth round with a left uppercut and in the eighth with a hard body shot. Both times, the bell a few seconds later may have saved Owens from earlier elimination.

So what’s the problem? Why the frustration?

Because for Nunn these days, winning time is not enough. It must also be showtime.

Despite all of Nunn’s fancy numbers and despite the fact all three middleweight titles (WBC, WBA and IBF) are vacant, Nunn cannot seem to get a title shot.

He’s too boring, say his critics, too much of a defensive fighter. No power.

He didn’t do enough to punch a hole in those arguments Tuesday.

There was more holding than you’d find in an NFL line of scrimmage. Much of the action, or lack, thereof, occurred on the ropes. The busiest man in the ring was referee Richard Steele, who constantly had to separate the fighters.

“He was real awkward,” the 161-pound Nunn said of his opponent. “His style was no style.

“I learned one thing. You’ve got to get off first. You can’t wait and give him a chance to hold.

“He was pushing, lunging and he hit me with his head a few times. Thank goodness I don’t bleed easy.”

Bob Surkein, a Nunn adviser and the man who first got him into the ring in his hometown of Davenport, Iowa, was a little more blunt about Owens.

“The kid didn’t want to fight,” screamed Surkein in the Nunn locker room. “He had nothing. Michael got frustrated and so he got careless. He dropped his hands and put his head down.”

In the locker room of Owens, who dropped to 13-4-1 with six knockouts, they weren’t exactly handing out bouquets to Nunn, either.

“I fought a lot stronger fighters,” Owens said. “Nunn has got power. You can’t take anything away from him. But every fighter has power. I’d say Matthew Hilton is a lot faster, a lot stronger.”

Owens, 159 1/2, fought Hilton here in Las Vegas last November and was knocked out in the second round.

Regardless of how much power Owens thinks Nunn has, there was no question Owens was getting hit by something. Not only did he have the deep cut over the left eye but puffiness under the right and a bloody nose.

Nunn was particularly anxious to look good Tuesday. The fight was nationally televised by the ESPN cable network and was viewed by a crowd of 2,071, largest in the history of these weekly ESPN fights.

So where to now for this strange career of Michael Nunn? First back home to Davenport where he’ll fight Dale Jackson (17-2-2) on Sept. 11.

And then back here Oct. 29 at the Las Vegas Hilton for a title shot. Not the WBC, nor the WBA nor the IBF. He’ll have to put up some more fancy numbers and mollify more of his critics before he gets a shot at those titles.

But he will meet Darnell Knox on the 29th for the North American Boxing Federation middleweight title.

“If he wins that,” promoter Bob Arum said, “we’ll try to get him a shot at one of those world titles.”

Knox improved his record to 27-1 with 21 knockouts Tuesday night when he stopped Alex Ramos in the 10th round of the other main-event fight.

But Knox himself was down earlier in that fight and barely won. This was over the same Ramos whom Nunn totally dominated last November to win the California state middleweight championship.

So the path to a world title shot is clear for Nunn.

Beat Jackson.

Beat Knox.

Oh, and look good doing it.

MICHAEL NUNN’S STRING OF KNOCKOUTS

Date Opponent Round Aug. 11 Frankie Owens 9* July 2 Jose Duarte 2 April 24 Cecil Pettigrew 5 April 4 Charles Campbell 9 Feb. 6 Willie Harris 6

*Owens was stopped on a technical knockout.