Buffo Brings Barron Down to His Size

Maybe Lyle Barron had better try picking on someone his own size.

Jimmy “The Stump” Buffo, the 5-foot-5 former Valley College linebacker and World’s Toughest Man contestant from North Hollywood, made good in his professional boxing debut by knocking out the 6-4 Barron 2 minutes 20 seconds into the second round of their scheduled four-round heavyweight fight Thursday night at the Reseda Country Club.

Buffo, who craned his neck to face Barron during pre-fight instructions, surrendered about 13 inches in reach. But Buffo, no stranger to overcoming physical shortcomings, pummeled Barron with uppercuts and overhand rights, flooring him four times, twice in the second round.

Buffo exited the arena to the chants of “Stump.” Barron, a resident of Tulsa, Okla., exited with a 2-5 record.

“The guy came in laughing at me,” Buffo said. “He had the biggest smile at the weigh-in.

“I’m used to fighting bigger guys. The bigger the better. I think I have the advantage. They have to throw punches down at me and they expose their chin. I don’t think it’s challenging fighting anyone my size.”

In the 12-round main event, Danny Lujan of Salinas and Juan Lazcano of El Paso fought to a majority draw in the World Boxing Federation lightweight title bout. Two judges scored the fight 113-113. A third favored Lujan, 115-111.

The title remains vacant.

Lujan floored Lazcano with a hard right hand midway through the sixth round. Lazcano bloodied Lujan’s face, cutting him below the left eye and snapping his head back with sharp blows late in the fight.

Lazcano (12-1-1) was penalized a point at the end of the ninth round for hitting after the bell.

Heavyweight Lance Whitaker of Granada Hills, scheduled to face Marco Dickson in a four-round bout, was scratched from the card after developing an ear infection.

Whitaker was replaced by Paul Ashley, who outpointed Dickson (1-7-1) to earn a unanimous decision and improve to 2-1.

In other bouts, heavyweight Jeremy Williams knocked out Louis Monaco 1:35 into the third round to improve to 28-2 and Horatio Garcia of Sacramento flattened Gregorio Balcazar of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1:33 into the first round of a scheduled six-round super-welterweight bout.

Garcia settled matters with a short left hook to Balcazar’s head to improve to 6-0.