Columnist Dean Juipe: Williams hopes third time is a charm

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Sept. 3, 1998 | 11:05 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

He's 0-2 in world championship fights but there's a third one coming and Arthur Williams believes he'll win it.

The 33-year-old cruiserweight, a Las Vegan for several years, is up as the mandatory challenger to International Boxing Federation champion Imamu Mayfield. That match, which went to purse bid, has yet to find a site or a date. But by IBF edict it has to come off by the end of October.

Williams patiently waits.

"It's going to happen," he said this week while training at the Nevada Partners gym. "I've been told to get ready."

Toward that, he's leaving for a resort in the Poconos in upstate New York next week. He'll work there under trainer Slim Robinson and, come fight time, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.

"I'm on my last go-around, so I've got to do it this time," Williams said. "I've had lots of trials and tribulations getting over the hump, but I kept my faith in God and I've been rewarded."

Williams has been the mandatory challenger all year, but Mayfield has been reluctant to take him on.

"He's been ducking me," Williams said. "But now he doesn't have any choice."

When they fight, Williams will walk in with a 28-4-1 record that includes 20 knockouts and will be coming off his best-ever performance as a pro, a solid victory over former champion Adolfo Washington. Mayfield, who lives in New Jersey, is 18-0 with 14 KOs.

"He doesn't have what it takes to beat me," Williams said. "I know I'm more experienced; I've been through a lot of wars. And I also feel he's not as good a fighter as I am. He can box and I know he'll run, but I think I can pressure him and he'll fall apart."

Williams, a former Junior Olympic and world amateur champion while growing up in Florida, had his confidence boosted by his hard-fought, nationally televised victory over Washington.

"I felt I was backed to the wall in a way," Williams said. "I had to beat the guy if I wanted to keep my (mandatory) spot. I came into the fight ready, really pumped up, and I started real quick.

"After that, I realized he was kind of easy to hit and it was over."

Contrast his confidence that night vs. his outlook as he went into the second of two fights -- and losses -- to then-champion Orlin Norris.

"I walked into the ring knowing I was going to lose," Williams said. "I'd overtrained and I was weak from having to lose too much weight. Plus my family was in for the fight (at The Mirage) and they were bugging me.

"In the dressing room before the fight I felt faint. I walked that off but when I was in the ring and the bell rang, I didn't feel right.

"By then, it was too late."

He laughs at the recollection, able to put whatever hurt there was behind him.

"I never got discouraged," he said. "If anything, losing that second fight to Norris made me want a championship even more."

Williams said he weighs 208 pounds right now and that he can comfortably lose 10 pounds in two weeks. He has to reach 190 by fight time.

"I know I can win and this time I feel I'll do it," he said. "I love the sport of boxing -- I'm not in it for the money -- and I've been able to keep my dream alive.

"I've never given up."

Gannon's done

Light heavyweight Rocky Gannon of Las Vegas appears to have fought for the last time.

"Yeah, I think so," he said, when asked about retirement after being flattened by Antonio Tarver in two rounds Sunday night in Chester, West Va. "It's about the right time."

Gannon, 28, is 29-9 but has lost two straight by knockout and has lost four of his last seven fights overall. Tarver, a 1996 Olympic bronze medalist who is now 11-0 with nine KOs, dominated Gannon and left him thinking of getting out before it's too late.

"I can't keep taking these punches," he said. "I don't like getting my head bashed in. (Tarver) was a very good fighter and when it comes to guys like this who've been through the Olympic Trials and Olympics, it's a little too much for me."

His wife, and manager, Nicki, agreed.

"I'm not going to waste my husband's life on this," she said, advocating retirement. "He's got nothing to be ashamed of; this is another stepping stone."

The Gannons are looking to manage and train fighters and perhaps run a gym in Las Vegas.

Rocky Gannon's biggest win was a 1996 decision over Thomas Tate in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Sobral listens

The shoe is on the other foot as high-school teacher -- and undefeated junior middleweight -- Manny Sobral is in Las Vegas to take some advice from trainer Jerome Coffee and hopefully sharpen his game. Sobral, 28, is an impressive 25-0 despite holding a teaching position at a high school in Vancouver.

"He's still got a lot of work to do," Coffee said. "He has some little bitty things he doesn't do right, and I'd like to take that stuff out of his arsenal."

Sobral has trained with Coffee in Las Vegas in the past but his fights are always in Canada. He's the Canadian champion at 154 pounds and he was also a member of Canada's 1988 Olympic team.

Not being aligned with a major promoter has Sobral on the outside when it comes to landing big fights. Yet he has victories over mid-level opponents like Las Vegans Chris Sande and Leroy Owens.

"The trouble is, he does some things that the guys at the top of the world rankings would see and take advantage of," Coffee said. "That said, I'd take a 50-50 chance if we could get a fight with someone who's with a big promoter. I just wouldn't want to throw him into some fight he might lose right now."

As an anecdotal aside, Sobral once had a fight in Canada that was every boxing fan's dream: The winner -- Sobral, as it turns out -- was paid $25,000 while the loser took home nothing in a bout held under winner-take-all conditions.

Around the ring

Lightweight David Sample of Las Vegas says he is signing with promoter Don King. "I'm looking for a fresh start," Sample said of the move. "I'm 30 and this is the last big push for me. I'm looking for some help." Sample raised his record to 26-5-1 last weekend at the Las Vegas Hilton in what was his first fight in nine months. "I'm hard to beat even when I'm not busy," he said. "If I can fight more often than I have been, it's got to help." ... Top Rank has signed former lightweight world champ Jorge Paez and has him headlining a Sept. 12 card in Indio, Calif. Paez had been fighting for Forum Boxing of Los Angeles. ... Las Vegas junior lightweight Floyd Mayweather has taken his camp to Big Bear, Calif., as he prepares for WBC champ Genaro Hernandez Oct. 3 at the Las Vegas Hilton. ... Also bound for Big Bear is WBA featherweight champ Freddie Norwood of Las Vegas. He's fighting Sept. 22 in Tokyo. ... Robert Allen, who fought to a no-contest with IBF middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins last Friday at the Hilton, has agreed to take on USBA and NABF champ Antwun Echols Sept. 19 in Atlanta on the Evander Holyfield vs. Vaughn Bean undercard. The winner -- and it's a toss up -- will get Hopkins, who bowed out of an immediate rematch with Allen due to a bruised ankle suffered in last week's fight. ... Four-round heavyweight specialist Butterbean Esch has his opponent for Sept. 18 at the Thomas & Mack Center lined up and it's Troy Roberts, a 14-6 journeyman from Canada. ... An amateur team representing the Nevada Partners gym won 10 of 13 matches in a competition at Hurricane, Utah, and the team will also compete in the prestigious Blue and Gold Championships in Los Angeles this weekend. ... Ring Talk (KRLV 1340 AM and KSHP 1400 AM) offers Larry Holmes, Fernando Vargas and Dan Goossen Saturday at 8 p.m.