Sims Gives Reyes the (Left) Hook in Second Round

When Nery Reyes entered the Reseda Country Club ring for Tuesday night’s 10-round main event, he figured he was facing only one opponent--Walter Sims.

He figured incorrectly.

Not only was Reyes facing Walter Sims, who weighed in for Tuesday night’s lightweight bout at 136 pounds, he also was facing Ellisha Dawn Sims, who weighed in Monday at 6 pounds, 15 ounces.

Reyes never had a chance against this dynamic duo.

Papa Walter, celebrating the birth of daughter Ellisha a day earlier, dominated the 136-pound Reyes from the start, knocking him down in the first round, then knocking him out at 2:55 of the second round to boost his record to 20-3-1.

Wasn’t the birth of his daughter so soon before the fight a distraction for the 25-year-old Sims?

“It made me want to fight even more,” the North Hollywood resident said. “I wanted to do it for my little girl. I told her that. She was sleeping, but I told her.”

For Sims, who fights out of the Ten Goose Boxing Club of North Hollywood, the knockout was his 15th and fourth in a row. Reyes (14-4, 7 knockouts) got back to his feet in the closing seconds of the second round after going down from a right cross followed by a left hook, but referee Rudy Jordan stopped the bout.

“I wanted him to lay down for at least 30 seconds,” Sims said. “I didn’t want him to be hurt, but I want to know I have devastating power.”

In Sims’ last bout, he knocked out Melvin Paul last month at 2:13 of the first round in a Forum lightweight tournament match. Sims next is scheduled to fight in the tournament quarterfinals Sept. 25 against Chris Calvin.

“He’s really coming into his own,” Joe Goossen, Sims’ trainer, said of his fighter. “He’s been sparring great in the gym for at least six months.”

Reyes’ problem might have been too much preparation.

He knocked out Erick Madrid of Sylmar in his last fight a month ago, after accepting the match on a few hours notice. When Madrid’s scheduled opponent dropped out, Reyes was contacted at his San Jose home, agreed to the fight and did his preparation in the seat of an airplane.

Tuesday night, he couldn’t get off the ground.

In Tuesday night’s first preliminary fight, something figured to give. Sergio Gamino of Temple City had lost both of his pro fights. Aguilara Hilario of National City was 0-3. But both remained winless after their four-round bantamweight bout. On a split decision, the fight was ruled a draw.

Featherweight Francisco Jimenez of Alhambra won his first pro fight on a second-round TKO when Gary Quadree of San Diego, also making his pro debut, couldn’t continue in the scheduled four-round bout because of an injury to his left hand.

In another battle, Miguel Mendoza of Burbank knocked out Martin Nunez of San Jose 40 seconds into the fourth and final round of their lightweight match. It was the pro debut for both fighters.

Floyd Weaver of Diamond Bar (3-0) knocked out Richard DeMarco of Orange (3-1) at 1:20 of the first round of their scheduled four-round junior middleweight bout. 1.

Notes

North American Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Frankie Duarte, a Ten Goose product, apparently is going to have to wait a little longer before getting the chance to place the letters WBA in in front of his title. Dan Goossen, Duarte’s manager, tentatively had lined up a title match against WBA champ Bernardo Pinango of Panama on Nov. 6 in Las Vegas. The fight was to be a prelude to the main event featuring middleweight champ Marvin Hagler against one of several possible opponents. Once Hagler agreed to fight Sugar Ray Leonard next spring, however, he refused to fight on the Nov. 6 card. That means no card and no title shot for Duarte--for now. Goossen is exploring the possibility of Duarte appearing on the Hagler-Leonard card or perhaps fighting Pinango at The Forum.