Sparse crowd greets Venetian fights

Dean Juipe

Monday, Jan. 14, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

A busy weekend of boxing in Southern Nevada ended with something of a dull thud Sunday night at the C2K nightclub within the Venetian, as a small crowd took in a fairly lackluster fight card that marked the debut of promoter Johnny McClain.

With spectators at such a premium that Venetian employees were giving away tickets as visitors entered the facility from its parking garage, McClain found it's a tough business and one not made any easier by his lack of TV income.

"This is my first one in Las Vegas and it's hard work," McClain said afterward. "But I'm up for it and it's nothing I can't handle.

"I'll do some tweaking on some things and we'll go again next month."

In the headline bout, junior middleweight Fitz Vanderpool pummeled a game if overmatched Alex Perez for virtually eight full rounds before referee Jay Nady stopped the one-sided action. Scored a TKO at 2:31 of the eighth, Vanderpool improved to 22-4-4 with 13 knockouts.

"He can be better than that," said former world champion Roger Mayweather, who has trained Vanderpool for his last two fights. "He's not quite fighting the way I want him to fight, but he has tremendous hand speed.

"He just doesn't know how to place his punches."

Vanderpool, a native of Trinidad & Tobago who has been living in Las Vegas of late, said he drew incentive from the taunting Perez directed his way throughout the bout.

"That's all he could do," Vanderpool said. "He was a clown and he made himself look foolish.

"I was out-boxing him and I would have stopped him before the 10th round. I'd have blasted his face wide open."

A cut above Perez's left eye gave Nady and the ringside doctor an excuse to stop a fight that was scheduled for 10 rounds but one that would have been considered monotonous if not for Perez mocking Vanderpool for his lack of power. Several times during the fight, Perez lowered his arms to his sides and shook his head indignantly toward Vanderpool, daring his opponent to strike.

Losing is nothing new for Perez, who dropped his sixth fight in his last seven outings and is 22-18-3 overall. He received $3,500 for his efforts, while Vanderpool took home $5,000.

The undercard failed to stir the sparse gathering's imagination and it included these results: Dewey Cooper, 2-0, took a majority decision over Isaic Broussard, 0-1, in a four-round cruiserweight pairing; Juan Carlos Santiago, 1-0, won by majority decision over Raul Galvan, 0-2, in a four-round featherweight match; and Francisco Diaz, 6-1, took a unanimous decision over Cebien St. Pierre, 7-16, in a six-round middleweight fight.

The Venetian card capped a busy weekend for fight fans and associates of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which also oversaw Saturday fights in Laughlin and at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus.

At the latter, junior lightweight Acelino Freitas grabbed the World Boxing Association championship by earning a close decision over Joel Casamayor in the main event. Freitas won when each of the three judges scored the bout 114-112 in his favor, with referee Joe Cortez contributing to the outcome by penalizing Casamayor two points.

That rankled Casamayor's handlers and in their postfight remarks they promised to protest the decision.

"Everyone has the right to protest whatever they want," NSAC executive director Marc Ratner said. "But what they're talking about are judgment decisions made by the referee.

"They're certainly welcome to file a protest, but I think it's just posturing on their part for a rematch."

The only rematch McClain is interested in is one between himself and the Venetian. He says he's going ahead with a second card, either Feb. 8 or Feb. 17, and will offer light heavyweight contender Montell Griffin in his main event.

But his first card certainly had its correctable flaws, including lounge chairs (instead of stools) for the judges and an overeager cocktail waitress who asked Nady if he cared for a drink prior to the main event. A larger problem -- the lack of a suitable ring -- was negated at virtually the last minute, as McClain waited until Sunday morning to borrow one from rival promoter James Pollins.

"You can't waste any time if you're going to promote something as complicated as a boxing card," said Pollins, who made his own debut last month at the Stardust. "But I'm from the old school and I remember something my dad once told me: 'If you don't get it right the first time, you might not get a second chance.' "

It seems like good advice.