Boxer Bray Gets Painful Lesson : Goodwill Games: Van Nuys heavyweight loses unanimous decision in quarterfinal bout.

John Bray, amateur boxer and professional private investigator, learned a lesson Monday that will be useful in both occupations.

Always double-check your sources.

Bray, a heavyweight from Van Nuys, learned the hard way in the Goodwill Games at the Seattle Center Coliseum. He was beaten and left bewildered by Bert Teuchert of West Germany, who did absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

This, as Bray tells it, was part of the problem.

All Teuchert had to do to confuse Bray was what he always does in the ring--box left-handed.

Unfortunately for Bray, this came as a terrible surprise.

“In the past I’ve had trouble with European fighters,” Bray said. “I had totally trained for the European style (of pressing the fight). Then we step into the ring and for the first time I realize that Bert is a southpaw.”

By the time Bray figured out exactly how to deal with this revelation, Teuchert had won a unanimous decision in the quarterfinal bout.

Bray, 20, said that “a couple of people” had told him Teuchert was right-handed and that in the heat of battle he simply couldn’t adjust.

“At this point in my career, I just wasn’t experienced enough to handle it,” Bray said.

U.S. coaches seemed to share another opinion. As they huddled in the runway after the bout, they took turns muttering, “He just wouldn’t fight.”

Technically that’s not true.

Bray fought, all right--but not until the third and final round.

Teuchert, 23, took the bout’s only eight-count early in the third round after Bray caught him flush on the cheek with a left hook.

It was probably the best punch thrown by either fighter, and Teuchert never saw it coming.

“We had a slight accident,” Teuchert said through an interpreter. “My headgear slipped down and I couldn’t see anything.”

Teuchert lauded Bray for “dominating” the final round, but the boxers might have been the only ones to have seen it that way.

All five judges gave the round--and the two before it--to Teuchert, who aggressively pressed the action.

Bray said he thought the bout should have been scored more closely, but he did not argue the decision.

“Today I was in with a man who was a slightly better fighter,” Bray said. “I have no excuses.”

Bray said he considered his loss “a learning experience” that would benefit him in his quest to represent the United States at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

“Maybe in the future we’ll meet again,” he said.

If not, Bray said, a career as a private investigator may be in his future.

Bray said he has been an apprentice for the past six months. “I still have a lot to learn,” he said.

Teuchert was happy to be part of the education.

The powerful Cuban baseball team pounded 19 hits, including eight doubles, and trounced the United States, 16-2. The United States thus can do no better than a bronze medal.

Omar Linares, the Cuban third baseman who is widely considered the best amateur baseball player in the world, had four doubles and three runs batted in. The game was called after 6 1/2 innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Cuba will play today for the gold medal.

The Soviet Union scored four times in the first period and never looked back, routing the United States, 10-1, in hockey. The United States had defeated the Soviets, 3-1, in an exhibition game last week.

Two U.S. synchronized swimmers won gold medals: Kristen Babb of Clayton, Calif., in the solos, Karen and Sarah Josephson of Bristol, Conn., in the duets.

In men’s volleyball, Craig Buck helped power the United States past France, 15-12, 15-13, 9-15, 15-8. Buck had 12 kills and 12 blocks. Teammate Uvaldo Acosta had 27 kills and Marc Jones posted 26.

Associated Press contributed to this story.