Columnist Dean Juipe: McKinney fights for position, shot at title fight with Hamed

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Nov. 19, 1998 | 10:54 a.m.

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

At this point in the career of Kennedy McKinney the stakes are huge. Prestige, money and championships are of vital importance.

And while each of those factors plays into his Nov. 28 fight with WBC featherweight champ Luisito Espinosa, this fight has one other major consideration: positioning.

McKinney wants to win not only for the satisfaction, glory and financial reward, but to put himself back in line to face one of the few big-money men in the sport, Prince Naseem Hamed.

Hamed vs. McKinney was discussed endlessly during the summer but never came off. Now it appears Hamed may face Marco Antonio Barrera next, with the winner of the McKinney vs. Espinosa fight moving into the on-deck circle.

"You know I'm after Hamed," McKinney said by phone from his training camp in Big Bear, Calif. "If I win this fight, I think he's got no other choice but to face me. HBO is paying him a lot of money and they want him in big fights, and I'm the best guy he'll ever face."

McKinney has earned the right to speak confidently. In his most recent outing, last Dec. 19 in New York City, he knocked out former champion Junior Jones in the fourth round of a tough slugfest that saw McKinney on the floor two rounds earlier.

Overall, the former Las Vegan is 33-3-1 with 19 knockouts.

Espinosa, of the Philippines, is 43-7 with 22 KOs and has held the WBC title since taking a decision win over Manuel Medina in 1995.

"I've got three tapes of him that I'm watching," McKinney said of Espinosa, who he'll face in Indio, Calif., with HBO televising. "He's a veteran like I am but he's not spectacular. He's a counterpuncher who doesn't show much power or speed.

"I know he's been a champion for a while but I never really heard of him until this fight came to me."

The promotional firm America Presents has picked up Espinosa's contract. At 31 years old, he hasn't lost since a KO-2 to Alejandro Gonzalez in 1993.

But, as McKinney points out, "anybody with seven losses knows how to lose and it's my job to remind him what it's like. It's written in stone that I'll beat this guy."

If so, McKinney can refocus on the 31-0 Hamed.

"We were supposed to fight July 18, then August 15, then Halloween," McKinney said. "I don't want to say he kept pulling out because he's scared, but let's say he's cautious when it comes to me. He knows I come to fight and that I have a big punch.

"He'll have to step things up if he's going to fight me."

McKinney, 32 and a 1988 Olympic gold medalist, used the win over Jones to revitalize his career. A pair of losses to Vuyani Bungu, the latter in April of 1997, bracketed a loss to Barrera and had McKinney slipping in the world rankings prior to the fight with Jones.

"That was a big win for me," McKinney said. "I knew the skill level I still had, but a lot of people had counted me out. They thought Jones would beat me because I lost to Barrera and he had beaten Barrera twice.

"But I think he underestimated my punching power."

A right hand, while moving right, ended the fight.

"I knew he would come out fast because he always does, but I also knew he would get tired because he always does," McKinney said. "By the fourth round he was winded and he relaxed and dropped his left hand. I stepped right and threw my right.

"Man, I loved it when that punch connected."

For the fight with Espinosa, McKinney is back to the 126 pounds he carried earlier in his career when he was fighting regularly in Las Vegas. He was the IBF champion at 122 pounds from 1992-94.

"I feel about the same (at 126) except it gives me a little more power," he said. "My health is good and I've already been training eight weeks. It takes me a little longer to get my body in shape than it once did, but I'm back in love with the sport and I think the sport is back in love with me."

Orleans card(s)

The Orleans is hosting a Top Rank card Friday and then a Tony Trudnich-promoted card the following week, Nov. 27.

Headlining this week is former WBC lightweight champ Stevie Johnston, 24-1, and Demetrio Ceballos, 20-2, in a 10-round bout. Just added to the card is Oba Carr, 46-2-1, in an eight-round welterweight fight with journeyman Verdel Smith, 35-24. (Carr vs. Frankie Randall -- with the winner in line to face Oscar De La Hoya -- has been added to the Feb. 13 De La Hoya vs. Ike Quartey card at the Thomas & Mack Center.) Also on the card is promising junior lightweight Diego Corrales, who is 24-0 and a potential world champion.

Topping next week's card are a pair of 12-round fights: middleweights Peter Venandcio, 37-3-1, and Rito Ruvalcaba, 19-2; and lightweights Juan Prado, 9-0, and Douglas Villarreal, 24-3-1.

Quick Hits

UNLV's club boxing team will hold a fund-raiser Friday at Big Dog's, with several professional fighters expected to attend including Wayne McCullough, Kevin Kelley and Mike McCallum. Tickets are $100. Call Big Dog's or 734-5266 for more information. ... NABF light heavyweight champ Derrick Harmon of Las Vegas pulled out of his fight last Friday in Miami with ex-champ Montell Griffin, citing bruised ribs. While Harmon was seeing Dr. Robert Voy for his troubles, Griffin unexpectedly lost a decision to late replacement Eric Harding. ... Local lightweight David Sample has a spot on the jam-packed Dec. 5 card in Atlantic City that will also include a Johnny Tapia vs. Nana Konadu cliffhanger. ... De La Hoya will resume training for his fight with Quartey on Dec. 15 in Big Bear. Quartey resumes Jan. 2 in Pensacola, Fla. ... Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Dr. Elias Ghanem fell last weekend and broke an arm. ... Arizona Charlie's decided to skip its usual monthly card in November. ... Former world champion Roger Mayweather took a decision win over Patrick Byrd last Friday in Morton, Minn. ... The companion main event on the McKinney-Espinosa card Nov. 28 in Indio between Miguel Angel Gonzalez and Kostya Tszyu was called off when Gonzalez suffered a bruised rib (while sparring with Oba Carr). America Presents is looking for a replacement to face Tszyu. ... Angel Manfredy says he'll win "by eighth-round knockout" when he faces Las Vegan Floyd Mayweather Dec. 19 in Miami. Mayweather is training in Big Bear. ... Promoter Dino Duva says he has set "a tentative date of Nov. 30 for a press conference" to announce a Lennox Lewis vs. Evander Holyfield fight, provided rival promoter Don King can agree to terms. "If he intends to keep that date, he'd better decide soon," Duva said. ... No boxing notebook next week as the Sun does not have a paper on Thanksgiving.