Columnist Dean Juipe: Abelyan set to get back in ring

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 10, 2004 | 9:29 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.

It's a fight that has been postponed three times.

But Scott Harrison vs. William Abelyan is back on for June 19 in Glasgow and this time it looks as if it's a go.

The featherweight bout pits Scotland's Harrison against Las Vegas' Abelyan, with Harrison's World Boxing Organization featherweight title at stake. Delayed by assorted injuries, most recently by Harrison's hurt shoulder, the contest matches two fighters in their prime and is likely to go its fully scheduled 12 rounds.

And therein lies the potential for trouble, Abelyan's manager said Wednesday.

"That's the only point that really bothers me," said Garnick Khachikian, referring to the judges who will be assigned and their general tendency to favor familiar fighters. "Over there, everyone knows Harrison and no one knows William.

"Over there, there's a lot of corruption. If the fight was in the United States, I'd be comfortable and I'd say there's a 90 percent chance we would win.

"But over there you have to knock a guy (out) to get a draw."

Abelyan, 23-4-1, is not a knockout puncher, but neither is Harrison (21-2-1) for that matter. The outcome of their fight might very well be determined by the judges, and if it is and Abelyan's side doesn't like it, Khachikian is promising to raise a ruckus.

"Somebody has to stop this nonsense," he said. "(Scoring fights) is a big problem in that part of the world and if we feel cheated I'm going to talk about it to everyone I can and make the people who are responsible look bad.

"I'm going to make them uncomfortable."

Of course that's what Abelyan would like to do with Harrison as well.

"William's a boxer and Harrison lost to a boxer in Manuel Medina," Khachikian said of a fight last July in which a pro with 18 years of experience managed to win a split decision with Harrison on his home turf.

Khachikian said he and Abelyan have watched tapes of that fight repeatedly, as well as several others including Harrison's March 22, 2003, victory against ex-champion Wayne McCullough. Harrison won that fight by 12, 11 and 10 points on the judges' cards.

"Harrison's a good young fighter, a hard fighter," Khachikian said. "He's very strong, but I don't think he can knock William out and I'm not sure William can knock him out.

"But as far as technical skills, to me at least, I think Harrison is an average fighter.

"We've done our homework. William's going to move him around and not stand in front of him."

Khachikian said the earlier postponements haven't troubled Abelyan and added that they would be leaving Las Vegas for Glasgow on Monday.

"Fighters like to fight all the time and if they're not fighting they're not happy," he said. "But we didn't have any control (over the postponements), especially with the promoter being so far away.

"William hasn't seemed to be bothered by it and he's ready to go. He wants that belt badly."

Despite the obstacles, Khachikian is predicting Abelyan will win.

"It's going to be tough but I think we can win," he said. "William is going to win every round."

Out of shape and allegedly barely training, Johnny Tapia is off the July 31 Erik Morales vs. Carlos Hernandez card at the MGM. He was to have fought Bobby Velardez. Junior flyweight Ivan Calderon vs. Daniel Reyes remains on the card and International Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Rafael Marqeuz may yet be added. ... NBC's "The Contender" reality show continues filming at Steele's gym near downtown, with pro fighter B.J. Flores invited back for a Saturday filming session. ... Mike Tyson is training in Phoenix for what he hopes will be a July fight, although he said last Saturday at the MGM that oft-rumored Kevin McBride would not be his opponent and that he didn't know who it would be (and didn't care). ... HBO replays last Saturday's Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins fights this Saturday at 10 p.m.

If the proposed MGM Mirage-Mandalay Resort Group merger goes through as is being negotiated, there's a quietly expressed concern that boxing promoters will have one fewer option when offering fights around Las Vegas due to the fact there would be fewer sites bidding on a fight card. While both the MGM and Mandalay Bay, for instance, have gone head to head and bid on major cards for several years, if the merger goes through only a single bid would be presented on MGM Mirage/Mandalay Resort Group's behalf. ... Verno Phillips won last Saturday's fight by TKO-6 against late-sub Carlos Bojorquez in Joplin, Mo., with the vacant IBF junior middleweight title at stake. ... Former junior lightweight world champ Steve Forbes of Las Vegas improved to 24-2 with seven knockouts by stopping Art Cruz, 20-15, in the second round last Friday in Lincoln City, Ore.