Brown-Jirov to do battle on Felix and Oscar’s undercard

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999 | 11:54 a.m.

The Canadian government didn't feel it was imperative for Dale Brown to have to train in Las Vegas, and, as a result, it lifted his visa following a fight 19 months ago in Montreal.

Brown, a native of Calgary, had trained in Las Vegas for two years before taking a Feb. 5, 1998, fight in Quebec with Val Smith. When Brown tried to return to Las Vegas, the government stepped in to deny him a visa.

But it was more than willing to accede to Brown's wishes and allow him to travel to Las Vegas this week, as the former Olympian and the current North American Boxing Federation cruiserweight champion earned a fight with International Boxing Federation champ Vassiliy Jirov.

Brown and Jirov will meet in the featured undercard bout beneath the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad main event Saturday at Mandalay Bay.

The 27-year-old Brown is hoping it proves to be something of a triumphant return to what was once his adopted hometown.

"There's no doubt living and training in Las Vegas while I did was very good for me," he said Wednesday. "I learned a lot from all the fighters and trainers I was around. Las Vegas is the hub of boxing and I was shocked when I wasn't allowed to return."

This will be his first fight here and it's a big one. Jirov, 25, is 21-0 with 19 knockouts and is an extremely formidable champion.

Brown is 18-0-1 with 13 KOs and recognizes he's the underdog.

"I think Jirov is the best cruiserweight in the world," Brown admitted. "He comes forward and he works the body and he's very aggressive. I'm going to have to move, use my jab, and fight a smart fight."

Laughing, Brown said he would come into the ring "wearing a suit of armor" in an effort to withstand Jirov's vaunted body-punching ability. The IBF champ took that title by hammering another Las Vegan, Arthur Williams, relentlessly to the midsection when they fought in June.

Jirov won that fight by seventh-round TKO.

"He's going to hit me to the body, we all know that," Brown acknowledged. "I know I can't slip all of his punches and I know he's had a lot of knockouts, but this fight is a dream come true for me and I'm capable of surprising him, or anyone else."

When Brown was training here, he worked under Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and, later, Jerome Coffee. Now he's trained by Stephan Larouche and Yvon Michel.

"You have to have it in you if you're going to come to Las Vegas and train," Brown said, "and I've always felt I had it in me. This fight here is the one I've been training for all my life."

Jirov, a native of Kazakhstan who now lives in Phoenix, was a gold medalist and was named the Most Outstanding Boxer in the 1996 Olympics. Oddly enough he has fought in Las Vegas more often than Brown, having appeared on four previous Top Rank undercards.

"I promise this fight will be no less interesting (than the main event)," Jirov said in his improving English. But if that prediction is to hold true, Brown will have to be up to the test in a fight that came as something of a surprise when it was offered to him last month.

"I was a little leery at first because I've had other big fights fall through," Brown said, referring to bouts with World Boxing Association champ Fabrice Tiozzo and World Boxing Council champ Juan Carlos Gomez that were on the drawing board but were later scrapped when Brown wouldn't agree to all the conditions.

"(Promoter) Don King wanted to own me for a little too long if I won," he said of the most significant obstacle in getting in the ring with Tiozzo or Gomez.

Brown gained the NABF title by defeating another Las Vegan, Brian LaSpada, three years ago in Calgary. Brown has fought 10 times since and most recently retained the NABF championship by taking a decision over Terry Pitts last May in Montreal.

There is no betting line up on any of Saturday's undercard fights, although local oddsmaker Herb Lambeck makes Jirov a 3-to-1 favorite.

Other fights

Saturday's complete undercard also includes: Johnny Nelson, 34-12-1, vs. Sione Vaati Asipeli, 15-1-2, 12 rounds, cruiserweights; Justo Sanchez, 9-9, vs. Bones Adams, 37-3-3, six rounds, junior lightweights; Tony Marshall, 32-7-6, vs. Verdell Smith, 36-29, 10 rounds, junior middleweights; Miguel Angel Granados, 19-8-1, vs. Eric Morel, 22-0, 10 rounds, junior bantamweights; Butterbean Esch, 46-1-2, vs. Ken Craven, 12-5, four rounds, heavyweights; and a women's featherweight bout between Mia St. John, 12-0, and Kelly Downey, 3-1.

Nelson vs. Asipeli is scheduled for 5 p.m., with Granados vs. Morel opening the pay-per-view telecast at 6. The bouts featuring St. John and Esch will follow, with Brown vs. Jirov immediately preceding a main event that is tentative for 8:30 p.m.

Nelson, 32, is an Englishman with nine consecutive victories, including a pivotal one earlier this year over Carl Thompson. His opponent, Asipeli, is a fairly unknown native of Tonga who is 21 years old and has never faced an opponent of Nelson's ability.

Granados, 26, is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Oscar Arciniega and is apt to have a difficult time with Morel. The former U.S. Olympian is 23 years old and looks to be building championship credentials.

St. John, 22, is featured in this month's Playboy and, like Esch, has become a staple of Top Rank's more important undercards. "I wanted to give women's boxing some exposure, no pun intended," St. John said of her Playboy spread, although the pun is unavoidable.

Esch, 33, is coming off a foot injury and says "everything is great. I'll try to get my fight over with as quickly as possible." He may add to his collection of 35 knockouts at the expense of Craven, a late replacement for the earlier announced Matt Green.