Columnist Dean Juipe: Promoter takes shot with all-local card

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001 | 9:56 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.

Promoting fight cards in Las Vegas is a tricky business.

There are the mega-shows in the major casinos with multiple championship fights and million-dollar purses. And there are the hit-and-miss cards that pop up sporadically at mid-level casino sites, as well as a monthly card at the Orleans that draws a regular crowd in spite of routinely accentuating boxers from out of town.

James Pollins has another idea, one that hasn't been successful here since the heyday of boxing at the Showboat more than a decade ago.

He wants to put on a monthly card featuring local fighters, and he will take the first step toward that goal with a Dec. 1 show at the Stardust hotel on the Strip.

"There are a lot of good fighters in Las Vegas that can be great fighters if they're given 30 or 60 days to prepare for a bout," Pollins said this week. "Everyone will have to work together on this, but I want to do something for them."

His reference to a fighter having sufficient time to prepare for a bout is in response to what he sees happening at the Orleans in particular.

"Take the Orleans and the Stratosphere (which has a debut card scheduled for Oct. 20)," he said. "They want to do boxing but they bring in a promoter from outside the city and he brings fighters in who are from outside town. About the only way a local kid gets on one of their cards is with a last-minute call to replace somebody else who couldn't make it."

Pollins, 50, who co-owns the Johnny Tocco/Championship Boxing Inc. gym -- formerly the Ringside Gym -- on West Charleston, has been in boxing since 1984 and sees the move to promoter (from manager and, later, gym operator) as a natural progression.

"I think it is," he said. "Once this gym became available, I decided I wanted to be a promoter.

"There's a lot of work to be done, but I think it'll be something I really enjoy."

While he said he has already been in contact with ESPN2 and "offered a couple of open dates," Pollins is apt to be facing the challenge of putting on the majority of his shows without TV money. That lack of income keeps purses low and doubles the need for a decent paying crowd.

"I'm not going to be paying a big bank," Pollins said. "I don't want to go broke, so I won't be the highest-paying guy.

"But I won't be the lowest either, and I'm quite sure a lot of fighters will work with me on this. It'll be a situation where one hands helps the other."

His fight card at the Stardust will be held in a 2,500-seat setting and is a four-wall deal between himself and the hotel. As such, he admits "the pressure is on me" as the only income he will receive will be the result of ticket sales.

A real estate broker by trade, Pollins says his contact isn't with the Stardust per se but the Boyd Gaming Group and that venues such as Sam's Town could move into the equation. But he likes the set up at the Stardust and doesn't feel its location will work against attracting locals.

"Things are moving along smoothly," he said, adding that he had the mandated insurance requirements already covered. "I want a 'locals' crowd, but I know there's a lot of marketing to be done and then the fighters have to make it interesting and make people want to come back."

Among the fighters training at his own gym who are apt to be given opportunities on his shows are light heavyweight Derrick Harmon, middleweight Julio Garcia, super middleweight Willie Stewart and cruiserweight Sione Asipeli. "All of these guys have been in training for a long while and need the work," Pollins said. "These guys, and some of the younger guys, and the guys from other gyms need a place to fight and this will be their chance."

With a 2002 calendar in hand, he was plotting additional dates and shows.

"A good first show would make my life a whole lot easier," he said, acknowledging the need to come out and be impressive early.

"Paris said their convention area was booked and they couldn't handle it," Top Rank spokesman Lee Samuels said. "We also looked around town and talked with a consortium of nine casinos in Laughlin, but with the (Hasim) Rahman and (Lennox) Lewis fight the following week, and with (Zab) Judah and (Kostya) Tszyu a week earlier and both in Las Vegas, the hotels had other commitments."

San Francisco emerged from a group that also included possible sites in Texas, West Virginia and Michigan.

"It's neutral ground (for the fighters)," Samuels said of a bout that will be held in the 7,000-seat Memorial Coliseum and will be televised by HBO.

Angel Manfredy, who fights Julio Diaz Saturday in Texas on HBO, said "this might only go one round. I've studied his ring record and I don't buy his 'big' wins (over Justin Scencion and Dario Esalas). I would have blasted them out, too." Manfredy, 26, is 38-5-1; Diaz, 21, is 23-0. ... HBO replays the Bernard Hopkins vs. Felix Trinidad fight Saturday at 10 p.m. ... Overlooked result from the Hopkins card last Saturday in New York: Danny Romero fell to 41-4-1 when he unexpectedly lost a majority decision to bantamweight Ratanachai Vorapin, 40-5. ... The Stratosphere will have former U.S. amateur heavyweight champion and 2000 Olympic representative Michael Bennett on its Oct. 20 card, and he'll be fighting as a cruiserweight. Bennett, 5-1, has dropped down a division after suffering a loss -- since avenged -- to Wes Taylor.