Columnist Dean Juipe: Grigsby thinks he’ll be first to beat Lopez

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Sept. 30, 1999 | 9:15 a.m.

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

There are those, including the betting public, who believe Will Grigsby is in with Ricardo Lopez as a sacrificial lamb.

Grigsby may be the International Boxing Federation junior flyweight champion, but it's Lopez who is favored to win their Saturday fight at the Las Vegas Hilton. Lopez is 47-0-1 with 35 knockouts and has the credentials to qualify as a legendary figure in the sport, particularly if he continues winning.

Grigsby, meanwhile, is 14-1-1 with six KOs and is relatively unknown beyond his Twin Cities residence. In the Hilton sports book, he's a plus 280 underdog and Lopez is a minus 360 favorite for a fight to be televised by the Showtime cable network.

But Grigsby, polite and cordial, feels he's poised to upset the 32-year-old Lopez, who will be fighting for the first time at 108 pounds.

"I still figure him as a great fighter, but he might be a little bit on the way out," Grigsby said at the Hilton, where he is putting the finishing touches on 12 weeks of training. "It's kind of a miracle he's still undefeated, although he hasn't fought that many great fighters."

Lopez wouldn't approve, yet Grigsby calls him "one dimensional" while calling himself "10 dimensional."

Grigsby also holds it against Lopez that he never tried to unify the three major strawweight titles, whereas Grigsby is plotting a run at adding to his belts at 108.

"To be regarded as a great fighter, you have to beat other great fighters," Grigsby said. "I want the big fights. I wanted this one and I kind of put the pressure on Lopez to do it, and I want to avenge the loss I had to Michael Carbajal and I want to go after the other champions.

"I also want to retire on top."

All those goals will qualify as nothing more than wishful thinking if Grigsby can't handle Lopez.

"This is the fight I was asking for," he said. "If he didn't want to come up to 108, I would have gone down and fought him at 105."

Among those anxious to make the match was promoter Don King, who handles both men yet has a greater allegiance to Lopez. While some would say King is "using" Grigsby, the fighter has no qualms with it.

"This is a business and this is how Don makes his money," Grigsby said. "His motives are money, but so are mine.

"He's given me everything I've asked for and he got me a title shot, so I can't complain. Besides, it's up to me what happens in the ring."

Grigsby, 29, emerged from the upper Midwest to become Minnesota's first world champion, defeating Ratanapol Vorapin by decision last December in Ft. Lauderdale. Grigsby has defended the title once, taking a decision over the unknown Carmelo Caceres in March.

The mere fact Grigsby became a champion was a surprise in that he was out of the sport for five years after losing a four-round decision to Carbajal in 1989.

"I liked boxing but I had managerial problems and it cost a lot to bring little guys to Minnesota to fight me," he said. "But I told myself that if I got a second chance, I'd become a champion."

He got that second chance and took the fight with Vorapin on a mere 12-days' notice. "Fortunately, I was used to short notice and I was ready," Grigsby said.

The 12 weeks he has had to prepare for Lopez is a personal record, Grigsby said, adding that he's in excellent physical condition and that his weight is never a problem.

"I've put in a lot of work with fighters who have Lopez's style," he said. "I've learned to fight inside a little better and I've built up some power.

"I feel I can adapt to anything Lopez will do."

Also on Saturday's card is a 10-round fight between Julio Cesar Chavez, 101-3-2, and journeyman Willie Wise, 23-6-4. Chavez is a minus 800 favorite in the Hilton sports book, with Wise at plus 500.

* TWO FOR THE ROAD: A pair of former world champions from Las Vegas will be in action out of town this weekend, as Arthur Williams takes on Dan Ward in Tunica, Miss., Friday, and Livingstone Bramble meets Benji Singleton in Albany, Ga., Saturday.

Williams, 30-5-1, will be looking to handle the 28-8 Ward and sharpen up for what he believes will be a rematch in the next few months with Vassiliy Jirov, the IBF cruiserweight champion who took his belt last spring.

"The faster I get this fight over with, the better," Williams said of facing Ward. "I don't know much about him, but that's no big deal. I don't need to go too many rounds, I just need to win."

He said his promoter, Murad Muhammad, has been in contact with Jirov's promoter, Bob Arum, and a rematch looks to be on the horizon. There was a rematch clause in their original contract.

As for Bramble, he's trying to keep his career going and on course for what he hopes is another title fight before retiring. He's 39-14-3, while Singleton is believed to be 20-30.

"This guy goes the distance with everybody, so I'm not going to go crazy and go for bombs," Bramble said. "I'm going to take the fight to him and entertain the crowd. I haven't been the distance in a long time and I'd rather knock him out, too, but I'm willing and able to go the rounds if need be."

Bramble, 38, is a former WBA lightweight champion who will be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in November.

"I'm taking it fight by fight," he said. "Right now I feel real good, but as soon as I get in a fight and see I can't react, I'll get out."

* QUICK HITS: A card that had been scheduled for Friday at the New Frontier has been canceled. ... WBA cruiserweight champ Fabrice Tiozzo has been added to the Nov. 13 Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis card at the Thomas & Mack Center. ... One night earlier, at a site in Las Vegas still to be determined, veteran featherweights Junior Jones and Tracy Patteson will tangle. ... WBA featherweight champ Freddie Norwood of Las Vegas has taken a Nov. 19 fight with Derrick Gainer in Tunica. ... The IBF has filed suit in federal court, seeking $450,000 from Oscar De La Hoya for his failure to pay its sanctioning fee prior to his fight with Felix Trinidad. Look for the IBF to prevail if there is no out-of-court settlement, despite De La Hoya's subsequent comments that he didn't want the IBF title anyhow. ... Heavyweight Axel Schulz, who lost last weekend to Wladima r Klitschko in Germany, has announced his retirement. Schulz, 30, who fought here in losses to George Foreman and Michael Moorer, said after the loss to Klitschko "I was never in the fight. You can't lose more clearly."

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