Joppy-Cherifi fight lacks unification drama

Dean Juipe

Friday, Sept. 15, 2000 | 9:56 a.m.

It's a conversation that has gone on for years and years without ever making any headway.

Yes, the three middleweight boxing champions should face each other in a unification series.

Yes, they all say they want to do it.

But, no, they don't seem to be any closer today than they were five or six years ago when IBF champion Bernard Hopkins initially threw down the gauntlet.

Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden, one of Hopkins' counterparts, WBA champion William Joppy, tries to defend his title on a Don King-promoted card.

The third middleweight champion, WBC titleholder Keith Holmes, apparently passed on the chance to fight Joppy on this card and get the unification ball rolling.

"I threw out the bait, but Holmes didn't bite," Joppy said of the standstill in one of the sport's traditionally popular divisions. "I figured a unification fight for me was next, but it didn't happen."

Fans have to wonder if it'll ever happen.

"Well, it's not hopeless," Joppy's co-manager, Steve Nelson, said Thursday. "But the trouble seems to be that William is the only one of the champions who is ready, willing and able to do it.

"Holmes could have had this fight here, but the truth is he didn't want to fight. He said he didn't have enough time to prepare, but he's a professional fighter. You're always supposed to be ready."

Instead of facing Holmes, Joppy, 30-1-1 with 23 knockouts, will face Hacine Cherifi, a Frenchman with a record of 30-3-1 and 19 KOs who has split a pair of fights with Holmes.

Joppy is a minus 1300 betting favorite in the MGM sports book. Cherifi is a plus 900 underdog.

"Cherifi defeated Holmes decisively the first time they fought and he wants to get that feeling back of being a champion," Joppy volunteered. "I expect him to come to fight."

Cherifi may offer a competitive fight yet the drama of a unification bout will be missing as he substitutes for Holmes.

King has taken some justifiable heat over the years for not matching Joppy and Holmes, as he promotes both. But Nelson said the wild-haired one wasn't standing in the way this time around.

"In this case, the problem wasn't Don King," Nelson said. "It wasn't William either, because he has given us clear instructions that he wants to face the very best men he can.

"It's Keith Holmes who's standing in the way."

In previous news accounts, Holmes has always complained that the money wasn't right to risk getting in the ring with Joppy or Hopkins.

Hopkins, for his part, has been on the unification crusade since becoming champion in 1994.

At 35 years old, he's increasingly anxious for a meaningful fight.

Joppy, who turned 30 this week, is beginning to sound equally anxious.

"Hopkins might make the most sense for me," he said. "By beating him I could get over the hump."

That "hump" he refers to is the lack of recognition he has received in spite of winning seven of his eight WBA title fights.

A 1998 loss to Julio Cesar Green interrupted Joppy's championship reign, although he won their rematch five months later.

He has since defeated Green again, plus Roberto Duran and three other nondescript contenders.

"I look at William as the Marvin Hagler of this era," Nelson said.

"It took Hagler a long time to get a title shot and it took him even longer to gain the recognition he deserved.

"In William's case, those big fights are going to come. If it's not a unification fight with Holmes or Hopkins, I think you'll see him fighting Felix Trinidad when he comes up to 160 pounds sometime next year."

Aside from Joppy vs. Cherifi, two other world-title fights are scheduled on Saturday's MGM card. WBA junior lightweight champ Joel Casamayor defends against Radford Beasley, and WBA junior welterweight champ Sharmba Mitchell meets Felix Flores.

Casamayor is a minus 1200 betting favorite, with Beasley a plus 800. Mitchell is a minus 400, with Flores a plus 330.