Columnist Dean Juipe: Mosley talks up his fight — and his foe

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Feb. 8, 2001 | 12:30 p.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.

With Las Vegas about to be inundated with mid-level to high-priority boxing cards, ticket-buying fans can be very discerning when it comes to selecting what fights they care to see.

As a result, a featured performer such as World Boxing Council welterweight champion Shane Mosley has found it in his best interests to not only promote himself but his March 10 opponent at Caesars Palace, Australia's Shannon Taylor.

Taylor suffers from a lack of notoriety and is largely unknown to most U.S. fans. He may be 28-0-1 with 18 knockouts -- and he may be ranked No. 2 by the WBC, No. 4 by the IBF and No. 7 by the WBA -- yet the common belief is that Mosley will flatten him and improve upon his own record of 36-0 with 33 knockouts.

Mosley, perhaps to up the anticipation for a fight that could get lost in this spring's busy shuffle, said it would be a mistake for him to look past Taylor and that he's not going to do it.

"He's a tough fighter and a big puncher," Mosley said from his camp in Big Bear, Calif. "He's undefeated and he doesn't know how to lose."

Whether Taylor proves to be a formidable opponent for Mosley remains to be seen, but he isn't the fighter the average fan wants to see paired with the champion. Mosley has to be tired of fielding questions about a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya, which may or may not ever happen, and as a result he has found himself talking up would-be rivals such as Taylor.

"People keep asking me who I want to fight next," Mosley said. "The only person I want to fight now is Shannon Taylor. He's coming to take what I worked very hard for and I'm not going to let that happen.

"You can't take anyone lightly in this game. If you go to sleep on anyone, they can beat you.

"To be the best you have to be in top shape every time out, mentally and physically."

Tickets for the Mosley vs. Taylor card are on sale and range from $100 to $300. The card will be held in the 2,800-seat Palace Ballroom on the hotel's fourth floor.

The working date for Tszyu's junior welterweight unification fight with Zab Judah is May 19, with the site yet to be determined. ... No visible signs of a deal being struck between Mandalay Bay and Lennox Lewis' management team, yet they are talking about hosting the heavyweight champion's fight with Hasim Rahman April 21. ... Pernell Whitaker, who hasn't fought in two years and didn't win any of his last three fights, is back in the gym and talking about a comeback as a junior middleweight. ... A Stevie Johnston vs. Juan Lazcano fight has been added to the April 14 card at Mandalay Bay that headlines Bernard Hopkins vs. Keith Holmes. ... Bettors are liking Naseem Hamed in his April 7 fight with Marco Antonio Barrera at the MGM and have altered the numbers in the hotel's sports book. Hamed opened at a minus 250 but is now a minus 270, while Barrera opened at a plus 200 and is now a plus 220.

Unbeaten junior lightweights Joel Casamayor and Acelino Freitas apparently are on for July 14 at a site yet to be determined. ... David Tua seems to be faulting Ronnie Shields for his poor showing against Lewis in November, as the Samoan heavyweight has brought in Joe Goossen to replace Shields as his lead trainer. "He's my kind of fighter," Goossen said of adding Tua to his stable. "He's a pressure-style fighter and it will be my job to enhance that natural style." Tua fights Danell Nicholson March 23 at Texas Station. A companion main event between heavyweights Clifford Etienne and Fes Oquendo has been added to that card. ... A March 2 card at Texas Station that headlines Jose Luis Lopez vs. Alex Bunema has added a four-round fight that will serve as the pro debut for a former UNLV football player. Troy Kirkpatrick, who lettered with the Rebels in 1997 and '98 as a defensive lineman and once won the team's Iron Rebel Award as its strongest player, is a heavyweight who stands! 6-foot-5 and weighs 265 pounds. No opponent yet for the able-bodied Kirkpatrick, whose football career was derailed by a shoulder injury.