Pepeli Battered in 10-Round Decision : Boxing: Once-formidable heavyweight from Burbank fails to handle overweight Curry and takes second loss in row.

There was a day when the thumping, rhythmic chant of his name inside the smoke-filled Reseda Country Club would send heavyweight Rocky Pepeli into a rage, bringing an onslaught of punches that nearly always ended with a knockout.

Those days might be over.

On Tuesday night, for the second straight time, Pepeli was battered and beaten, the late-round tornado that once brought him victories reduced once again to a breeze.

Last September, it was ranked heavyweight Burt Cooper who hammered Pepeli of Burbank, stopping him in the eighth round. Tuesday night, it was once-known Eric Curry, a flabby heavyweight of 235 pounds who hadn’t fought in nearly five years.

Curry, of Detroit, stung Pepeli repeatedly with a left jab and landed heavy rights in the middle and late rounds en route to a lopsided, unanimous 10-round decision.

“I just couldn’t get started,� Pepeli said. “I just don’t know why.�

Much of the reason was the surprising Curry, 27, who moved well despite his bulk. In piling up a 20-2 record, he fought mostly as a light heavyweight. In his return, he was a heavy heavyweight, more than 40 pounds heavier than the 190-pound light heavyweight limit.

“I couldn’t catch him,� Pepeli said. “I should have brought track shoes.�

Despite the loss, Pepeli could fight former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes in March or April.

Pepeli (237) is 19-5-2 after his second consecutive loss.

In a junior middleweight bout, scheduled for six rounds, P.J. Goossen of North Hollywood overcame a severe cut over his left eye to stop Dan Martinez of San Jose at 1 minute 18 seconds of the third round.

Goossen (152) is 7-0 with six knockouts. Martinez (152) is 2-2.

Martinez, who had been knocked down in the first round, hit Goossen with a slashing right hand early in the second, opening an inch-long gash over the left eye.

Despite the flowing blood, Goossen rallied and knocked Martinez down for the second time seconds before the bell ending the second round.

A series of unanswered punches by Goossen in the third round sent Martinez stumbling into the ropes and then into the arms of referee Marty Denkin, who halted the beating.