Columnist Dean Juipe: Flashy Hamed returns to ring Saturday

Dean Juipe

Thursday, April 8, 1999 | 10:53 a.m.

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

The fighter other fighters -- and many fans -- love to hate is back in the ring Saturday on HBO.

England's Prince Naseem Hamed, a flamboyant and unbeaten featherweight, goes after his 32nd consecutive victory when he takes on countryman Paul Ingle at the NYNEX Arena in Manchester, England. While neither man has lost a professional fight, it's Hamed in his familiar role as the betting favorite.

"I'm an entertainer, a showman and a fighter," he said in an HBO release. "Some people like the showmanship, some just want to watch the knockouts. With me, you get both."

Fans, however, got neither in Hamed's most recent outing as Las Vegas resident Wayne McCullough extended him the full 12 rounds in a decision loss Oct. 31 in Atlantic City. Hamed was roundly booed by the audience, although he won on the judges' scorecards by 8, 6 and 4 points.

Hamed, 25, is 31-0 with 28 knockouts.

Ingle, 26, is 21-0 with 15 KOs.

"I just concentrate on enjoying myself and making sure the atmosphere is electric for the fans," Hamed said. "I want people to see more than a boxing match. I want to entertain them and show them I'm more than just a boxer.

"I'm the complete package."

The southpaw -- whose picture adorns a stamp in his parents' native country of Yemen -- looked like the complete package in blasting out ex-champ Kevin Kelley Dec. 19, 1997, in New York's Madison Square Garden. But he appeared to have stagnated in his fight with McCullough, and it's uncertain how much of a test Ingle will provide.

Looking ahead, it's said that a Hamed vs. Manuel Medina fight could follow and perhaps serve as the Las Vegas debut for the multinational sensation. If that fight comes off -- and it may also land in New York -- it would be a rematch of a 1996 fight in which Hamed defeated Medina by 11th-round knockout.

Medina is training in Las Vegas for an April 16 fight at The Orleans in which he will defend his IBF featherweight title.

* NSAC MEETING: Officials for three upcoming title fights in Las Vegas were selected Wednesday at a meeting of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

For the May 8 WBC super bantamweight championship between Erik Morales and Wayne McCullough at the Las Vegas Hilton, Jay Nady of Las Vegas was named referee and David Chung of Korea, Bob Logist of Belguim and Daniel VandeWeile of Belgium were picked as judges.

For the May 22 WBC welterweight title fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Oba Carr at Mandalay Bay, all local officials were selected. Richard Steele will referee and Chuck Giampa, Jerry Roth and Carol Castellano will judge.

On that same card is the WBC junior lightweight title fight between Floyd Mayweather and Goyo Vargas, and Mitch Halpern of Las Vegas will serve as referee. Named to judge the fight were Ken Morita of Japan, John Keane of England and Anette Hongkongkan of Thailand.

* OUT OF TOWN: Two locally based fighters were in action out of town in the last week, with heavyweight Greg Page suffering a loss and junior lightweight Diego Corrales remaining undefeated.

Page, fighting in Worley, Idaho, last Thursday, dropped a 10-round split decision to Art Pendergrass. The loss knocked the former WBA champion to 55-14-1, while Pendergrass upped his record to 15-12.

Corrales, 21, stayed on track toward a mandatory IBF title shot by stopping Argentina's Claudio Martinet at 2:06 of the fifth round in a nationally televised fight from Chattanooga, Tenn. Corrales, 27-0 with 22 KOs, retained his No. 1 position with the IBF by landing a solid right hand that sent Martinet down and into the ropes. Martinet, 59-8-2, was unable to get up.

Two interesting sidelights to the latter fight: There was open scoring (and Corrales trailed on one card and was even on the other two at the time of the stoppage); and three Las Vegas trainers were in the ring, as Corrales had not only Kenny Adams but Miguel Diaz, while Martinet used Rafael Garcia.

* QUICK HITS: NSAC executive director Marc Ratner said he has received a letter from Don King Productions asking for either Nov. 6 or Nov. 13 for the Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis rematch. That fight's destination has yet to be solidified and London, New York and Las Vegas are all in the running. ... Ratner on an item in Boxing Update that claimed Greg Sirb, the president of the Association of Boxing Commissions, was threatening to halt all fighters from Mexico from competing in the U.S. because Mexico was not reporting fight results to Fight Fax: "He overstepped. Mexico hasn't been reporting its fights in a timely manner and the ABC is trying to make it better." But would Mexican fighters actually face a U.S. ban? "No, no, not at all," Ratner said. ... Holyfield and his wife of 30 months, Janice, are divorcing and the heavyweight champ is attempting to gain custody of the couple's six-month old son, Elijah. While it's unclear what financial settlement will be reached, Holyfield's previous divorce cost

him $4 million. He has, however, grossed $205 million in his professional boxing career.

Local heavyweight Todd Diggs is back in the gym and hoping to resurrect his career after four years away from the game. "I love to compete and I love to fight," Diggs said this week while working out at the Ringside Gym. "I saved up some money from working construction and I'm giving myself a little time to see if I can make this work out." Diggs, 28, was a two-time Nevada amateur champion who took a 15-1 record into the pros but went only 1-1-1 as a professional. He says he is down to 275 pounds (from 325) and he's trying to land a fight in the next few weeks. ... Johnny Tapia's April 24 opponent in Albuquerque looks like an easy one, as Argentina's Sergio Liendo is 56-13-3. Tapia, who recently re-signed with Top Rank, is 45-0-2. ... Just added to that Albuquerque card is local lightweight David Sample, who is 26-5-1 and will meet an opponent still to be determined in an eight-round bout. ... New WBC junior middleweight champ Javier Castillejo reportedly turned down $800,000 to fight IBF champ Fernando Varg

as, and, instead, will meet a far lesser opponent, Humberto Aranda, for far less money May 9 in Spain. Aranda is only 13-8.

Former junior middleweight contender Tony Ayala is due to be released from Bayside, N.J., prison April 20 after serving 16 years of a 30-year sentence for first-degree aggravated sexual assault. In the current issue of Sport magazine, released Tuesday, Ayala details the drug use and mental problems that plagued him during his boxing career. "I was using heroin every day," he said. "In between fights it was two, three times a day. Living life sober was impossible. Typically, the only times I'd stop using would be 10 days before a fight. I fought three of my fights under the influence." He also seriously considered suicide when he was first incarcerated. "I thought there was no way I was going to get through this," Ayala said. "I did not want to go on. I got comfortable with the thought of dying." At the age of 36 he's hoping to restart his boxing career aft er his prison release. ... IBF welterweight champ Felix Trinidad will get his mandatory defense out of the way May 29 in his native Puerto Rico when he tak

es on Vincent Pettway. A Trinidad vs. De La Hoya fight for September is still being discussed.

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