Crowd in Ortiz’s Corner

Victor Ortiz had more than his father and two brothers in his corner Thursday night at the Reseda Country Club.

Ortiz, 28, a light-heavyweight from Simi Valley, made the most of his professional debut by recording a four-round unanimous decision over Fredrick Parks of Moreno Valley before about 500 spectators--a significant portion of whom attended specifically to cheer on Ortiz.

Ortiz, whose brothers, Richard and Danny, were crowd favorites while fighting regularly at the Country Club during the 1980s, received thunderous applause before, during and after the fight.

About 50 followers traveled from Ventura via chartered bus. Several fans, including Ortiz’s girlfriend, shouted encouragement from within a few feet of the ropes.

Seconds before the opening bell, as Ortiz knelt in prayer in his corner, a young boy approached him for an autograph.

“I’d like to find that kid and give him one,” Ortiz said.

“I was anticipating a good crowd, I was anxious for a good crowd, but I wasn’t prepared for this crowd.”

Ortiz, fighting for the first time in six years and weighing 177 pounds after losing 60 pounds since February, was flustered by Parks’ clinching.

Parks (0-2), at 6-3, enjoyed a six-inch height advantage. But Ortiz landed a barrage of inside blows late in the third round that had Parks wobbly.

“I definitely had him going, it’s just that his height had me off-key a little bit,” Ortiz said.

Robert Ortiz, who serves as his brother’s trainer, said Victor will be back. And improved.

“I’m glad it was a little bit of a tough fight,” Robert Ortiz said. “A guy like that who’s going to clutch and grab. . . . a bad fighter will make a good fighter look terrible. But I thought it was a good fight for Victor.”

In the main event, Antonio Margarito of Tijuana recorded a 10-round unanimous decision over Horatio Garcia in a welterweight bout. Margarito, who won decisively on all three judges’ cards, improved to 12-3. Garcia, of Sacramento, is 8-1-1.

Brothers Bobby and Timothy Scoggins of Los Angeles, former Texas Golden Gloves champions, improved to 2-0 with knockout victories.

Bobby overwhelmed Dwight Staten in 37 seconds of a scheduled four-round cruiserweight bout. Scoggins, who recorded a second-round knockout in his professional debut at the Country Club in May, pinned Staten (0-1) on the ropes and landed a flurry of punches to drop Staten to the canvas.

Timothy flattened Ron Coleman of Los Angeles 2:08 into the first round of a scheduled four-round light-heavyweight bout. In another bout, junior lightweight Arnulfo Bravo of Lake Arrowhead, trained by Joe Goossen of Van Nuys, recorded a four-round unanimous decision over Juan Carlos Martinez of Mexico.

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The Scorecard

Thursday night’s results from Reseda Country Club

* Welterweight

Antonio Margarito (12-3, 6 KOs) d. Horatio Garcia (8-1-1, 7 KOs), 10-round unanimous decision

* Cruiserweight

Bobby Scoggins (2-0, 2 KO) d. Dwight Staten (0-1), knockout 0:37 first round

* Light-Heavyweight

Timothy Scoggins (2-0, 1 KO) d. Ron Coleman (0-1), knockout 2:08 first round

* Junior-lighweight

Arnulfo Bravo (3-2, 1 KO) d. Juan Carlos Martinez (2-2, 1 KO), four-round unanimous decision

* Junior-welterweight

Luis Perez (4-0, 2 KOs) d. Alejandro Jimenez (2-2, 1 KO), four-round majority decision

* Light-heavyweight

Victor Ortiz (1-0) d. Fredrick Parks (0-2), four-round unanimous decision