Charles Carter Left Behind the Hoops to Jump Into the Ring

Basketball players are constantly reminded that to be a good rebounder, they must box out their opponents.

No one has to reminder Charles Carter. When this man says he’s going to box you out, prepare to defend yourself. He may be the world’s only shooting guard and middleweight, a man equally adept at throwing a hook in the lane or on the ropes.

Carter, 6-1, 160 pounds, was leading a double life until the end of last year. As a guard on the Yakima Valley Community College team in Washington state, he was averaging just less than 18 points a game.

As a boxer, he had won three straight fights to up his record to 17-4 with 10 knockouts.

What to do?

Well, the choice became obvious when Carter signed for Monday night’s Forum main event against North Hollywood’s Michael Nunn. Nunn, 12-0 with nine knockouts, is one of the middleweight division’s most promising fighters. By beating Nunn, Carter puts himself in the spotlight from which title contenders emerge.

So Carter packed away his basketball for good, and left officials at Yakima shaking their heads at what might have been.

“His shots were all bombs,” said Jerry Ward, athletic director at the Yakima school. “He is an outstanding shooter. He is a pretty good driver to the basket and he has a nice, left-handed layup. He may be the best athlete in the Northwest Athletic Assn. of Community Colleges. And we’re talking about 27 different schools in four regions altogether. He has quickness and speed and seemed to be a step above everybody else. Losing him was a major factor. It really hurt us.”

Carter left as abruptly as he had arrived.

“We didn’t recruit him,” Ward said. “He just showed up one day and basketball coach Ellwood Crosier let him try out. One thing led to another and he became a starter.”

The boxer in him was evident on the court, with his quick hands and feet. His skill was never more evident than in his final game for Yakima during the Christmas holidays when he scored 25 points.

But since then, Carter has been taking aim at just one target--Nunn.

Bob Arum, Nunn’s promoter, and a lot of others, are impressed with Nunn’s quickness. His moves around the ring have been compared by some to a young Muhammad Ali.

Mike Morton, Carter’s manager, says Carter is ready to take on Nunn.

“Nunn has never been in with this type of guy,” Morton said. “He is not going to intimidate my fighter.”

Nunn was an alternate on the 1984 U. S. Olympic team. Carter, a veteran of an estimated 300 amateur bouts, figured he had a spot lined up on another Olympic team, the 1980 version, before the U. S. boycott of the Games in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Charles Carter, who possesses an excellent right hand to go along with his quickness, has had problems in his ring career. According to Morton, lack of commitment in training is the main reason.

“In the past, Charles Carter beat Charles Carter,” Morton said. “This time, Charles Carter is going to beat Michael Nunn.”

Also on Monday night’s Forum card will be a couple of matches in a bantamweight tournament, currently being staged in the Inglewood facility. Tony Montoya (15-0-1 with 10 knockouts) of Salt Lake City will face Kenny Mitchell (15-4-1, five knockouts) of New York, and Jesus Salud (18-0,11 knockouts) of Honolulu will meet Mike Phelps (21-0, eight knockouts) of Galeno Park, Tex. in a pair of 10-round fights.

There also will be an eight-round super bantamweight match between Paul Lucas (11-0, nine knockouts) of Hawaii and Jorge Diaz (17-2, nine knockouts) of Culiacan, Mex.