Columnist Dean Juipe: Clash of 130-pounders at MGM could resemble a battle royal

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000 | 11:41 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.

If this were wrestling, it would be a cage match.

Think of the possibilities: Four men, equally matched in terms of size and ability, together in one ring.

That will be the case to some extent March 18 at the MGM Grand Garden when four stalwarts from boxing's 130-pound division square off, albeit in two separate events. WBC champion Floyd Mayweather will defend his title against former champ Goyo Vargas, and IBF champ Diego Corrales puts his belt on the line against mandatory challenger and longtime contender Derrick Gainer.

HBO will televise the doubleheader.

The story line includes the likely possibility that the winners will meet at a later date.

As it is, each of them is certainly agreeable to the winners-advance idea.

"I'm willing to do it," Mayweather said at a Wednesday press conference at the MGM. "I want the winner of the other fight, I want Prince Naseem Hamed, I want Stevie Johnston and I want Paul Spadafora.

"I want to fight the best and it's time not just to talk about it, but to do it."

Promoter Bob Arum said he can accommodate the 22-year-old Mayweather on all but the request for Hamed.

"I can deliver all of them except Hamed," Arum said. "Who knows what's going on with him? What am I going to do, put a gun to his head and force him to fight Floyd?"

Arum, who has Mayweather under a promotional contract that runs into 2003, has a greater priority when it comes to his junior lightweight champion. In two weeks, he and Mayweather's new manager -- James Prince -- will attempt to persuade HBO to re-offer a six-fight, $12-million deal that the fighter initially rejected and that the cable company later pulled from the table.

"We'll be meeting with HBO and see if we can get the offer reinstated," Arum said. "Twelve million is exceptionally fair and I think Floyd and Prince know that now. They've more than come around, they really want to get it done."

Mayweather, 22-0, drew considerable criticism for turning down the offer; his fight with Vargas is the final one under his existing contract with HBO. Likewise, Mayweather has been criticized in some quarters for hiring Prince and pushing his uncle, Jeff, and father, Floyd Sr., into reduced roles. Floyd Sr. remains his son's trainer but is said to be unhappy with his lessened influence.

"Everything's good between my father and me," Mayweather said, dismissing the controversy. "I'm getting along with everyone. I'm happy."

He said he is running "five to seven miles every day" and that his weight is an unproblematic 136 pounds. Conversely, the 29-year-old Vargas looked heavy Wednesday, perhaps in part because he has not fought since July.

"I'm not looking past him though," Mayweather said. "My WBC belt is my pride and joy and I want to keep it."

He was to have fought Vargas, 40-6-1, last May at Mandalay Bay but the bout fell through the week of the fight when Vargas became ill.

"I'd like to apologize for that," Vargas said through an interpreter. He added that "I know this is going to be a very tough fight but I'm a better fighter, a more experienced fighter. I'm coming to win."

The MGM sports book has not yet posted a line on that fight, nor on the one involving Corrales, 30-0, and Gainer, 33-4. But word is that Mayweather will go up as a 9-1 favorite, while Corrales will be posted at 7-5.

"My size will make a big difference," the 6-foot Corrales said, referring to his three-inch advantage over Gainer. "He's normally a rangy fighter, but I'll take that away from him."

Gainer recognizes he's the shorter man but says his 72-inch reach is one inch better than his opponent's.

"He's taller but my hand speed is the key to this fight," Gainer said. "He can't out-box me and he can't keep up with me. We're two guys who have some range and who counterpunch a lot, but my speed will be overwhelming."

Gainer is appreciative that Corrales took the fight earlier than he had to under IBF guidelines, and that he's finally getting a world-title fight after several years in the trenches.

"I was very surprised when they told me I had the fight," Gainer said. "You go through a lot in boxing and wait for your time, and it looks like mine has finally come. It's been so hard for me to actually get a title fight that I have a lot of respect for Corrales on that level."

Gainer, 27, is on a 16-fight winning streak. He's a southpaw who has stayed on the fringe of the championship race without being rewarded.

"This is the fight I've been waiting for," he said. "I can talk all I want about being the best, but this is the guy I have to beat to be considered one of the best."

Corrales rose not only to championship status but in public esteem by knocking out highly regarded Roberto Garcia last October at the MGM. Corrales was a slight underdog that night against the reigning champion, and he rallied for a victory after walking into the ring in terror.

"It was the first time anyone ever really saw me nervous," he said. "Usually I can say 'I'm OK, I'm OK' but I couldn't even say that much that night. I was nervous walking to the ring and I was still nervous when the fight began.

"I was a real mess."

Nonetheless he gathered his wits and stopped the previously unbeaten Garcia in the seventh round. Now, at 22 years old, Corrales has a championship and the opportunity for greater riches.

He has fought once since handling Garcia, taking a decision over John Brown Dec. 4 in Oregon. For that fight, Corrales was still bothered by an injured right hand and his weight was such a problem that he didn't get down to 130 until the crowd began arriving for the fight.

He says he's fine now and is anxious to secure his reputation as one of the sport's rising stars.

"There are still people out there who don't believe in me," he said. "I still have my doubters."

Like his cohorts on this March 18 card, Corrales realizes there is an ulterior reason it features four men in the same weight class.

"I don't think it's a coincidence," he said. "Maybe there's some doubt about me fighting Floyd, but if it's offered to me I won't turn it down."

* TYSON MATTERS: Promoter Dan Goossen, who handles Mike Tyson, can breathe a sigh of relief now that his man's Jan. 29 fight in England with Julius Francis will come off as planned. British authorities had indicated an unwillingness to allow Tyson entry into the country and they had the right to bar him under a law that limits the access of felons who have served at least a one-year prison term.

Tyson was cleared to enter England today.

"Yeah, I know," Goossen said Wednesday in response to a question asking if someone affiliated with the fighter shouldn't have looked into this before the fight with Francis was announced. "We're supposed to dot all the i's and cross all the t's."

Goossen was leery that the Tyson issue had become a political football in Great Britain.

Fellow promoter Bob Arum, who has not always supported Goossen, came to his aid during the conversation.

"I'm not a Mike Tyson fan but this is ridiculous," Arum said. "In the last three months I bet they've allowed 400 people with worse records than Tyson into the country.

"I know when I first took Muhammad Ali to England, there were a half dozen people in the entourage with worse records than Mike Tyson."

Francis' manager, Frank Maloney, told English reporters he was furious that this issue might have halted a fight that has already sold out a 21,000-seat arena.

"This is the result of people trying to get publicity in the only way they know how, and it stinks," he said. "We've allowed Nazi war criminals in and a dictator from Chile. Yet a man who has served his sentence for a crime he committed is the subject of a campaign."

Tyson worked out Wednesday at the Golden Gloves Gym after taking Tuesday off when the brouhaha initially surfaced. His trainers, Tommy Brooks and Jay Bright, maintain he is fit and ready to go.

"Tyson is a much better fighter at this stage before a fight than he was before the Orlin Norris fight at the same time," Brooks said. "He has been looking at some of his past fights and saying 'Man, I can't believe I was doing stuff like that.' He's much more relaxed."

Tyson plans to leave for England early next week.

"He told me he wants to look sensational," Brooks said. "Mike is going to knock out anybody we put him against. He's known for knocking people out and that's what he does best, and that's what we'll be trying to do."

Brooks is familiar with Francis and doesn't give him much of a chance.

"I've seen Julius before," he said. "He's in for a rude awakening. We're going to put him in the cheap seats. This guy doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell."

* QUICK HITS: It appears as if the promising career of local amateur standout Jason Ingwaldson may be over. Ingwaldson, who moved to Las Vegas to train under the guidance of referee Richard Steele, is under a six-month medical suspension imposed by USA Boxing for a head injury suffered in the Pan American Games that resurfaced during a recent competition. "He might not be able to fight again," Steele said, referring additional inquiries to Dr. Robert Voy. Citing doctor-patient confidentiality, Voy declined to elaborate but confirmed the injury. Ingwaldson, a lightweight, has been dropped from USA Boxing's quarterly rankings after once being the top-rated amateur at 132 pounds. ... With Ingwaldson out, Ishe Smith -- No. 6 at 147 pounds -- is the only local amateur in any division in USA Boxing's current rankings.

Shane Mosley, who fights Willie Wise Jan. 22 at the Hard Rock, said by phone from Los Angeles that he's "sharp" and currently weighs 152 pounds for a fight scheduled for 147. "Willie and I haven't met but I hear he's a nice guy," Mosley added. "I don't dislike or hate him but I have a job to do and I'm confident I'll beat him." Mosley, 33-0, will make a public appearance Tuesday at Saturn of West Sahara in Las Vegas beginning at 4 p.m. ... The UNLV club boxing team has added two fight cards: Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. vs. Air Force and Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. vs. Penn State. Both cards will be held at The Sporting House. Air Force is the defending national champion and Penn State is ranked No. 2.

The Orleans has a fight card set for Friday. Scheduled: Ernesto Zepeda, 23-3-2, vs. Ernest Koffi, 33-7, 12 rounds, junior lightweights; Freddie Neal, 13-0-1, vs. Eddie Croft, 23-5-1, 10 rounds, junior lightweights; Reggie Roberts, 8-1, vs. Jonathan Young, 6-3, six rounds, light heavyweights; Arthur Petrasyan, 2-0, vs. Pablo De La Mora, 2-0-2, four rounds, lightweights; Jesse Brinkley, 9-1, vs. Jason Dietrich, 3-4, six rounds, junior middleweights; and Daniel Felix, 1-0, vs. Shawn Spencer, 1-3, four rounds, lightweights. First bell is 7 p.m. ... Undisputed light heavyweight champion Roy Jones fights Saturday in New York against David Telesco, with HBO televising. Jones is 41-1, Telesco 23-2. ... IBF junior middleweight champ Fernando Vargas, who fights Felix Trinidad April 15 at Mandalay Bay, pleaded innocent to felony assault charges at a Wednesday hearing in Santa Barbara (Calif.) Superior Court. A trial date will be set Jan. 26 for Vargas and four others accused of roughing up a man last month. ... A feder ally appointed monitor has been assigned to handle the business of the IBF, pending resolution of corruption and racketeering charges against the organization.

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