Ruelas to Put Belt, Talent on Display at Country Club

At the Country Club in Reseda tonight, the North American Boxing Federation featherweight championship belt that belongs to Rafael Ruelas of Arleta will be displayed. The mammoth bejeweled belt, so big that it looks out of place everywhere but in a boxing ring or a country-western bar, then will be put away for the night.

Ruelas (25-0, 20 knockouts), who won the NABF title with a devastating knockout of former world champion Steve Cruz on March 31, will fight a 10-round, non-title fight against Fernando Teran, a tough and durable brawler but not much of a threat to Ruelas or his belt.

Teran is from Mexico City but now lives in Pacoima. He has a 28-9 record with 10 knockouts, but he has lost four of his past five fights, including his most recent outing last August when he was knocked out in the third round by former featherweight champion Louie Espinoza. It was the worst showing of his nine-year pro career.

Ruelas, however, is riding a wave of confidence after his three-round demolition of Cruz in Las Vegas. He hammered the ex-champion to the canvas three times in the first round, continued the beating in the second and ended the fight with a series of brutal, punishing blows in the third.

“I look at the belt once in a while,” Ruelas said. “It’s nice to have, and especially when I think of the guy I beat to get it, a former champion.”

In a scheduled 12-round bout, super featherweight Aaron Lopez (23-6-2) of San Antonio will meet Vicente Gonzales (13-11-2). Also, middleweight Joey DeGrandis of Van Nuys (8-1) will fight Ricardo Villa (5-4) of Guadalajara in a scheduled six-round bout. The six-bout program, to be televised locally by Telemundo, begins at 6.