Meza’s KO in Fourth Shows He’s the Boss

A gathering of about 50 fans seated together near the back of the Warner Center Marriott’s Grand Ballroom thoroughly enjoyed a heavyweight bout on Wednesday night’s undercard.

After all, their boss should be in a good mood today.

Fabian Meza, by day an assistant manager at a Van Nuys home improvement store, won his professional debut by stopping Aljenon DeBose in the final minute of their four-round bout.

Meza, much to the delight of his friends and co-workers, seemed to wear down his awkward opponent with sheer enthusiasm. DeBose, alternating his rather inconsistent attack from right-handed to left-handed, rocked Meza a few times but in the end appeared tired and frustrated.

Frustrated perhaps because Meza wasn’t following directions.

“He kept telling me to quit hitting him,” said Meza, a 26-year-old North Hollywood High graduate. “I’m not used to having someone beg me like that.”

Even so, Meza, who outweighed DeBose by 27 pounds, probably shouldn’t quit his day job. DeBose’s record fell to 1-2-1.

The rest of the show’s undercard went as expected with the unbeaten remaining that way.

In another four-round bout between heavyweights, Joe Pudar ran his record to 4-0 with a unanimous decision over A.J. Moore. Pudar, taller and 28 pounds heavier than his opponent, spent most of the fight trying to corral Moore into becoming a stationary target. He rarely succeeded, but still managed to pound through enough body shots for an easy victory. Moore’s record fell to 2-4.

The show’s quickest exit was made by Stacy Goodson, who lasted less than a minute with Fernando Zuniga.

Goodson, whose nickname is “Goodnight,” went down about three seconds into the super-middleweight fight, after Zuniga’s first punch, a right.

The end came when Goodson, after being pushed and tripped by Zuniga, fell onto his back inexplicably grasping his stomach.

That prompted referee Bill Scott to stop the fight 53 seconds after it started, an eternity compared to Zuniga’s last appearance at the Marriott. That one ended 40 seconds earlier which, at the time, was a state record.

Zuniga, originally from Ecuador, is 4-0, all first-round knockouts.

Also keeping his record perfect--and knockout string intact--was lightweight Adan Casillas, who knocked Dana Bernard down three times before referee Larry Rozadilla stopped the fight 1:15 into the fourth round.

Casillas is 8-0, all knockouts.

Danny Perez got the show started in what has become familiar fashion, easily outpointing an outclassed opponent in a four-round junior-welterweight bout.

This time it was Jorge Rosas (4-4) who didn’t stand a chance.