Columnist Dean Juipe: Showtime fills card with a few of their rising stars

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003 | 10:01 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 sports executives at the Showtime cable network have said they are no longer going to sign fighters to long-term deals, yet it retains a vested interest in the fighters it has under contract and is doing its best to increase and extend their viability.

As a result, the network will rematch one of its fledgling stars, junior welterweight Francisco Bojado, with the man who upset him a year ago. Bojado vs. Juan Carlos Rubio will be one of three fights -- each showcasing a potential rising star under contract to Showtime -- on a Saturday card to be televised from Houston.

Bojado, 20, was 168-15 as an amateur and a vaunted member of Mexico's 2000 Olympic team. He was 9-0 as a professional and with each win by knockout when he fought Rubio Feb. 16, 2002 in Connecticut and lost by 10th-round stoppage.

"That was one of my worst days," Bojado said during a conference call. "I was too anxious. I went in there trying to take him out with one punch and I ended up punching myself out."

Bojado, who is 4-0 with two KOs since the loss, was knocked down in the eighth round of his earlier fight with Rubio, who came into that bout with a record of 27-6-2 and with losses in two of his previous three fights.

Bojado says things have changed since the setback.

"I have a new team," he said, as Floyd Mayweather has taken over as his trainer. "We've been going over what I did wrong (and) I feel good.

"Nobody is going to beat me twice."

Showtime hopes he's right.

Also scheduled: Luis Arceo, 14-0-1, vs. Donald Camarena, 8-0, eight rounds, lightweights; Avelino Chavez, 8-0, vs. Anthony Bowman, 8-7-2, six rounds, welterweights; Leopaldo Gonzalez, 6-0, vs. Jesus Mendoza, 6-0, six rounds, junior lightweights; Alex Velardez, 9-1, vs. Oscar Garcia, 3-5, six rounds, junior welterweights; Omar Salado, 4-0-1, vs. Jesus Valadez, 2-3, four rounds, flyweights; and Melinda Cooper, 9-0, vs. Yumi Takano, 9-7, six rounds, women, bantamweights. First bell is 7 p.m.

A judge in Auckland, New Zealand, has requested an independent auditing of the finances involving heavyweight contender David Tua and his estranged managerial team, as Tuaman Inc. Management sought. Tuaman -- which is Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh -- hopes to continue its relationship with Tua, but the fighter filed suit in an attempt to break his contract with Tuaman. Tua has a residence in Las Vegas and these legal issues caused him to drop out of a fight with Hasim Rahman scheduled for Dec. 13 in Atlantic City; fellow Las Vegan John Ruiz is replacing Tua for the bout. ... Last week's debut card at the Fort Cheyenne Casino in North Las Vegas met with mixed results, although the promotional firm Dangerous Curves has withdrawn its application for a Dec. 11 card at the same site.