Columnist Dean Juipe: Adams to fight Garza for title

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000 | 9:39 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.

Every Las Vegas newcomer dreams of hitting a quick jackpot as soon as they reach the city.

Yet few wasted as little time as Clarence "Bones" Adams, who was here less than a week before striking it rich.

Adams, 25, was still settling into his new Las Vegas home when the phone rang Monday. Upon answering it he said "yes" to a simple question, and, just like that, he was in a world championship fight with World Boxing Association super bantamweight champ Nestor Garza.

Adams and Garza will meet March 4 at Mandalay Bay on the undercard of the Paulie Ayala vs. Johnny Bredahl main event.

"It was beautiful," Adams said of taking a fight that Danny Romero rejected. "I knew I had the inside track with Garza if Danny didn't want to do it, but when the call came I was real excited.

"I hadn't even been here a week and I was feeling as if things just couldn't be better."

Adams, 38-3-3 with 18 knockouts, expects to make Las Vegas his permanent home.

"I brought the whole family," he said, referring to his wife and two children. "Over the years I've come out to Las Vegas quite a few times and I've always liked it.

"At first my wife didn't want to move here, but she's glad we did now. Where I'm from -- Henderson, Ky. -- there's not much boxing and no gym.

"Being here will be way better for me."

Adams, who began fighting at the age of 7 and who was a remarkable 176-4 as an amateur, is working with trainer Pat Barry and hopes his on-again, off-again career will get a boost in a city that calls itself the boxing capital of the world.

But his life will really change for the better if he's able to take matters into his own hands and defeat Garza.

"I knew Danny didn't want to fight Garza," Adams said of Romero declining the opportunity. "Danny's too small for that division. He's been fighting at 112 (pounds) and Garza is a guy who's strong, busy, active and keeps coming in."

Romero is a former world champ at 112 and 115 who later moved to 118 and, after a fainting spell, decided he was better off at 122. But he apparently didn't feel he was ready for Garza, who is 35-1 and hasn't lost since a TKO-5 setback to Angel Rosario in 1997.

"Danny feels he can do whatever he wants," Adams said. "He thinks he'll get a title shot whenever he feels like it."

Adams should see a payday for the Garza fight in the neighborhood of the $87,500 that Romero initially turned down.

"This is obviously the chance of a lifetime," he said. "I'm going to do more than usual to make sure I'm prepared.

"I'm always in shape but I've got to make sure I am this time because Garza will take a beating and continue to come and come and come."

Adams is marginally familiar to local fight fans and his bout with Garza will be his fourth one here. He made headlines in 1991 by being the youngest professional fighter ever to compete in Nevada when he appeared at the age of 17 on a card at the Plaza hotel-casino.

In the biggest fight of his career to date, he fought to a 12-round draw with Kevin Kelley Sept. 9, 1995 in the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace.

But his career has been up and down, with three consecutive losses (to Orlando Canizales, Frankie Toledo and Jeff Trimble) in 1993-94 and an inactive period of 17 months in 1998-99 when he returned home to Kentucky to open a pizza parlor. That business venture has since expanded to 15 pizza shops.

Adams has fought twice since his lengthy break, handling veterans Lee Cargle and Aristead Clayton, the latter Nov. 26 in Louisiana.

He moved into position for the fight with Garza by sharing the same booking agent that Romero uses, Cameron Duncan.

Now he's hoping to build some local support, and toward that goal he and Barry have purchased 144 T-shirts that Adams fans can acquire free by bringing a ticket to the March 4 card to Barry's gym at 2763 S. Highland.

"I need as much support as I can get," Adams said. "Garza will have his fans there, so I feel like I need some people to be rooting for me."

* TYSON ON DISPLAY: Mike Tyson has been unusually talkative during his two-week stay in England that leads up to his Saturday fight with Julius Francis in Manchester. Tyson, 46-3-1, is being paid $12 million for the fight, while Francis, 21-7, receives $560,000.

Tyson is a 16-1 favorite in English betting parlors.

"It's been like Beatlemania," Tyson's manager, Shelly Finkel, said of the public's response to his man's presence in England.

Tyson has drawn large crowds whenever he has set foot in public and he seems to have handled the attention with a certain aplomb.

"I'm a totally different entity than what people think," he said. "I've been stigmatized by the world press, but I don't care anymore."

If he gets past Francis as expected, Tyson may advance to a March 25 date with an opponent to be determined, but likely to be Lou Savarese. That fight could be held on the East Coast of the United States or at any number of sites in Europe.

Reports from England indicate Tyson looks strong and fit, yet he said "I still have a ways to go. I wish I felt as good as everyone says I look. But I'm on my way."

Showtime will televise his bout with Francis on a same-day delayed basis.

* QUICK HITS: Las Vegas featherweight Augie Sanchez has a spot on the Tyson undercard. ... WBC junior lightweight champ Floyd Mayweather of Las Vegas was in New York this week to iron out a contract extension with HBO. While Mayweather had earlier rejected a six-fight, $12-million deal, this time he was anxious to sign for the same rate and apparently he will get his wish. A source close to the negotiations said Wednesday that both sides had reached agreement and that the contract would be drawn up shortly. ... WBA featherweight champ Freddie Norwood of Las Vegas is in Japan for a Sunday fight with Takashi Koshimoto. The challenger is a southpaw with a 23-0-2 record that includes 13 knockouts. Norwood, also a left-hander, is 35-0-1. Distraught at the lack of quality light heavyweights, undisputed champ Roy Jones may turn his attention to Evander Holyfield. While Holyfield has rejected such talk in the past, it has since been reported that he recently agreed to discuss a bout with Jones. ... Zahir Raheem, a featherweight who is 13-0 and fights for Top Rank, may be forced into a quick retirement due to hand injuries. ... UNLV will host a club boxing card Feb. 5 at The Sporting House. ... The annual Golden Gloves competition has been set for March 31 and April 1 at The Orleans.