Sims to Fight Olivera in Semifinal

If you had been at the Forum for the first round of the September lightweight tournament match between Walter Sims and Chris Calvin, you’d have probably bet the farm that Sims would advance no further.

In which case, you’d probably still be looking for shelter for the family.

It was Sims who appeared to be in need of shelter, a bomb shelter, in the first two minutes and twenty seconds of that round after Calvin sent him crashing to the canvas twice with powerful right-handed blows, the second knockdown leaving Sims with more cobwebs than a haunted house.

But somehow he cleared them away, survived the round and the next and then came back in the third round with a knockdown of his own, flooring Calvin with a right hand en route to a unanimous 10-round decision in the quarterfinal match.

That upped the North Hollywood lightweight’s record to 21-3-2, including 14 knockouts, and placed him in tonight’s semifinal bout against Joey Olivera of Pasadena.

Olivera, who has already lost to Sims twice earlier in his career, is 17-8 with six knockouts.

Tonight’s winner will face Yogi Buchanan on Jan. 22 for the tournament championship and the winning purse of $50,000.