Nunn Fights Tougher, Wins in 6th : Showing Sting, He Stops Previously Unbeaten Harris

When middleweight Michael Nunn came back to the Ten Goose Boxing Club of North Hollywood from a holiday break, he had a message waiting for him from promoter Bob Arum, who has Nunn under contract.

“Arum said he would not make any network fights or any other big moves for Michael,� Joe Goossen, Nunn’s trainer, said Friday, “until Michael started kicking some rear ends. It was just not good enough to beat people. He had to start beating them up.�

Nunn started Friday night, beating up previously unbeaten Willie Harris of Norristown, Pa., until Harris’ manager, James Hill, finally signaled for the fight to be stopped 2:20 into the sixth round of their scheduled 10-round main event at The Country Club in Reseda. Each man weighed 160 pounds.

Nunn dominated the fight, losing only one round on two of the three scorecards and none on the other one.

But then, winning rounds, or fights, was never Nunn’s problem as he breezed through his first 20 fights, winning 12 by knockout. The problem was how he won. Nunn could always float like a butterfly. Unfortunately, he also stung like one. Nunn would spend more time on his toes than Baryshnikov, dancing away from nearly every blow thrown his way while delivering just enough to insure victory.

Effective it was. Entertaining it was not. Many of his recent fights had ended with boos from the crowd.

Not Friday.

Right from the beginning, Nunn waded in and delivered sharp combinations. By the fifth round, Harris was draped across the ropes, barely able to defend himself. He went down from a short left in the sixth, and Hill told referee James Jen-Kin not to bother counting.

“He always had me off balance,� Harris said. “Every time I took two steps back, he would take three forward. I just couldn’t find the right angle on him.�

It didn’t help that the 5-foot 6-inch Harris gave away six inches to Nunn.

Harris came into the fight with a flashy enough record--21-0 with 17 knockouts--but that was in the distant past. His last fight, three months ago, ended a two-year layoff.

“He had quit to become a roofer,� Hill said, “but he realized he had given up a shot at the championship, and that stayed on his mind.�

Nunn, ranked No. 8 by the World Boxing Assn., also has the middleweight title on his mind.

“I know if I want to move up,� he said, “I’ve got to hurt people. When I fight the better fighters and they start to come forward, I’ve got to show them I mean business.�

Boxing Notes

There is talk of an August rematch between WBA bantamweight champion Bernardo Pinango and Frankie Duarte, who fights out of the Ten Goose Boxing Club. Pinango won a unanimous 15-round decision over Duarte Tuesday night at the Forum. Immediately afterward, Forum owner Jerry Buss met with Luis Spada, Pinango’s manager, to talk about a second fight. According to a Forum spokesman, Spada agreed verbally to the rematch, but first, Pinango must win two other title defenses in bouts to which he is already committed. Pinango told reporters earlier this week that he planned to retire after those two fights. And Duarte has not yet even decided if he wants to continue fighting.