Columnist Dean Juipe: Injury to Vargas made moving fight simple

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003 | 9:58 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.

An injury to Fernando Vargas played a role in moving the James Toney vs. Jameel McCline fight scheduled for Feb. 7 from Detroit to Las Vegas.

Vargas, a former junior middleweight world champion, had been scheduled to face Javier Castillejo Feb. 21 at Mandalay Bay, but he had to pull out of the bout due to an ailing back. With that fight card canceled, Mandalay Bay was willing to accept the Toney vs. McCline fight even after it had been initially announced for Cobo Hall in Detroit and a press conference had been held.

"Mandalay Bay was my first choice, but they already had a commitment to Vargas for two weeks later," promoter Dan Goossen said Tuesday. "It was tough for (Mandalay Bay) to do James' fight when they had Fernando coming in two weeks later.

"But when Vargas said he was hurt and that fight was called off, I went back to Mandalay Bay and they were willing to take the Toney-McCline fight.

"I guess we owe Fernando a note of thanks."

Despite the fact a press conference had already been held in Detroit, albeit without McCline (who begged off with an earache), Goossen was not satisfied with the logistics or arrangement.

"I can tell you that there were several factors that didn't sit well with me (about placing the fight in Detroit)," he said. "James -- a native of nearby Ann Arbor -- loves Detroit and wanted to fight there, but there were a series of events that worked against it.

"There was a communication, or a nonresponsive, gap that kept on widening. In the end, it made far more sense to move the fight to Mandalay Bay."

The heavyweight fight will see Toney, 217 pounds, take on a noticeably larger man in the towering McCline, who is 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds.

Toney is 67-4-2 and McCline is 30-3-3.

"A lot of people are saying a lot of things about this fight, but the size differential is at the top of the list," Goossen said. "The beauty of the fight is that there are a lot of people who think James can't beat a man that big, but, to them, I'd say James is a giant killer.

"I believe he's the future of the heavyweight division."

Toney, 35, has surrendered his International Boxing Federation cruiserweight title to concentrate on heavyweights. He's coming off an Oct. 4 ninth-round TKO victory against former heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield.

Facing McCline gives Toney a chance to prove to skeptics that he can handle the big men in the division.

"James knows he'll face the best McCline has to offer," Goossen said. "Jameeel has Buddy McGirt in his corner now and he knows this could be his last chance, so we know he's not going to go down without a fight."

Derrick Harmon of Las Vegas saw his record drop to 23-5 in his first fight as a cruiserweight, as he was beaten by O'Neil Bell last Friday in a nationally televised fight from suburban Chicago. Bell is 22-1-1. ... New undisputed welterweight champion Cory Spinks said he would settle for facing Zab Judah if it can be arranged. Spinks had been hoping for a bout with Shane Mosley, but with those negotiations going nowhere he has turned his attention to Judah, a former junior welterweight world champion.