Hill withdraws from Saturday’s card

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2000 | 10:24 a.m.

It was obvious while talking with Virgil Hill Tuesday night that he didn't feel he was physically ready for the challenge of fighting World Boxing Association cruiserweight champ Fabrice Tiozzo Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden.

By Wednesday afternoon, that fight was off.

Hill, a Las Vegas resident, withdrew after shoulder and hand injuries had him on the defensive. He went for an MRI on his shoulder Monday and Wednesday morning he saw Dr. Robert Voy about his sprained right wrist.

"He's not fit to box for four or six weeks," Voy said after evaluating Hill.

It's the sixth time in the past five months that the Tiozzo vs. Hill fight has been scheduled and postponed. The earlier dates: April 8, June 12, July 29, Aug. 12, Aug. 19 and Sept. 9.

In each of the earlier instances it was Tiozzo who pulled out, although the latter date was scrapped because of a scheduling conflict.

"What a fiasco," Hill said of the constant interruptions. "From my perspective, it's very frustrating. You're up, you're down, you're up, you're down. You go from a real high to a real low and you're never able to actually peak at the right time."

Saying "The truth is, I've been training for this fight since November," Hill was reluctant to pull out because he's afraid he may lose his spot as Tiozzo's mandatory challenger.

"A lot of this has to do with the fact I'm not signed with (promoter) Don King," he said. "What he could do is go around me and let Tiozzo fight some other guys for a while who aren't as qualified.

"It would put me in a position where I might have to wait another year."

Tiozzo will not fight on Saturday's card, which still has three title fights standing: middleweights William Joppy and Hacine Cherifi, junior welterweights Sharmba Mitchell and Felix Flores, and junior lightweights Joel Casamayor and Rodford Beasley.