Bergman loses for the first time in career in Australia

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Sept. 19, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Las Vegas-based fighters split four out-of-town bouts within the last week, with Kennedy McKinney and Leroy Owens coming out on the plus side while Jan Bergman and Skipper Kelp were handed losses in title fights.

McKinney, a former world champion at 122 pounds, was a split-decision winner over Nestor Lopez at the Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday. Owens, 147, won by first-round TKO over Mike Johnson the same night in Tulsa.

Bergman lost by TKO in the sixth round of his bout Friday with IBF 140-pound champion Kostya Tszyu in Australia. And Kelp was a unanimous-decision loser to USBA 147-pound champ Tony Martin on Tuesday in Baltimore.

Bergman, who went into the bout with Tszyu 32-0, was the fighter with the most at stake.

"I just think the fight and the circumstances overwhelmed him," said his trainer, Kenny Adams. "He wanted it so bad and tried so hard, but he just had too much anxiety."

A native of South Africa who has lived in Las Vegas for more than two years, Bergman was besieged by 300 faxes from his homeland -- including one from Nelson Mandela -- in the days just prior to his bout with Tszyu.

"That just put too much pressure on him," Adams said. "He carried it into the ring. He was too excited and that led to him getting worn out."

Perhaps an even bigger problem was Tszyu himself.

"He's a little Mike Tyson," Adams said of the 19-0 Tszyu, a native of Russia who has been living in Australia. "It was going to take a perfect fight to beat him."

Hopes for a perfect fight dissipated after Bergman suffered a cut above his left eye in the second round.

"After that, it was a shoot-out," Adams said. "Jan brawled with him. He opened a cut over Tszyu's right eye in the fifth round, but in the sixth he couldn't weather the storm. He took a four-point combination on the ropes and went down and took an eight count. Then he got up and Tszyu hit him right on the chin, and down he went."

Also on the losing end was Kelp in a fight televised by the USA cable network.

"On paper, I've got him beat," Kelp said prior to his bout with Martin. "I'm faster, stronger, I've got youth -- everything."

But Martin, 35, was in command throughout and won by 12, 8 and 6 points on the judges' cards. He opened a cut over Kelp's right eye in the fifth round that tested cut man Miguel Diaz and plagued Kelp throughout the remainder of the 12-round bout.

Kelp, 25, dropped to 23-4-1. His three previous losses -- to David Gonzalez, Bronco McKart and Raul Marquez -- had come in fights at 154 pounds. Martin advanced to 33-5-1 in his first USBA title defense.

As for the local winners, Owens was so impressive in his fight with Johnson that he was immediately offered a follow-up fight in St. Louis next Monday.

Johnson, 8-6-2, was forced to quit in the first round after Owens, 11-14-3, landed a crunching shot that broke a rib.

"I finally got me a big win," Owens said. "I started fast and tried to knock the guy out because he arrived at the arena late and he had to rush to get ready."

For a while, Owens wasn't sure the fight would even take place.

"I was ready to go but Johnson wasn't there yet," he said. "I was getting frustrated, pacing back and forth. But it worked out OK because he finally got there and they moved our fight back to where it was the main event."

His opponent in St. Louis remains uncertain at this time.

As for McKinney, the fight with Lopez was tougher than anticipated and he settled for a split-decision verdict although he won by six and four points on two of the judges' cards.

"He didn't have a lot of snap," said Adams, who also trains McKinney. "The fight didn't mean much except he needed to win."

McKinney, 30-2-1, plans to fight again next month.

"We've got to sit down and get real serious," Adams said, as McKinney expects to challenge IBF champ Vuyani Bungu early next year and work toward a rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera.

Lopez, McKinney's LA opponent, dropped to 16-2-2.