Columnist Dean Juipe: Losses by Lewis and Hamed light fire under Mayweather

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 17, 2001 | 2:27 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.

In each of his big fights, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has risen to the occasion.

Place a well-known and respected fighter across from him, and the World Boxing Council junior lightweight champion inevitably responds with his best effort. Most recently, he destroyed fellow champion Diego Corrales in a bout that was far more onesided than anyone could have predicted.

But throw Mayweather a bone and the Las Vegas-based slugger sometimes eases off the pedal and takes a small step backward. He'll coast, or showboat, or allow the fight to go its scheduled distance while winning virtually every round.

So when Mayweather takes on Carlos "Famous" Hernandez May 26 in his native Grand Rapids, Mich., the question that's of immediate concern is easily identified: Will Mayweather treat Hernandez as a threat, or as an easy night's work?

"At first it was hard to get up for Hernandez," Mayweather admitted this week. "I fight according to my competition.

"But when Prince Naseem (Hamed) lost, that motivated me. And when Lennox Lewis lost, that motivated me.

"Those results have made me train harder. I'm still hungry and he's hungry to knock me off."

If boxing's recent rash of upsets serves to inspire Mayweather, Hernandez figures to be in trouble. The veteran from El Salvador is a sturdy 33-2-1 with 21 knockouts, yet he's no match for Mayweather in terms of quickness or punching power.

Local oddsmaker Herb Lambeck makes Mayweather a 30-1 favorite for the HBO-televised fight that will include a companion bout designed to promote Mayweather's next opponent, Jesus Chavez.

Chavez, 34-1, will face Juan Arias, 33-1, with an eye toward landing a title fight with Mayweather later this summer or in the early fall.

"That's a great fight," Mayweather said of his proposed meeting with Chavez. "That's the fight I'm looking forward to."

Mayweather, a pro since 1996, is 26-0 with 19 KOs. He said he planned to fight for 10 more years and work his way through not only the junior lightweight, but lightweight and junior welterweight divisions.

"I don't even feel like I've been in a fight or that my body has taken any abuse," he said. "I'm comfortable. I'm happy and I've got so many big fights ahead.

"I'm looking forward to the lightweight division and eventually to 140 (pounds)."

Mayweather, who leaves for Grand Rapids on Monday, says he has been sparring four-minute rounds and that he's in top shape for Hernandez. Surprisingly, he said he quietly endured injuries to an ankle and a hand prior to his fight with Corrales, although there were no signs of weakness in his attack that night as he had Corrales down five times en route to a 10th-round knockout victory Jan. 20 at the MGM.

"I feel I'm No. 1 in the pound-for-pound (listings)," he said. "I'm not saying there aren't other good fighters, but I'm dominating my opponents.

"As far as pound-for-pound, it's about being flawless."

His promoter, Bob Arum, all but agrees.

"If he's not right now the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, he certainly will be in this decade," he said. "Floyd has a unique talent. He's the best I've seen technically since (Ray) Robinson. You can put anybody in front of him and he's going to beat them, and beat some guys worse than others."

Mayweather, who says a win over Justin Juuko was his best ever in terms of "using different styles," isn't leery of Hernandez but seems to have a healthy respect for his opponent.

"I'm not looking past the guy," he said. "He had to do something to get to this point. He's a strong guy.

"It's a good fight for me coming off Diego Corrales. It should prepare me for Jesus Chavez."

Casamayor and Freitas are pencilled in for July 14 on Showtime, but promoter Dan Goossen said the fight may not come off.

"'Worried' is not the right word," he said. "I've had two different reports this week that assured me he's going to fight.

"But you hear different things and if his weight, his personal life or his manager are giving him trouble, I'm not going to wait. There have been rumors for months about his problems.

"I figure I've got to know for sure by the end of the week."

Freitas, who is 30-0 with each win by knockout, pulled out of a Goossen-promoted card two weeks ago in Mississippi. That night, he was sharing the bill with Casamayor in separate events designed to promote their July 14 showdown.

But Freitas bailed, an act Goossen called "not shocking, but very unprofessional on his part."

Casamayor, 25-0, went through with his fight with Edwin Santana to mixed results, winning easily yet going the full 12 rounds as Santana did his best to avoid any serious confrontations.

Vargas, 28-7-3 with 10 KOs, may be recalled for giving Johnny Tapia a decent fight when they squared off in 1995 in Las Vegas. That match was stopped in the eighth round, however, and Tapia awarded the victory when an unintentional head butt precluded either man from continuing.

Ruiz is 20-1-1 with 11 KOs and is coming off a decision loss to Mauricio Pastrana.

The undercard remained a little uncertain as of Wednesday but should include junior lightweight Mark Burse (7-1) and undefeated novices Almazbek Raimkulov, Ishe Smith, Juan Ruiz and Arthur Petrosyan.

First bell is 7 p.m.

Brewer, 31, is a former IBF world champion who has dropped back-to-back title fights with Sven Ottke. He's 36-7 with 26 knockouts and angling for another shot at Ottke, or, perhaps, light heavyweight champ Roy Jones.

Echols, 29, is 24-4-1 with 23 KOs and has lost a pair of title fights to Bernard Hopkins, most recently last December. He's moving up to 168 and testing the waters after fighting exclusively as a middleweight.

"I really don't know much about the 168s," Echols said during a conference call with both participants. "I chose Charles Brewer because he's a great name in the division. I can still possibly make 160, but we'll see after this fight."

Echols said the grueling losses to Hopkins "didn't take anything out of me" and that he'd like to find his way into the ring with Felix Trinidad because "I have the style to beat him."

Brewer bemoans his decision losses to Ottke and would like revenge.

"As far as I'm concerned, he's just holding that title," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, it's still mine."

Yet he realizes he may have slipped from title consideration, hence, he's risking a fight with Echols to maybe land one with Ottke or Jones.

"I don't know if a victory will put me in contention for a title shot or not," Brewer said, "or whether it will move me up even a notch in the ratings.

"But I said (to Jones, when they recently met) that I would like to be in a position where I became the world champion, because it would make the stakes higher. I told him he might want to make a pit stop at 168 and he said we could do business."

Presently, the Nevada State Athletic Commission -- which proposed the bill -- does not have a legal access to contracts prior to or following a fight.

Commission members Dr. Flip Homansky, Luther Mack and Glenn Carano spoke to committee members this week in support of the bill's passage, and the informal reaction appeared to be positive.

Featherweight Cassius Baloyi was shot in the leg Tuesday in Johannesburg, South Africa, during a carjacking attempt. Baloyi, 25-0, was accosted by three armed men who also killed another man in the robbery attempt. His fight with Argentina's Justo Martinez that had been set for June 2 is now off. ... The James Toney vs. Vassiliy Jirov cruiserweight title fight is off, the result of Jirov pulling out of their July 7 bout for undisclosed reasons. ... Chris Byrd won his heavyweight fight with Maurice Harris last Saturday in New York, and, in theory, is now obliged to face David Tua for the No. 1 spot in the IBF heavyweight rankings. Byrd, 33-2, won by 9, 7 and 7 points on the judges' cards for a fight that was on the Felix Trinidad vs. William Joppy undercard.

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