Liles Makes Quick Work of Felix in Country Club Feature

Frank Liles had this to say about Tuesday’s opponent, Joaquin Felix: “He was pretty easy to hit.”

Liles, the World Boxing Assn.’s No. 6-rated super middleweight, threw a right jab from his southpaw stance in the first few seconds of his bout against Felix at the Country Club in Reseda. It landed hard and jolted Felix. Seconds later, Liles threw a right uppercut that landed perfectly on the chin of Felix, who dropped face-first onto the mat, a knockout victim just 23 seconds into the opening round.

“The earlier the better,” said Liles, 21-0 with 14 knockouts.

Felix, of Sonora, Mexico, came into the bout with a creditable record of 18-2 with eight knockouts. But he never landed a punch against Liles and only threw one.

When Liles’ heavy uppercut landed, referee Raul Caiz immediately halted the bout as two ringside physicians bolted through the ropes. Felix’s legs twitched as he lay on the mat, but he regained consciousness about 30 seconds later.

“He was bobbing his head but he kept his hands so low,” Liles said. “I knew I’d get him sooner or later. When I caught him with the uppercut, I knew that was it.”

Liles, of Sherman Oaks, weighed 174 pounds for the scheduled 10-round bout instead of the 168-pound super middleweight limit. Felix weighed 173 1/2.

In a heavyweight bout scheduled for eight rounds, Rocky Pepeli of Burbank knocked down journeyman Sam Adkins of Houston with a left hook in the third round and stopped him with two more knockdowns in the sixth round. Pepeli’s last punch was a heavy left jab that left Adkins tangled in the ropes as referee Larry Rosadilla stopped the bout.

Pepeli, 15-4-1, weighed 228. Adkins, 6-6, weighed 231.

In a junior lightweight bout scheduled for six rounds, Hector Monjardin of Montebello knocked out Larry Loy of Van Nuys at 2 minutes 12 seconds of the first round. Monjardin (9-3, three knockouts) dropped Loy early with a looping right and dropped him again 30 seconds later with a jolting left hook.

Loy (10-3) got up after each knockdown, but when Monjardin began hammering Loy against the ropes in the final minute, referee Burton Gilliam stopped the fight. Both fighters weighed 131.

In the first bout, James Nakahara (3-2), 137, of Van Nuys, scored a unanimous four-round decision over Cliff Thomas (0-1), 138, of Ontario, Calif.