Nunn Fights Off Hand Surgery as Swelling Subsides

Middleweight Michael Nunn is having some of the most important fights of his career this week.

His opponents are all no-names. There are no crowds, no media present, no cameras, no referee, no judges nor a timekeeper.

No matter. So far, Nunn has emerged from this week’s sparring sessions at the Ten Goose gym in North Hollywood without any swelling in his left hand, and that’s the only triumph he was looking for.

Nunn, 22, had been cruising along, fighting nearly every month, to boost his record to 14-0, including 10 knockouts. He was recently named the second most promising prospect in the country behind unbeaten heavyweight Mike Tyson by Ring magazine.

But that future became hazy last month, after Nunn’s Las Vegas victory over Carl Jones, when the knuckles on Nunn’s left hand became badly inflamed. It was an old condition that became severely aggravated. The possibility of surgery threatened to cut into Nunn’s personal timetable for getting a title shot in the next year to 18 months.

Instead, Dr. Tony Daly immobilized Nunn’s hand by putting it in a cast and gave him a series of cortisone shots. The treatment appears to have worked.

“What Michael Nunn has is a repeated trauma in the joint,” Daly said. “That can require operating on the lining of tissue in that joint. We are in the process of finding out in Nunn’s case what will be required. What we’ve tried to do is see if the problem would settle down on its own.

“It’s a fairly common condition in boxing. Both Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran had it and neither man required surgery.”

Dan Goossen, Nunn’s manager, is confident enough in the results of the sparring sessions to schedule his fighter’s next two opponents. Nunn will meet Felipe Vaca of Mexico at Reseda’s Country Club on May 20, then face longtime contender Alex Ramos in Las Vegas on June 27.

“I was really worried,” Nunn conceded. “I’ve been young and healthy and I didn’t like suddenly being sidelined or sidetracked.”

For the second time in the past three weeks, problems at the border have disrupted a fight at the Country Club in Reseda.

Monday night’s entire card was canceled after Mexico’s Benny Quintero failed to show for his main event super lightweight match against Sylmar’s Elias Madrid. According to Harry Kabakoff, speaking for 7-11 Boxing Promotions, Quintero ran into trouble with immigration officials.

“He had no papers,” Kabakoff said. “They told me he had papers.”

When a preliminary bout also fell through, Kabakoff, faced with only about 30 fans and the possibility of a $5,000 loss for the night, scratched the whole show. According to Kabakoff, the evening still cost 7-11 Boxing Promotions around $3,800.

There were scattered boos from the scattered fans in the 1,000-seat Reseda night spot when the announcement of the cancellation was made. The fans were given refunds.

Several weeks ago, Jaime Garza’s Country Club bout against Lupe Martinez of Mexico, staged by Al Goossen Promotions, had to be cancelled when Martinez was a no-show, also reportedly because of immigration problems.