Middleweight Champion of Mexico Offers to Fight Nunn

Michael Nunn’s plea for a worthy opponent apparently was answered Friday when it was announced that Mexican middleweight champion Marcos Geraldo has tentatively agreed to box Nunn in a 10-round main event Aug. 26 at the Country Club in Reseda.

The match has not yet been approved by the state boxing commission.

Nunn, who fights out of the Ten Goose gym in North Hollywood, has breezed through his first seven professional fights, knocking out each of his opponents in the first four rounds.

After his latest conquest, a third-round TKO over James Waire on Monday, Ten Goose manager Dan Goossen expressed frustration in Friday’s Times about finding a credible opponent.

Early Friday morning, Geraldo’s manager, Joe Lopez, called Goossen.

Lopez, who read Goossen’s plea, said Geraldo would be willing to fight Nunn.

“This is the chance we’ve been waiting for,” Goossen said Friday. “This is a scary fight, but I want Michael to fight someone so the boxing fans around here can see just how good he is.”

Geraldo, 31, should be a good test. A veteran of more than 60 professional fights, he has won more than 40 by knockout. He has also held the Mexican light-heavyweight championship.

Lopez was unavailable for comment, but Goossen said that Geraldo has fought six times in the last years, winning five. He fought to a technical draw against Prince Mohammed, the World Boxing Council’s No. 2-ranked cruiserweight, at the Forum in March.

Said Goossen: “If he knocks this guy out in the first round, people will probably still say he hasn’t fought anyone good, but I’ll know they’re wrong. This guy is a champion. I’ve seen him. He’ll come to fight.”

Geraldo was one of the more celebrated middleweights in boxing from 1979 to 1982, fighting on national television against Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns.

He lost a 10-round decision to Leonard in May, 1979, lost another 10-round decision to Hagler in May of 1980, and was KOd by Hearns in the first round in February, 1982.

Nunn, however, does not seem impressed by Geraldo’s list of opponents.

“He’s tough, but he’s just another opponent,” Nunn said. “I saw him fight against Leonard, Hearns and Hagler, and he didn’t impress me that much.”