Friday, April 4, 2003 | 9:45 a.m.
Sometimes winning three out of seven fights isn't all that bad.
That seemed to be the case for the UNLV club boxing team Thursday night at the Cox Pavilion in the first round of the National Collegiate Boxing Championships, as three Rebels turned in exceptional performances while four dropped from the competition.
An eighth Rebel, defending 112-pound national champion Xenon Mallari, had a first-round bye.
Lyle Nixon, Jose Gonzalez and Dave Bermudez advanced to tonight's second-round with first-night victories.
Samuelson Go, Daniel Reese, Joey Massa and Justin Masaniai were beaten and eliminated from the title hunt.
Nixon, Gonzalez and Bermudez each won when the referee intervened and stopped the fight.
Nixon was brilliant in dispatching Brett Hadley of the Air Force Academy at 125 pounds.
Displaying a professional style, complete with Roy Jones-like mannerisms, Nixon had Hadley in trouble at the end of the first round and the Falcon was, in essence, saved by the bell. But Nixon continued the assault in Round 2 and the referee was forced to intercede.
"That was one of the best fights I ever had," Nixon said, perhaps reluctant to accept full credit for his efforts. "After I realized he didn't have anything on me, I knew I could go right after him."
As for his professional appearance, Nixon said it's a result of watching tapes of pro fighters provided by UNLV head coach Skip Kelp.
"I watch a lot of film and get some moves from those guys," Nixon said. "Coach will say 'Concentrate on certain moves,' but most of it comes naturally to me."
Like Nixon, Gonzalez is a 23-year-old senior and a defending national bronze medalist with eyes on a national title. Fighting at 132 pounds, he stopped Will Geiger of Miami with a barrage of left hands in the second round.
"I throw the left a lot, but I can hit 10 times harder with my right," he said later. "The secret is to land the left and then throw the right."
Bermudez, a junior, was the third Rebel to post a victory as he stopped Army's Gill Taylor-Tyree in the third round of a fight that paired big hitters at 139 pounds.
Less fortunate were Go, Reese, Massa and Masaniai.
Go was involved in a spirited battle with Air Force's Daren Smith at 119 pounds and both men left the ring with bloody noses and battle scars. Smith won by decision.
"He's tough," Go said. "I tried to hit him as often as I could, but it's hard to knock out a guy like that."
Reese, a sophomore, lost his 147-pound bout to Air Force's Frankie Woods when he was forced to retire after the first round with a broken right hand. It turns out the hand was broken going into the fight, although Reese and Kelp kept the injury a secret.
"He wanted to fight so bad," Kelp said. "I told him I'd let him as long as he didn't do more than just jab with the right, but you saw what happened. He got frustrated and started throwing the right, and there's just no way he could continue.
"His hand's in bad shape."
Massa, a freshman who admitted he was nervous coming into the tournament, lost his fight at 156 pounds to Justin Trenta of the Virginia Military Academy. It was a grueling bout that went the distance, but Trenta won the last round to take the decision.
Masaniai, a sophomore, was overmatched in his fight at 185 pounds with Navy's Dave Rainey. The tournament continues tonight and concludes Saturday, with a 7 p.m. starting time each night.
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