Goossen, Buffo Ring Up Knockouts and Look Forward to Bigger Things

P.J. and The Stump were a hit Wednesday night at the Reseda Country Club.

Middleweight P.J. Goossen and heavyweight Jimmy “The Stump” Buffo, cousins who grew up fighting in North Hollywood, made their return engagements at the Country Club a success with knockout victories before a partisan crowd of more than 700.

Goossen, in the ring for the first time since suffering a career-threatening foot injury last November, knocked out Stacey Goodson of Paris, Ark., 1:31 into the third round of a scheduled eight-round fight.

Buffo, a 5-foot-5 former Valley College and Cal Lutheran linebacker, scored a third-round knockout of Gerald Pond of Oklahoma City.

“This was a dream come true for me and P.J.,” Buffo said. “We didn’t know what to expect but the place was packed.”

Goossen and Buffo had two of the three knockouts on a competitive six-bout program.

Goossen, 28, former International Boxing Organization junior-middleweight champion, landed combinations seemingly at will before referee Lou Filippo waved off the fight with Goodson (10-19-2) offering little in the way of defense.

Goossen (19-1), seeking a matchup this fall with Hector “Macho” Camacho, registered his 13th knockout.

“It’s been a while but I felt good,” said Goossen, who had not fought in 14 months. “I just wanted to get in and feel the atmosphere. I could have gone 10 rounds. I could have gone 12. I was ready for more.”

Goossen injured his foot while preparing for a bout with Roberto Duran. But the injury didn’t appear to hobble the fighter.

“My foot feels fine,” Goossen said.

Buffo (3-0), seeking a fight with crowd favorite Eric “Butterbean” Esch, had the crowd behind him with chants of “Stump.”

Buffo struggled against the 5-6 Pond before landing a deciding flurry 34 seconds into the fourth round.

“He was a tough guy,” Buffo said. “I cracked him with some pretty good lefts, but with these heavyweights, you don’t know what to expect.

“The body shots made the difference. I’m used to fighting bigger guys, so I just stick it in the middle.”

On the undercard, Ahmed Elsayed, a 274-pound heavyweight from Cairo and member of the 1996 Egyptian Olympic team, won a six-round unanimous decision over Terry Verners of Clovis.

Elsayed (7-0) outweighed his opponent by 54 pounds but pawed his way against Verners, who lost his 20th fight in 27 bouts. The decision was greeted with a chorus of boos.

Heavyweight Reuben Alvarez of Bakersfield earned a technical-knockout victory over John Rizzo of Oceanside when Rizzo was unable to answer the bell for the fourth round.

Middleweight Richard Gonzalez (2-2) of San Fernando won a four-round majority decision over Charles Lucas of Hollywood.

In a four-round middleweight bout, Eddie Gutierrez of North Hills won by unanimous decision over Thomas Alaniz of West Los Angeles.

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Fight Night at Reseda Country Club

* Richard Gonzalez (2-2) def. Charles Lucas (0-1), four-round majority decision, middleweight

* Ahmed Elsayed (7-0) def. Terry Verners (7-20), six-round unanimous decision, heavyweight

* Eddie Guiterez (1-1) def. Thomas Alaniz (0-5), four-round unanimous decision, middleweight

* Reuben Alvarez (2-0) def. John Rizzo (1-2), third-round technical knockout, heavyweight

* Jimmy Buffo (3-0) def. Gerald Pond (0-1), third-round knockout, heavyweight

* P.J. Goossen (19-1) def. Stacey Goodsen (10-19-2), third-round knockout, middleweight