Columnist Dean Juipe: Spinks opts to head for the rarefied air

Dean Juipe

Thursday, March 18, 2004 | 9:11 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.

When Cory Spinks was training for his Dec. 13 fight against Ricardo Mayorga in Atlantic City, he stayed in Las Vegas and utilized a rental home and gym just off West Desert Inn.

Yet as Spinks prepares for an equally challenging fight with Zab Judah that is scheduled for April 10 at Mandalay Bay, he's doing it in the rarefied, Rocky Mountain air of Colorado Springs.

Why the change?

"Las Vegas is just too much of a distraction," Spinks' manager and lead trainer, Kevin Cunningham, said Wednesday. "We want to make sure Cory has every opportunity to be at his best for Judah, and to do that we felt we needed to go somewhere else and train at a higher altitude.

"The place we had (in Las Vegas) wasn't right for this fight. It's not really (as secluded) as you might think."

Spinks is the undisputed welterweight champion, having added Mayorga's belts to his own by upsetting the Nicaragua slugger in Atlantic City by majority decision. Spinks, 32-2 with 11 knockouts, was ahead by 2 and 7 points on two judges' cards and even on the other.

Despite the impressive nature of that victory, Cunningham believes Spinks has yet to receive his just due. Hence, they're coming right back with an equally dangerous fight against an equally dangerous opponent.

"Cory's trying to make a statement," Cunningham said. "He made history (by becoming undisputed champion) and still there are people who are not giving him the proper respect.

"After this fight, we think, he'll get what he's due."

Judah, 30-1 with 22 KOs, is well-known and, like Spinks, a southpaw. His only loss -- a quick KO-2 -- was at the hands of undisputed junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu three years ago.

"We're doing what a champion is supposed to do and what the fans want to see," Cunningham said of Spinks immediately taking on the highest ranked challenger to his titles. To prepare for the bout, Spinks is sparring with nothing but southpaws, including former Olympian Ricardo Williams, Army vet Cory Bernard and the man who defeated Judah in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials, David Diaz.

"These guys are perfect," Cunningham said of the cast of sparring partners, adding that Spinks is in good health and is physically sound with the fight vs. Judah only three weeks away.

Juan Manuel Marquez owns the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association titles at 126 pounds, and Manny Pacquaio upset Marco Antonio Barrera in his featherweight debut. Pacquaio is also a former world champion at 122 pounds.

He and Marquez will fight on a card that will also include hot junior welterweight prospect Miguel Cotto.

Marquez is 42-2 and Pacquaio is 38-2-1, including a KO-11 victory against Barrera Nov. 15 in San Antonio.

The Marquez vs. Pacquaio fight was initially targeted for the Orleans in Las Vegas with a May 22 date, but was moved to May 8 as Arum simultaneously moved a proposed Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight from May 8 to May 22.

A hand injury has forced Marco Antonio Barrera from his Friday fight vs. Ivan Alvarez in Los Angeles. Heavy hitter Daniel Ponce De Leon, 17-0 with 17 knockouts, will replace Barrera. ... The Fort Cheyenne Casino in North Las Vegas has a March 26 card in which featherweight Carlos Navarro will headline. He's 23-3-1 but has lost two of his four most recent fights, which he blames on taking the fights "at the last minute." No opponent yet. At least three other fights are scheduled on promoter Doug Terry's card. ... With the closing of the gym at Nevada Partners imminent, Richard Steele will take his fighters to a remodeled facility at 1405 A St. in North Las Vegas.

The Sports & Entertainment Law Association of the Boyd School of Law at UNLV will conduct a mock arbitration hearing Monday. Boxer Roshii Wells and deputy attorney general Keith Kizer are among the participants in the event -- titled "Contracts, Arbitration and more" -- that is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in room 102 of the Boyd building on campus.