Columnist Dean Juipe: Spinks knows it’s a tall mountain he has climbed

Dean Juipe

Thursday, April 8, 2004 | 9:21 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.

In the course of 13 months, Cory Spinks has gone from unsung challenger to International Boxing Federation welterweight champion to undisputed welterweight champion to a fight of considerable consequence with Zab Judah.

The quick ascent isn't lost on Spinks, who knows full well what he has to lose.

"You have to work harder," he said of his preparations as king of the 147-pound division. "A lot of people are gunning for me now."

Spinks vs. Judah shares top billing with Wladimir Klitschko vs. Lamon Brewster as part of Saturday's card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. A crowd of around 8,000 is expected for the show, promoted by Don King.

"I'm finally getting the credit I deserve," Spinks said of the belated recognition that has come his way since he not only defeated Michele Piccirillo for the IBF title but Ricardo Mayorga for the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles as well.

"It's a dream come true," Spinks said. "Becoming the undisputed champion is the ultimate dream."

But he could lose all three belts in one night, should Judah do as bettors believe he will and win. Despite Spinks' standing as an undisputed champion, he remains a plus 140 in the sports book at Mandalay Bay; Judah is a minus 160.

Spinks, 26, is 32-2 with 11 knockouts, while Judah, also 26, is 30-1 with 22 KOs.

"A guy with speed, a guy with no speed, it really doesn't matter to me," Spinks said when asked about Judah's alarming quickness. "You've got to be able to fight all kinds of styles and I can fight any way I choose.

"It's a natural talent."

Spinks comes by that natural talent in part by being the son of former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks and the nephew of former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Michael Spinks.

Yet those family ties are irrelevant in the ring, where Spinks is always competitive and only twice on the losing ends of close decisions. He dropped a split decision to Antonio Diaz in 1998 and lost the first of two fights against Piccirillo in Italy, the closeness of which forced the IBF to call for a rematch.

"They give me advice when I need it," Spinks said of the current influence of his father and uncle. "But they pretty much stay out of the scene."

His decision victory against Mayorga Dec. 13 in Atlantic City not only brought him the undisputed welterweight championship, it made a believer of boxing fans -- and made Judah some money.

"I won money betting on Cory," Judah said of Spinks defeating Mayorga. "I told anyone who would listen that Cory would be too slick for Mayorga, because Mayorga's such a reckless fighter."

While Judah adds that "I'm far from Mayorga," both he and Spinks know better than to look too far past the fight at hand.

"It's a mistake to plan ahead," Spinks said, when asked who he would like to fight if he gets past Judah. "I don't make future plans."

Neither, apparently, does Judah.

"It would be kind of idiotic to make plans for another fight just yet," he said, knowing full well the undisputed champion is not going to hand over those three precious belts without a struggle.

Aside from the co-main events (and Jesse Feliciano vs. Muhammad Abdullaev), six other fights are scheduled, including: Miguel Callist, 18-3-1, vs. Lakva Sim, 18-2, 12 rounds for the vacant WBA lightweight title; Kali Meehan, 28-1, vs. Damon Reed, 38-8, 10 rounds, heavyweights; Kevin Montiy, 13-0, vs. Kevin Petty, 10-2-1, six rounds, heavyweights; Mark Suarez, 19-2, vs. Raul Munoz, 14-2, six rounds, welterweights; Mario Preskar, 1-0, vs. Herman Gipson, 2-1-1, four rounds, heavyweights, and Vaughn Alexander vs. Alex Boranin, four rounds, heavyweights. Doors will open at 3 p.m. and the first bell will immediately follow.

Air Force won the team title.

"It was a down year for us," UNLV coach Skip Kelp said, adjusting his optimistic view of a week earlier. "We had some close calls but things didn't go our way."

The exception was Kim, a 27-year-old native of Korea who was the only Rebel to reach the tournament finals.

"He has sacrificed so much that I can honestly say he deserved to win," Kelp said of Kim, a junior at UNLV. "When he first came to me (last year) he was 165 pounds and was round. I didn't put a lot of effort into him at first, until he asked me to teach him to box.

"It was then that I noticed how much heart this guy has, plus there's an innocence about him that's really neat."