Byrd Knocks Out Felix in 4th : Boxing: Super middleweight from Los Angeles improves to 20-4.

Manager Bob DePhilippis originally was going to take it slow with super middleweight Antoine Byrd of Los Angeles. But after Byrd’s impressive fourth-round knockout of Phoenix’s Joaquin Felix at the Del Mar Fair Grounds, DePhilippis realized he might have to do some re-evaluating.

“He was sharp as a tack,” said Philippis, Byrd’s manager and co-promoter of the four-bout card. “He’s ready to fight anybody. We don’t have to take the slow road now.”

Byrd (20-4 with 10 knockouts) certainly didn’t Saturday. His hands and feet were much too quick for the plodding Felix (16-4).

He dominated every round by outboxing Felix, then hammering him with a straight left hand when Felix threw his right hand.

In the fourth, Byrd landed a straight left hand during a combination, then caught Felix flush on the jaw. Felix tried getting up, then thought better of it and stayed down until he was counted out.

“Felix was just so slow, it made Antoine look a little better than he was,” said Byrd’s trainer, Dub Huntley.

But Byrd didn’t care how he looked. He was more concerned with how he felt. And Byrd said he hasn’t felt this good since his lost the International Boxing Federation super middleweight title to Lindel Holmes in March, 1991.

“I’ve been down for a while now,” Byrd said. “It upset me losing the title. I didn’t really know which way to go.”

An out-of-shape Byrd slid downhill in a hurry after his loss to Holmes--looking unimpressive in two consecutive losses.

“Most of my problems were not physical but mental,” he said. “I just was not into the fights.”

But Byrd, 29, found some motivation from an unexpected source and began the climb back.

“Watching a guy like Larry Holmes really showed me that it wasn’t too late,” he said. “If he could be coming back at his age, why couldn’t I? I was focused (Saturday). I’m on a strong, powerful mission now.”

Said DePhilippis: “I don’t remember seeing him look this good even before the Holmes fight. That’s what can happen when you’re in shape. I don’t know if he was 100%, but he looked pretty close.”

DePhilippis said he plans to keep fighting Byrd on a monthly basis until Byrd can get back into world title contention. A name that was mentioned as a possible future opponent was former IBF super middleweight champ Darren Van Horn.

On the undercard, San Diego welterweight Alfredo Flores improved to 15-0 with nine knockouts as he put down Ruben Ceja of Nogales, Mexico, (4-2) at 2:47 of the second round.

Flores, who is trained by Terry and Orlin Norris’ corner man, Abel Sanchez, stunned Ceja in the corner with a left hand then finished him off seconds later with a right hook.

A stablemate of promising middleweight “Yori Boy” Campos, Flores, 19, is the fifth-ranked welterweight in Mexico.

“I like his youth,” Sanchez said. “He’s so receptive to anything we want him to do. He’s progressing very well.”

Lightweight Jose Castillo of Guadalajara (1-1) pounded out a majority four-round decision over David Bustamonte of San Diego (0-1).

Bantamweight Herman Ruiz of Guadalajara (3-0) overcame a shaky start to win a unanimous six-round decision over counterpuncher Andrez Chavez of Tijuana.