Columnist Dean Juipe: Thompson to make Las Vegas debut

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 23, 2002 | 9 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The Olympics may have escaped Anthony Thompson but his manager believes professional stardom is inevitable.

Thompson, ousted in the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials and abdicating his shot at the 2004 team by having already turned pro, is a highly touted 20-year-old who is 2-0 and fighting on an undercard feature Saturday at the Las Vegas Hilton. He's a welterweight with no shortage of promise -- and supporters.

"He's not only a future world champion, he's a pound-for-pound type of guy," said his manager, the Las Vegas-based Cameron Dunkin. "He's absolutely unbelievable and I can't say enough about him.

"It's one thing to say a guy is going to be a champion, but to say he'll be one of the best three or four fighters in the world in a few years ... well, luckily I've got him."

Thompson will make his Las Vegas debut on a card headlined by heavyweights Terrance Lewis and Robert Davis. Cedric Kushner is the promoter.

"Coming from Cameron, who has had a lot of great fighters, gives me a lot of confidence," Thompson said Wednesday night during a phone call to his Philadelphia residence. "He's been treating me great and if our team stays tight, I'm definitely going to be successful."

Thompson may or may not be tested at the Hilton when he takes on Ruben Munoz of Mexico, who is a mere 4-2-3. They're scheduled for four rounds at 147 pounds.

"I've seen a tape of him he looks pretty strong and confident," Thompson said of Munoz, 27. "He tries to apply a lot of pressure."

That's apt to be a good characteristic, given Thompson's two quick knockouts as a pro and his vaunted power.

"He's so strong, so fast," Dunkin remarked. "All he needs is experience, fighting different guys."

So far, Thompson hasn't felt much pressure in the ring -- or out of it.

"What's the worst that can happen?" he replied, when asked if he feels under the gun to produce a KO under these circumstances and develop into a star. "If I lose, life still goes on. But if anybody is going to beat me, that guy is going to have to be The Man. He's going to have to be very good."

Dunkin doesn't think that day is anywhere in the immediate future.

"When I saw him at the 2000 Trials, I told him 'You're the best and you're only going to get better,"' he said. "He said he'd only had 38 (amateur) fights and just smiled."

Thompson finished his amateur career 78-7 and was a three-time national champion.

"I'm in no rush," he said of catching the attention of boxing fans. "I understand the competition is going to get harder. I know I've yet to see the big, dramatic change that I will someday (in competition).

"Right now they're giving me guys I'm supposed to beat, but in time I'll be tested."

Trained by Ronald Jackson, Thompson was attending Temple University until dropping out to pursue professional boxing. He has been fighting for 11 years overall.

"Everybody's raving about him and he's going to be an HBO-type star," Dunkin said confidently.

Lewis, 29, is 30-11 with 20 KOs and Davis, 30, is 26-4 with 15. Each man is coming off a loss, Lewis having been stopped by Clifford Etienne last month and Davis having been decisioned by Michael Moorer in February.

In their first fight, Lewis had Davis down twice early but faded in the middle rounds until landing a one-punch knockout in the ninth.

Also scheduled: Davarryl Williamson, 15-1, vs. Dale Crowe, 21-5-2, eight rounds, heavyweights; Zuri Lawrence, 16-7-3, vs. David Vedder, 21-20-5, six rounds, heavyweights; Billy Zumbrun, 8-3-1, vs. Byron Polley, 7-1, six rounds, heavyweights; and a four-round women's bantamweight match between Mandy Lynn LaPointe and Stephanie Dobbs. First bell is 7 p.m.

Former junior welterweight world champ Vince Phillips is suing Millennium Events Inc. and promoter Vlad Wharton in New York. Phillips, of Las Vegas, is unhappy that Wharton has not yet produced a rematch with current undisputed 140-pound champ Kostya Tszyu, as had at least been indirectly promised. ... Anthony Willis, 19-10-1, gets the call to face one-time heavyweight contender Michael Grant, 33-2, June 1 at the Stratosphere. Also scheduled: Lemuel Nelson, 23-5-1, vs. Michael Davis, 21-9, 10 rounds, lightweights; Michael Bennett, 8-2, vs. Chris Hairston, 3-4, six rounds, cruiserweights; Gabe Brown, 12-2, vs. an opponent yet to be determined, eight rounds, heavyweights; and a female super middleweight fight between Kathy Rivers, 11-2, and Marisha Valley, 9-5-4. ... Top Rank has added flyweight warhorse Melchor Cob-Castro, 65-8-4, to its June 21 card at the Orleans. Featherweight Juan Manuel Marquez headlines.