Columnist Dean Juipe: Lewis plans to end career-long knockout slump

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Nov. 4, 1999 | 10 a.m.

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

His reputation as a heavy-handed slugger in some jeopardy after having consecutive fights go the distance, Lennox Lewis admits he's looking for a knockout when he faces Evander Holyfield Nov. 13 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Lewis, the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, may still have a glistening 34-1-1 record with 27 KOs but he not only failed to punch out Holyfield when they fought to a draw March 13 in New York, he went 12 rounds with the less formidable Zeljko Mavrovic in his preceding fight.

The 24-round drought is by far the longest in the Englishman's career.

"I'm going to go in there and definitely try to finish it," Lewis said this week during a conference call that also included Holyfield, the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation champion. "I'm dealing with Evander Holyfield, so I know what to expect. If the opportunity presents itself, I'd like to get rid of him.

"I don't get paid for overtime."

Holyfield, 36-3-1 with 25 KOs, may have similar knockout expectations but he's not saying so this time, not after predicting a third-round KO prior to his fight with Lewis in New York.

"I know I can go the distance," he said. "The difference this time is that I know what he's capable of doing."

In their public comments, Lewis is more brazen and Holyfield more pensive than they were the first time around. That, of course, is a logical byproduct of Lewis seemingly having won the first fight even if the judges scored it a draw.

"I believe (fans) respect me more," Lewis said. "They realize I'm the best heavyweight on the planet. I'm still unheralded (but) everyone has told me I got ripped off."

He's training in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, while Holyfield is training in Houston. Both will be in Las Vegas by Monday for a fight in which Lewis is a slight betting favorite.

"Lennox has more skills than I gave him credit for," Holyfield said. "No doubt my opinion of him has gone up."

That said, he still feels three-time opponent Riddick Bowe was a better big man than Lewis "because of his quick hands." (Holyfield went 1-2 vs. Bowe.)

"Everybody has to say what makes them feel comfortable," Lewis said of Holyfield's rating system and the fact the former undisputed champion believes he's better prepared for the rematch. "Evander has to do what pleases him. I don't have anything against him; we're both competing for the same thing."

* BRAMBLE BIZ: Veteran Livingstone Bramble of Las Vegas has a Nov. 19 fight in Oneida, N.Y., with Frank Houghtaling, yet he already has his eye on a possible December fight with fellow Las Vegas junior welterweight James Crayton.

"I want his a-- right now," Bramble said of Crayton. "This fight has got to happen. It makes sense: We're both here and we don't like each other. It will be one of Vegas' best fights in a long time."

Bramble, 40-14-3, is mad at Crayton for knocking down Summer DeLeon, a female fighter who Bramble trains. DeLeon and Crayton sparred recently and Bramble thinks the crafty Crayton came on a little too strong.

"Crayton used to date Summer," Bramble said. "He used to go out with her. Then he knocks her down. I say we gotta fight."

The Orleans would be the likely host site if that fight comes off.

As for his fight with Houghtaling, Bramble isn't sure what to expect but is confident he'll win.

"I don't know much about him except he's won five in a row and is something like 9-6," Bramble said. "But the way I am right now, it's going to be hard to stop me. I refuse to lose."

* QUICK HITS: New IBF junior lightweight champ Diego Corrales (29-0) will make his first defense against John Brown (20-6) on Dec. 4 on a card supposedly headed for an Indian reservation in Oregon. Corrales' stock skyrocketed after he knocked out Roberto Garcia two weeks ago on the Mike Tyson vs. Orlin Norris undercard at the MGM. ... Las Vegas heavyweight Cliff Couser says he has accepted a March 18 fight in Germany with big-hitter Vitali Klitschko. ... The opponent for Las Vegas heavyweight Charles Shufford has changed and he'll take on Anthony Moore (instead of Agustin Corpus) tonight in Worley, Idaho. Shufford is 11-0, Moore 8-13-1. ... Danny Romero, 35-3-1, apparently is done as a bantamweight after passing out last week prior to a scheduled fight in Fort Worth. Unable to make the weight, Romero collapsed during a strenuous workout and later withdrew from a card headlined by Paulie Ayala.

A Nov. 20 card at the Hard Rock has taken shape and will offer these three 10-round fights: Diego Morales, 19-0, vs. Adonis Rivas, 13-1-1, junior bantamweights; Marco Antonio Barrera, 49-2, vs. Miguel Arrozal, 27-11-1, super bantamweights; and Juan Manuel Marquez, 29-2, vs. Remigilio Molina, 35-3-1, featherweights. ... Dana Rosenblatt is a slight betting favorite in Las Vegas for his Friday fight (ESPN2) with ex-champ Vinnie Pazienza in Ledyard, Conn. Rosenblatt is up around town at a minus 130, with Pazienza a minus 100. ... The Miami Herald reported this week that as many as 30 fights in the last 12 years were fixed or qualified as "tainted," although almost all were in the South and Midwest. Among the supposed beneficiaries were heavyweights George Foreman and Butterbean Esch.