Columnist Dean Juipe: LV’s Adams won’t go to the videotape

Dean Juipe

Thursday, July 20, 2000 | 9:57 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.

It can sometimes be difficult to obtain, but there is tape of almost every fighter in the world.

As such, even though Andres Fernandez is a relatively unknown journeyman from New Mexico, he's likely to be found somewhere in the film archives.

Bones Adams, however, isn't interested.

"I don't look at tapes of other fighters," the WBA super bantamweight champion from Las Vegas said this week, when asked if he would attempt to locate some footage of his Aug. 5 opponent in Madison, Wis. "It's not my job.

"As a fighter, I know he's going to do something different against me, so why study what he did before? That's the trainer's job. I just go into the ring prepared for anything."

Fernandez, 16-4, and Adams, 39-3-3, will clash in Madison as part of an HBO telecast that also features Eric Morel in his first world championship fight. Assuming Adams wins, he hopes to fight again in November against similar competition and then have a high-stakes fight in January on HBO.

Mandatory challenger Antonio Cermeno is his likely opponent for the latter fight.

"I've earned it," Adams said of meeting a Fernandez-type fighter in his first title defense. "I've had a hard life and I've had some tough injuries, but I stuck with it. I love the game, but it's time for me to get paid back a little bit."

A broken right hand, suffered during his upset victory over then-champion Nestor Garza, has kept Adams on the sidelines since that March 4 clash at Mandalay Bay.

"I started training late (for the fight with Fernandez) because of doctor's orders," he said. "The hand feels good in the gym but I don't know if it's ready. Everything's totally different when you get in the ring with eight-ounce gloves."

With Adams sounding cautious, Fernandez may be a sufficient test. And as for Adams bypassing a film session, that's nothing new.

"I never looked at tape of Garza either," he said, and things went just fine that night.

"I asked him to retire," Diaz said this week. "I wish him the best and I hope he doesn't get hurt, but I saw things in his workouts and in his last fight that I didn't like. He's become gun-shy."

Campas may only be 28 years old but he has 78 professional fights, winning 74 including 63 by knockout. When Campas lost by eighth-round TKO to Oba Carr last month, Diaz had seen enough.

"To me, when a puncher doesn't punch, he should retire, right?" he said. "Yory Boy wasn't getting off."

Campas and Ayala, who is 27-0 with 24 knockouts, will be fighting on an ESPN2-televised card.

"Many people say he's past his best, but we all know who Chavez is," Tszyu said. "If he trains properly -- and I believe he is -- he can give me trouble. He's proved he's ready for this fight and all this talk has only made him more angry."

Chavez, 38, is 103-4-2 in a pro career that dates from 1980. A once-great champion, he reached the bottom with a 10-round decision loss to Willy Wise last October in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, because of the Mexican legend's tight relationship with the Mexico City-based World Boxing Council, he's the mandatory challenger for Tszyu's WBC 140-pound title.

Tszyu, 30, is 24-1.

"I want Chavez to be at his best," Tszyu said during a conference call. "I know he's hungry and wants to make something special for his last fight. I believe we'll have a competitive fight.

"He hasn't got many weaknesses. I'm faster than him and I believe I'm a stronger puncher than him, but he's still a very great fighter."

Chavez has predicted an eighth-round knockout win and has promised to retire if he's victorious. But what if he's not?

"If he wants to retire a winner, he's going to have to fight again," said Tszyu, who arrived in Arizona from his home in Australia last Sunday to get acclimated to the hot weather.

"I've been clean for months and months," he said this week as the controversy exploded. "It shocked me to see on the Internet that I'd failed a drug test. I'm still stunned by it, but I can't go crazy about it."

Nonetheless, and his protestations aside, as of Wednesday he was on the suspended list.

Promoters Bob Arum and Cedric Kushner agreed to extend the deadline regarding negotiations toward an Oscar De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley rematch. Contractually, Arum had until July 17 to exercise his option with Mosley, but the item has been tabled. ... Local heavyweight Charles Shufford has taken a Sept. 9 fight in West Virginia with Derrick Jefferson. ... Caesars Tahoe has replaced its main event for a July 29 card and now has bantamweights Jorge Eliecer Julio and Israel Vazquez scheduled for 12. They replace Nestor Garza vs. Daniel Jimenez. ... WBA cruiserweight champ Fabrice Tiozzo is injured and his Aug. 5 fight with Virgil Hill in Paris is off. ... Another daughter of a prominent ex-fighter has taken up the sport, as Jan Marie Moore -- daughter of Archie Moore -- is in the Top Rank Gym and working with trainer Miguel Diaz. Moore, 180 pounds, is 2-0.

The Orleans has recently wed James Crayton, 31-13-2, in with Juan Prado, 15-2, for its July 28 main event. They're scheduled for 10 rounds at 135 pounds. ... The Hard Rock has its Aug. 4 card in order and has Hasim Rahman, 33-2, taking on shopworn Frankie Swindell, 37-19-3, in its 10-round heavyweight main event.