Columnist Dean Juipe: Botile has Prince in his sights

Dean Juipe

Thursday, April 5, 2001 | 10:38 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.

Featherweights will be on display this weekend in Southern Nevada, and not just Saturday night at the MGM with Prince Naseem Hamed vs. Marco Antonio Barrera.

Friday at Texas Station, International Boxing Federation featherweight champ Mbulelo Botile tries to defend his title against Frankie Toledo. The significance, beyond the obvious, for fans is that Botile and Hamed may meet later this year.

"Yeah, if he wants me, he can come at any time," Botile said, acknowledging his interest in what would be a lucrative bout by the South African's standards. "I want to win my fight and get a fight with Hamed.

"I'll go to his fight."

Botile, 29, is taking on the 30-year-old Toledo in a fight to be held in North Las Vegas and televised by ESPN2. One night later, Hamed meets Barrera on the Strip and with a $40 pay-per-view fee for those interested in watching from home.

Botile is 27-1 with 16 knockouts and only a disputed decision loss to fellow champion Tim Austin mars his record.

Toledo is 39-5-1 with 15 KOs and is ranked No. 8 by the IBF at 126 pounds.

"I'm ready for this," Botile said. "I want to win and dedicate it to Paul Ingle."

Ingle had the misfortune of fighting Botile last December and lapsing into a coma following his loss in the 12-round brawl.

But Botile's trainer, Terry "Bubba" Stotts, said Hamed also made it known that he wanted to avenge Ingle's loss and ensuing medical condition.

"I've got my guard up for this fight with Toledo, because we want to win and get a fight with Hamed," Stotts said. "But I'll tip my hat to Toledo if he can do anything with Botile, because Botile is starting to look like Thomas Hearns or Donald Curry to me.

"He's now a full-fledged featherweight who's a cat-like fighter. I think he can do some big things."

Botile is a tall man for his weight and also a former IBF champion at 118 pounds. He made the unusual move of jumping two divisions when he pronounced himself a featherweight after losing to Austin in 1997.

This will be his first fight in Las Vegas.

"It's a great honor for me," Botile said. "There's more pressure, but I've been looking forward to it for some time."

Toledo has fought here only once and it was last May when he dropped a 10-round decision to Manuel Medina at the Orleans.

Toledo holds a 1993 win over current world champion Bones Adams, although Adams was injured in that fight. Toledo's best win since then may have come two years ago when he handled the aging Orlando Canizales.

Six other fights are scheduled on the Texas Station card, which is being promoted by Cedric Kushner and will open at 5 p.m. On tap: Ed Mahone, 22-2-2, vs. Terrance Lewis, 27-8, 10 rounds, heavyweights; Mahan Washington, 14-9, vs. Mohamad Abdulaev, pro debut, four rounds, junior welterweights; Leroy Berbick, 2-0, vs. Kevin Petty, 6-0, four rounds, heavyweights; Mark Tullis, 0-2, vs. Joshua Walters, pro debut, four rounds, heavyweights; Abdias Castillo, 5-2, vs. Ian MacKillop, 5-2, four rounds, junior middleweights; and a women's bout between Suzy Taylor, 10-4-1, and Monica McGowan, 3-2.

The UNLV club boxing team has 11 representatives in the national championships that run tonight through Saturday in Reno. ... Top Rank will have light heavyweight champ Roy Jones Jr. on a July 28 pay-per-view card from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Jones, 44-1, will take on Julio Gonzalez in LA, assuming Gonzalez (26-0) gets past Konstantin Semerdjiev when they fight Sunday in Laughlin. The Los Angeles card will also include a fight between WBC featherweight champ Erik Morales and mandatory challenger Injin Chi, which earlier looked to be headed for Las Vegas. A Derrick Gainer vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight completes the LA card. Top Rank will pay Jones a minimum of $3 million for the one-fight deal. ... The Chris Byrd vs. Maurice Harris IBF heavyweight eliminator scheduled for April 14 in New York has been pushed back to May 12, ostensibly because Byrd has a hand infection. "Byrd doesn't have a hand infection," Harris said in an e-mail to the Sun. "He has a heart infection. I'm going to wipe the floor with him and (David) Tua."