Columnist Dean Juipe: Expect a war between De La Hoya, Quartey

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998 | 11:22 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursdays on page 3. Reach him at juipe@ lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

What may well be the toughest fight of Oscar De La Hoya's career presents a problem for promoter Bob Arum.

De La Hoya's Nov. 21 opponent in Las Vegas -- Ike Quartey -- is an undefeated slugger with the capability of pulling off an upset. De La Hoya vs. Quartey could be a classic.

Yet here's Arum's dilemma: Quartey doesn't have the name-recognition value of a Pernell Whitaker or Julio Cesar Chavez, men De La Hoya defeated before rousing live crowds and extensive pay-per-view audiences.

"This is the most interesting fight Oscar has ever had," Arum said, "but the general public doesn't know who Quartey is. So my job as a promoter is to familiarize people with him."

Toward that goal Arum spent Wednesday in New York, collecting ideas and showing off a new "I Like Ike" video that eventually will find its way to TV.

"You can't equate pay-per-view sales with the quality of a fight," Arum said. "If you could, this would be Oscar's biggest revenue fight. But I'm a realist and I know this is going to take some work."

De La Hoya, 29-0, and Quartey, 34-0-1, will headline at the Thomas & Mack Center with the WBC welterweight championship on the line. Quartey recently relinquished his WBA welterweight title, electing to bypass a mandatory defense against Andrei Pestriaev and take the greater payday that's assured in a fight with De La Hoya.

For what it's worth, Arum has been down this road before.

"John Mugabi against Marvin Hagler," he said, referring to a March 10, 1986, fight at Caesars Palace that pitted a 26-0 African against a man making his 12th title defense. "Boxing fans knew Mugabi was a tough guy but the public didn't know him.

"But we ended up doing a pretty good job promoting him."

Hagler won that fight by knockout in the 11th round.

Now here's another undefeated African -- Quartey -- presenting Arum with a promotional challenge. And while Quartey comes across as agreeable, his English is limited and what he has to say rarely makes for an interesting headline.

"Well, English isn't his first language," Arum said. "But we'll get him talking and bring him out. You'll see."

Quartey, 28, will train for the fight in Pensacola, Fla. De La Hoya, 25, will train at his home in Big Bear, Calif.

Tickets for the fight are on sale at the T&M and at Caesars Palace and are priced from $50 to $800.

McClain's claim

John McClain grew up in Las Vegas and launched his professional boxing career here. But in recent years he has had a number of fights in Europe and in some respects he's anchored there, defending his minor (WBU) cruiserweight championship.

"I'm much more serious these days," McClain said during a visit to Las Vegas. "I'm feeling none of the cruiserweights anywhere in the world can beat me."

McClain, 31, lives in Hollywood and trains in Los Angeles under Freddie Roach. He's 24-6-2 and has an Oct. 24 title defense against Vincenzo Cantatore in San Remo, Italy.

"I seriously doubt some Italian can beat me," McClain said of the 16-2 Cantatore. "But I also know they're trying to get me beat over there. I signed a three-fight deal with a promoter in Italy and I think his whole idea was to try and get my championship away from me."

McClain -- whose mother still lives here -- said he has had "no serious wear and tear" on his body, although he once broke an ankle that later required surgery and the insertion of three screws.

"My only complaint is that I'd like to be fighting in Las Vegas," he said.

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Las Vegas heavyweight Cliff Couser upped his record to 17-3 last Thursday in Kansas City, taking a 10-round decision over veteran Big Foot Martin in the main event of a card that drew 2,500. "I rocked him in the third and then again in the sixth, then I went to jabs and right hands," Couser said. "He didn't hit me with anything." ... Although he had been scheduled to fight tonight in Kansas City, Las Vegas super middleweight Joseph Kiwanuka withdrew from the fight and raised the ire of his manager. "He hasn't been training," John Phillips said. "I can get him a lot of fights but Joe doesn't act like he wants to fight. He says he wants to go home (to Africa) to clear his head, but I told him he needs to be fighting." ... Junior lightweight John Palaki was forced to drop out of a fight last Thursday in Seattle, due to an injury he sustained while training in Las Vegas. "It broke his heart and it broke mine," said his manager, George Chemeres. "He got a chipped bone in his left arm while sparring and I took him to Dr. (Robert) Voy, who said he wasn't fit to fight and put it in a cast. He's going to be out for a couple of months."

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The Orleans has dropped Bam Promotions and will, instead, use Tony Trudnich's Las Vegas Sports Promotions for its monthly shows. Trudnich, who has promoted fights in Las Vegas on and off for 22 years, debuts at The Orleans Oct. 30. ... Former world champion Roger Mayweather returns after a long absence and will take on Patrick Byrd Nov. 13 in Morton, Minn. "I figure I need two or three fights to get right," Mayweather, 36, said. "I know this is my last dance, so I'm going to try it and see what happens. I want to get back in boxing and the clock keeps ticking, so I'd better do it now." ... Newly crowned WBC junior lightweight champ Floyd Mayweather is up for a Dec. 12 fight with Angel Manfredy in New York on HBO, yet his uncle and adviser, Jeff, says it's only "50-50" the fight comes off. "We're willing, so it's up to Manfredy," Jeff Mayweather said. "December is fine with us because we want to keep Floyd busy. We want him to be a young, active champion. But I don't know if Manfredy's people think the timing is right." ... The man Floyd Mayweather defeated last week for his championship, Genaro Hernandez, is being slotted for a title fight with WBC lightweight champ Cesar Bazan.

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Nevada Partners will host a tournament for novice amateurs (with three or fewer fights) Saturday at 5 p.m. Twelve bouts are scheduled and the admission fee is $10 for adults and $5 for children. ... Local junior welterweight David Sample has signed with Don King Productions and will look to jump start his career with a fight next month on a card in Albuquerque to be promoted by DKP. "I feel good and strong and I'm looking to stay busy," Sample said. He's also moving to 140 pounds, saying "135 was killing me." ... Top Rank has added an Oct. 17 card at the CasaBlanca resort in Mesquite, with Eric Morel headlining and Frankie Randall and Tony Marshall in separate support bouts. ... A New Jersey judge has ruled the WBA cannot match Andrei Pestriaev and James Page for its vacant welterweight title, indicating No. 2 ranked Jose Luis Lopez must be Pestriaev's opponent when the title comes up for grabs. Pestriaev and Page will fight a nontitle bout Saturday from Paris on Showtime. ... The Tropicana will headline featherweights Manuel Marquez and Francisco Arreola for its next card, Oct. 24.