Columnist Dean Juipe: Tapia wants to make up lost ground after recent LV losses

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 28, 2001 | 11:36 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

Despite having a home in Las Vegas, Johnny Tapia may feel like something of an outsider after losing his last two fights here.

In both instances his opponent was Paulie Ayala, and in both instances the judges sided with Ayala after a pair of close decisions.

Tapia, who is fighting Cesar Soto in the main event of a Saturday card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, felt he was robbed in the Ayala fights. And in an awkward case of transference, he blames Ayala's promoter -- Top Rank's Bob Arum -- more than he does the judges.

"If you're Mike Tyson or Roy Jones and you're fighting Paulie Ayala with Bob Arum promoting him, you're going to lose," Tapia said. "I lost to the promoter."

Tapia, who admits he "went a little berserk" in the ring following the second loss to Ayala, was admonished by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for striking Arum's right-hand man, Todd duBoef, after that Oct. 7 fight. And it's those memories that will be the freshest when Tapia steps into the same ring against Soto, a former WBC featherweight champion who took this fight on relatively short notice when Antonio Cermeno was unable to extricate himself from legal troubles in Venezuela.

Tapia, 34, is 49-2-2 with 26 knockouts in an up-and-down pro career that dates from 1988.

Soto, 28, is 53-9 with 39 KOs, although he is winless in his three most recent bouts.

He and Tapia are scheduled for 10 rounds at the "give or take" contract weight of 124 pounds.

"I have a lot of respect for Soto (but) he's a one-dimensional fighter," Tapia said. "He comes right at you and you've got to respect his power. He's going to try and knock me out, but that's not going to happen."

Despite his losses to Ayala, Tapia insists he is rejuvenated with new trainer Buddy McGirt and a new promoter, Don King.

"I've tried the rest, so I might as well go back to the best," Tapia said of re-aligning himself with King after bouncing from promoter to promoter in recent years. Just last December he signed with America Presents but never fought for that outfit because "they stuck me on the shelf."

Tapia says he's willing to fight for a title at either 122 or 126 pounds, although he was at 115 in the most dominant stretch of his career.

"I'm going to get the big fights, with my name," he said. "People know me as being a peoples' champion. If they ask me for an autograph, I'll stay until everyone gets what they want."

A fight with Naseem Hamed remains a possibility, but, as Tapia says, "there's been talk of that for a year and a half and nothing has ever happened."

Re-establishing his credentials with a win over Soto is his immediate priority.

"It's going to go the full 10 (rounds)," Tapia said. "I really want to put on a good show. After 11 years of being undefeated, I'm starting all over again."

McGirt will be in Tapia's corner for the first time and says they've been in training for five weeks.

"Johnny has a tendency to get bored, so it's a matter of reminding him what he has to do," McGirt said. "I've got to light that fire under him."

Tapia says the combination is working.

"I'm not changing my style or anything, I just like Buddy as a person," he said. "Everything's going in my favor. I'm a natural (and) I'm getting better with age."

Joe Cortez has been selected to referee the fight, with Bill Graham, Patricia Jarman-Manning and Dave Moretti serving as judges.

The undercard has been through some revising this week, with Ener Julio deleted from the semi-main event due to cataracts in his eyes. DeMarcus Corley, who was to have fought Teddy Reid, will, instead, replace Julio and take on Felix Flores. Another scheduled fight involving Danny Romero has been dropped, leaving this lineup beneath Tapia vs. Soto: Flores, 17-2, vs. Corley, 20-1-1, 12 rounds, junior welterweights; Kofi Jantuah, 21-0, vs. Manuel Gomez, 18-10, 10 rounds, welterweights; Friday Ahunanya, 15-0, vs. Lamon Brewster, 24-2, 10 rounds, heavyweights; and Rudolfo Gomez, 26-11-2, vs. an opponent yet to be determined, 10 rounds, junior welterweights.

In papers filed last Friday, Bedford maintains Mayweather struck him over the head with a champagne bottle at the Club Utopia on Las Vegas Blvd. on June 19.

Bedford alleges that he and Mayweather "exchanged words" and that upon attempting to exit the club, Mayweather shouted "Greg, Greg" and then hit Bedford from behind with a bottle.

Bedford is seeking damages in excess of $10,000.

"We have spoken with the Mayweather family and as far as we know, the suit is baseless," Mayweather's promoter, Bob Arum, said Wednesday.

* QUICK HITS: Junior welterweight Vince Phillips of Las Vegas won his fight last Saturday in Connecticut, although his opponent changed at the last minute from Michael Warrick to Marlon Haynes. Phillips, 42-6-1 with 31 KOs, stopped Haynes, 12-3-3, in the seventh round. ... Lightweight Adarryl Johnson of Las Vegas was stopped by ex-champ Jorge Paez in the fifth round of their Sunday fight in Worley, Idaho. ... Lou Tabat of Las Vegas is one of three judges working Sunday's WBA lightweight title fight in Saltana, Japan, between champion Takanori Hatakeyama and ex-champ Julien Lorcy. ... David Reid's opponent July 8 at the Texas Station will be veteran Tony Menefee, who is 72-12-1 in a long career. ... A delayed telecast of Oscar De La Hoya's decision win over Javier Castillejo last Saturday at the MGM can be seen Friday at 10 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on H BO.

A fight between rising star Julio Diaz and Las Vegas lightweight James Crayton has been moved from July 15 in San Jacinto, Calif., to Aug. 12 in Phoenix. ... Former Las Vegan Ross Thompson, 25-4, moves up to middleweight and takes on Eric Mitchell, 13-3-1, Friday in Atlantic City. But Thompson is having weight troubles and was at 167 pounds as recently as Monday. ... In a fight that will likely upstage the main event, heavyweights Michael Grant and Jameel McCline will meet beneath the Shane Mosley vs. Adrian Stone headliner July 21 at Caesars Palace. McCline, 25-2-3 and undefeated since 1996, looked great in taking a KO-1 over King Ipitan Jan. 24 at the Hard Rock, and he has since added a decision victory over Al Cole. Grant is 31-1 but has been off since a TKO-2 loss to Lennox Lewis in April of 2000.