Columnist Dean Juipe: McPherson cancels tonight’s fight card at the Cannery

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 19, 2003 | 10:05 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.

A boxing card that may have been doomed from the start and was scheduled for tonight at the Cannery in North Las Vegas has been canceled.

In spite of facing countless obstacles in the past couple of weeks, promoter Sterling McPherson thought he had all the pieces in place as late as Wednesday. But then came word that one of his main-event participants, Miguel Torrecillas of Juarez, Mexico, had sustained a broken hand in training.

Torrecillas was to have fought Jose Armando Santa Cruz. When a replacement could not be immediately found, the decision was made to call off a card that was to have been televised as part of the Showtime cable network's "Shobox" series.

McPherson had struggled with the Showtime-approved date for some time, initially believing he would use it to feature former heavyweight champion Frans Botha in a fight from the Virgin Islands. But that idea was nixed due to visa problems, with Showtime then requesting that McPherson rework the card and find a United States site.

He contacted the Cannery, which hosted its first boxing card last month, and made the necessary arrangements to do the Torrecillas vs. Santa Cruz card from there. The Cannery had an opening on its schedule and a willingness to host the card because it had bypassed a proposed card from promoter Richard Steele that initially had been scheduled for Wednesday night; Steele will take that card to the Castaways June 28 instead.

"August 9 is out," he said from his California office.

Goossen has made contact with International Boxing Federation heavyweight champ Chris Byrd about fighting Toney, but that fight remains tentative and clearly will not happen this summer.

Goossen placed the blame on the Hopkins vs. Toney fight falling through not on fellow promoter Don King -- who couldn't deliver Hopkins at the agreed-upon price -- but on Hopkins himself.

"We made one mistake," Goossen said. "And while King can't wash his hands in complete innocence, it was Hopkins who messed things up. He's the one who made it a little crazy.

"Quite frankly, James and I are not inclined to waste any more time on him."

"It may seem like I'm over the hill, but I'm not," Williams said with some justification, as even at the age of 38 he appeared durable and strong. But Booker landed 27 more punches and was quicker than Williams, who was also bothered by a cut over his left eye that worsened in the sixth round.

Booker improved to 20-0 and Williams dropped to 37-9-1.

June 27 at the Orleans will see featherweights Humberto Soto, 25-5-2, and Armando Cordova, 20-10, in a 10-round main event, with Jairo Ramirez, Cornelius Lock and Avelino Chavez featured in undercard bouts. Ramirez, 12-1, needs an opponent for his eight-round lightweight bout, while Lock, 9-1, takes on John Nolasco, 11-2-2, at 126 pounds and Chavez, 5-0, meets Anthony Wilson, 4-6-1, at 147.

June 28 at the Castaways, former World Boxing Council lightweight and junior welterweight champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez will headline at 154 pounds against an opponent yet to be determined. Gonzalez, 32, held the WBC belt at 135 pounds for three years before moving to 140, where he was beaten by Oscar De La Hoya in 1997.

July 11 at the City Center Pavilion in Reno will see Orlando Salido, 17-8-1, matched with Freddy Neal, 17-1-2, in a 10-round main event at 126 pounds.

And July 12 at Caesars Tahoe, Las Vegas heavyweights David Defiagbon and Charles Shufford are featured in separate events. Defiagbon, 19-0, will meet Charles Hatcher, 14-4, and Shufford, 19-4, takes on Gilbert Martinez, 15-5, with each fight scheduled for 10 rounds.