Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 | 9:39 a.m.
Jeff Haney covers boxing for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4041 or [email protected].
For Cory Spinks, the undisputed world welterweight champion, his Feb. 5 title rematch against Zab Judah carries special significance.
It's the first time Spinks will be fighting for a championship in front of a hometown crowd in St. Louis, where he was born and still lives.
"That means everything to me," said Spinks (34-2, 10 knockouts), who has been training in Las Vegas since late November. "I'm not playing: One of my dreams is to defend a world title in my hometown.
"I plan to go into my hometown and do what needs to be done."
More than 13,000 tickets have been sold for the fight at Savvis Center, according to officials with Don King Productions.
"Cory's showing he can put butts in the seats and that he's getting people excited about this fight," said Kevin Cunningham, Spinks' manager and trainer.
Showtime will televise the bout (9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific), in which Spinks places his WBA, WBC and IBF welterweight belts on the line.
Spinks scored a victory by unanimous decision against Judah (32-2, 23 KOs) in their first meeting last April at Mandalay Bay, when fans saw both men hit the canvas in the late rounds.
Judah, a former junior welterweight champ trying to win his first title at 147 pounds, sent Spinks to the floor with a left hand in the 12th round.
It wasn't enough, though, as Spinks, who had controlled the action in the early rounds and dropped Judah with a short left in the 11th, hung on to earn the decision.
"The way the first four or five rounds went in the first fight, you'll see it go that way throughout the fight this time around," Cunningham said. "Cory's gonna take Zab to school a little better than he did in the first fight."
Spinks, 26, said he has been training hard at his local headquarters, a leased house with an on-site gym in northwest Las Vegas. He has been running in the Mount Charleston area and sparring 12 rounds four times a week.
He plans to break camp and head for St. Louis on Feb. 1.
"It's important to get away from home when I'm training for a big fight," said Spinks, the son of former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks and the nephew of former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Michael Spinks. "I like running in the mountains and everything."
Spinks, a minus-160 favorite, said he realizes another victory against Judah is critical to his quest to break into the upper echelon of boxing's star system and secure more high-profile megafights down the road.
"This is a very important fight for my career," Spinks said. "I'm not gonna let my fans down; I'm not gonna let my family down; I'm not gonna let myself down.
"I've worked too hard to get where I am, to get to the top, to do that. I beat him before and I'm not gonna let him come back and take my titles away from me."
Judah, 27, of Brooklyn, N.Y., has suggested in interviews leading to the fight that he'll come out swinging and perhaps try for quick knockout.
"He has no choice (but to go for a knockout) -- what else can he do?" Cunningham said. "He's talking knockout, he's thinking knockout; it's in his mind. But a guy who talks knockout like that is desperate. And a desperate person tends to make mistakes. We're gonna be ready to capitalize on those mistakes."
Spinks was just as unfazed.
"He might (go for the knockout)," Spinks said. "It doesn't worry me. Lots of people talk a lot of (garbage) about what they're going to do. I don't trip off what my opponent is saying. I just worry about what I have to do. ...
"I don't really make predictions, but I'll make one this time: At the end of the fight, I will be the winner."
Mayweather bout
Unbeaten two-time world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. of Las Vegas faces Henry Bruseles on Saturday night in a bout that some people -- including oddsmakers -- consider a mismatch.
Mayweather (32-0, 21 KOs) is an overwhelming minus-1500 favorite against Bruseles (21-2-1, 13 KOs) in the super lightweight eliminator scheduled for 12 rounds.
At least one observer gives Bruseles a puncher's chance, though: WBO junior welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, who works out in the same gym as Bruseles in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Evangelista Cotto, Miguel's uncle, trains both men.
"Henry Bruseles is in top condition and is all set for Mayweather," Miguel Cotto said Wednesday night in Miami. "I know, because I helped Bruseles get ready for the biggest fight of his life.
"Bruseles is strong and has a good right hand. ... When he connects, and he will, anything can happen."
HBO will televise the card from Miami's AmericanAirlines Arena.
All ringside seats have been sold, at $350 a pop, according to promoter Top Rank, and Shaquille O'Neal and several of his Miami Heat teammates are expected to attend.
Heavyweights Samuel Peter (21-0, 18 KOs) and Yanqui Diaz (13-1, 8 KOs) clash for a minor belt in the featured undercard bout.
Peter scored perhaps the most dramatic knockout of 2004 when he floored Jeremy Williams with a left cross in the second round of a fight in December at Mandalay Bay. Peter is a minus-330 favorite Saturday, according to odds at the Palms.
All of the fighters were expected to meet with reporters today at a news conference at Bongo's Cuban Cafe in Miami.
Morales-Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao opened as a minus-120 favorite against Erik Morales last week at the host property MGM Grand's sports book in their super featherweight bout set for March 19.
Freddie Roach, the trainer for Pacquiao (39-2-2, 31 KOs), expects a slugfest, having told his fighter to "attack, attack and attack again" in the first round against Morales (47-2, 34 KOs).
"We're going to go right at Morales real early in this fight," Roach said at a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., to announce the fight.
Morales said: "I know it's going to be an explosive fight. ... Let's see who is stronger in those first few exchanges."
The scheduled 12-rounder will be available on HBO Pay Per View.
UNLV boxing
The UNLV boxing team will compete against boxers from UNR as well as local amateur fighters from the Las Vegas Elite team on a special card Saturday night at Bally's.
The event, called the "Las Vegas Punch Bowl," is being presented by the UNLV boxing team and the Elite boxing team.
Traditionally, UNLV has competed only against other collegiate teams, but a rule change last year permitted college boxers to fight amateur boxers, UNLV coach Skip Kelp said.
"It's going to be a big night of boxing," Kelp said. "We have about 20 fights scheduled."
Doors open at the hotel's events center at 4 p.m. Saturday and the first bout is scheduled for 5 p.m. General admission is $10.
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