Columnist Dean Juipe: Phillips draw leaves trainer wavering

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 4, 2000 | 10:11 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.

Kenny Adams made it clear last week that he would be leaving as Vince Phillips' trainer in the event Phillips did not defeat Ricky Quiles when the two junior welterweights fought last Friday in Lafayette, La.

Well, Phillips didn't win.

But he didn't lose either.

That's because the judges scored the 12-round bout a draw, with one giving Phillips a 115-113 edge, one having Quiles on top 115-113, and one scoring it dead even at 114 apiece.

The mixed result left Adams pondering his next move.

"I didn't think Vince won," he said in a typically frank assessment. "I thought he'd lost."

Phillips, 40-5-1, is a Las Vegan and a former International Boxing Federation champion at 140 pounds. But as he approaches 37 years old, his longtime trainer is having second thoughts about seeing him extend his career.

"I'm waiting to get a look at the tape and then decide if I want to continue on with Vince," Adams said this week. "I don't want to see him get hurt, so if it looks like this is the right time to leave, that's what I'll do. But I might also say, 'OK, let's give it another shot.' "

Despite his failure to win, Phillips was told following the fight with Quiles that he may be in line to fight for the North America Boxing Federation championship. But Adams doesn't know if that's a wise move.

"I felt he was stumbling around in there," he said of Phillips' performance with Quiles. "His balance wasn't good.

"Maybe I expect more of Vince, but I know what I saw. The tape will tell the tale, but maybe he shouldn't continue."

Adams also complained that Phillips wasn't really following instructions.

"He has some stubbornness and our ideas don't always fit right," he said. "I wanted Vince to move to his right, because that's where his power is, but he wanted to move to his left.

"I also told him he needed the last two rounds but he didn't have the big closing push he once did. He wasn't able to win both of those rounds and that was the fight."

Having seen Phillips in his prime, Adams knows this 2000 version isn't what it once was.

"The Vince Phillips I knew from his championship days would have beaten Ricky Quiles without much problem," he said.

* TUA MUSES: With Lennox Lewis taking an optional defense against Frans Botha July 15 in London, IBF mandatory challenger David Tua can only hope to get a shot at the WBC and IBF heavyweight champion this fall.

Whenever that bout is held, Tua is confident he has what it takes to beat Lewis.

"No disrespect, but Lennox is tailor-made for me," Tua said during a conference call. "I'll be the one working inside. His reach will be useless against me. His chin is suspect. All I need is one shot, because my power travels a shorter distance."

The compact Tua is 35-1 with 30 knockouts and holds a 19-second victory over mandatory WBA and WBC challenger John Ruiz. With Lewis unavailable for a while, Tua is apt to take an interim fight or two this summer.

"I am a warrior by nature, by birth," said Tua, a native of Samoa. "It's my destiny to be a warrior. My people were always warriors.

"I want to fight the best, but there's no one left. No one is recognized as the best except for Lewis and me."

Lewis shortened the list of credible heavyweights by taking out Michael Grant in two rounds last Saturday in New York. Tua was among the many who were impressed.

"I thought Lennox looked phenomenal," he said. "He looked great, just like the champion he is.

"But with a smaller, more mobile, opponent, his punches will not work as well. I'll be looking straight ahead at his chest and at his chin as a target.

"My style is coming in, constant pressure, all-power punching. That would be perfect against Lewis because he's a big man who doesn't use all of his boxing skills."

* LEWIS, HOLYFIELD: As detailed in Wednesday's Sun, representatives of Lewis and Botha will meet Saturday in Las Cruces, N.M., to sign for the July 15 fight in London. "I told him I could make things happen," Botha's manager, Sterling McPherson, said of landing a fight that will be worth $1 million to the challenger.

Meanwhile, today in Las Vegas, former three-time world champion Evander Holyfield will appear with Ruiz to formally announce their June 10 fight at Caesars Palace. That fight will be for the vacant WBA championship, which came open due to a court order brought by promoter Don King against Lewis. The court ruled Lewis was remiss in fighting Grant before he fought Ruiz, and, once again, the heavyweight championships have been split at least two ways.

Holyfield, 36-4-1, and Ruiz, 36-3, will be at Caesars Palace this afternoon for a luncheon and press conference. Oddsmaker Herbie Lambeck has made Holyfield a 3-1 betting favorite.

* TAPIA PLODS ON: Johnny Tapia has fought a number of good fighters during his 12-year professional career, but he has also fought a number of mediocre ones.

A representative of the latter category, Javier Torres, is Tapia's opponent Saturday in Las Cruces, N.M., with the Showtime cable network televising the 12-round bout at 118 pounds.

Tapia is 47-1-2 and holds wins over the likes of Danny Romero and Jorge Elicier Julio, the latter Jan. 8 in Albuquerque.

Torres, however, is 32-14-8 and doesn't seem to have beaten anyone of repute. Aside from the oddity of having eight draws, he has won only one of his four most recent fights and obviously isn't expected to win this one.

"He's very experienced," Tapia said of Torres during a conference call, obviously looking to say something positive about his challenger. "He's a durable fighter. He's skillful. It's going to be a good fight."

But it won't be a long fight unless Tapia is slowed by having to lose the 31 pounds he was forced to drop in the past month. He admitted to peaking at 149 pounds and adds that this will be his last fight at 118.

"Losing the weight is the hard part," Tapia said. "I want to move up to 122 and fight one of those champions."

He said a rematch at 118 with conqueror Paulie Ayala is no longer likely.

"I'm not going after him," Tapia said. "I don't need him. He needs me. I fight on Showtime and he fights on Telemundo. He works for Top Rank and I'm not with Top Rank."

He also said a rematch with Romero is unlikely, although the latter is also on the Saturday card in a bout with journeyman Jorge Munoz at 122 pounds.

"We were rivals at one time," Tapia said. "Now we're on to bigger and better things. Danny and I are good friends. There's plenty of room in New Mexico for two world champions."

This will be Tapia's first fight with still another new trainer, as Adrian Davis has replaced Freddie Roach.

* QUICK HITS: WBA middleweight champ William Joppy will get his mandatory out of the way May 20 in Tunica, Miss., when he takes on Rito Ruvalcaba in a just-announced fight. ... Kostya Tszyu's mandatory defense with Julio Cesar Chavez will go to the MGM in Las Vegas with a July 15 date, providing Chavez is approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. ... Sam's Town is hosting a Las Vegas vs. London amateur card Saturday. Eighteen bouts are scheduled with a 2 p.m. opening bell.