Columnist Dean Juipe: Buster takes another shot at fame

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 25, 1998 | 10:47 a.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

Buster Douglas will forever be known as the first man to defeat Mike Tyson.

It's his calling card, his claim to fame. And it's a good one, in spite of the fact he later ballooned to 400 pounds and seemingly imploded his boxing career.

Perhaps it's only cyclical, but here's Douglas coming back around again with an eye toward Tyson. Tonight in Ledyard, Conn., on a pay-per-view card promoted by Top Rank, Douglas is in with Lou Savarese for a bout that has the potential to elevate the winner into a much bigger fight.

For Douglas, that fight would be with Tyson and there's reason to believe the two could square off when Tyson is reinstated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission next month. A Douglas vs. Tyson rematch would come later in the year and would be Tyson's second fight back, a source familiar with the negotiations said this week.

But it's a moot point if Douglas doesn't get past Savarese and there's no guarantee he will.

"I know what this fight is for me," Savarese said. "It's everything. I don't want to be a journeyman.

"This is a great opportunity. I've watched the Douglas-Tyson fight a dozen times just to find out everything I can about Douglas when he was in his prime."

Douglas, 38, is 36-5-1 with 23 knockouts but has not fought since last July.

Savarese, 32, is 36-2 with 30 KOs but lost consecutive fights to George Foreman and David Izon before winning his most recent outing, against Jeff Lally in April.

"You know how the heavyweight division is," Savarese said. "You win a fight like this and you're right back in it."

From a betting standpoint in Las Vegas, the fight is fairly even with Douglas a minus 140 favorite and Savarese a plus 110 underdog.

"I'm going to give it a good run this year and see what happens," Douglas said at the final prefight press conference. "If things look promising, I'll continue on."

There was a time when he didn't have that motivation. Douglas was lethargic in the fight following his 1990 win over Tyson, a loss later that year to Evander Holyfield, and it was all downhill from there.

"I was just punishing myself," he said. "I was very dissatisfied with the way things had turned out and I got very reckless. I really felt down in spirit and it carried over to me letting myself get big."

After reaching 400 pounds he lapsed into a diabetic coma. He later recovered and launched his comeback in 1996, weighing in at 347 pounds for his initial workouts.

Douglas is 5-0 (and about 235 pounds) since his return and appeared headed for a fight with light heavyweight champ Roy Jones until Jones thought better of jumping two weight classes.

Instead, he gets Savarese, a split-decision loser to Foreman 14 months ago and then a one-punch, KO-5 loser to Izon in November.

"I know I have to go after this guy," he said of Douglas. "You can't stay on the end of his jab. He sets everything up with that."

Aside from pay per view, the fight card can be seen at two local casinos (Boulder Station and Sunset Station) and three local bars (El Matador on Maryland Parkway, Instant Replay on Sunset, and Instant Replay on West Sahara).

The primary undercard bout has Julio Cesar Chavez, 100-2-2, in with light hitting Ken Sigurani, 22-1 but with only eight knockouts. In an attempt to motivate Chavez to give his best and stay in line for a Sept. 18 fight in Las Vegas with Oscar De La Hoya, promoter Bob Arum is offering Chavez $250,000 to knock out Sigurani.

"A lot of people say I'm finished," Chavez said. "But I definitely am not."

Around the ring

Bally's is hosting an all-female card Friday with two title fights sharing the spotlight. Bantamweight champion Bridgett Riley, 5-2, takes on Aicha Lahsen, 5-0-1, and featherweight champ Bonnie Canino, 8-2, meets Nora Daigles, 3-1-1, in the co-features. First bell is 6:30 p.m. ... IBF junior welterweight champ Vince Phillips of Las Vegas has had his title defense with Hector Quiroz rescheduled from July 10 to Aug. 6 in Miami. "He had inflammation of the knees," said his manager, Akbar Muhammad. "We thought he'd be OK with a few days rest, but it was more than that. Luckily the August 6 date was available and we were able to switch." ... Ready to step in and take that July 10 date in Miami was another world champion from Las Vegas, Freddie Norwood. Norwood just fought June 13 but he'll come right back and defend his featherweight title against former WBA champ Luis Enrique Mendoza. Norwood is 30-0-1 and Mendoza is 37-6-2, including 11 title fights. ... The main event for a July 25 card at the Tropicana is set with junior lightweight Jorge Paez, 60-12-4, taking on Gustavo Fabian Cuello, 20-8, in a 12-round bout. ... Local junior lightweight Justin Juuko was hopeful of landing a title fight with IBF champion Robert Garcia July 14 in Los Angeles, and although an opponent has yet to be selected Juuko is convinced it won't be him. "I thought he might agree to it at first but I also had a bad feeling that he might back out," Juuko said. Looking to stay busy, he may take an offer to fight July 31 at The Orleans. ... IBF lightweight champ Shane Mosley headlines Saturday's televised card from Philadelphia, although a more competitive bout figures to be the semi-main that has Olympian David Reid in with Simon Brown. Reid is 9-0 and while Brown is over the hill, he is 47-7 and is a three-time former world champion. ... Mills Lane, who is "auditioning" as a boxing analyst on fX's telecast of the Reid-Brown card, said he would retire as a referee if he's offered the position on a full-time basis. ... Fernando Vargas, who improved to 13-0 Tuesday night with a win over Anthony Stephens in Philadelphia, is on course for a big, big fight with Oscar De La Hoya a year or so down the road if both men continue winning. ... Faye Miller has replaced Vic Leonard as the day-to-day operator of the Golden Gloves Gym.