Brown’s comeback ends abruptly

Dean Juipe

Friday, Oct. 10, 2003 | 9:59 a.m.

Maalikk Brown's comeback lasted all of 37 seconds.

Brown, a former light heavyweight of some promise who has been inactive for more than four years, returned to the ring Thursday night at the Tuscany Casino only to have his fight with Gustavo Enriquez stopped just moments after it had begun.

Trapped in a corner, bent over at the waist and absorbing punches, Brown left referee Joe Cortez with no option but to call a halt to the scheduled eight-round bout. A mere 37 seconds had elapsed.

"You didn't move, you didn't give the referee any choice but to stop the fight," cornerman Miguel Diaz said to his disheartened fighter in the dressing room.

"It's simple: If you don't do anything and you keep getting hit, the referee will stop the fight."

Brown, 36, repeatedly said he was OK and wondered aloud why he hadn't received a standing-8 count. Unfortunately, that rule does not exist in Nevada, which he, as a Las Vegas fighter and resident, should have known.

"I'm done," he said, when asked if that was the end of his career.

"I'm not blaming anybody," he said after Diaz and fellow cornermen Hedgemon Lewis and Rafael Garcia each agreed that he deserved the loss.

"It's just that I wasn't really hurt. I don't look hurt, do I?"

His career comes to a conclusion with a record of 18-4-2.

Enriquez used the win to improve to 11-4.

He was paid $1,500, while Brown received $1,750.

In the official main event, Adan Hernandez outclassed fellow junior lightweight Marco Perez and won their scheduled eight-round fight by third-round disqualification.

Hernandez, 13-1, floored Perez late in the first round, bloodied his nose in the second and was on the receiving end of three, point-deduction low blows in the third before referee Kenny Bayless had seen enough and disqualified Perez. Hernandez was taking the fight to Perez, who falls to 17-5, and wasn't hit by much of anything above the trunks.

Hernandez received $2,250 and Perez was paid $2,000.

In two other fights of note, junior welterweight Julio Luna of Las Vegas improved to 2-0 with a four-round decision win against Aaron Boyd, 0-2, and light heavyweight Toshi Kuwata raised his record to 2-0 by stopping Dylan Buffuto, 0-5, 51 seconds into the fight.

A crowd of about 700 attended the fight card, the first ever at the new casino.