Ruelas Seals Walters’ Fate in 9th to Set Up a Title Fight : Boxing: Arleta teen-ager runs record to 20-0 with overpowering performance against Jamaican featherweight.

Job Walters, a swift and muscular Jamaican featherweight who had easily whipped former world champions in his past two bouts, was a fighter on his way up.

But just seconds after running into a crushing left hook from Rafael Ruelas of Arleta, he was a fighter on the way down.

Ruelas, 19, dropped Walters early in the first round, then stopped him with a blistering barrage of punches in the ninth Friday night in a scheduled 10-round bout at Bally’s Hotel. Ruelas used the overpowering performance to run his record to 20-0 with 17 knockouts.

The victory set up Ruelas’ first shot at a title. He is scheduled to fight Pee Wee Parker of Los Angeles in November at the Forum for the International Boxing Council featherweight championship.

Friday’s bout ended 2 minutes 10 seconds into the ninth after Ruelas had blasted Walters, who fights out of New York, with stinging combinations from the start of the round. He staggered Walters with a whistling left hook and as Walters sagged against the ropes, Ruelas unleashed a furious combination, snapping back the head of the defenseless Walters seconds before referee Toby Gibson jumped in and stopped the beating.

Ruelas, 126 1/2, who entered the bout ranked 20th in the featherweight division by the World Boxing Council, was ahead by five points on the scorecards of two judges and by three points on the third scorecard after eight rounds.

Walters, 125, came into the bout off a pair of impressive wins over former world champions Bernardo Pinango of Venezuela and Azael Moran of New York. Moreover, he had not lost a fight in more than four years.

He withstood the punishment that Ruelas was handing out in the early rounds, and, after the first-round knockdown, he began landing solid punches of his own to win a few rounds. But none of the punches seemed to bother his opponent and by the fifth round Ruelas--a tall featherweight at 5-foot-10--had regained control. His quick and heavy jabs nearly closed Walter’s right eye in the sixth round.

In the eighth, Walters’ swollen eye began to bleed heavily and Ruelas began a heavy attack, rocking Walters with stiff jabs and left hooks to the body and head.

“It was hard because he moved a lot and stayed busy,” said Ruelas, who fights out of the Ten Goose Boxing Club of Van Nuys. “But I thought I was in control throughout the fight. He never hurt me.

“I’m happy. I’m really pleased.”

Ruelas won 50 of 55 amateur bouts before starting his professional career just 19 months ago, fighting mostly at The Country Club in Reseda.

In April, Gabriel Ruelas--Rafael’s 20-year-old brother--had his career put on hold when he sustained a freak injury during a bout against Jeff Franklin in Las Vegas. In that fight, Gabriel Ruelas, who had piled up a 20-0 record, sustained a broken bone in his arm and underwent surgery on his elbow a day later.