Wednesday, July 13, 2005 | 9:59 a.m.
Kassim Ouma, the baby-faced and personable junior middleweight world champion, counts Oscar De La Hoya among his boxing heroes.
"I was always his biggest fan," Ouma said of the erstwhile Golden Boy. "I always wanted to fight him."
Instead of fighting against De La Hoya, Ouma will fight for him.
Ouma (21-1-1, 13 knockouts) is scheduled to defend his IBF title against Roman Karmazin on Thursday night at the Orleans Arena in the main event of a card presented by De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
The rare Thursday show is the first boxing event promoted by De La Hoya in Las Vegas.
It sets the stage for Saturday's big Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor middleweight showdown at the MGM Grand, also presented by Golden Boy Promotions (in association with DiBella Entertainment).
De La Hoya sees the matchup as a showcase for the myriad skills of Ouma, a talented left-hander who won his IBF belt by outpointing Verno Phillips last October at Caesars Palace.
"We wanted Kassim Ouma so that he could show that he's the great star that he is," De La Hoya said Tuesday at the Orleans. "He's hungry. He wants to show his people in (his homeland) Uganda that he can become a great champion. That's a big motivation for him."
After beating Phillips last year, Ouma, 26, said he would seek out fights against the biggest names in the sport's junior middleweight and middleweight divisions in an effort to earn recognition as one of boxing's biggest stars.
Instead, he has settled for a couple of lower-profile bouts, outpointing Kofi Jantuah in January and now facing Karmazin, a Russian who has an impressive record of 33-1, 21 KOs, but is little-known in the United States.
"But there are bigger fights on the way," Ouma said Tuesday.
Karmazin, nicknamed "Made in Hell," actually hails from St. Petersburg, Russia.
"This one is mentally challenging because it's my first mandatory defense (as dictated by the IBF)," Ouma, a 4 1/2-1 betting favorite, said. "He's a very tough guy, a very good fighter, a tough cookie. ...
"But I'm a believer. Ever since I came here (from Uganda), I've been dreaming of becoming a world champion. I'm always believing."
Karmazin, 32, was ranked No. 1 by the WBC in 2001 and was once scheduled to fight De La Hoya in a title bout. The fight was called off, however, when De La Hoya injured his hand.
"I came from Russia specifically to win a world title," Karmazin said. "My country is a very large country with a lot of people, and they're just waiting for me to bring a championship home. I have a lot of respect for Kassim Ouma as a sportsman, but I plan on beating him."
In the featured undercard bout, David Toribio (13-0, 7 KOs) of the Dominican Republic and Marco Antonio Rubio (28-2-1, 27 KOs) of Mexico clash in a 10-round super welterweight bout.
Also on the undercard, featherweight Carlos Mota (1-0-1) of Tijuana meets Aaron Garcia (4-0, 1 KO) of San Diego in a 6-rounder; welterweight Blaine Jacobs (1-0-1) of Dedham, Mass., meets Gerardo Prietto (3-2) of Las Vegas in a 6-rounder; and cruiserweight Moses Matuvo (2-6-3) of Las Vegas meets Ramiro Reduncindo (2-0, 1 KO) in a 4-rounder.
Doors open at 5 p.m. Thursday with the first bell at 6. Tickets are $35-150.
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