Columnist Dean Juipe: Sample to take stab at knocking off Zab

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 17, 1999 | 9:49 a.m.

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

David Sample has fought for a long time without making any serious headway.

A pro since 1990, Sample, now 30 years old, has been involved in a succession of club fights and currently holds a record of 26-5-1. He's lightning quick but a little suspect in the power department, as he has only 10 knockouts.

Yet the longtime Las Vegas resident gets the chance of a lifetime July 9 in Cape Cod, R.I., when he faces the IBF's top-ranked contender at 140 pounds, Zab Judah. ESPN2 will televise.

"The fight came out of the blue but I sure was glad to get it," Sample said this week at the Nevada Partners gym. "My opinion is that Judah's people look at me and see I've got only 10 knockouts and that I've been off for almost a year, and they think there isn't much danger. They're probably saying, 'It's a good, safe fight.' But I think they've bitten off more than they can chew."

Sample has no desire to belittle Judah, particularly since he sees him through a unique perspective.

"He's the fighter I was five or six years ago, except he has a big push behind him," Sample said. "He's got the advantages that I never had."

But with Sample feeling he has superior skills to what he did five or six years ago, he believes the fight favors him. "The way I look at it, if Judah wins it'll be an upset," he said, even though local oddsmaker Herb Lambeck makes him a 30-1 underdog.

Judah is 20-0 with 15 knockouts and is fighting Sample, according to a press release out of his promoter's office, because of his similarities to WBA champion Sharmba Mitchell.

"Judah and I have similar styles except I'm stronger and faster and much more intelligent than I once was," Sample said. "Judah is a good, young fighter and I give him credit for taking the fight, but I think we're going to go a few rounds and he's going to think 'Man, I'm not used to this.' "

That said, Sample realizes he's going to have to win the fight decisively to actually get the judges' decision.

"I can't allow it to be close," he said.

* TWO FEWER CHAMPS: With Arthur Williams losing one week and Frankie Liles the next, Las Vegas has two fewer world champions than it did at the start of the month. But in each case, the trainer of the deposed champ feels his man has what it takes to climb back to the top.

Williams, who had the IBF cruiserweight title, was a TKO-7 loser to Vassiliy Jirov in Biloxi, Miss., while Liles surrendered his WBA super middleweight title to Bryon Mitchell via a TKO-11 loss last Saturday in Worcester, Mass.

"I don't think he's finished," trainer Kenny Adams said of Liles. "He actually showed more than he had in the past, and now that he's lost he may be more open to suggestions than he was in the past."

Liles was ahead on the judges' cards yet the fight was called when he went down three times in the 11th, although there was no three-knockdown rule in effect.

"I think there will be an appeal," Adams said. "As it was, the fight almost didn't happen because of a problem with the judges."

Liles is 32-2.

"He admits it was his fault he lost," Adams said. "He had a weight problem and had to lose 12 pounds in the last week and five pounds the last day. It's something he's been doing for a long time, but it gets harder to take that weight off as you get older.

"The weight loss took it out of him. He got on the ropes in the 11th round and didn't have his legs."

Williams, 30-5-1, still has Eddie Mustafa Muhammad believing in him despite the loss to Jirov. Like Liles, Williams is also hoping for a rematch but, unlike Liles, there was such a clause in his contract.

"I think Jirov will fight his mandatory (vs. Saul Montana) and then fight Arthur again because he has to," Muhammad said. "It was a devastating blow for Arthur to lose, but it's not the end of the world. I think he could have done a little more to win and I think next time he will.

"But he got hit with a couple of good body shots that he said really hurt him, and after that he didn't respond."

* CLOSE CALL: Las Vegas heavyweight Jorge Luis Gonzalez and his trainer, Kevin Henry, were in McCarran International Airport on Monday night awaiting a flight to New York City when they heard their names paged. With Gonzalez having gone through a battery of tests earlier in the day to get a New York boxing license, they thought they were all set to step in and face Jeremy Williams on a card scheduled for Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Gonzalez had taken a call the previous day and accepted a late invitation to replace Hasim Rahman on the HBO-televised card.

"But then we hear our names paged," Henry said, picking up the story. "It was Jorge's manager telling us not to come, that Jeremy had said he didn't have enough time to prepare for someone as big as Jorge.

"It was a bad break but it's the kind of thing that happens in this game."

Journeyman Maurice Harris was more to Williams' liking and he gets the fight.

Gonzalez will fight July 25 in Kansas City instead.

* QUICK HITS: In the main event of that Saturday card in New York, Michael Grant (29-0) takes on Lou Savarese (39-2) and the winner may get WBC heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis in the event the Lewis vs. Evander Holyfield fight that had been planned for November in Las Vegas falls through. For what it's worth, Holyfield's manager, Jim Thomas, said Wednesday that HBO should be more agreeable in its dispute with promoter Don King, as it's that disagreement that may lead to the Lewis fight being cancelled. "I try not to think about what else we're going to do (if the fight falls through)," Thomas said. "I'm encouraging HBO to be more flexible." ... A new boxing movie, "Play It To The Bone," has been filming in Las Vegas for a few weeks. It will feature Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas as has-been boxers who are brought in as last-minute replacements for a big fight in Las Vegas. Ron Shelton -- "White Men Can't Jump," "Tin Cup," "Bull Durham" -- directs.

Former heavyweight contender Joe Hipp is in Las Vegas training and hoping to reignite his career at the age of 36. "Physically, I feel great," he said. "I think I can be a good fighter for another year or so." Hipp is looking good and is coming off a back injury that was the result of a car accident. How bad was it? "Bad on my end," he said, a smile belying the pain he obvious had felt. ... Las Vegas amateur star Jason Ingwaldson was beaten in last weekend's U.S. Challenge in Colorado Springs, dropping a 20-13 decision to Mahlon Kerick of Spokane and settling for a silver medal. Nonetheless, Ingwaldson was named to the U.S. team that will compete in the Pan American Games that will be held July 29-Aug. 7. ... The Nevada Partners gym will hold a "Family Night" tonight at 6 p.m. The hour-long affair is the result of coordinator Richard Steele's desire "to ge t families more involved with their kids." Call 399-5627 for more information. ... Current boxing odds at the Las Vegas Hilton: Oscar De La Hoya minus 120,

Felix Trinidad minus 120; Michael Grant minus 1500, Lou Savarese plus 1000; Johnny Tapia minus 500, Paulie Ayala plus 250; Stevie Johnston minus 800, Aldo Rios plus 550; and Butterbean Esch minus 500, Peter McNeeley plus 350.