ESPN to Air Nunn Fight Across U.S. From Reseda

The Country Club in Reseda is ready for prime time. The nightclub’s Nov. 21 boxing show will be televised nationally by ESPN, the cable sports network.

The main event that night will feature unbeaten North Hollywood middleweight Michael Nunn (18-0, 11 knockouts) against an opponent who has not yet been named. One possibility is California middleweight champion Alex Ramos. Or, it could be former California champion Fred Hutchings.

And there’s a good possibility, according to promoter Bob Arum, that national telecasts from the Country Club could become a regular event. There are tentative plans for a second national telecast from Reseda on Jan. 2.

“We want to give it a chance,” said Arum by phone from New York where his Top Rank boxing organization is headquartered. “It’s an experiment. If it works in November, we want to try it on an every-other-month basis.”

Nunn is under contract to Arum, who supplies weekly boxing shows to ESPN in exchange for a rights fee. Those shows originate from Atlantic City, Las Vegas and various other sites.

“Most of our shows come from hotels,” said Bruce Trampler, a Top Rank official. “People solicit us all the time to put on shows from their places. Usually there’s no reason to go, though, because they are not the quality shows we like to put on.

“Nunn is the main reason we are going out to Reseda. Plus they get such a good crowd out there, it ought to make great television. And we can get local fighters at the Country Club. Often the people you get in casinos are so laid back. That type of crowd sits on its hands. There are no fighters from Atlantic City. There are no people from there. People come to Atlantic City and it’s a different kind of crowd.

“The networks have an unwritten rule that they won’t go into a casino unless they have to. We used to televise from New Orleans because they put on some good shows there. But there are no kids down there now who can carry a show. This thing goes in cycles. And right now, Reseda makes sense.

“The Country Club started out with club fighters and now has moved to a higher level. Nunn is a good kid to establish credibility for the ESPN shows. Once it’s established, we’ll go with other fighters there. Originally, the Country Club carried Michael Nunn. Now it’s the reverse. He’s carrying them.”

Nunn, after winning a unanimous decision over Mike Tinley last month in Atlantic City, has moved up from No. 10 to No. 8 in the World Boxing Assn. rankings. He has also risen from 21st to 19th in the World Boxing Council ratings. Nunn, who has been kept on a rigorous fight schedule by his manager, Dan Goossen, has another fight coming up before his ESPN date. He’ll meet a still-unnamed opponent Oct. 28 at the Country Club.

The Ten Goose Boxing Club of North Hollywood, under the banner of Al Goossen Promotions, has been staging fights at the Country Club for nearly two years and usually sells out the 900-seat building. Dan Goossen said there will be no increase in ticket prices for the ESPN card.

“We are really excited,” Goossen said. “This shows that the Country Club and ourselves are being taken seriously.”

This will be the Country Club’s second nationally televised fight. Lightweights Tony Baltazar and Roger Mayweather fought from there for CBS in the summer of 1984.

The fight will not be Nunn’s national television debut. Several of his fights, including the Tinley fight, have been broadcast nationally.

While Arum hopes to continue bringing the ESPN cameras into the Country Club, he has even bigger plans for Nunn. Early in 1987, Arum said, he’ll try to line up a fight on one of the three major networks for Nunn against one of the WBA’s top five middleweights.

“He’s ready for anybody,” Arum said.

And ready for prime time.