Columnist Dean Juipe: Couser looks a lot like … a contender

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Aug. 10, 2000 | 9:51 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.

Cliff Couser can no longer be derided as a novelty act.

The Las Vegas heavyweight, a half-brother to Mike Tyson and a dead ringer for him physically, is stepping out of that shadow and earning plaudits for his exploits in the ring.

He had his finest night as a professional fighter last Sunday in Philadelphia, Miss., blasting out fellow Las Vegan Jorge Luis Gonzalez in a one-sided bout that was finally stopped by referee Raymond White at 2:50 of the third round.

Couser, 20-5-2 with nine knockouts, had Gonzalez down twice in the first round and again in the third before landing a series of punches that left Gonzalez trapped in a corner and out on his feet. On the heels of a decent win over Dale Crowe in June, those who have criticized Couser for his Tyson imitations owe it to themselves to take a second look.

"I feel good and I'm not thinking of titles, rankings or anything like that," Couser said. "I'm just looking to beat some guys and let people know I'm for real. I'd like to fight this Lance Whitaker guy next."

It was no sure thing that Couser could beat Gonzalez, yet he followed his aggressive game plan and dominated the nationally televised fight. For Gonzalez, 35, it was his sixth loss in 37 fights and may have put him on the journeyman's treadmill once and for all.

"He tried to intimidate me at the press conference and again at the weigh-in," Couser said. "He was messing with me and getting in my face. I pushed him in the chest (at the weigh-in) when he said something like 'You think you're bad.' He thought I was a punk and that he could get over on me."

Couser, 30, said his only regret was not seeing Gonzalez actually counted out by the referee.

"I got him, but I didn't get him like I wanted to," he said. "I could have killed him in there. At the end, he was looking at me like nothing was wrong, but he was really hurt and didn't know what day it was."

He re-broke the right hand he had fractured while taking the WBA title from Nestor Garza in March at Mandalay Bay.

Adams, who is staying in his native Kentucky for a few days, was also cut in the opening round over the right eye when Fernandez appeared to butt him. Fernandez hardly came out unscathed and was cut both above and below the left eye by the time the fight was stopped by referee Monte Oswald at 2:32 of the sixth.

Adams is 40-3-3 and likely looking at another layoff.

On that same Madison card, former U.S. Olympian Eric Morel won the WBA flyweight title by taking a unanimous decision over Thailand's Sornpichai Pisnurachank.

It was Gannon's first fight in two years and it didn't go well.

"I'm on the fence," Ryan said. "I don't want to see Rocky get hurt, but, quite honestly, he wants to fight again and the fans and folks at the Regent loved him.

"What I'm going to do is have Rocky work with (UNLV coach) Skip Kelp for the next month and then we'll make a decision. I'm counting on Skip to tell me honestly what he thinks."

Gannon, who is also a security guard at Regent Las Vegas, is a former light heavyweight who gave away some 80 pounds to Wolfgramm and who may be too small to fight the big heavyweights.

"Rocky never lacks for spirit, but he's not a boxer per se," Ryan said. "Maybe the best thing that could happen would be for him to be matched accordingly and become a very pleasant local favorite.

"But his fight with Wolfgramm followed a too-familiar pattern. Rocky disobeyed his trainer's orders and went to his toe-to-toe style that tends to get him cut. It was the worst thing he could have done under the circumstances."

Also on the card are two former key figures from the heavyweight division, ex-champ Oliver McCall and Henry Akinwande. McCall, 36-7, meets Sedreck Fields, 10-10, in one 10-round fight, while Akinwande, 37-1-1, takes on Andy Sample, 24-1-1, in another.

"It's a blessing to be back," said McCall. "I'm a changed person from when I was last here and I'm looking forward to redeeming myself in Nevada."

McCall, of course, broke down in tears during a 1997 fight with Lennox Lewis at the Las Vegas Hilton.

"No more cigarettes, no lusting after women, no gambling, no cursing," McCall said of his new outlook. "I'm grateful for life these days."

Top Rank has added a Sept. 24 card in West Wendover, with former lightweight champ Jorge Paez, 64-14-4, in the 10-round main event against an opponent to be determined. ... Top Rank's Aug. 27 card at the Plaza downtown has undergone a slight revision, with Anthony Martinez, 14-2-2, replacing Victor Polo in the main event against Juan Manuel Marquez. ... The Henderson P.A.L. will host its first amateur card Aug. 19 at 2 p.m. The gym, located at 105 West Basic, has been in existence for two years. ... Augie Sanchez leaves Wednesday for his Aug. 19 fight in Connecticut with Prince Naseem Hamed. He has been sparring with Kevin Kelley -- who lost a 1997 donnybrook with Hamed -- and Adarryl Johnson. "I'm getting some very good work," Sanchez said.