Stewart seeking elusive title shot

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 3, 1999 | 11:52 a.m.

After 52 professional fights, Alex Stewart gave himself a reality check.

"I've been losing," he said. "My motivation hasn't been there."

But now, he adds, his outlook has changed, thanks in large part to getting a Sunday fight in Las Vegas with fellow heavyweight Jorge Luis Gonzalez.

Stewart and Gonzalez are meeting at the New Frontier in a battle of 34-year-old sluggers who, it could be argued, have seen better days. Yet each has been promising a resurrection, Gonzalez making that point clear last week and Stewart doing it this week by phone from his Los Angeles training site.

"Beating Gonzalez is what's driving me," Stewart said. "That and the fact I never got a title shot."

Stewart is 43-9 with 40 knockouts and has faced a roster of solid fighters since turning pro in 1987. Nevertheless, and in spite of having faced Evander Holyfield twice as well as George Foreman, Mike Tyson and Michael Moorer, Stewart has never stepped into the ring with a world championship at stake.

"Moorer, Foreman, Holyfield, Tyson, even Jesse Ferguson -- I've fought all these guys without ever getting a title fight," Stewart said. "What happened to me? I don't know the answer to that, other than to say when it comes to the big dance, nobody wants to dance with me."

Part of the trouble, of course, is that Stewart lost by knockout and then by decision to Holyfield and lost by knockout to Tyson and Moorer. He defeated Ferguson, who went on to get a title try, and, in arguably his finest moment as a pro, he went the distance with Foreman April 11, 1992, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas and left the ring looking like the victor.

The decision, however narrow, went to Foreman although it's still easy to recall Big George's pummeled face at the post-fight press conference. Stewart, meanwhile, came out of the bout virtually unscathed. It's possible he performed so well that night in a losing effort that other big fights passed him by, the result of his being seen as too dangerous.

"Everybody knows I really beat Foreman," Stewart said. "I made him look worse than he did after fights with Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton. I showed that he could be beaten and we know -- and the public knows -- I deserved to win that fight. But after that fight, Holyfield was the only fighter who wanted to face me and that wasn't for any title."

Stewart fell into the journeyman syndrome, fighting steadily but gaining little ground. In the last couple of years the losses have outnumbered the wins, and he has dropped three of his last five fights heading into this one with Gonzalez.

Included in that recent run is a Jan. 16 loss in Las Vegas to rising contender Lance Whitaker. Stewart put up a good fight in that one until Whitaker picked up the pace and won by seventh-round TKO. It was that loss that had Stewart re-evaluating his position in the sport.

"I'm being used as an opponent," he admitted. "There really hasn't been any pressure on me, because even if I lose there'll be another young fighter who wants to use me as a steppingstone.

"But my outlook now is that I'm starting all over again. I'm feeling that I'm back at the beginning, looking for a couple of big fights."

Gonzalez, officially 27-5 with 25 knockouts but 33-5 with 30 KOs according to him, almost qualifies as a big fight for Stewart. Conversely, it's also a big fight for Gonzalez.

"He needs me as much as I need him," Stewart said. "No doubt he's a great fighter who has all the tools. His only problem is that he got distracted, but if he says he's training harder than ever I don't have any doubt that he's telling the truth."

Stewart says he's in top shape for the fight and will come in around 240 pounds. While he said he's not considering retirement in the event he loses, he badly wants to win.

"I'm not making a lot of money in boxing," he said. "So in some respects, I have nothing to lose so I may as well take some chances. I know I'm nearing the final chapter of my career and I really would like to get a title fight before it's over."

Stewart vs. Gonzalez tops a seven-bout card of a show promoted by America Presents. Also scheduled: Mario Iribarren, 22-1-1, vs. Syd Vanderpool, 24-1-1, 10 rounds, junior middleweights; Jesse Varela, 10-0, vs. Aboulai Awel, 6-1, six rounds, junior welterweights; Emiliano Valdez, 5-2-1, vs. Leokava Latu, 6-1, six rounds, junior middleweights; and bouts featuring heavyweight Duncan Dokiwari, 13-1, super bantamweight Rudy Martinez, 8-0, and junior welterweight Lonnie Smith, 45-5-2, against opponents still to be determined. First bell is at 3:30 p.m. and the main event is scheduled for 4. The majority of the undercard will follow.