Pepeli Survives a Rocky 5th, Knocks Out Morton in 6th

When you see a man’s name followed by the numbers 10-20 , you can assume one of two things: Either the man has very bad eyesight or he’s a horrible boxer.

John Morton’s eyes are normal, and he is not a bad boxer. What the heavyweight from Louisville, Ky., had was a bad manager and a worse trainer, he claims, guys who threw him into a ring on a day’s notice against some of the top heavyweights in the world.

Thus, the 10-20 mark was indeed his boxing record heading into Tuesday night’s main event at the Country Club in Reseda against Rocky Pepeli of Burbank.

Which is why everyone except Morton was shocked when he hammered Pepeli mercilessly in the fifth round, jolting Pepeli with crushing lefts and rights and sending him toppling to the canvas.

But Pepeli (15-3-1) responded with a remarkable show of courage.

He stumbled to his feet, withstood a furious Morton assault for the final minute, until the bell rang and he could wobble back to his corner.

And in the sixth, Pepeli came out firing with both hands and knocked Morton out, crashing a left hook to the side of his head and following it with a right that left Morton on one knee, eyes focused on nothing, as referee Rudy Jordan counted him out.

It was Pepeli’s 13th knockout in his 19 fights. And by far the most dramatic.

“I had him,” a still-dazed Morton said later in his locker room. “I had the man out. I don’t know what happened after that.”

Pepeli, 226, started the sixth round unsteadily after the beating he had taken in the fifth. It appeared Morton was on the verge of ending the fight when Pepeli lashed out first with the left hook and then with the right, sending Morton reeling into the ropes and then onto the canvas.

“I hit him with some big punches,” Pepeli said. “I guess I had to.”

Morton, 29, said the fight was his first with a new manager and trainer, and that his career would now take an upturn.

“If they just get me ready to fight and give me time to prepare for a guy, not just a day or two, and if my manager isn’t biting off all my money, then I can fight,” he said. “I love the sport. I love the rush.”

In an earlier bout, Lionel Butler, 220, (10-10-1) of Venice, stopped Sam Adkins, 235 (4-5) of Houston at 1:28 of the fifth round.

Daniel (King) Ipitan of Nigeria, now living in Los Angeles, survived a third-round beating by Ross DiMarco of El Paso and went on to score a unanimous decision in four rounds.

Ipitan was knocked down in the third and when he quickly bounced back up DiMarco pounded him again before the referee could issue the mandatory eight-count. DiMarco, 247, (4-5) lost a point for the illegal blow. Ipitan, 216, is 3-0.

Also, Cash McCallum, 201, of Newport Beach scored a unanimous four-round decision over George O’Mara, 228, of Van Nuys. McCallum is 5-0-1. O’Mara is 11-7-1.