Fortune Makes Fast Work of O’Mara : Boxing: Australian heavyweight pounds slow-starting 39-year-old Van Nuys opponent en route to a fourth-round knockout at Warner Center Marriott.

The next time George O’Mara wins one of the first three rounds of a fight may very well be the first time.

O’Mara, a notoriously slow starter, was at it again Wednesday night in the co-main event of a five-bout show at the Warner Center Marriott. Only this time O’Mara didn’t last long enough to rebound and make a good fight of it.

Justin Fortune, a squatty, pit-bull-like power puncher from Hollywood via Australia, caught O’Mara with several thunderous blows before referee Raul Caiz stopped the heavyweight fight 28 seconds into the fourth round.

Technically, the fight was stopped because O’Mara, 39, suffered multiple cuts. The biggest gash, however, was in the middle of his forehead, a spot usually susceptible to head butts.

“That’s what it was,” O’Mara said, pointing to the wound. “Ever see a cut right here from a punch? It never happens.”

Fortune, 28, a former power lifter, hit O’Mara with plenty of clean shots. So many, in fact, he was wondering how his opponent was still standing.

“He can take a helluva shot,” said Fortune, who improved his record to 12-3-1 with his eighth victory by knockout. “I was surprised how tough he was.”

Fortune, a thick 211 pounds on a 5-foot 8-inch frame, peppered his slower opponent with hooks from both sides, snapping O’Mara’s head back several times.

“Our plan was to take him as long as he could, until he petered out,” said Pat Goossen, O’Mara’s trainer. “But you can only get away with that so many times.”

O’Mara, from Van Nuys, went 12 rounds with former heavyweight champion Mike Weaver in his previous fight, and afterward compared Fortune favorably.

“He’s real strong and he was sharp, too,” O’Mara said. “He’s faster than Weaver, and probably more aggressive.”

O’Mara, from Van Nuys, has a record of 15-17.

In the other co-main event, Gary Ballard, bouncing back from an upset loss in his last bout, stopped Joel Soni 43 seconds into the fourth round.

Ballard, ranked seventh in the light-heavyweight division by the World Boxing Council, came in weighing 176 3/4 pounds--almost 20 less than his opponent, a late replacement.

It didn’t matter. Soni, wearing boxing shorts several sizes too small, never appeared a threat. Ballard beat his pudgy opponent to almost every punch and knocked him down four times before the merciful end.

“In my mind, I was ready to fight anyone tonight,” said Ballard, who improved his record to 19-2-1 with his 17th knockout.

Ballard was on track for a world title shot before he was stopped in a major upset by Roman Santos at the Marriott in August.

The loss, Ballard said, left him “psychologically scarred.”

But not for long. Ballard, fighting for the first time with trainer George Flores in his corner, knocked Soni (7-3-1) down with a straight right in the first round and sent him to the canvas twice in the third round.

In the best bout of the undercard, Carlos Guzman of Canoga Park kept his record in Marriott bouts perfect by stopping Bryan Cimicata of Mira Mesa 43 seconds into the third round.

Guzman, who fights out of Brothers Gym, has won all three of his fights near home.

Guzman improved to 7-3-3 with his third victory by knockout. Cimicata dropped to 1-4-1.

In other undercard bouts, Tiger Smalls of Los Angeles won a unanimous decision over Guzman’s stablemate, Olegario DeLeon of Canoga Park, and Fernando Zuniga of Ecuador stopped Malcolm Brooks of Santa Ana 13 seconds after the opening bell.