Columnist Dean Juipe: LV’s Kiwanuka back in action, has Phoenix bout

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Oct. 16, 2003 | 9:55 a.m.

Las Vegas boxing fans -- at least the ones who have been here for a while -- are familiar with Joseph Kiwanuka. He was once widely regarded as a rising star on both a local and national basis.

But even his biggest fans thought his career was over when Kiwanuka not only lost to Julio Gonzalez last year but dropped from public view.

As a result, it's somewhat surprising to see Kiwanuka's name resurface, as it did this week, as the Nov. 6 opponent for a fight in Phoenix with former International Boxing Federation cruiserweight champ Vassiliy Jirov.

Kiwanuka, a resident of Las Vegas, is now 32 years old and claims a record of 27-5-2 with 20 knockouts. But he's only 8-5 in his most recent fights, having opened his career with consecutive draws and then 19 consecutive wins before stiffer competition interrupted his championship plans.

Jirov, 29, is 32-1 with 28 KOs and is coming off a seventh-round TKO victory against Ernest Mateen Aug. 7 in Temecula, Calif.

Jirov and Kiwanuka are scheduled for 10 rounds at 190 pounds, but a question immediately arises: Is Kiwanuka able to go the distance, let alone win, against a man of Jirov's abilities?

"Yes, I see us getting some rounds out of it," matchmaker Tom Brown said Wednesday from his Los Angeles office. "I was getting the same type of calls before Jirov's fight with Mateen.

"Who knows how Jirov is and how he takes to these fights? He had some trouble with Mateen."

The inference is that Kiwanuka is an acceptable opponent for Jirov simply because Jirov may not have his heart in it.

Whether Kiwanuka can capitalize or even survive remains to be seen.

"I know Joseph well and I'm comfortable enough with him in this fight," Brown said. "He's had time to prepare for the fight and he's going to complete his training in Las Vegas and then come out to L.A. for a while.

"Joseph hasn't been active but he's an Olympic-caliber veteran. We all know the type of skills he once had."

Kiwanuka, a gentle, soft-spoken man, made for a great story during his brief ascent as a super middleweight and light heavyweight.

A native of Uganda and one of seven children in a family raised by their mother after their father died when Joseph was 12, he came to the United States to pursue a career in boxing. After arriving in South Carolina on a one-way ticket to the United States, he hopped on a bus and made his way to Las Vegas on the advice of a Ugandan friend.

After the early four-round draws, he distinguished himself as a capable fighter with a big punch. He rose in stature by winning a North American Boxing Federation title, which was then worth something, before stalling when his competition was upgraded.

Two losses to Thomas Tate and a televised loss to Vinny Pazienza had Kiwanuka on the skids. He had a win against Glencoffe Johnson, but after he lost to Gonzalez -- who, coincidentally, is fighting the undefeated Dariusz Michalczewski Saturday in Germany -- his career appeared to be over.

Gonzalez won that fight with Kiwanuka, in April of 2002, by seventh-round stoppage.

"That was a good, competitive fight for a while," Brown said, hoping to get the same type of effort from Kiwanuka in his fight with Jirov.

"I think Kiwanuka vs. Jirov is a true main event," Brown added. "It's not like I just pulled Joseph in off the street."

Clark is 31-2 with 15 KOs and Ramirez is 20-6-6 with 15 KOs.

Also scheduled: Juan Ruiz, 8-0, vs. Philip Payne, 13-8-1, 10 rounds, junior lightweights; Joe Spina, 8-0, vs. Rodney Moore, 5-6-3, six rounds, light heavyweights; Dewey Cooper, 8-0-2, vs. Cesar Carbajal, 2-3, six rounds, cruiserweights; Miguel Munguia, 13-0-1, vs. an opponent yet to be determined, six rounds, junior flyweights; and Melinda Cooper, 9-0, vs. Para Draine, 13-6-1, four rounds, women, bantamweights. First bell is 5:30 p.m.

Henderson's Avelino Chavez is off the card due to injury.

Tua and Rahman, each a heavyweight contender, were to have fought for a third time but Tua's lingering troubles with ex-trainer and manager Kevin Barry have caused him to back out.

Both Tua and Barry recently agreed that Barry would no longer train the fighter, but Tua has taken it a step further and initiated legal action to break the managerial contract that Barry has with him. Tua filed the papers in Auckland, New Zealand, and that's where he currently is.

He was to have fought Rahman in a World Boxing Association eliminator that would determine the organization's top-ranked contender. Instead, Ruiz will step in and fight for the first time since losing to Roy Jones Jr. in March.

That Ruiz vs. Rahman fight is part of what has ballooned into a mammoth card that will feature no fewer than five legitimate title fights. The title fights include Bernard Hopkins vs. William Joppy; Ricardo Mayorga vs. Cory Spinks; Luis Perez vs. Felix Machado; Rosendo Alvarez vs. Victor Burgos, and Wayne Braithwaite vs. TBA.

The Fernando Vargas vs. Tony Marshall junior middleweight fight is back on and scheduled for Dec. 12 in Phoenix. ... New York's Madison Square Garden has landed the Vitali Klitschko vs. Kirk Johnson heavyweight fight Dec. 6. Joe Mesi vs. Monte Barrett tops the undercard. ... Top Rank has located an opponent for featherweight Paulie Ayala's Nov. 14 comeback fight in Texas. Edel Ruiz, 22-10-3, gets the assignment; Ayala is 34-2. ... Top Rank has also announced a Dec. 6 pay-per-view card in Puerto Rico in which Miguel Cotto and Eric Morel share headlining duties. Cotto, 17-0, will face Arturo Morales, 14-0-1, at 140 pounds, and Morel, 33-0, defends his World Boxing Association flyweight title against Lorenzo Parra, 19-0.