Hunter Loses Punch, Then Fight to Smith

Heavyweight Mike Hunter of Encino has a unique fighting style. He drops his left hand, cocks his right and waits for an opening.

When the final bell had sounded in Thursday night’s main event at The Country Club in Reseda, he still was waiting.

Hunter (10-2-2), giving a strange and listless performance in which he rarely threw an effective punch with either hand, lost a unanimous eight-round decision to Andre Smith (11-1-1) of San Diego.

Smith, 193, didn’t exactly look like Marvelous Marvin Hagler, either, but he was clearly the aggressor and had a good enough jab to dominate the docile, 200-pound Hunter in a bout booed by the crowd of about 500.

In the semi-main event, lightweight Ray Taylor (7-3-2) of Chula Vista won a unanimous six-round decision over Oscar Ornelas (4-4-3) of the City of Commerce.

Junior welterweight Steve Lewis of North Hollywood had fought twice before Thursday night and neither of his opponents had survived the first round.

Lewis was off and swinging once again Thursday. He charged across the ring at the opening bell and threw every punch in his arsenal at Calvin Meeks of Los Angeles, shaking up Meeks and opening up a cut over his left eye.

But unlike Lewis’ other opponents, Meeks had experience (four pro fights) and talent (a 4-0 record, including one knockout).

Meeks hung on and eventually hung Lewis with his first loss, winning a unanimous decision in the four-round bout.

Super bantamweight Les Fabri of North Hollywood, a former national Golden Gloves champion, made his professional debut a success by winning a unanimous four-round decision over Luciano Martinez of Los Angeles. Martinez has now lost all three of his pro fights.

In the second match, junior welterweight Alex Aviles of Los Angeles, also making his first professional appearance in a ring, withstood a final-round rally by Efren Granillo (0-3) of San Jose to emerge with another unanimous four-round decision.

In another preliminary bout, super bantamweight Efren Chavez of South El Monte boosted his record to 6-1 with one knockout by winning a split six-round decision over Juvenal Molina (5-5-1, three knockouts) of East Los Angeles.