Pepeli Battered in 10-Round Decision : Boxing: Once-formidable heavyweight from Burbank fails to handle overweight Curry and takes second loss in row.

There was a day when the thumping, rhythmic chant of his name inside the smoke-filled Reseda Country Club would send heavyweight Rocky Pepeli into a rage, bringing an onslaught of punches that nearly always ended with a knockout.

Those days might be over.

On Tuesday night, for the second straight time, Pepeli was battered and beaten, the late-round tornado that once brought him victories reduced once again to a breeze.

Last September, it was ranked heavyweight Burt Cooper who hammered Pepeli of Burbank, stopping him in the eighth round. Tuesday night, it was once-known Eric Curry, a flabby heavyweight of 235 pounds who hadn’t fought in nearly five years.

Curry, of Detroit, stung Pepeli repeatedly with a left jab and landed heavy rights in the middle and late rounds en route to a lopsided, unanimous 10-round decision.

“I just couldn’t get started,” Pepeli said. “I just don’t know why.”

Much of the reason was the surprising Curry, 27, who moved well despite his bulk. In piling up a 20-2 record, he fought mostly as a light heavyweight. In his return, he was a heavy heavyweight, more than 40 pounds heavier than the 190-pound light heavyweight limit.

“I couldn’t catch him,” Pepeli said. “I should have brought track shoes.”

Despite the loss, Pepeli could fight former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes in March or April.

Pepeli (237) is 19-5-2 after his second consecutive loss.

In a junior middleweight bout, scheduled for six rounds, P.J. Goossen of North Hollywood overcame a severe cut over his left eye to stop Dan Martinez of San Jose at 1 minute 18 seconds of the third round.

Goossen (152) is 7-0 with six knockouts. Martinez (152) is 2-2.

Martinez, who had been knocked down in the first round, hit Goossen with a slashing right hand early in the second, opening an inch-long gash over the left eye.

Despite the flowing blood, Goossen rallied and knocked Martinez down for the second time seconds before the bell ending the second round.

A series of unanswered punches by Goossen in the third round sent Martinez stumbling into the ropes and then into the arms of referee Marty Denkin, who halted the beating.