What It Takes to Be a Winner in the Ring

Of late, I have become interested in the career of Rogelio Perez.

No, not his job as a dishwasher at the Chez Beat & Rolf restaurant in Pacific Beach.

Rather, his chosen profession: a paid pugilist. Rogelio Perez, 22, a native of Cuernavaca, Mexico, and resident of San Diego these past four years, wants to be champion of the world.

On the night of March 25, Perez, who weighed 122 3/4 pounds, fought at the San Diego Sports Arena on the card highlighted by the Norris-Hembrick bout.

He entered the ring with an unimpressive record of 4-5-2, but with a new management team in his corner: Rudy Elias and Armando Barajas. Elias is an appliance repairman from National City who once trained local favorite Tony (Bazooka) DeLuca.

In Round 1, Perez took a battering from his opponent, Juan Castaneda of Northern California. “Perez, rubber legs,” say my notes.

But in Round 2, Perez fought back, kept his hands up and decked his foe with a straight right and short left hook. “Perez, very game,” say my notes.

Now, Perez is set to fight tonight at the San Diego Hilton Hotel on a six-fight card assembled by San Diego matchmaker Eric L. Bonilla, who modestly calls himself The Best in the West.

For fighting a bantamweight from Guadalajara, Perez will receive $600, the minimum wage for a six-round fight as set by the California State Athletic Commission.

When he is not washing dishes, Perez is training in downtown San Diego at Irish Spud Murphy’s Boxing Gym, which could pass for a set from “Rocky.”

Elias and Barajas are tutoring Perez on stamina and how to be a “closer,” that is, a boxer who presses his advantage once his opponent is hurt.

“He assimilates very well,” Elias explains. “He’s not hard-headed. A few boxers, you tell them something, and they don’t want to do it or don’t have the ability. Not him, he remembers and does everything you say.”

Perez has a broad, toothy smile and talks in bursts. Through an interpreter, he is asked about his attitude as he approaches tonight’s fight.

“I feel tremors but not fear,” he says.

Which, if you think about it, is not a bad way to be.

Going Public

I thought you should know.

* Why did the state government send out a replacement for a certain page in thousands of state office phone books in San Diego and elsewhere?

Because the original had a typo in the job title for the governor’s director of public affairs and communications.

The “l” had been dropped from public.

* First, there was “Silk Stalkings,” and now a second TV series will be filmed here, “The Renegade.”

Starring Lorenzo Lamas (the hunk from “Falcon Crest”) as an ex-Las Vegas cop turned Harley-riding bounty hunter. Filming starts July 1.

Involved are Warner Bros., writer Stephen Cannell, and Stu Segall Productions (which does “Silk”).

The deal was worked out with help from the San Diego Motion Picture and Television Bureau.

* No names.

In the 22-minute video in which actor Mike Farrell and three medical professors (including one from UC San Diego) plead with Gov. Pete Wilson to spare Robert Alton Harris from the gas chamber, Harris is referred to as Robert, Robbie and Mr. Harris.

The names of the boys he murdered--John Mayeski and Michael Baker--are never mentioned.

* A reporter from U.S. News & World Report magazine has been riding with San Diego cops for a story on the POP (Problem Oriented Policing) program in which cops involve the community in setting priorities.

* The state is supposed to check vanity-plate applications for double-entendres.

But somebody must have goofed. Seen in San Diego: QUIQUE6.

Where There’s Smoke . . .

Yes, singer-comic-kook Sandra Bernhard did smoke marijuana on stage during a recent performance at San Diego State University’s Montezuma Hall.

Offered to her by a member of the 300-plus audience.

Another audience member objected and upbraided Bernhard in a loud voice.

“You’re blowing my herb, man,” Bernhard replied.

The university isn’t making a big deal of it, but Bernhard will not be booked again.