Dokes Gets a Win, but It Isn’t Pretty

In the fighter’s locker room, a world class heavyweight, about 25 pounds overweight, sits slumped on his stool, bleeding from two deep cuts over his right eye and looking embarrassed.

Michael Dokes had just pulled a victory out of a fight some thought he might be on the way to losing Monday night at the Forum.

Being embarrassed by a guy everyone expected him to flatten, Lionell Washington, was bad enough. But for Dokes, the worst was yet to come. His feisty manager, 92-year-old Marty Cohen, was on his way to the locker room and he was not a happy camper.

No one was saying much until Cohen burst through the door, red faced. Ninety-two-year-old guys aren’t supposed to get this angry.

“From now on,” Cohen shouted, “when the guy (Dokes) isn’t in shape, call off the . . . fight!” Cohen yelled to everyone. “And don’t give me any . . . about it, ever again. From now on, he doesn’t fight unless he’s in shape!”

The paunchy Dokes, who weighed 253 1/2 pounds, said nothing. A trainer mumbled: “Pops, he wouldn’t let us call it off.”

That touched off another Cohen tirade. The Dokes camp wasn’t a happy camp, not after the former World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion picked himself up off the floor in the seventh round and stopped Washington 49 seconds into the eighth before 7,075.

It was easily the liveliest of two main events Monday. In the co-main, Paul Gonzales of Montebello pitched a 12-round shutout at Antonio Lozada to retain something called the WBA Intercontinental bantamweight title. Dokes won the heavyweight version of the same thing, plus the state heavyweight title.

For Dokes, this was supposed to be a “staying busy” fight. Dokes, who wants a title fight with Mike Tyson, gave No. 1 contender Evander Holyfield 10 epic rounds before falling last March, or 30 pounds ago.

Dokes, who earned $20,000, was cut by a head butt about an inch over his right brow midway through the first round, then was cut again on the brow in the fourth.

Washington, a Bakersfield fighter who slipped to 10-6, had little in the way of firepower--except for a smashing right hand that decked Dokes at the end of the seventh, just when Dokes seemed on the verge of taking out Washington.

Dokes (40-2-2) came out gunning in the eighth. He caught Washington at center ring, rocked him with a powerful combination, and Washington crumpled to the canvas after Dokes’ right bounced off his jaw. Washington got up, but referee Larry Rozadilla stopped it, partly because Washington’s right eye was nearly closed.

Afterward, after Cohen calmed down, Dokes said a training injury was responsible for his paunch.

“I haven’t done any running for three weeks,” he said. “I hurt my back.”

All three judges had Dokes ahead by at least three points. The Times card had Washington ahead by three.

Washington, who weighed 233, protested bitterly when Rozadilla stopped it, and was still complaining in the locker room.

“I had a bad (right) eye, but so did he (Dokes),” Washington said. “I wanted to go, and told the ref, but he didn’t like my eye being closed. It was a tough fight.”

Gonzales (15-1) left nothing to doubt. All three judges had him sweeping to a 120-108 victory over Lozada (31-9), as did The Times. It was Gonzales’ first time out after splitting with his longtime trainer, Al Stankie, the East L.A. cop who plucked 10-year-old Gonzales out of a gang at age 10, put him in a gym and coached him to a gold medal in the 1984 Olympic Games.

In his corner were former bantamweight champion Albert Davila and veteran Southland trainer Chuck Bodak. And he was never sharper, not even in the Olympics.

Gonzales-Lozada was like watching twins box--it was a matchup of two stringbean bantams, both with crisp jabs and good counter punching skills. Gonzales, who made $8,500, seemed to win close rounds through the sixth, when his superior jab and conditioning began to take a toll on Lozada. The boxing demonstration was lost on the crowd, which booed when it ended.

Gonzales, who has moved up from the flyweights, said he felt strong at bantamweight.

“I felt strong enough to put pressure on him for three minutes of every round,” he said. “I got into a bangfest with him a couple of times, but I didn’t want that. He had a very good short uppercut inside I had to look out for.”

Gonzales was in complete charge after the sixth, when he first won the round clearly, then staggered Lozada with two right hands at the end of the round.

In a scheduled 10-rounder, Van Nuys heavyweight Alex Garcia (14-1) stopped Jim Ashard of Newport, Ore., in four. Ashard was taking a beating when ringside physician Dr. Michael DeLuca stopped it.