Columnist Dean Juipe: New chairman to focus on safety issues

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2001 | 10:55 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.

The new chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission has a couple of items he would like to address, and both pertain to boxers' safety.

Luther Mack, appointed chairman to succeed the late Dr. Elias Ghanem, said Wednesday that he expects to delve into the safety issues in the next few months.

"It's pretty exciting," he said of being appointed chairman after 12 years on the board. "Having worked with Dr. Ghanem and (former chairman) Dr. (James) Nave, you tend to learn a lot and I feel very fortunate.

"I certainly enjoy the responsibility that comes with the position and I'm thankful to have the governor's and the commission's support."

Mack, 62, is a resident of Reno who is the owner/operator of eight McDonald's franchises. Married and the father of three, he also holds an honorary doctorate from Nevada-Reno.

At the top of his to-do list as NSAC chairman is implementing post-fight physical and neurological exams to fighters immediately following their bouts.

"I'm certainly going to try and work on that," he said. "It'll take a little time and some dollars, but hopefully it's something the (commission's) Medical Advisory Board will be agreeable to do.

"We evaluate fighters prior to fights, but it seems equally important to me to look at what happens to them afterward."

That same concern fuels his belief that a pension plan should be established for professional fighters.

"How to do it or fund it, I don't really know, but this is something I certainly will work on," Mack said. "I'd like to see money set aside in a fund or pension plan for those fighters who never make it to the top.

"A lot of guys fight for a long time and come out of the sport beat up and with no place to go. Some end up in prison.

"I'd like to see us set aside some money so that those people would have something to fall back on when their careers are over."

Mack's term runs until Jan. 1, 2003.

But what becomes of Diaz, who went into the fight 23-0 and with the look of a certain future champion?

"HBO has already called and said they wanted him back, so, at worst, the loss only sets him back a couple of months," Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler said this week. "I think most of the people who were there thought he got robbed, and that the prevailing consensus is that he did enough to win."

Manfredy, 39-5-1, emerged with the disputed win with the help of two points that were deducted from Diaz's score for low blows.

"It's a 'paper' defeat," Trampler said. "That said, hopefully Julio can turn a negative into a positive and learn something from it."

On that same card, former world champion Mark Johnson was a surprise loser to Rafael Marquez in a bantamweight fight that went the distance. Although a computer glitch slowed the official result from being correctly announced, Marquez finished three points up on two of the judges' cards and one point behind on the other.

"HBO would like to see them rematched," Trampler said of the 26-3 Marquez and the 40-2 Johnson.

That rematch may be part of a card that's tentative for Feb. 2 and may be headed for Dallas with a main event of Paulie Ayala vs. Bones Adams. That fight is a rematch as well, from one held Aug. 4 at Mandalay Bay that Ayala won by decision.

"I would like to offer Hopkins two challenges," Kohl said in an e-mail distributed this week. "The first possibility is that he takes on (WBO middleweight champion) Armand Krajnc and unify four major belts.

"The next possibility is an even greater challenge. I suggest to him a move to the light heavyweight division to challenge Dariusz Michalczewski. Everybody knows that for years we've tried to set up a big fight between Michalczewski and Roy Jones (but) during this time Jones has repeatedly demonstrated that he is too much of a coward.

"From what I know of Hopkins' life, one thing he has never demonstrated is cowardice. I'm sure Michalczewski vs. Hopkins would become one of the hottest contests in boxing."

Hopkins has not yet responded to Kohl's offer(s).

As an addendum, Jones is meeting with HBO this week to discuss his future plans, which range from moving to heavyweight to face WBA champ John Ruiz to taking on an underpublicized light heavyweight such as Glen Kelley or Clinton Woods.

Julio Cesar Chavez, 39, is embarking on a "farewell tour" that opens with a Nov. 24 rematch in Mexico with Willie Wise. The latter defeated Chavez two years ago in Las Vegas. ... Saturday's all-heavyweight card at Caesars Tahoe: Dale Crowe, 21-4-1, vs. Talmadge Griffis, 20-1-2, 10 rounds; Terrance Lewis, 29-9, vs. Frankie Swindell, 37-20-3, 10 rounds; Danny Eaton, 15-1, vs. Gregory Pickrom 10-5-1, eight rounds; Willie Palms, 9-1, vs. David Vedder, 21-19-4, six rounds; Taurus Sykes, 15-1, vs. Sean Williams, 8-11-1, six rounds; and Jason Nicholson, 16-14, vs. Earl Ramon, 6-11-1, six rounds.