Columnist Dean Juipe: Holyfield sees Akinwande as mere bump in the road

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 28, 1998 | 10:56 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

Evander Holyfield may not have wanted to fight Henry Akinwande yet he's confident he'll win when they tangle June 6 in New York's Madison Square Garden.

As a sign of Holyfield's resolve, he's already laying out plans for the remainder of his career.

He looks at Akinwande as more nuisance than threat.

"I never wanted to fight him," Holyfield told the New York Times. "I don't like his style. He's passive. He's going back all the time. His arms are so long that you don't know when he's going to stop going back and (come forward and) hit you."

The betting line favors Holyfield, 7 to 1, in Las Vegas. He's 35-3 with 25 knockouts and the owner of two-thirds of the unified championship, possessing the WBA and IBF belts.

Akinwande has the advantage in height (by 5 inches) and reach (9 inches) and also has a decent record at 33-1-1 with 19 KOs. Yet he's suspect both stylistically and when it comes to heart.

"Whether it's outrageous or not, he's ranked No. 1," Holyfield's trainer, Don Turner, said of Akinwande during a conference call. Turner handled Akinwande during the latter's embarrassing DQ loss to WBC champ Lennox Lewis last July at Lake Tahoe, although he's distancing himself from taking any blame.

"I did my job but he didn't do his," Turner said. "I was there and Akinwande received my full attention, although maybe he didn't accept my full attention. I wasn't the one who was embarrassed."

Turner, calling Holyfield "one of the smartest fighters who ever lived," anticipates being on the winning side in New York. Holyfield, already making plans for Lewis, must see it that way as well.

"The Lewis fight is going to happen," he said. "I hope it happens in November. He wants to be the man, but I'm the man."

Holyfield became "the man" with back-to-back wins over Mike Tyson although he doesn't expect to face the ex-champion again. He may squeeze in a fight with Vaughn Bean before taking on Lewis and then, perhaps, retiring.

As for fighting Tyson a third time, Holyfield said "I don't think there's a reason to do it again," perhaps forgetting those two bouts played a major role in upping Holyfield's career earnings to $170 million.

Around the ring

Montreal's Eric Lucas will have something of a home-field advantage against Las Vegan Joseph Kiwanuka when they fight tonight in upstate New York. But it's an important bout for Kiwanuka, whose record has dipped to 25-3-2 after consecutive losses. "Everything will be fine," said a reassuring John Phillips, who manages Kiwanuka. "Joseph needs some good competition to get back on his feet and this is it." ... Two-time former world champion Julian Jackson of Las Vegas suffered his second straight defeat Sunday, losing to fellow junior middleweight Anthony Jones in Pontiac, Mich. Jones, 39-8-2, won by TKO in the ninth round and Jackson, now 55-6, left the ring contemplating retirement. ... James Leija apparently has relinquished his NABF lightweight crown and Las Vegan James Crayton will meet Ahmed Santos July 28 in Biloxi for the vacant title. "I'm really looking forward to it," Crayton said. "I've faced world champions and he's nowhere near that type of opposition. He makes a lot of mistakes and he's pretty slow mechanically. He seems one-dimensional." ... Trainer Kenny Adams said he has reached a financial agreement with Kennedy McKinney to train him for his July 18 megafight with Naseem Hamed. The bout is apt to land in Las Vegas, insiders say, and Adams feels McKinney can win. "We'll go right after Hamed," he said. "I've studied what he does. I think Mac can catch him if he spins around and connects with the third punch of a combination."

Sacramento's Diego Corrales, who trains here, fights Saturday in Los Angeles and will be looking to add to his reputation at the expense of Eduardo Contreras. "I'm excited," Corrales said at the Top Rank Gym. "This is another step up for me. Contreras is a strong puncher and he's closer to my style so it should be a good fight." Contreras is 12-1-3 with five KOs while Corrales is 20-0 with 17 knockouts and looking like world-title material. "I'm enjoying the ride," he said of his ascension in the junior lightweight ranks. ... Another junior lightweight from Las Vegas, Steve Forbes, is on for June 9 in Biloxi against an opponent to be determined. He's 5-0 but finding fights a little hard to come by. "It's been slow," he said. "I have to be patient but I also have to have some great performances to get the doors to open. I have to show some things." ... Still another Las Vegas junior lightweight, Floyd Mayweather, is 16-0 and scheduled for June 14 in Atlantic City with former title challenger Tony Pep. After that, Mayweather wants WBC champ Genaro Hernandez and his uncle, Jeff, who helps train him, says that fight may be easier than commonly expected. "They say Genaro's the best at 130 pounds but I don't see it," Jeff said. "He's a class guy but I judge him by the quality of his opposition and he just isn't beating anyone of significance. Floyd's the hardest puncher in that division and he's going to be a hard guy to beat. For sure he's ready for Genaro but even I might be able to beat Genaro if I had to." The Mayweather vs. Hernandez bout is tentatively scheduled for September.