BOXING : Knockdowns Stop Blocker, Not Norris

World champions Terry Norris and Maurice Blocker were knocked down in the second round of their fights Saturday night before 11,646 at the San Diego Sports Arena, the difference being that Norris got off the canvas to win and Blocker stayed down.

Norris, defending his World Boxing Council super-welterweight championship, was the winner of a three-round fight when Australian Troy Waters was stopped by his corner because of cuts under both eyes.

Blocker, defending his International Boxing Federation welterweight championship, was knocked out at 1:49 of the second round by undefeated Felix Trinidad of Puerto Rico.

Earlier, in scheduled 10-round bouts, Hector Camacho knocked out Tom Alexander in the seventh round and Lupe Aquino stopped Eric Valdez in the second round.

Norris, who wants to fight Julio Cesar Chavez, was knocked down in the second round after dropping Waters in the first round.

“I hit him a good shot in the first round when he went down,” Norris said, “and I thought it would be over in a few seconds. I guess I got lazy. He woke me up in the second round.”

Norris (35-3) knocked Waters down again in the third round, but the Aussie took the punishment and returned some of his own.

But his corner waved off referee Martin Denkin when he went over for the start of the fourth round.

Promoter Don King said Norris’ next fight will be against the winner of an August fight between Julian Jackson, the last fighter to beat Norris, and Reggie Johnson. Chavez would be a possibility after that.

In the welterweight championship fight, Trinidad (20-0) dominated Blocker (34-4) almost from the start.

“I knew I was going to stop him as soon as I hit him,” Trinidad said through an interpreter. “When he went down, I knew he wasn’t going to get up. Nobody gets up when they fall on their face.”

Camacho, prepping for a September bout for the World Boxing Assn. welterweight championship with Cristanto Espana, wasn’t a popular winner. The crowd booed loudly when referee Chuck Hassett stopped the fight in the seventh round.

“The referee could have stopped the fight a little premature,” said Camacho (43-2). “I was taking my time getting a workout, but I was beginning to bust him up.”

Alexander did not argue with Hassett’s decision.

“I knew I was behind in points,” Alexander said. “I was disappointed mainly because my best rounds are the late rounds. The referee just said he didn’t think I had put up enough offense earlier in the round.”

Camacho knocked Valdez down three times in the second round before the referee stopped the fight with 42 seconds remaining. Aquino, coming back after serving a prison term for vehicular manslaughter, is 42-5-2.