Columnist Dean Juipe: Gonzalez wants to prove himself in Chavez bout

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Feb. 26, 1998 | 12:20 p.m.

DEAN JUIPE is a Las Vegas SUN sportswriter. His office phone number is 259-4084. He can be reached on the Internet at juipe@lasvegassun.com

When last seen in a Las Vegas main event, Miguel Angel Gonzalez was being repetitively hammered by Oscar De La Hoya. In a competitive though one-sided fight, Gonzalez absorbed punishing blow after punishing blow before losing by unanimous decision.

He left the Thomas & Mack Center that night in the unique position of admired loser. He took everything De La Hoya offered him Jan. 18, 1997, and never went down.

The feeling at the time was that Gonzalez would have beaten anyone in his 140-pound weight class that night except De La Hoya. Now that theory is put to the test as he prepares to face Julio Cesar Chavez for the vacant WBC junior welterweight championship March 7 in Mexico City.

"I'm looking for a convincing victory," Gonzalez said this week during a conference call to promote the pay-per-view card. "I'm also looking for a convincing knockout. I'm sure I'm going to win."

He's a slight favorite in Las Vegas sports books despite facing a man who has won six world titles in three weight classes. While Chavez is likely on the decline, he's also 100-2-1 with 83 knockouts.

Gonzalez, 27, is 42-1 with 32 KOs.

"In order to fight a legend like him you have to go in early and see what he has," Gonzalez said. "I want to wait to the middle of the fight to see if I can knock him out or just win by decision. I think of him as a legend, but I'm going to defeat him."

A huge crowd is expected for the bout between fellow Mexicans and Gonzalez hopes they see a changing of the guard.

"I think the people are ready for a new champion," he said. "Chavez has already had his 15 minutes of fame. It's time for the crowning of a new idol."

Gonzalez's trainer, Abel Sanchez, believes the 35-year-old Chavez is there for the taking.

"(Frankie) Randall exposed him," Sanchez said, referring to a pair of bouts in 1994 that saw Chavez suffer his first professional loss and then take a tainted, disputed victory. "He (also) wasn't right when he fought De La Hoya."

While De La Hoya struggled to eliminate Gonzalez, he dominated Chavez and won in four rounds when they fought in 1996. Sanchez said Chavez was -- and maybe still is -- guilty of "not preparing himself the way he should" for fights of the highest magnitude.

Campas campaign

His bout with Oscar De La Hoya is back to being iffy, what with De La Hoya hurt and having twice postponed the immediate fight in front of him. For Yory Boy Campas and those around him, they can only hope to get a crack at a million-dollar fight with the Golden Boy.

"To me, it's one of the best fights that could possibly happen," said his co-trainer, Rafael Garcia. "I think it will happen because Oscar's going after him. He knows Campas has a good name and is a great champion.

"He also knows he has a beautiful record."

Campas, who is training at the Top Rank Gym under Garcia and Miguel Diaz, is 69-2 with 59 knockouts and is the IBF junior middleweight champion. He would come down from 154 pounds to 147 to fight De La Hoya, a move Garcia said would be "no problem" despite speculation to the contrary.

Campas, who is gearing up for a March 23 fight in Connecticut with Anthony Stephens, was pencilled in to face De La Hoya in June. But that was before De La Hoya suffered an injured wrist, which has twice put off his Atlantic City fight with Patrick Charpentier. They're now scheduled for June 13; De La Hoya vs. Campas (or whoever) would go in September in Las Vegas.

Winner take all

The reigning Canadian junior middleweight champion has moved to Las Vegas and he arrives with a colorful past.

Manny Sobral, 28, is a high-school teacher on a leave of absence. He's 24-0 and has wins over quality opponents like Cato Gonzalez, Young Dick Tiger and, most recently, former Las Vegan Chris Sande. He was also a member of Canada's 1988 Olympic team.

But it was a fight last June in Edmonton that really jumps off his ledger.

"I fought a guy named Tony Padilla for $25,000 and it was winner take all," Sobral said. "He had me down in the seventh but I came back and won. It was exciting."

Boxing fans, of course, would like to see every bout contested under a winner-take-all format.

"It's the only incentive a fighter needs," said Jerome Coffee, who is training Sobral. "If you don't win, you don't get paid. One thing for sure, you know the guys are going to be fighting."

Coffee, who has also added Bones Adams to his stable, is aiming to get Sobral a high-profile fight in the States.

"We're hoping one of those brave world champions will give him an opportunity," Coffee said, somewhat sarcastically. "Certainly they can beat some Canadian kid."

Around the ring

Bam Promotions has a Friday card at The Orleans that offers light heavyweights Montell Griffin and Rocky Gannon in separate main events. Griffin will take on Thomas Reid, while Gannon -- a Las Vegas newcomer -- will meet Julian Samaha with an eye toward a bout down the line with Griffin. Six other fights are scheduled. First bell is 7 p.m. and the card will also be broadcast on radio station KSHP (1400 AM). ... Former NABF super middleweight champion Joseph Kiwanuka of Las Vegas is considering a move to 175 pounds. "I'm going to try it a little bit and see what happens," he said. "Let me see how I feel." ... A proposed fight between IBF cruiserweight champ Imamu Mayfield and mandatory challenger Arthur Williams of Las Vegas has gone to purse bid. ... Heavyweight Lionel Butler got a year's suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for testing positive for drugs. ... The first edition of a new boxing magazine, Fight Game, is out and it looks good.