Knee healed; feelings bruised

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 15, 2000 | 9:24 a.m.

When last seen in Las Vegas, Orlin Norris was suffering from a knee injury and being carried out of the MGM Grand Garden on a stretcher following a one-round fight with Mike Tyson last October.

The knee supposedly has healed but Norris apparently has yet to completely recover from the bout and its aftereffects, including allegations in the Sun that he failed to give much of an effort in the match with Tyson.

"You hurt his feelings," his manager, Scott Woodworth, said Wednesday as Norris exercised his prerogative and declined to talk to the Sun about his Friday fight with Andrew Golota at Mandalay Bay.

Earlier, at the press conference podium, Norris did say the fight with Golota "was an opportunity to quiet some critics. It's a good opportunity for me and a fight I wanted."

Healthy or not, damaged feelings or not, Norris is a substantial betting underdog for a 10-round fight that will be televised by the Showtime cable network. The sports book at Mandalay Bay has Golota up at a minus 1500, with Norris a plus 1000.

Golota, 35-4 with 29 knockouts, will earn $175,000 for the fight, while Norris, 50-5 with 27 KOs, is to receive $35,000.

"It's a crossroads fight for both competitors," said promoter Gary Shaw of Main Events, which is putting on the seven-bout card in the hotel's 2,500-seat South Pacific Ballroom. "It's not a fight either man had to take."

Woodworth maintains Norris has been training for a fight since January and that he's looking for redemption after his quick exit from the fight with Tyson. In that abbreviated fight, which was ruled a no-contest, Tyson hit Norris at or slightly after the bell to end the first round and Norris -- legitimate knee injury or not -- decided to retire for the evening.

Now he's back in a similar role, this time facing a bigger man with a devastating punch.

"He says he's coming to fight, so let's do it," Golota said, more or less echoing his comments in Wednesday's Sun.

The undercard includes: Juan Lazcano, 22-2-1, vs. Wilfredo Vazquez, 52-8-3, 12 rounds for the vacant NABF lightweight title; Carl Cockerham, 6-4-1, vs. Robert Dasoyan, 7-3-1, six rounds, middleweights; Dominick Guinn, pro debut, vs. Leroy Hollis, 1-2, four rounds, heavyweights; Danny Mitchell, pro debut, vs. Daniel Almanza, 0-2, four rounds, heavyweights; Anthony Hanshaw, pro debut, vs. Richard Bingham, 1-1, four rounds, middleweights; and a six-round women's junior lightweight match between Laura Serrano, 9-0-1, and Kelsey Jeffries, 7-0. First bell is 6 p.m.