Perez to Defend Title Tonight at Forum

Raul Perez makes the fourth defense of his World Boxing Council bantamweight championship at the Forum tonight against ninth-ranked Gaby Canizales, a former champion.

Perez, 5 feet 11 inches, from Tijuana, is one of the tallest bantamweight champions and is a textbook boxer. He will have a major height advantage over the 5-5 1/2 Canizales, an aggressive fighter from Laredo, Tex. This is the first of a planned 12 world title fights at the Forum this year.

Perez, who earned the bantamweight title by beating Miguel Lora in Las Vegas in 1988, is 44-1. Canizales, briefly the World Boxing Assn. champion in 1986, is 45-6.