Back in the picture

Dean Juipe

Thursday, July 8, 2004 | 9 a.m.

Ten or 12 years ago when he weighed 135 pounds and owned a perfect record, Miguel Angel Gonzalez was almost literally unbeatable.

He won the World Boxing Council lightweight championship in 1992 and held it for five years, or until the difficulties in making weight and the lure of higher-profile fights at 140 pounds caused him to relinquish the WBC belt.

A noted body puncher with a great left hook, Gonzalez not only beat Wilfrido Rocha for the lightweight championship in 1992, he added victories against such noteworthy opponents as Jean Baptiste-Mendy, Leavander Johnson, Darryl Tyson, David Sample, Calvin Grove and Lamar Murphy.

Gonzalez was a great champion, a favorite son of the WBC and a revered figure in his native Mexico.

But at 140 he ran into two younger, more ferocious fighters in Oscar De La Hoya and Kostya Tszyu and he lost to both of them as well as to a ranked but uncrowned contender at 147, Manuel Gomez.

Gonzalez fell from public attention.

Yet, for whatever reason, he gets a reprieve Sept. 4 when he takes on undisputed welterweight world champion Cory Spinks at Mandalay Bay as part of a doubleheader that also includes heavyweights Lamon Brewster and Kali Meehan.

It's an easy fight for Spinks, right?

"Actually, I think Miguel will knock Cory out by the 11th round," said Gonzalez's co-trainer, James Pena, whose brother Juan manages the 33-year-old fighter.

Gonzalez is 50-3-1 with 40 knockouts and Spinks is 33-2 with 10 KOs.

Gonzalez, something of a regular in Las Vegas for UFC mixed-martial arts fights, will be here next week for a few days before formally opening camp at Big Bear, Calif.

"If he pulls this off, it's a hell of a comeback," James Pena said. "It's a golden opportunity for him to make history. And we're real confident that he's going to do it."

Gonzalez, who began his pro career in 1989, hasn't fought in Las Vegas since losing to De La Hoya by 8, 7 and 6 points on the judges' cards Jan. 18, 1997. Yet that doesn't mean he and others haven't tried to get him a fight or two here.

"I talked to him about fighting at the Cannery (in North Las Vegas) and I had him ready to headline at the Castaways until they went bankrupt," promoter Richard Steele said. "I was looking for a 'name' fighter, especially a Hispanic, and I wanted a guy I could highlight and build on.

"I knew he could do it, and what's happening to him now is just what I envisioned might happen. I'm happy for him while being sad that he hasn't had a fight here in so long."

Steele isn't sure Gonzalez can handle Spinks, however.

"Can he beat Spinks? Well, it's going to be tough," he said. "The knowledge will always be there for him, but we don't know what he has left or what kind of reflexes he has these days.

"Spinks is a great fighter and his movement is going to give Gonzalez trouble. You can't count him out, but he's not going to have the speed he once did, so you have to ask yourself 'Just what can he do to win the fight?' "

Pena has the answer: "Miguel's whole thing is devastating body punches and I don't think Cory can take them," he said.

"Miguel is definitely not a 'shot' fighter. People may not have seen him for a few years, but he's never been beaten up and he'll come into this fight in great shape.

"Plus, Miguel owns southpaws; he's 7-0 against them."

Gonzalez has fought infrequently and in Mexico of late despite making an offer that any local promoter should have accepted.

"Richard (Steele) was the only one who wanted to use him, but Miguel offered to fight for free in Las Vegas and a couple of the other promoters in town turned him down," Pena said. "He said, 'You just pay my opponent and you don't have to pay me,' but no one took us up on the offer."

Gonzalez was in position to fight without receiving a purse because, Pena says, he's financially set.

"It's not about money," he said. "Miguel not only is not starving, he's done as well (with his money) as any fighter I've ever seen.

"He's still fighting because he feels he can still be a champion."

He'll get a chance to prove it in a couple of months.