RUELAS BACK IN OLD VENUE.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

To trace the arc of a boxer's career, you don't need the ring rankings, you need a real estate guide. Where he fights tells you everything about where he stands.

On the way up, he battles in cramped and smoky clubs next door to thrift shops and fast-food stands. At the top, he shines in major-league arenas and casino pavilions. On the way down, well, at least he knows where to find a cheap taquito.

Rafael Ruelas is trying to confound such wisdom, though it is born of experience, of fight-game history older than Rafael and his brother Gabriel combined.

In the 1980s and early '90s, Rafael made his early professional marks at the Country Club, which is not a place for golf and bridge but a music and boxing theater on a heavily commercial stretch of Sherman Way in Reseda. It is the kind of down-and-dirty place that fighters work hard to leave behind, and Ruelas did, winning the International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight title at the Forum in '94 and going on to fight at glitzy Caesars Palace and in the exotic Caribbean.

He and Gabriel, who was the World Boxing Council junior-lightweight champion, helped breathe life into San Fernando Valley boxing precisely because they fought their way out of it.

But Rafael, in his quest for bigger rooms and higher ceilings, ran into a swinging door. He lost, crushingly, to Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand, and then, his new self-doubt coupled with confusion over a left-handed opponent, he lost to George Scott in the Bahamas. This all happened in '95.

Thursday night, Rafael was back in Reseda, headlining a small-time card and defeating somebody named Javier Arce on a knockout; Arce's corner stopped the bout after two rounds. Ruelas' pro record now stands at 48-3 with 38 knockouts. The evening's other 11 fighters are a combined 75-49.

``Don't be confused,'' began Joe Goossen, who trains Rafael, who grew up in Sylmar and lives in Studio City, ``that because of the venue, that we're not still in the thick of things for the world championship at 140 pounds.''

In other words, Rafael is not on the way down, an empty package that looks good on the marquee. He is on the way up again.

This was his fifth straight victory since he lost to De La Hoya and Scott and then moved up in weight from 135 pounds, lightweight, to 140, junior welterweight. He is more comfortable at 140 - free to eat the day before a fight and still satisfy the scale.

He hadn't fought since a Dec. 3 knockout of Rocky Balboa at a casino in Indio. Goossen worried about keeping him on the bench too long. A casual conversation with Country Club fight promoter Peter Broudy led to Thursday's show, Rafael's first in the warehouselike structure in nearly four years.

``I was kind of excited that Rafael might be able to come back and give a show to his loyal fans - and they are loyal fans - in the area,'' Goossen said. ``You're in a big vacuum when you're in those big arenas. As people at the Blue Horizon (the classic fight club in Philadelphia) can tell you, you just can't beat that on-top-of-the-ring feel.''

That feeling isn't lost on Rafael, who acknowledged the fans with a clenched fist after his victory.

``It's exciting to be back and see so many of the same old fans,'' he said.

At the Country Club, you park - free - behind an auto-parts store. For reporters, there are no laminated press passes; your newspaper's ID badge gets you in. There's no official press row, and if the cigar behind you offends, try telling that guy to snuff it out.

Fans sit not in bleacher seats but at tables that surround the action on only three sides. There's a balcony that nearly overhangs the boxing ring, which presses up against a stage, where a Spanish-language TV network sets its equipment and round-card girls sit on a cushioned bench and chat, ignoring the fights.

The fans don't miss a jab. Arce (15-15-1) is no De La Hoya, Julio Cesar Chavez or Miguel Angel Gonzalez - leaders in the 140-pound class - but you can see that Ruelas still has it.

Which is a double-edged sword as he seeks another title shot. If he were washed up, his name might be enough to make a championship fight or a stepping-stone fight. Because he's still a threat, would-be opponents with something to lose are wary.

He is 11th in the 140-pound rankings in the Boxing Illustrated magazine at the newsstand across Sherman Way from the Country Club. He is fifth on the WBC's list behind the great Oscar. Goossen hopes to get a string of victories on Rafael's record, and angle for the No. 1 contender's slot, which would force a title fight.

It would get easier if De La Hoya permanently moves up to 147.

``If he has seven, eight, nine comeback fights, and he's doing the same thing as he was before the losses, he'll get his shot,'' Goossen said.

He'll get back his prime real estate.