Thursday, Jan. 3, 2002 | 10:39 a.m.
Several years ago he was one of the most popular fighters in Las Vegas, a pleasant man with a big heart who consistently thrilled audiences with his all-out approach.
Fans liked Scotty Olson and he made it clear that he liked them. Accessible and friendly, he built a rapport not only with those in his immediate audience but with those who follow the sport.
Renowned for never taking a round off, Olson was a big-hitting flyweight who was within a whisker of a world title.
Today "the Bulldog" is 33 years old and feeling he can do it all again.
"I'll be 90 years old and still be able to crack," he said from his home in Edmonton, where he'll face Toronto's Steve Molitor Feb. 15 for the Canadian super bantamweight championship.
"The first things to go on a fighter are his timing, reflexes and hand speed," Olson continued. "You'd be shot if you lost all of those.
"But I'm truly an exception. I'm so much better of a fighter now than I ever was before.
"Of course, I fight like a middleweight and I've always been a puncher."
He says he's rejuvenated.
"I'm taking this fight at 122 (pounds) but I'm really 115 or 118," he said. "What I'd like to do is be thrown into the mix at 115. There are a lot of boys in that division and I'm not saying I'd win every fight, but they'd be exciting to watch."
He surmises his situation and feels there are two routes to go. One is to parlay the Canadian super bantam title into a Commonwealth title fight, likely in England. The other is to relocate to Las Vegas and get the kind of promotional push his career enjoyed during his first tenure here.
Blocking the second (and his preferred) option is the fact his former promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, told him to retire -- as did his mother -- as far back as 1997, and that Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler now feels the same.
"I consider Bruce Trampler a very good friend and he'd like to see me retire and do some other things," Olson said. "But that hasn't curbed my desire to step in there and see what I can do.
"It would be nice to be given another opportunity by Top Rank, and they'd have nothing to lose by giving me a shot. They could see for themselves what I still have to offer.
"I'd have to say that if they'd welcome me back, it would be a wonderful way to finish off my career."
When Olson takes on Molitor, it will be his first fight in a full calendar year. He's 34-3-2 but has fought only three times since '97.
"Mostly, I couldn't find the right fights," he says of his inactivity. "I felt I was getting blocked from a big fight by different people in boxing, and I couldn't get a break or even a good offer.
"I mean, I could have fought, but with me being stubborn I wouldn't fight for free."
So he has diversified and gotten into the business end of the sport, going so far as to promote not only his most recent fight but the card next month in Edmonton.
"I'm a pretty good fighter but an even better businessman," he claims. "But I've got a lot of fight left in me, a lot of desire. And my health has never been better."
Nonetheless, he's leery of Molitor, who is a 21-year-old southpaw with a 9-0 record.
"He doesn't have a good style for me," Olson said. "It's a fight that has the potential to go the distance because I'll probably have to track him down.
"Regardless of how it goes, I'm not going to use it as a barometer. I know I'm a lot stronger than what I once was, even if this fight has to go 12 rounds."
Olson still smarts from a March of '97 fight with junior flyweight champion Michael Carbajal in Corpus Christi, Texas, that he took on short notice and in poor health. He lost that fight and, arguably, his career has never been the same.
"That killed me," he said not only of the fight itself but of its repercussions on his career. "I always thought it was so unfortunate."
So, too, is the fact his career could come to an end without another significant bout or run at a world championship.
"I'd be a little bitter," he said if this comeback attempt fails to draw the type of interest he's pursuing. "Boxing has been so great to me, but I don't want to carry those feelings of animosity that I have.
"I went through a bit of depression in recent years. Everything I tried to do seemed to backfire.
"I miss Las Vegas. I miss the media there. I miss the attention I got from the fans. It was a breathtaking experience for me when I was there, and I'd like to try it again.
"I'm mentally and physically strong and ready to go after it. If you have a connection to the Boxing Capital of the World, like I do, you have to use it, so I'd like to get something started there again.
"The one thing I do know for sure is that the people would still like to see me scrap."
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