At 29, Carbajal not set to retire

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

There was a time, Danny Carbajal says, that he thought his brother should retire from boxing by the time he hit 30.

But now that Michael Carbajal is 29, discussions on the dreaded R-word -- retirement -- have been set aside.

"I remember mentioning to Michael that by the time he's 30, he should get out," Danny Carbajal said Tuesday by phone from the Phoenix home he shares with his younger brother, the IBF junior flyweight champion who's 44-2 with 29 knockouts. "It used to come up every so often. In his division, they say you're old when you're 30, but Michael hasn't taken any beatings and we never talk about retirement any more."

Carbajal has a spot on Saturday's boxing card at the Thomas & Mack Center, as he'll face Colombia's Mauricio Pastrana in a fight beneath the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Miguel Angel Gonzalez main event. Pastrana is 15-0 with 13 KOs.

"He's a tough one," Michael Carbajal said, "but there's someone else I'm really after."

That would be longtime WBC strawweight champion Ricardo Lopez, who, after 18 successful title defenses, may actually be ready to move up to 108 pounds and face Carbajal. Lopez will be ringside Saturday and promoter Bob Arum has said a Lopez vs. Carbajal fight could come off this summer.

"You always need goals, something to strive for, to keep motivated," Michael Carbajal said. "For a long time, that someone for me was Chiquita Gonzalez. But he's retired; those wars are over. Lopez is the one I want now."

Gonzalez and Carbajal fought three times in 1993-94, Gonzalez winning twice.

But since their most recent fight, Carbajal has been stuck on the "ESPN circuit," fighting guys like Pastrana that he seems to easily handle. The fact is, Carbajal needs a rival and would even move to 112 pounds to find one, especially if Lopez balks at coming up to 108.

"Mike doesn't have any trouble at 108 but he could eventually go to 112," Danny Carbajal said. "He's been as high as 114. What I'm saying is, we're not just stuck waiting on this Lopez guy, although that's the fight we want and I'm pretty sure Arum will get it done."

Carbajal vs. Lopez makes financial sense for everyone involved, including Arum and Lopez's promoter, Don King. It would give Lopez some badly needed exposure while giving Carbajal the rival he desperately needs.

"Everybody's always asking about that fight," Danny Carbajal said. "For a long time I never thought it would get done, but money will make Lopez do a lot of different things."

In the interim, there's the unsung Pastrana.

"Don't know much about him but he looks like a comer," Danny Carbajal said almost gleefully. "He looks like he's always coming forward. That's great for us."