All Magdaleno Needs to Hit Big Time Is a Big Break : Boxing: At 29, light heavyweight from Westminster wants a televised fight to gain exposure.

Ernie Magdaleno moves around the Westminster Boxing Club focusing on each exercise.

First, he pounds the speed bag with abandon.

Then it’s over to the sit-up bench to strengthen his stomach muscles.

Next, he jumps ropes to build leg stamina.

But what Magdaleno’s workout lacks is a specific motivation: An opponent.

Magdaleno, a 1981 graduate of Ocean View High School and a resident of Westminster, is 13-0 since becoming a professional in November, 1989.

His current goal is to fight a televised bout to gain added exposure. He and manager Clyde Armijo are not too particular about who or where at this point, as long as it’s a step up in competition.

At 29, Magdaleno knows his time in the ring is limited.

He and his wife, Carrie, have been married four years and have a 3-year-old daughter, Samantha.

Boxing is basically a part-time job at this point for Magdaleno, who is a carpenter from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., five days a week. He then heads to the gym to work out for a couple of hours. His biggest boxing payday has been $4,000.

Magdaleno won the California light heavyweight title in February and wants to move up from the ranks of club fighting.

“We’re looking really hard,” Magdaleno said. “I’m just trying to stay sharp but (not having a scheduled bout) makes it a lot harder to get to the gym each day. You always prefer to have something to work toward. . . . You just have to be in the right spot at the right time to get your chance of a lifetime, so it’s always good to be ready.”

Armijo said he has faxed and sent letters to several promoters across the country in recent weeks, but there has been no response.

“He’s a little bit too good for guys in the top 10 or 15 to take a chance with,” Armijo said. “Hopefully, we’ll get a break really soon.”

He would like another chance to fight at the Forum, where he won the state title with a fifth-round knockout of Bomani Parker in February, but the right opportunity has yet to come along.

The Parker fight was entertaining as well as one of the oddest fights in Southern California in recent years.

The two traded punches for four rounds, then Magdaleno started to get the advantage with his relentless straight-ahead style in the fifth.

During that round, Parker left the ring and went into the press room, where he later was found having a soft drink. Magdaleno was credited with a knockout and Parker hasn’t been heard from since.

“It shocked me,” Magdaleno said. “I had him in the corner and was starting to get the advantage, then he was just gone.”

One reason Magdaleno is pressing to move up is because he got a late start in the sport. He played football in high school and it wasn’t until a few years after graduating that he became involved in boxing. He and some friends would visit the Westminster gym and look around, and he eventually started to work out and had a few amateur bouts.

He drifted away from the sport for about three years, then returned in 1989 when he was 26.

“We were always clowning around about doing it,” Magdaleno said. “Finally, I said that I had to give it at least one shot. I remember saying that I was going to do it until I lost.”

He has been knocked down only once. That happened in the second round against Jesus Castaneda in May, 1991, at the Irvine Marriott. But Magdaleno got up and won a unanimous six-round decision.

His most impressive performance to date was in his most recent fight, April 23, against James Kinchen in Irvine.

Kinchen came in with a record of 49-8-2 and 24 knockouts. Three of his losses had come against Iran Barkley, Virgil Hill and Thomas Hearns.

Kinchen, although in the final stages of his career, offered a test to Magdaleno, who had had 46 fewer fights.

But Magdaleno proved himself that night with an eighth-round knockout after dominating most of the fight.

“He was just busy throwing punches from everywhere,” Kinchen said after the bout.

Magdaleno was mobbed in the ring afterward by family, including his wife, and brothers Joe, Freddie and Tino Jr., sister Mary, and about 100 friends.

His parents, Tino and Maria, don’t attend the bouts because they aren’t fond of watching their son being hit. But they sit next to the phone awaiting news of the outcome.

“It’s great to have that much support,” Ernie said. “Without everybody behind me, especially my wife, I couldn’t keep doing this.”

Magdaleno’s record

The bout-by-bout record of Ernie Magdaleno, a light heavyweight from Westminster who is 13-0 since turning professional in November, 1989.

Date Site Opponent Outcome Nov. 30, 1989 Irvine Steve Montoya DEC 4 Mar. 15, 1990 Long Beach Brad Powell DEC 4 June 25, 1990 Irvine Richard Allen DEC 4 Nov. 29, 1990 Irvine Aniello Crescenzo KO 3 Jan. 28, 1991 Inglewood Louie Ornelas DEC 5 Feb. 11, 1991 Inglewood Melvin James KO 3 May 29, 1991 Irvine Jesus Castaneda DEC 6 July 25, 1991 Irvine Ivan Rukavina DEC 10 Sept. 20, 1991 San Francisco Albert Romero KO 2 Nov. 2, 1991 San Bernardino Roy Gumbs DEC 10 Dec. 17 1991 Reseda Ramzi Hassan DEC 8 Feb. 24, 1992 Inglewood Bomani Parker KO 5 April 23, 1992 Irvine James Kinchen KO 8