Fortune, O’Mara Hope to Stand and Deliver : Boxing: Heavyweights looking to regain stature figure to decide Marriott’s main event at close quarters.

WOODLAND HILLS —  The fight will be held in a regulation boxing ring set in the middle of the Warner Center Marriott’s Grand Ballroom.

Experts say considerably less space is required.

Justin Fortune and George O’Mara, heavyweights who will meet tonight in the main event of a five-bout card that starts at 7:30, are punchers who wouldn’t know a dance step if they tripped over it.

“They’re going to meet head-on,” said Freddie Roach, Fortune’s trainer. “You could probably have this fight in a phone booth.”

Fortune, 28, from Australia, is trying to regain his stature as an up-and-coming contender after being stopped in the fourth round of a bout in Dublin, Ireland, by Lennox Lewis in July. Fortune has a record of 11-3-1 with seven knockouts. One of his losses was to Buster Mathis Jr., Mike Tyson’s next opponent.

O’Mara, from Van Nuys, dropped a unanimous decision in July to former world champion Mike Weaver in a fight for the National Boxing Assn. title.

O’Mara, who has a record of 15-16-3 with nine KOs, is known for his tough chin. But Fortune has as much punching power as anyone. Before he became a boxer, Fortune was a power lifter. In 1984, he set a world record by squat lifting 876 pounds.

Fortune also is a professionally trained French chef. “I used to love it when he stayed with me,” Roach said. “He’s a great cook.”

O’Mara, too, has a second career. He is an actor who has appeared in several feature films. However, his acting career has hit a lull.

“I haven’t done anything lately,” O’Mara said Tuesday. “I go to see my agent and he thinks I’m from Pizza Hut. I have to convince him I’m not the delivery guy.”

In the ring, O’Mara, 39, is as tough as ever. He lasted 12 rounds with Weaver despite a fractured left foot.

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In the top undercard fight, Gary Ballard and Joel Soni will meet in a light heavyweight bout scheduled for eight rounds.

Soni, who also has boxed under the name Sonny Anguiano, is a late replacement for Ivan Rukavina, who was himself a late replacement for Esteban Cervantes. Soni, from San Diego, is 7-2-1 with one KO.

Rukavina pulled out Monday because of an injured hand. Cervantes canceled because of an injured shoulder.

Ballard, 18-2-1 with 16 KOs, was being primed for a world title fight before he was stopped by unheralded Roman Santos at the Marriott in August. Ballard, from South Africa, still is ranked seventh by the World Boxing Council.

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Carlos Guzman of Northridge will be making his third undercard appearance in the past four months when he meets Bryan Cimicata of San Diego in a lightweight bout scheduled for six rounds. Guzman has a record of 6-3-3 with one KO. Cimicata is 1-3-1 with one KO.

In other preliminary bouts, Olegario DeLeon of Canoga Park will meet Tiger Smalls of San Diego in a featherweight fight scheduled for six rounds. Malcolm Brooks of Santa Ana faces Fernando Zuniga of Los Angeles in a super middleweight fight scheduled for four rounds.