Phillips finally gets his chance at WBA crown

Dean Juipe

Thursday, March 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

At least six years have passed since Vince Phillips first emerged as a fighter with championship potential. Finally, after 33 wins in 34 fights, he'll get his world title shot April 12 on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten when he faces WBA welterweight champ Ike Quartey.

HBO will televise the fight along with its companion main event, the WBC welterweight title fight between Pernell Whitaker and Wilfredo Rivera.

Phillips, 32, is a native of Florida who has lived in Las Vegas since launching his professional career. He's 33-1 with 22 knockouts, while Quartey is 30-0 with 26 KOs.

"I pray to God I'll come out with the victory," Phillips said this week before working out at the Top Rank gym. "I'm feeling good about myself both mentally and physically, so now it's just a matter of producing. I'm going to let Quartey know he's not just fighting someone off the street; he's fighting a fighter."

Phillips said he always believed a title fight would come along, and, now that it's here, he doesn't care which one of the reigning champions he has to face.

"I knew it would come sooner or later," he said. "I never gave up on it. When the chance came, it didn't matter whether it was Quartey, Whitaker or (IBF champion Felix) Trinidad."

By design, HBO has two of the welterweight title fights on the same card in an effort to promote a unification bout later in the year. Obviously Whitaker is expected to win -- Las Vegas oddsmaker Herbie Lambeck makes him an 8-to-1 choice -- and the Quartey-Phillips winner is apt to get Whitaker in a big-money bout somewhere down the line. (Lambeck makes Quartey a slim 2-to-1 pick over Phillips.)

"I can't see Vince losing this fight," said his trainer, Kenny Adams. "If he doesn't get cut, he'll win. And I think he'll win by knockout, not that I want him going in there looking for a knockout."

Both Adams and Phillips believe Quartey is slightly overrated as a puncher.

"He's heavy-handed but he doesn't have one-punch knockout power," Phillips said. "He's tough because he's pretty strong physically and he keeps his hands up real good, but I don't see him landing one punch and winning very often."

"I don't think he has that much of a punch," Adams said. "He uses his left hand a lot and jabs a lot, and he's consistent. If he gets someone in trouble, he throws a lot of punches and that's how he gets his knockouts."

Adams is banking on Phillips being the stronger of the two combatants.

"Vince can crack and he can hurt Quartey," he said. "Quartey's vulnerable to the left hook, and left and right uppercuts. Phillips is strong enough to take his left hand away from him, and if that happens, he's durable enough to win the fight."

Adams also spotted something in Quartey's corner that he feels works to his man's advantage.

"They act confused a lot," he said. "They're more like cheerleaders than anything else. That certainly doesn't help a fighter, especially in a world title fight."

Phillips will leave April 7 for St. Maarten, an island that's half Dutch and half French. It may be to Quartey's advantage to hold the fight there in that he's now living in Paris, France, and is managed by Frenchmen.

"That's a possible factor, but it won't be if Vince controls the fight and does everything he should," Adams said. "I look for it to be a tremendous fight."

Around the ring

* BOTHA SQUABBLE: Another phase in the seemingly never-ending dispute between the IBF, its heavyweight champion, Frans Botha, and two other heavyweight contenders, Axel Schulz and Michael Moorer, was reached Wednesday. A federal judge in New Jersey ordered the IBF to strip Botha -- who trains in Las Vegas -- for having tested positive for steroids following his Dec. 9 win over Schulz in Germany. Earlier, at an IBF hearing on the subject, the organization did not strip Botha but ruled he had to fight Schulz again. Moorer objected because he had been promised a fight with the Dec. 9 winner. The only certainty as of Wednesday: Botha will appeal the federal judge's decision. It should be noted that a court has never successfully stripped a world champion of his title.

* AUGIE'S READY: Despite being slowed by a sprained ankle suffered in his high school physical education class two weeks ago, Augie Sanchez leads a contingent of four Las Vegas fighters to the United States Olympic Trials next week in Oakland. Competition begins Wednesday and runs through April 7. To win, a fighter will need three victories. The winner of each division and the man he faced in the final advance to the Olympic Box-Offs later in the month in Georgia. "I expect him to win," said Juan Sanchez, speaking of his son. "He's calm but kind of nervous. He knows what he has to do to win." Augie's training was hindered by the sprained ankle and he's still wearing a brace, but he sparred six rounds Tuesday and was back in form. He fights at 125 pounds and will be joined in Oakland by fellow Las Vegans Ishe Smith, 139, Limmie Young, 178, and Charles Shufford, super heavyweight. Two items related to Sanchez: he'll be featured in a boxing workshop for youngsters sponsored by McDonald's to be held Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Golden Gloves gym; and a dinner honoring him will be held Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Santa Fe Hotel & Casino ballroom.

* QUICK HITS: Also going to the Olympic Trials from Las Vegas to serve as a judge is Lou Tabat. He just returned from Bangkok, Thailand, where he scored the WBA flyweight title fight between champion Saen Sor Ploenchit and challenger Leo Gamez. "I'll never go back again," Tabat said. "It was 100 degrees with the humidity at 96 and the fight was outdoors. Not only my shirt but my sports coat was soaked." Another Las Vegas boxing judge, Art Lurie, also worked that WBA fight. ... Due to a cut, Greg Haugen pulled out of a fight with Joey Gamache scheduled for Saturday in Pittsburgh. Someone named Rocky Martinez is stepping in for Haugen on the ESPN2 card. ... Occasional Las Vegan Mike McCallum launches still another comeback with an April 9 fight in Indio, Calif., against fellow ex-champ Frank Tate. ... Local lightweight Jeff Mayweather fought to a draw with Paquito Openio in Hawaii. ... Las Vegas resident Wayne McCullough defends his WBC bantamweight title Saturday in Ireland against Jose Luis Bueno. A spokesperson at Prime Ticket said Wednesday that "we really don't know" when the fight will be televised in the United States. Original plans indicated it would be on in Las Vegas on Saturday at 11 p.m., but apparently that could change.

Local middleweight Ray McElroy returned to the ring after a two-year absence last week and won a fight in Long Beach, Calif., to improve to 20-4. The 28-year-old hopes to fight on the April 27 card scheduled for the Aladdin. He's now being managed by ex-UNLV basketball player Jackie Robinson and is trained by veteran Leon Washington. ... Local super middleweight Joseph Kiwanuka will fight April 23 in Detroit. He's coming off a loss that dropped him to 19-1-2. "That defeat really hurt him mentally," said his manager, John Phillips. "Now he's taking steps to make up for it." Phillips said Kiwanuka may fight for the WBO title in May. ... With his shows failing to impress or draw decent ratings, promoter Don King is said to have lost his deal with the Fox television network. They parted ways after last Saturday's card from Miami that included Las Vegas cruiserweight Brian LaSpada losing by ninth-round TKO to WBA champion Nate Miller.

ote "I pray to God I'll come out with the victory. I'm feeling good about myself both mentally and physically, so now it's just a matter of producing." Vince Phillips

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