Poll Wastes No Time, Signs for NABF Title Defense

No one can accuse Jesus Poll of being an inactive champion.

On July 1, just 35 days after winning the North American Boxing Federation super bantamweight title, Poll will defend his crown at The Country Club in Reseda in a 12-round bout against Julian Solis of Puerto Rico, a former World Boxing Assn. bantamweight champion.

Poll, a transplanted Venezuelan living in North Hollywood, will enter the ring unbeaten at 17-0-2 with four knockouts after winning a 12-round decision over Louie Espinoza last month in Las Vegas.

Solis, 37-7 with 29 knockouts, won his title in August of 1980 with a 15-round decision over Jorge Lujan, but lost it later the same year on a 14th-round knockout administered by Jeff Chandler.

The Country Club card will be televised live nationally by the ESPN cable network.

It will be a busy week in Reseda. Two days earlier--June 29--former NABF bantamweight champion Frankie Duarte (42-7-1, 32 knockouts), a stablemate of Poll’s at the Ten Goose Boxing Club of North Hollywood, returns to action to face Ron Cisneros (27-19-1, 18 knockouts) of Denver in a 10-round bout.

It will be Duarte’s first fight in a year and two days. He retained the NABF title last June on a controversial 10th-round TKO over Albert Davila at the Forum. Duarte’s manager, Dan Goossen, has elected to keep Duarte inactive while he pursued a world title shot for his fighter.

It appeared Duarte had one against WBA champion Wilfredo Vasquez. That was tentatively set for June 25 at the Country Club. But first Vasquez had some unfinished business--a title defense against Khaokor Galaxy in Thailand in May. Business, however, wasn’t so good for Vasquez. He lost to Galaxy, making Duarte a loser as well.

So while Goossen tries to put together another world title fight for Duarte, the Venice boxer will get some much needed ring work against Cisneros, a fighter Duarte has already beaten once, on an eighth-round TKO in September of 1985 at the Country Club.

But Cisneros is coming off a big win, an upset victory nearly two weeks ago over George Evans of Albany, Ore. Cisneros won on a sixth-round knockout in Albany.

Also on the Duarte-Cisneros card will be a 10-round welterweight bout between Young Dick Tiger (22-4, 16 knockouts), a Nigerian living in Hollywood, and Jaime Montano (26-5, 26 knockouts) of Los Angeles. Tiger is No. 12 in the World Boxing Council welterweight rankings.