Columnist Jeff Haney: Toughman Gergen a prisoner of the sport

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005 | 10:08 a.m.

Jeff Haney covers boxing for the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com.

The boxing career of hard-punching heavyweight Mika Gergen followed a circuitous route before reaching Friday night's scheduled seven-bout card at the Orleans.

Born in Pago Pago, Samoa, in 1977, Gergen grew up in the Seattle area and later lived in Montana, where he won a Toughman Competition shortly before turning professional in 2003.

It was in the days between -- during a lengthy stay in prison -- that he refined his fighting skills, Gergen said.

He served about eight years, Gergen said, after being convicted of charges that stemmed from a violent street fight.

He learned to become a boxer while doing time in Montana, Texas and Washington state, Gergen said.

"I did a lot of boxing in prison," he said. "They would bring in guys from Canada, from all over, who really had skills."

Gergen (6-1-1, 6 knockouts) meets Donald Jackson (2-0, 1 KO) of Houston in the top undercard bout Friday at the Orleans' Mardis Gras Ballroom, a heavyweight match scheduled for six rounds.

The main event of the card presented by Guilty Boxing features lightweights Jairo Ramirez (16-2, 7 KOs) and Rustam Nugaev (13-3, 5 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder.

In his most recent fight, last November at the Gold Coast, Gergen suffered the lone defeat of his pro career when John Clark stopped him in the fifth round.

Since then, Gergen said, he has made significant changes under the guidance of new trainer Lou Lake.

"He's got me using my feet as well as my hands, and working on moving all around the ring the entire fight," said Gergen, known as "The Samoan Destroyer." "Before it was like I was standing in cement in there.

"Also, I used to tighten up my lower back all the time, and it would affect my breathing, and we've corrected that. When you're a professional athlete, no matter what the sport, obviously it's very important to be breathing properly."

Gergen, who trains in Mission Valley, Calif., and does strength training in Palm Springs, Calif., said he has written off last November's loss as the upshot of a "bad day."

"I know I'm better than I performed that day," he said.

Gergen's manager, Bobby DePhilippis, also gave credit to Lake for rejuvenating his fighter.

"He has Mika working very hard, and Mika loves to work out; he's happy doing it," DePhilippis said. "He was good before. Now he's gonna be great."

Ramirez, 23, originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, now based in San Diego, is ranked No. 11 by the North American Boxing Federation. He beat Gabriel Vasquez at the Orleans last October.

Nugaev, 23, originally from Russia, now based in Los Angeles, is coming off a unanimous-decision victory against Ricardo Fuentes last March in Inglewood, Calif.

Also on the card: Rafael Valenzuela (3-0, 1 KO) of Phoenix vs. Juan Carlos Santiago (7-5-1, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas, six rounds, featherweight; George Garcia (4-0, 3 KOs) vs. Bridger Bercier (2-0, 1 KO), four rounds, heavyweight; Joe Spina (14-0, 11 KOs) vs. TBA, six rounds, super middleweight; Eric Nemo (4-0-1, 2 KOs) vs. Missael Nunez (2-3, 0 KOs), six rounds, super bantamweight; and Humberto Tapia (5-0, 3 KOs) vs. Juan Galvez (3-0, 3 KOs), four rounds, lightweight.

Tickets are $20 and $30. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the first bout is scheduled to begin at 7.

Lightweight title

The lightweight championship bout between Jose Luis Castillo and Julio Diaz was finalized this week and will take place March 5 at Mandalay Bay.

Showtime will televise as Castillo (51-6-1, 45 KOs) puts his WBC belt on the line against Diaz (30-2, 22 KOs).

"I've always worked well against bigger fighters," said Diaz, the younger brother of longtime contender Antonio Diaz. "I've done well sparring with my older brother, who is big like Castillo, and this is a fight I expect to win."

On Wednesday, Sycuan Ringside Promotions, which promotes Diaz, announced that Diaz had voluntary relinquished his IBF belt in advance of the Castillo fight in order to sidestep the possibility of a legal battle.

Spinks-Judah

A sellout of 20,000 seats is expected for Saturday's welterweight unification title bout between Cory Spinks and Zab Judah at the Savvis Center in St. Louis. About 18,000 tickets have already been sold, according to Alan Hopper of Don King Productions.

Spinks (34-2, 11 KOs), a St. Louis native fighting for a title in his hometown for the first time, trained in Las Vegas for the fight. The son of Leon and the nephew of Michael, Spinks recorded a victory by unanimous decision against Judah in their first meeting last April at Mandalay Bay.

"I never train in St. Louis, no matter how small or big the fight is," Spinks said. "If I am going to prepare for a fight, especially one of this magnitude, I do not want to be around any distractions, or potential distractions. ... There is so much on the line. I see this fight as life and death."

Judah (32-2, 23 KOs) enters the ring as a plus-130 underdog.

"I am going to his back yard because I am from Brooklyn," he said. "That is what we do. I am from the home of the taking state. I am going to finish him forever."

In the co-feature, Monte "Two Gunz" Barrett (30-3, 16 KOs) faces Owen "What The Heck" Beck (24-0, 18 KOs) in a 12-round heavyweight elimination bout.

Showtime will televise both fights at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific (tape-delayed in the West).

Notable

Don King plans a cross-country media tour with both fighters to promote the May 14 megafight at the MGM Grand pitting three-time world champ Felix Trinidad (41-1, 34 KOs) against light middleweight champ Winky Wright (48-3, 25 KOs), who's coming off back-to-back impressive victories against Shane Mosley. The match will be fought at 160 pounds and will be available on HBO pay per view. ...

Good luck finding a betting line in Las Vegas on next Thursday's super bantamweight title bout between longtime Summerlin resident Wayne McCullough and Oscar Larios in Lemoore, Calif. -- but offshore bookmakers have "The Pocket Rocket" listed as a 3 1/2-1 underdog. McCullough (27-4, 18 KOs), a former world champ now trained by Freddie Roach and aligned with Goossen Tutor Promotions, will try to wrest the WBC belt from Larios (54-3-1, 35 KOs). FSN (Cox cable channel 49) will televise from the Palace Indian Gaming Center as part of its "Best Damn Title Fight Period" series. ...

This coming Monday's episode of the casino reality series "Caesars 24/7" will focus on the buildup to last October's Jeff Lacy-Syd Vanderpool super middleweight title fight at Caesars Palace. Lacy, promoter Gary Shaw and trainer Dan Birmingham are expected to be featured as they prepare for the bout, which Lacy won to become the first member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team to win a world title.

The program airs at 10 p.m. on A&E (Cox cable channel 32). Lacy (18-0, 14 KOs) is scheduled to make the second defense of his IBF title against Rubin Williams (26-1, 15 KOs) on March 5 at Mandalay Bay on the Castillo-Diaz card.