A Better-Conditioned Nunn Fights Tonight

North Hollywood middleweight Michael Nunn will try to make a comeback tonight when he takes on Jorge Amparo in a scheduled eight-round bout at the Showboat Hotel.

What in the world, you ask, is Nunn making a comeback from? He has barreled into the pro ranks with a 9-0 record after an excellent amateur career. And he won his first eight bouts by knockout.

Nunn said he took a detour from his training regimen. Before his last fight--a September bout against Charles Campbell--Nunn went home to Davenport, Iowa. His stay lasted longer than he had anticipated, and suddenly, the Campbell fight was less than two weeks away. And Nunn had not trained.

“I wasn’t mentally prepared,” Nunn said. “I learned that every time I get in there I’ve got to take it serious. I wasn’t mentally prepared or physically prepared. I didn’t do my homework like I should have.”

Most fighters would just be happy to be 9-0, but Nunn is not like most fighters. At least not according to many experts in the sport.

Bob Arum, one of the top two promoters in the country, is attempting to sign Nunn to an exclusive two- to three-year contract that would include some East Coast fights. It would give him national exposure and perhaps a network television appearance.

The choice of Amparo at this stage of Nunn’s career has raised several questions for Dan Goossen, manager of Ten Goose Boxing.

Amparo, of the Dominican Republic, is 8-4-1 with eight knockouts, but he is hardly a novice. Amparo, 29, won 100 of 107 amateur fights, 68 by knockout. He says he has never been off his feet, either as an amateur or a pro. A year ago, Amparo fought to a draw against James Kinchen, then ranked No. 2 by the World Boxing Council.

“We are very happy he is fighting Nunn,” said Amparo’s manager, Alex Freed of Las Vegas, who found his fighter in a sausage factory in New York, where Amparo was working to make ends meet. “Now he can prove who he is. He can show the people.”

Notes

Michael Nunn’s next fight is already set. He will appear on the Forum card of Dec. 10, meeting Billy Robertson, winner of a middleweight tournament last year there. . . . The main event that night will feature Prince Mohammed against J.B. Williamson for the WBC light-heavyweight title vacated by current heavyweight champ Michael Spinks. . . . Tonight’s main event at the Showboat pits Sammy Fuentes of New York against Roberto Juarez of Stockton in a 10-round junior welterweight fight.