BOXING / EARL GUSTKEY : A Move Toward Eliminating Draws

If it’s true that popular trends in American society originate in California and move inexorably eastward, then the sun may be setting on draws in boxing.

At its June 15 meeting in San Diego, the California Athletic Commission voted unanimously to begin a six-month trial program during which judges would be “encouraged” not to score rounds even.

This won’t end draws, but their occurence will, at least for the next six months, be less likely. An early result was the Forum’s six-bout show Monday night. Not one of the 45 rounds scored by the judges--or a total of 135 rounds scored--was called even.

The attempt to rid boxing of draws, at least in California, has been a long-sought goal of Jerry Nathanson, the commission’s chairman. For several years, he has “encouraged” judges before bouts not to score rounds even.

“We got this trial program in because, until now, I never had the votes,” he said.

“After I saw I had the votes on the commission, I went to the state referees’ and judges’ association, and they backed it, too. I’ve always believed there’s no such thing as an even round in boxing. I’m hopeful this idea will be well received after six months, that we’ll have the support we need to write it into the rules permanently.”

Dale Ashley, the assistant executive officer of the commission and the man in charge of boxing shows in Southern California, said he now gives a no-draws speech to judges before Southland fights.

“I’m telling them to concentrate more intently during every round and at the end of every round to step up to the plate and pick a winner,” he said.

Since they came to a parting of the ways with their middleweight champion, Michael Nunn, Dan and Joe Goossen are down to two promising prospects in their Ten Goose Boxing stable, Gabe and Rafael Ruelas.

Lately, it seems that they’ve been rushing things a bit with the 19-year-old brothers.

In April, on the undercard of the Nunn-Marlon Starling fight in Las Vegas, lightweight Gabriel Ruelas was thumping his opponent, Jeff Franklin, handily through five rounds.

Then, in the sixth, Ruelas obviously injured his right arm, severely enough that the arm hung limply at his side. Encouraged, Franklin rallied. Between rounds, everyone in Ruelas’ corner could see their fighter had a serious arm injury, that he was in a borderline defenseless state.

But they sent him out for the seventh round.

Result: Franklin twisted Ruelas’ arm in a clinch, and Ruelas crumpled to the canvas in pain. He was taken to a hospital, where it was determined that he had a broken elbow, and went into surgery that night.

Ruelas’ arm is said to be healing satisfactorily, but at the time of the injury, some called his injury career-threatening.

“That’s the worst kind of injury a fighter can have, a break at the elbow,” Dr. Robert Karns, a California ring physician, said that night. “That kid might never fight again.”

Last Monday night at the Forum, the Goossens sent Gabe’s younger brother, featherweight Rafael Ruelas, into a 10-round fight with rugged Abe Gomez when they knew their fighter had sore hands.

Result: Ruelas had Gomez down twice in the first round, hit him hard the next two rounds, then largely pulled his punches the rest of the way and won a lopsided decision.

Afterward, Ruelas said his hands hurt throughout training for the fight and began to hurt even more early in the fight. Karns, in a locker room examination afterward, confirmed that Ruelas had inflamed bursa membranes around several of his knuckles.

When asked why he didn’t seek a postponement, Joe Goossen, Ruelas’ trainer who knew his fighter’s hands were sore going into the fight, said: “There isn’t a fighter in the world who doesn’t go into a fight without sore hands.”

Sorry, Joe. Wrong.

At least that’s the opinion of Carlos Palomino, who came out of Westminster and won a world welterweight title in 1976.

“It’s true that early in my career I didn’t tell my manager, Jackie McCoy, about some hand injuries because I was so eager to fight and make money,” Palomino said.

“But after I won the title, I never went into a title fight unless I was 100% fit. A fighter should never go into a fight unless he’s 100%, because it affects your confidence level, not just your performance.”

Palomino, who is a friend of the Goossens, emphasized that his comments weren’t meant as criticism of them.

The athletic commission’s Ashley said that Gomez, because he took so many punches from Ruelas, would be suspended for 45 days and be required to pass the state’s neurological exam before he can fight again.

As for Ruelas, he will have to show that his hands are healed before he fights again.

“We were never told Ruelas had hand problems,” Ashley said. “We’ll have someone look at his hands before we let him fight again.”

Someone from the Big Bucks Gym in Woodland Hills called media people and athletic commission officials the other day, inviting them to a special sparring session for 45-year-old Jerry Quarry, who is trying to obtain a boxing license from any state that will give him one.

Ashley sent back an RSVP letter on behalf of the athletic commission, telling gym owner Steve Buckingham and Quarry that they were outlaws.

“I informed them that it is illegal for anyone in California to spar without a pro boxer’s license and I also informed them that the Big Bucks Gym is not a licensed gym,” he said.

Boxing Notes

Sugar Ray Leonard will fight Tommy Hearns for the third time in the fall if Manny Steward, Hearns’ manager, agrees to a fight at 160 pounds. Mike Trainer, Leonard’s attorney, said the Hearns camp insists on a bout at 168 pounds. “Our conversations always take this course,” Trainer said. “I say to Manny: ‘Let’s trade hats, Manny. Suppose Ray was your guy. You know what he weighs. Would you send him into the ring against a world-class guy who weighed 168?’ That’s always the end of the conversation.” In the meantime, Trainer has been approached by a Japanese promoter who, Trainer says, has offered “millions” for Leonard to fight “anyone he wants” in Japan. Actually, Leonard’s next fight is with Mrs. Leonard. The two go to divorce court in Montgomery County, Md., later this summer.

Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker and Hector Camacho will appear on an HBO Caesars Tahoe tripleheader on Aug. 11. No opponent has been named for Taylor, who lost his International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight championship to Julio Cesar Chavez in March with two seconds left in the fight. Whitaker, the World Boxing Council and IBF champion, will meet World Boxing Assn. champion Juan Nazario. Camacho will face junior welterweight Tony Baltazar.

Mark Breland will defend his WBA welterweight championship in Reno on July 8 against unbeaten Aaron Davis in a bout to be televised by ABC. Breland is 27-1-1, Davis 28-0. . . . Official paid attendance at last weekend’s George Foreman/Mike Tyson doubleheader at Caesars Palace was 9,446; the gate was $2,669,877. . . . Ben Green, longtime New York boxing reporter, publicist and promoter, died recently. He was 82. . . . Coaching the U.S. team at the U.S. Olympic Cup matches in Salt Lake City this weekend are retired Olympic team coach Pat Nappi and ex-world middleweight champion Gene Fullmer, a Salt Lake City native.

CALENDAR

Monday--Ernie Chavez (10-0) vs. Hedgemon Robertson (21-7-1), welterweights, Irvine Marriott, 7 p.m.

Tuesday--Kevin Ford (9-1) vs. Dion Burgess (6-3), heavyweights; Kennedy McKinney (8-0-1) vs. Jorge Raton Rodriguez (16-18), featherweights, The Country Club, Reseda, 7:30 p.m.