BRIEFLY : New Orleans Sheriff to Fight Sims at Forum

Melvin Paul is not a man to mess with.

The 25-year-old New Orleans resident has the long arm of the law behind him because of his position as a deputy sheriff. He also has his own two good arms--arms that have enabled him to carve out a 21-7 record, including 14 knockouts, in his secondary career as a boxer.

It is that career that has brought Paul to Los Angeles where he’ll be messing with Walter Sims on Monday night in a 10-round opening match of a 16-man lightweight tournament at the Forum. The 25-year-old Sims (19-3-2, 13 knockouts) fights out of the Ten Goose Boxing Club of North Hollywood.

Also on Monday night’s card, Mark Wills (9-5-1, nine knockouts) of Van Nuys meets Rufus Hadley (11-0-1, 10 knockouts) of Edmonton, Canada in a 10-round semifinal match in an ongoing Forum heavyweight tournament. The winner will face the survivor of next month’s Wimpy Halstead-Larry Alexander match for the tournament title.

The first bout of Monday’s eight-fight show begins at 6:30 p.m.

Valley Dodgers to Sponsor Golf Tournament

The San Fernando Valley Dodgers, a semipro baseball team, will play host to a golf tournament July 28 at the Knollwood Country Club.

Proceeds will be used to send the team to the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita Kan., Aug. 1-18. The Dodgers qualified for the World Series by winning the state tournament over the Fourth of July weekend in Ventura.

There are 80 spots available for the golf tournament and the entry fee is $50. Information: 818-993-6192.

Chaminade’s Suarez Signs With Northridge

Pitcher Pablo Suarez, who was 8-2 with a 0.84 earned-run average for Chaminade High last season, heads the list of players who recently signed letters of intent with Cal State Northridge.

Other signed players include: Santa Monica High pitcher Tom Peters, outfielder Lenny Gilmore from Yuba Junior College and Mark Hebert a shortstop from Hartnell in Salinas.

CSUN Coach Terry Craven said Suarez and Peters will have an immediate impact on the program. Peters was selected by the New York Mets in the June free-agent draft.

Memorial Rodeo Begins Tonight

Actors Glynn Turman (Out Of Bounds) and Danny Glover (The Color Purple) will serve as co-grand marshalls for the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo at the L.A. Equestrian Center this weekend.

The all-black rodeo, which starts Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3:30 p.m., is in honor of Pickett--the first and only black Cowboy to be elected to the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1932.

NOTABLE

Five teams from the American Roundball Corp. will compete in the John Farrell National Prep Tournament July 21-26 at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Don MacLean (Simi Valley) and Kevin Franklin (Taft) will compete for Mid-Valley, ranked No. 1 among the 40 teams in the tournament, which is considered among the most competitive in the country.

In the final state community college poll for men’s tennis, Pierce College was rated third and had three members ranked among the top 25 players in singles competition. Nelson Gary was ranked fifth, Steve Yu was 14th and Nader Farraji was 23rd. Pierce won the Metropolitan Conference with an 18-1 overall record.