Columnist Dean Juipe: Joppy to meet Pitt in return to ring

Dean Juipe

Thursday, July 22, 1999 | 9:42 a.m.

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

The last time World Boxing Association middleweight champ William Joppy fought in Las Vegas, he was making mincemeat of the legendary Roberto Duran.

Joppy overwhelmed Duran that night -- Aug. 28, 1998 -- at the Las Vegas Hilton, finishing the job with a third-round technical knockout.

But Joppy has not fought since, and, in fact, his own flesh was subjected to some slicing and abuse in a vicious car accident in January that led to a fractured neck and a huge gash along his right cheek.

He had to pull out of a scheduled mandatory defense with Australia's Darren Obah, which had been set for Feb. 6 in Washington D.C.

Only now is Joppy ready to fight and resume his career, and he'll step back into the ring Saturday at the Flamingo Hilton when he takes on Napaleon Pitt in a 10-round bout that will not have the WBA title at stake. Nonetheless, Joppy knows the title will become vacant in the event he unexpectedly loses.

"I'm not looking at this as a tune-up," he said Wednesday at the Nevada Partners gym. "It's too important to think of it like that. I've got to be ready to fight and I feel I am."

Joppy, 28, is a Maryland native known for his quickness and counterpunching. He rose to WBA champion in 1996 before losing the belt in his third defense, against Julio Cesar Green, late in '97. He avenged that loss to Green early in '98 but now is looking at having to face the New Yorker a third time, as Green is back as the mandatory challenger after filling in for Joppy and defeating Obah Feb. 20 in his home state.

"I think we'll fight in September," Joppy said of meeting Green yet again. "I'd like to win that fight and then try to unify the division."

One complaint against Joppy is that he has not faced a high caliber of opposition, aside from Green. Duran was way, way past his prime when he faced Joppy and there are not too many recognizable names on the champion's resume.

Pitt, regretfully, fits the stereotype. He's a mere 14-10-1 and the best thing that can be said of him in the prefight promotional package is that he's "a rugged veteran."

Joppy isn't apt to have any trouble.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't ready to fight and win," he said. "I'll be prepared. My conditioning got me through the recovery stage of the (automobile) accident."

Asked what he thought after the impact of the crash and the potential effect it might have on his career, Joppy said "I wasn't sure at the time. I mean, I wasn't scared, but I didn't know how I bad I was hurt."

* NO RESPECT: Terronn Millett, a third world champion who's fighting on Saturday's Flamingo Hilton card, had a surprising admission during a conference call held earlier this week. Millett, who whacked out Las Vegas' Vince Phillips in five rounds to take the IBF junior welterweight title in February, said the championship hasn't brought him much celebrity in his hometown of St. Louis.

"My life has gotten worse," he said. "Coming home to St. Louis after I won the title, nobody knew about it. Nothing changed for the better."

That lack of respect is evident almost daily in Millett's life.

"I still have an 11-year-old Mustang," he said. "And I still work for my mother delivering furniture. I get harassed daily by the police in St. Louis, who think that a young (black) male should not be driving around in certain areas. Give me a break."

Millett, 31, may not be overly recognizable as either a fighter or a celebrity, but he's working on it. He took a huge and somewhat surprising step by demolishing Phillips in New York, forcing the champion to quit at 1:58 of the fifth.

"It's been a long road," Millett said. "I'm still struggling because I don't have the recognition, but that just makes me train harder. I felt I was unfairly punished in the Phillips fight because he waited to the last minute to get his weight down and wasn't prepared."

He's right: Boxing fans were more apt to feel Phillips gave the title away rather than giving Millett credit for winning it. Over time, Millett hopes that impression will change.

"I just need to keep winning," he said. "I'm stronger than people think and a tad faster. I'm one of those fighters who believes actions speak louder than words."

Millett is 21-1-1 with the loss occurring in a Las Vegas fight in which he was not the least bit impressive. It was September of 1995 and Millett failed to last the first round with Sharmba Mitchell.

"I showed a lack of maturity," Millett said. "I let the moment overcome me and he hit me with a nice shot and knocked me down. I was ready to continue fighting but the referee stopped it."

Now both he and Mitchell are world champions and Millett would like to face the current WBA titleholder again.

But first, Millett has to get past his Saturday opponent, Virgil McClendon. The latter is a slick southpaw with a 21-1 record but only eight KOs. He also hasn't fought in 14 months and doesn't have any sort of major victory in his background.

"He's your basic left-hander," Millett said. "He hasn't really shown me too much of anything. I'm still trying to figure out why I'm fighting him, but I don't have any problem with it."

* QUICK HITS: In addition to Saturday's 2:30 p.m. card at the Flamingo, the Tropicana has one that begins at 7:15 p.m. and will headline heavyweights Ed Mahone and Derrick Banks. Mahone is 20-0-2 and Banks is 18-3-1. Sharing the top of the bill with them are welterweights Edgar Ruiz, 15-1-1, and David Kamau, 28-3. ... Las Vegas heavyweight Jorge Luis Gonzalez has a televised fight Sunday in Kansas City with Tommy Martin, and Las Vegas light heavyweight Derrick Harmon has a spot on the undercard. Gonzalez, who knocked out Alex Stewart in two rounds June 6 at the New Frontier, is 28-5, while the unheralded Martin is 12-1. "We don't pick 'em, we just fight 'em," Gonzalez's trainer, Kevin Henry, said of Martin's lack of fame. As for Harmon, he'll put his 16-1 record up against Germany's Ray Berry, who is 18-2-1 but with only seven knockouts. ... Ex-champ Roger Mayweather will take on fellow Las Vegan Leroy Owens August 7 in Louisiana. "I know Leroy and he's kind of hard to fight," Mayweather said. "I may not be able to do it, but I'd like to knock him out."

The New Frontier has announced its next main event, scheduled for August 8, and the featured performer is ex-world champ Rafael Ruelas. While he hasn't fought since losing to Kostya Tszyu last August, Ruelas is 52-4 with 42 KOs. He'll try to extend his career at the expense of the unknown Hicklet Lau, who is 11-5-1 with seven KOs. Local featherweight Augie Sanchez tops the undercard. ... Rafael's equally susceptible brother, Gabe, is also on the comeback trail and has taken an August 7 fight in Miami with journeyman Jose Rodriguez. Gabe hasn't fought since losing to John Brown last October. ... WBA junior middleweight champ David Reid gets right back into the gym after beating Kevin Kelley last week in Atlantic City, as Reid has taken an August 28 fight with former champ Keith Mullings at a site still to be determined.

As an offshoot of promoter Panos Eliades donating $25,000 to the UNLV club boxing team (Wednesday's Sun), consider the trickle-down effect it may have on youth boxing in the city. "This is huge for us," said Richard Steele, who coordinates a youth boxing program at the Nevada Partners gym that caters to some 75 youngsters. "I've got all these kids in our program and probably none of them will become world champions, but now I can tell their parents they can continue boxing and go to college at UNLV. It's a chance to talk about education and a totally different way of looking at boxing. The fact that UNLV is going to be able to keep this boxing program is strong for everyone in Las Vegas because now it can work hand in hand with the community." ... Also taking in Eliades' check presentation ceremony Wednesday at UNLV was Rock Newman, now a Las Vegas residen t and best known in boxing circles for guiding Riddick Bowe to the heavyweight championship. "I still get a lot of calls, but I'm retired from boxing," New man said. "People didn't believe me when I said I'd quit when Bowe lost his title, but I'm done with it."

Las Vegas fighters continue to have a tough time on the road, with James Crayton losing to John John Molina last Friday in Atlantic City and Merqui Sosa getting annihilated by James Butler the same night in Hampton Beach, N.H. Sosa, 33-9-2, may have seen his career come to an end as Butler, 14-1, had him down twice in the second round before the one-sided fight was stopped. Sosa, like Crayton, took his bout on short notice as the scheduled main event that night in New Hampshire between Demetrius Davis and Bryant Brannon fell out. ... John Caluwaert, who manages former light heavyweight champ Montell Griffin, has asked promoter Tony Trudnich to use his man in the August 20 main event at The Orleans. "Then we want Michael Nunn," Caluwaert said. ... Finally, some movement on the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad betting line at the host site, Mandalay Bay. This week the numbers moved to De La Hoya's favor, as he is now a minus 140 favorite. Trinidad is a plus 110.

archive