A Decade Later, It’s as if Nunn Had Never Left

Is it 1996? Or 1986?

A trip through the door of the small, storefront gym on a side street in Van Nuys is like a trip in a time machine.

There, in the center of the ring, is two-time former champion Michael Nunn, back where he was a decade ago, working and sweating and dreaming under the close scrutiny of trainer Joe Goossen.

In the interim, Nunn won and lost both the International Boxing Federation middleweight and the World Boxing Assn. super-middleweight crowns. He also walked out on Ten Goose Boxing, a move that ultimately proved fatal to the once-vibrant San Fernando Valley organization; broke with his mentor, Bob Surkein; tried unsuccessfully to put together his own organization consisting of friends from his Davenport, Iowa, hometown, and floundered in the Don King organization before coming back, chagrined and humbled, to Goossen last spring.

But for all his troubles, the 1996 version of Nunn, 32, doesn’t look much different from the 1986 model. Granted, he must now work to make 168 pounds; he once was a natural 160-pounder. But after 51 fights, his hand speed is still blinding, his footwork flashy and his face relatively unmarked.

But there is one big difference.

“I’m more mature,” Nunn said. “The Michael Nunn of 32 could beat the Michael Nunn of 22 because of experience. I’ve learned to get away from the wrong crowd. I’m now an independent thinker.”

It didn’t seem as if there was much to think about in 1989, when Nunn knocked out Sumbu Kalambay with one devastating punch in the first round to retain his IBF title. Nunn was 33-0 with 23 knockouts. He was earning in excess of $1 million a fight. His manager, Dan Goossen, was lining up endorsements. And Nunn seemed on the verge of breaking into the elite circle of middleweights of the day that included Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran.

But Nunn began listening to friends, people he had hung around with in his youth who told him they could do more for him, that he was being taken advantage of by the Goossens. Nunn seemed restless, unhappy. He got involved in a public brawl in a restaurant. There were charges of domestic violence. And finally, he left Ten Goose in 1990.

“I was hot-headed,” Nunn said. “I was not disciplined. I didn’t appreciate what I had.

“When I left, I tried to train myself. I ran when I wanted to run and trained when I wanted to train. I didn’t have Joe. He knows how to push the right buttons to get me to rise to the next level.”

Nunn lost his IBF title to James Toney, won the WBA crown from Victor Cordoba, but lost it to Steve Little. Nunn ballooned to more than 200 pounds.

By then, Ten Goose was no more, having been absorbed by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Boxing.

Still, with everyone putting his bitterness aside, Nunn signed with Top Rank and rejoined the Goossens last May.

“It was no secret how we felt at the time,” Dan Goossen said. “But it doesn’t matter now. What matters is recapturing what Michael had.”

Joe Goossen also refuses to dwell on the past.

“Since he’s been back, I haven’t discussed what happened,” Goossen said. “I never had any desire to discuss it. I don’t care. All I know is that he’s still got his wheels, and he still has a lot of fight in him.”

Nunn is 5-0 since returning and will be back in the ring Friday in Las Vegas to fight Tom Reid.

What Nunn is perhaps happiest about is that he patched up his differences with Surkein, who had first inspired him and who never approved of his split with the Goossens. Surkein, living in retirement in Florida, died two weeks ago.

“I feel good knowing that he knew the Goossens and I got back together,” Nunn said.

His only regret is that he never met Leonard in the ring.

“The best are supposed to fight the best,” Nunn said.

He is determined to fight the biggest name in his weight class, Roy Jones Jr.

But for now, Nunn is simply happy to be back.

“Boxing is not like a job anymore like it was after I left here,” he said. “Now, it’s like an adventure again. I’m like a kid at Disneyland.”

*

The spotlight is on Phoenix this weekend where Super Bowl XXX will be held. Former IBF-World Boxing Council light-flyweight champion Michael Carbajal is from Phoenix. Don King promotes Carbajal. Don King never saw a spotlight he didn’t want to turn his way.

Need we say more?

King figured he had his ticket to the Super Bowl. A boxing show would be held at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix the night before the Super Bowl in Tempe, with Carbajal as the featured performer in a main event against Melchor Cob Castro, the fight also serving as the kickoff to a planned monthly boxing series on the Fox network.

The entire event could have turned into a disaster when Carbajal was forced to drop out because of a bout with pneumonia.

But the King people have recovered nicely, producing a card for tonight that includes three championship fights.

WBC/IBF junior-middleweight champion Terry Norris (41-6, 25 knockouts) will defend against Jorge Luis Vado (13-0-1, 10 knockouts). IBF middleweight titleholder Bernard Hopkins (27-2-1, 20 knockouts) goes against Steve Frank (15-2-1, five knockouts). And Elroy Rojas (32-1-1, 25 knockouts), WBA featherweight champion, will be challenged by Miguel Arrozal (24-5, 13 knockouts).

*

Boxing Notes

Gabriel Ruelas, who will return to the ring March 13 at the Olympic Auditorium, has been following through on his promise to seek professional help after admitting he had visions in the ring. After Ruelas lost his WBC super-featherweight title to Azumah Nelson last month, Ruelas said the face of Jimmy Garcia appeared before him during the fight. Garcia died last spring after losing a fight to Ruelas. At the urging of both his promoter, Bob Arum, and his manager, Dan Goossen, Ruelas has been seeing a therapist and feels he has made enough progress to resume his career. No opponent has been named for Ruelas. . . . Also on the card will be Ruelas’ brother, Rafael, another former champion. Rafael doesn’t have an opponent yet either. Boxer-turned-broadcaster Ruben Castillo would like to be that opponent, but Ruelas’ handlers aren’t interested in Castillo. . . . Next Saturday’s twin championship card at the Forum will inaugurate a boxing series on HBO titled “HBO After Dark.” Marco Antonio Barrera will defend his World Boxing Organization junior-featherweight title against Kennedy McKinney, the former Olympic gold medalist and former IBF champion. And Johnny Tapia, the WBO super-flyweight titleholder, will take on challenger Giovanni Andrade. . . . HBO will show the fights locally on a delayed basis. . . . Former world champion Mark Breland has his first fight in more than three years today, facing Ricardo Smith in a 10-round junior middleweight match at Long Island University in New York.