Mahone Pounds Curry; Bout Is Stopped in Fifth

Heavyweight Ed Mahone of Los Angeles is supposedly working his way up rankings and toward a title shot. But if Mahone keeps fighting punching bags like Eric “The Whip” Curry, it might take him awhile to get any of the major boxing organizations to take him seriously.

Curry (22-4) laid on the ropes for five rounds and took everything Mahone had to offer before referee Lou Moret stopped the bout with nine seconds left in Round 5.

The announced Pond crowd of 3,602, boosted by a free ticket giveaway at the Irvine Marriott fights, booed throughout and cheered when Moret waved his arms.

Moret repeatedly implored Curry to get out of the corner, which he made his home for almost the entire fight. Mahone, however, defended Curry, who hadn’t fought in nearly two years because he was serving a suspension after twice testing positive for drugs.

“He was easy to find, but he was crafty,” Mahone said. “He connected with a few shots. The guy wasn’t a bum, otherwise he’d have been out in the first round.”

Mahone (15-0-1), who has won 15 in a row by knockout, said he was offered a fight with former heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon. But he said his promoter, John Jackson, turned it down.

“What do you want me to do?” Mahone said. “Every guy I’ve fought has a winning record.”

Mahone was upstaged by flyweight Isidro Garcia of Los Angeles, who gamely battled golf ball-sized swelling over his left eye and his opponent, Sammy Stewart, for eight rounds. The scheduled 12-round bout for the vacant North American Boxing Organization title was stopped by referee Pat Russell because Garcia could no longer see out of his left eye.

Garcia was a heavy favorite against Stewart--nicknamed “Standby”--who was a late replacement for Danny Nunez. He had Stewart in trouble in the first round but could not finish him off. In Round 2, Garcia’s eye began to swell. He kept winning rounds but was losing his sight.

When Russell stopped the fight 2 minutes 5 seconds into the eighth round, Garcia led on two cards, 69-66 and 69-64, and was even on the third, 66-66.

“They did well to stop it,” Garcia said. “I couldn’t see anything.”