Show by Paez Nearly Better Than His Fight

Jorge Paez, the shameless boxer/showman from Mexicali, stopped outclassed Brian Brown Monday night at the Forum and in the process showed his act still hasn’t worn thin.

Paez boxed in a black and white ruffled skirt, but not in the 18-inch-high, black-and-white top hat he wore into the ring.

Paez, who had a piece of the featherweight championship two years ago, battered Brown in the fifth and sixth rounds, and referee Chuck Hassett stopped it 59 seconds into the sixth while Brown was taking a flurry of unanswered blows to the head in his own corner.

There were no knockdowns, but Brown nearly went down seconds earlier from a hard short right to the temple.

Many in the crowd of 5,989, who seemed to enjoy Paez’s assorted antics, booed loudly when Hassett stopped the bout. Some threw their programs toward the ring.

Paez-Brown was the main event on a lackluster card, but it was also a warmup for an October 19 Forum showdown between Paez and Rafael Ruelas of Arleta.

After watching six rounds of occasional boxing and frequent clowning around by Paez, Ruelas said of Paez: “If he does that against me, he’ll get clocked.”

Those who came more interested in the Mexican’s outrageous routines than his boxing were amply rewarded:

--His cornermen, during the introductions, threw condoms into the crowd.

--When the crowd began the obligatory “Meh-hee-co!” chant, Paez backed off from Brown and did jumping-jacks in rhythm to the chant.

--When ringsiders shouted at him, he turned to them and either talked back, nodded or winked.

--He went over the edge of raunch, as usual, with pelvic thrusts.

--He swaggered, he strutted and he posed.

Is this boxing? Well, it works in Inglewood. The Forum boxing staff hopes Paez-Ruelas can draw 10,000 to 12,000.

This one went pretty much as expected. Paez, who really is a clown/acrobat in his Mexicali-based family’s traveling circus, is 41-4-4. In a 15-month span in 1989 and 1990, he defended his featherweight title eight times.

Brown offered only journeyman credentials. The Lexington, Ky., boxer is now 18-13-1 and will never much improve on that unless he finds other weapons to go with his decent left jab.

Paez (140 1/2 pounds) got most of the clown routines out of the way in the first two rounds before opening up on Brown (139). The stocky, short-armed Paez’s strongest suit is body punching, and he effectively attacked Brown’s ribs from the third round to the end.

Early in the third, however, Paez hit Brown low and Hassett, who gave Brown 30 seconds to recover, deducted a point from Paez.

Brown unloaded his best bolt in the fourth, a long left hook that caught Paez on the side of the head and rocked him. For an instant, Paez was vulnerable, but there was no follow from Brown.

At the finish, one judge had Paez ahead by one point, but two others had him up by 49-46. The Times card had Paez ahead, 49-45. Brown screamed robbery afterward, no doubt bolstered by the booing crowd.

“I was playing possum,” he said. “I got jobbed. I don’t think Paez had two more rounds left in him.”