Thursday, Jan. 25, 2001 | 11:24 a.m.
On paper and at the cashier's window, Jameel McCline and King Ipitan could have been mistaken for equals.
Coming into their Wednesday night main event at the Hard Rock, the towering heavyweights had similar records -- McCline's was 23-2-3 and Ipitan's 19-2-1 -- and they each were being paid $10,000 for headlining the Cedric Kushner Promotions card.
But once the bell rang for Round 1, the similarities came to an end.
McCline used his Las Vegas debut to deliver an emphatic statement and increase his stature within the division. Ipitan, meanwhile, was overwhelmed.
In a blistering assault that culminated with Ipitan being counted out at 2:58 of the opening round, McCline not only won the fight but sold himself as a potential contender for the sport's greatest prize.
"I'm next, I'm next," he shouted to the crowd after disposing of Ipitan in a shockingly quick ending to what was otherwise a strenuously long and largely tedious card.
"I'm still learning the game and I'm just starting to sit down on my punches," McCline said later, bubbling with excitement after turning the heads of those who were left in a crowd that slowly but surely dissipated as the night wore on. "I wanted to make a statement and I think I did."
While McCline and Ipitan didn't step into the ring until 10:10 p.m., within three minutes their fight was over. McCline put Ipitan down midway through the first round and finished him off just before the 10-second warning with a left, right, left combination that had some smoke on it.
He's 6-foot-6 and 256 pounds and hits hard.
"Was I too cautious?" he somehow asked his handlers, and there was little they could say in reply except "Are you kidding?"
McCline, 30, demonstrated that he may yet make good on the remark that accompanies his promotional photo: "The next heavyweight champion."
Ipitan, conversely, was unhappy from the moment he appeared, mumbling to his training crew about having to enter the ring first. But McCline's position as the focal point of the show was shortly thereafter justified by his outstanding performance.
"Ipitan was strong but robotic," he said. "He knew he was in trouble."
The victory also allowed McCline to make good on a dream he had about three weeks ago. "I knew I'd come out with a win, but I dreamed I'd knock him out in the first round."
With that, he established himself not only as a fighter to be reckoned with but, perhaps, also as a seer.
There were five other heavyweight fights on the card and none of them matched the main event for pure excitement.
Todd Diggs, 3-1-3, took a majority decision over Mark Tullius, 0-2, in a four-round bout in which neither man accumulated many effective blows.
Stacy Frazier, 7-1, responded to referee Toby Gibson's prodding -- "I want to see some punches," he told the fighters prior to Round 2, Round 1 having been extremely standoffish -- and knocked out Keith Govan, 6-3, at 31 seconds of the second round.
Chester Hughes, 8-0, was credited with a TKO victory when Jeremiah Johnson, 6-1-1, couldn't continue in the third round after injuring his right arm.
Talmadge Griffis, 16-1-2, did nothing to further his career after gaining a monotonous eight-round decision win over late-sub David Na'il, 13-6.
And Gerald Nobles, 19-0, settled for a 10-round decision win over Sedreck Fields, 12-12, after having three points deducted from his score for low blows.
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