Columnist Dean Juipe: ‘Unknown’ Coley at front of line for De La Hoya bout

Dean Juipe

Thursday, March 25, 1999 | 11:43 a.m.

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

When promoter Bob Arum talks about Oscar De La Hoya's future plans and opponents, the names come easily to him.

There's a fight with Oba Carr May 22 at Mandalay Bay. Down the road is a lucrative bout with fellow welterweight champion Felix Trinidad. Also in the mix is WBC junior middleweight champ Javier Castillejo, to be followed by emerging 154-pound stars like David Reid and Fernando Vargas.

Assuming De La Hoya continues winning, there is no shortage of prospective fights out there for him.

But there's one name Arum doesn't volunteer, and it seems a bit conspicuous given Derrell Coley's position as De La Hoya's mandatory challenger at 147 pounds.

If De La Hoya wants to keep his WBC welterweight championship, he's going to have to fight Coley. The due date for that mandatory is June 13, which means a De La Hoya vs. Coley fight has to at least be in the discussion stage by then.

"I think Top Rank has something against me," Coley said Wednesday from his Capitol Heights, Md., home. "They wanted to sign me a few months ago, but I didn't think it was in my best interests."

Coley rejected Arum's promotional deal and, instead, signed with America Presents. He's fighting an opponent yet to be determined April 3 at the New Frontier in Las Vegas on an America Presents card.

"I'm going to get that fight with De La Hoya," Coley said. "They can't avoid me, even if they don't want anything to do with me.

"What I don't understand is that if they just look at me as a pest, don't duck me. Go ahead and let Oscar fight me and get me out of the way."

Of course De La Hoya could avoid Coley by relinquishing his 147-pound title and moving up in weight. But that would seem to be a few months away, which puts Coley in the picture and predicting a major upset.

"I'd be disappointed if we didn't fight, if only because it wouldn't allow me to prove I'm a better fighter than De La Hoya," Coley said. "I know I'm better than he is."

Coley, 28, is 33-1-2 with 23 knockouts. His only loss was by split decision to Carr in 1995.

De La Hoya is 30-0 and is favored to handle Carr, 48-2-1, at Mandalay Bay. They'll be in Las Vegas today to formally announce the fight and meet the press after going through the same routine Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Coley doesn't think Carr has what it takes to defeat the champion.

"They pick all of Oscar's opponents very carefully," he said. "I like Oba Carr as a person and, honestly, he's got as good a chance as anybody. But I don't think he has a helluva chance.

"He's not tall enough and his arms aren't long enough. He's not going to beat De La Hoya."

Coley says he has the physical assets that Carr is lacking for the task of unseating De La Hoya.

"With my style and my height and my quickness, I can do it," he said. "All these other guys De La Hoya is fighting are shorter than he is."

Likewise, Coley was not impressed with De La Hoya's decision victory over Ike Quartey last month.

"Quartey is so basic," he said. "He's not tall and he's not fast. I was surprised that De La Hoya found this guy all that hard to beat.

"If he couldn't figure Quartey out in 12 rounds, he's not that smart."

Coley has never fought for a world title in a pro career that dates from 1990. His best wins have come against Terrence Alli, Ray Lovato, Pat Coleman, Kip Diggs and Romallis Ellis.

In his most recent outing, Coley stopped Mike Bryan in one round last December in Michigan.

He said he's in good shape for his April 3 fight here after sparring for several weeks with Andrew Council.

Coley's promoter, Dan Goossen, said from his Denver office that he anticipates a fight with De La Hoya being made and perhaps targeted for a July date.

"We're working very well with Top Rank these days," he said. "Derrell's sitting on the sidelines waiting for something to happen, and we're looking to get a deal done with Arum by June."

Goossen doesn't think De La Hoya will stumble against Carr.

"If Oscar does have any trouble with Carr, I'll buy Bob Arum a car," he said.

KIWANUKA DATE: The seemingly stalled career of local super middleweight Joseph Kiwanuka has received a boost, as the former NABF champion will face veteran Vinny Pazienza in Ledyard, Conn., April 9 on ESPN2.

Kiwanuka, 26-3-2, has slumped the last couple of years after appearing to be a rising star. He lost his NABF title to Thomas Tate.

Pazienza, of course, just keeps fighting and wins often enough to remain marketable in his native New England. He's 44-7.

"Pazienza's like a tiger, he never quits," said Kiwanuka's manager, John Phillips. "But I think he's making a big mistake by fighting Joseph.

"They think Joseph's shot, but he's not.

"My prediction is that Joseph retires Pazienza."

Kiwanuka is training at the Ringside Gym.

AUSTIN MIFFED: IBF bantamweight champion Tim Austin is fighting Saturday in Miami on Showtime, and he's looking at an easy defense against Sergio Aguila. He's also wondering why a major fight continues to elude him.

"It gets frustrating at times," Austin said during a conference call this week. "But it is how it is."

Austin, 18-0-1, at one time thought he would get that marquee fight in fellow 118-pound champion Johnny Tapia. For a brief time both men were with promoter Don King, although Tapia has since left King and been dropped from Austin's plans.

"I could tell you all sorts of stories (about Tapia)," Austin said. "But what I hear is he just doesn't want to fight me."

Austin has not fought in nine months, or since his most significant win. He took the IBF title from Mbulelo Botile last July, forcing the South African into submission in the eighth round in spite of suffering from a broken jaw.

Now the jaw has healed and Austin has also had some teeth repaired. "I'm putting everything back together," he said. "But I've been running back and forth to the dentist."

Austin, who turns 28 next month, is a southpaw and a former Olympic bronze medalist. His opponent in Miami, Aguila, is 24-12-1.

TROPICANA CARD: Forum Boxing of Los Angeles is putting on a card Saturday at the Tropicana hotel, and heavyweights Ed Mahone and Steve Pannell will headline.

Mahone is 19-0-2, while Pannell is 33-5. They're scheduled for 12 rounds.

Two excellent young fighters highlight the undercard. Acelino Freitas, who fights as both a junior lightweight and a lightweight, is 19-0 with 19 knockouts and will be in against the 29-13-3 Luis Lizarraga. And Isreael Vazquez, a super bantamweight with a 20-1 record, will take on Nestor Lopez, who is 19-5-2.

QUICK HITS: It appears as if a Roy Jones vs. Reggie Johnson light heavyweight unification fight is headed for the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Jones, who has the WBC and WBA titles, apparently is passing on an earlier tentative fight with England's Steve Collins to accept this June 5 fight with Johnson, the WBA champion. ... The April 3 card at the New Frontier that has Coley as a participant also picked up a light heavyweight fight between Derrick Harmon and Greg Wright. Harmon, who lives in Las Vegas, is 17-0 and has the NABF title. Wright is 14-5-2. ... The Orleans will headline with IBF featherweight champ Manuel Medina vs. Victor Polo for its next card, April 16. That's a fight that initially had been scheduled for April 10 in England. ... A judge has mandated that promotional firms Don King Productions and America Presents work jointly and split profits and expenses 50-50 as they pertain to junior welterweight contender Miguel Angel Gonzalez. Look for Gonzalez's long-delayed fight with WBC champ Kostya Tszyu to be finalized within the week. It's tentative for April 24 at a site yet to be determined. ... Reno will host the NABF convention June 2-6.