Fighter Fails to Pass Test Before Bout : Boxing: Main event at Country Club canceled after Mike Hunter does ‘miserably’ in neurological examination.

The scheduled main event Tuesday night at the Country Club in Reseda, a heavyweight bout between Orlin Norris and Mike Hunter, was canceled because Hunter failed his neurological examination.

A spokesman for the California Athletic Commission said Hunter failed the exam “miserably” Friday. He was scheduled to take a more thorough exam Monday but failed to show up for it.

The cancellation was not announced until Tuesday.

Hunter, 30, a native of Greenville, S.C., has a 19-2-2 record and has won nine consecutive fights since 1988. He has never been knocked out or knocked down in a professional fight.

But according to state athletic commission officials, Hunter’s performance on Friday’s mandatory neurological exam--a brief session that purportedly enables doctors to determine if there is any mental impairment--was very poor.

“Hunter has been licensed before in California and has passed this exam before, but this time he just failed it. Failed it miserably,” said Steve English, the commission’s assistant executive officer.

When Hunter failed to appear for Monday’s more thorough exam, the commission refused to issue a license for him to fight in California.

Hunter’s scheduled opponent in the 10-round bout, Norris, is a former North American Boxing Federation heavyweight champion with a 28-2-1 record. Norris was not told of the cancellation until just three hours before the bout.

In bouts that did take place, middleweight Joey DeGrandis of Van Nuys stopped Dan William of Inglewood at 2 minutes 26 seconds of the second round of a scheduled four-round bout.

DeGrandis, 164 3/4 pounds, staggered William with a right to the jaw and then landed more than a dozen hard, unanswered punches to the head before referee Ernie Swanks jumped in and stopped the beating. DeGrandis is 8-1. Williams, 162 pounds, is 0-3.

In a heavyweight bout, Jimmy Ellis of Redondo Beach ran his record to 15-0-1 with a second-round knockout of Dwain Bonds of Detroit.

Also, previously unbeaten featherweight Larry Loy (6-1-1) of Van Nuys was stopped at 1:25 of the first round by Sal Lopez (5-2) of Oxnard in a scheduled six-round fight.