Two Las Vegans could square off for WBA championship

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999 | 10:50 a.m.

Having jumped into the mandatory challenger's position among IBF junior lightweights, plans are already in motion to secure a world-title fight for Las Vegas resident Diego Corrales.

And if all the dominos fall in the proper order, later this year it could be Corrales in a WBA title fight with a fellow Las Vegan, Justin Juuko.

With IBF champ Robert Garcia's mandatory defense not due until November, Corrales may take aim at the WBA title. Right now that belongs to Takonon Hatakeyama of Japan, but Juuko -- who is fighting Saturday in Fort Worth -- may face Hatakeyama this summer and may very well win.

If so, he would make an "easy" defense before taking on Corrales. Discussions for such a fight -- which would be something of a landmark bout, pitting one Las Vegan against another for a legitimate championship -- have already been held.

"The kid's in a great situation," Corrales' agent, Cameron Duncan, said Wednesday. "He's so young and so talented and he's only going to get better. We're in no rush and we have more than one option."

If anything, the brakes are temporarily on the Corrales Express after the 21-year-old Californian fought nine times in 1998. As it is, he's training in Albuquerque for an April 2 fight on ESPN2 against an opponent yet to be determined.

"I like to stay active but I do need some down time," he said. "I mean, nine fights in one year was OK because I had to establish myself, but now I'm ready for a higher caliber of fighter."

He's 26-0 overall and 1-0 this year after defeating Gary St. Clair with the IBF's No. 1 position on the line.

"It's fun to be the mandatory challenger," Corrales said. "It shows I'm actually close to my goal of winning a championship. So things are a blast and I'm not really in a hurry anymore."

At 6-foot, he's tall for 130 pounds and may be close to having some trouble making the weight, yet he's committed to the division for the time being. "I don't want to leave it without having won a championship," he said, although he recently weighed as much as 156 pounds and went to Albuquerque at 148.