Parker, Perez, Forum Winners

A boxing tournament winner made more money than the winner of a world title fight, and a clown from a Mexicali circus was a big hit in his Southern California debut in a strange boxing show at the Forum Monday night.

In front of a crowd of 7,655, Edward Parker won a unanimous decision over Ken Baysmore to win the Forum’s super-featherweight tournament, earning $75,000 Monday night and raising his tournament total to $100,000.

Later, World Boxing Council bantamweight champion Raul Perez of Tijuana defended his championship with a unanimous decision over rugged Diego Avila of Mexico City.

Then they brought in the clown. Jorge Paez, who works as a clown and an acrobat in his parents’ Mexicali circus, is waging a campaign to bring pro boxing closer to pro wrestling. He entered the ring with a “1” shaved onto the back of his head, sweeping chevrons shaved on the sides of his head, and wearing a pony tail.

Then he took his robe off, and if they’d turned out the lights you still could have seen Paez--a glimmering, sequin creation that radiated green, orange, gold and red.

Paez scored an easy sixth-round TKO over Alan Makatoki of the Philippines. But with Paez, winning isn’t really his schtick. It’s the show that counts, like performing mock staggers when his opponent lands an inconsequential blow, taunting, sticking out his chin . . .

The crowd seemed to like his act. So, he will probably be back. And he will probably make more than the $20,000 he made Monday night.

Paez is the International Boxing Federation featherweight champion, but was boxing, to use the term loosely, at 135 pounds against Makatoki.

Parker watched the Paez debut with some interest. With a Forum tournament championship, he will lobby now for a Forum championship fight against Paez.

Parker seemed for a while to have been punched out after his all-out, haymakers-from-everywhere, early-rounds assault on the taller, quicker Baysmore failed to put him away. Baysmore (25-3-2) not only survived, but won most of the middle rounds.

But Parker (19-3-2) turned the fight around in the eighth. With a minute left in the third round, he caught Baysmore with a solid combination and rocked him. He pounded Baysmore for the rest of the round but couldn’t put him away.

After that, however, what sharpness Baysmore had was gone, as was the crispness to his punches. And even when he was sharp, Baysmore never landed a solid right to Parker’s jaw, which was exposed throughout by his left hand, which he carried waist-high. Parker, too, seemed nearly punched out again late in the fight, but in the 12th round he somehow pulled up sufficient energy from an unknown reservoir, and won the final round going away. When decision was announced, Baysmore offered no protest.

Parker’s margin was three points on two cards, four on the third.

“This is the greatest moment of my life,” Parker said. “I worked hard and believe I earned every penny.”

Perez (45-1-1), defending his WBC bantamweight title for the third time, was meeting an opponent he had barely beaten in 1986. This time, he won another unanimous decision over Avila (35-19-3), but with some breathing room. The scores were 119-111, 118-110, 115-113.