Morado Keeps Guard Up, but Not in the Ring

Erick Madrid of Sylmar and Martin Morado of San Diego were supposed to fight Friday night under the chandeliers at the Sheraton Universal’s Grand Ballroom.

Madrid showed up, but Morado didn’t. Instead of being under the chandeliers, he was under the close guard of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Seems Martin Morado of San Diego is actually Martin Morado of Mexico.

“I can’t believe it,” said promoter Harry Kabakoff. “The guy speaks English and everything.”

Not well enough, apparently, to slip by the border patrol station north of San Diego. He was nabbed Thursday on his way to Los Angeles.

In his place, on slightly more than five hours notice, was Neri Reyes of San Jose, who had already fought Madrid twice, handing him his only loss in a 1985 bout and then losing to Madrid in a brutal 10-round bout at the Country Club in Reseda in February.

The rubber match between the lightweights was delayed close to an hour because Reyes’ flight from San Jose was late arriving in Los Angeles.

While the change of plans was costly to Morado, it may have been even costlier for Madrid. A raging Reyes pounded Madrid from the opening bell, knocking him down twice in the second round, again in the third and finally stopping him on a technical knockout 25 seconds into the fourth round.

Madrid’s face was a bloody mess. He sustained a huge gash over his left eye and a broken nose before Dr. Robert Carnes stopped the fight. It was only the second loss in 23 fights for Madrid.

In the first fight of the night, middleweight Lloyd Weaver, one of the younger triplet brothers of former World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion Mike Weaver, knocked out Ruben Blackwell at 2:54 of the first round.

Weaver (2-0) knocked Blackwell down just 30 seconds into the bout. He ended it when he landed a crushing right to the jaw of Blackwell.