Thursday, March 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
At his crowning moment, it was late at night, most of what had been a large pay-per-view audience had turned off their TV sets, and Quincy Taylor's celebratory ways were further curtailed by fatigue and indecision. Had people seen him defeat Julian Jackson for the WBC middleweight championship? Had they even cared?
As accomplishments go, Taylor's was lost in the shuffle. His fight with Jackson was the walk-out bout following the Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeeley fiasco last Aug. 19 at the MGM Grand Garden, with few fans remaining in the live audience and fewer still able to read about it the following day.
It's one of those, "If a tree falls in the middle of a forest and no one is around ..." type things.
"It was really disappointing," Taylor said of the lack of fanfare that greeted his sixth-round stoppage of the once-venerable Jackson. "It was so late, no one was watching. No one knew I won. I lost a lot of people when they made my fight the last one of the night."
Hence, he feels not only under-recognized but not yet a real champion.
"I still feel I'm the challenger," he said this week as he prepared for his first title defense, Saturday at the MGM against Keith Holmes. "I need a fight to bring me some notoriety, so that's how I'm approaching this one."
Taylor-Holmes is the primary undercard bout on the Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson show that is scheduled to be seen by a sold-out live crowd and up to 29 million homes on pay per view. Taylor, who is being paid $150,000, is a minus 400 favorite in the MGM sports book. Holmes, who is receiving $50,000, is a plus 300 underdog.
Taylor is 26-3 with 22 knockouts, while Holmes is 27-1 with 17 KOs.
"He's tall and can punch, so he can be dangerous," Taylor said of Holmes.
But Taylor -- nicknamed "Baby Tyson" -- is a major-league puncher.
"I have the old-style way of fighting," he said. "I stick to business and I want to be known as someone who can step up and do it when the time comes."
He'd also like to unify the middleweight championships, but, once again, the first step is simply letting people know he has the WBC belt.
"I want to be the undisputed champion," Taylor said. "But right now I want to build a little support. This fight here is a chance to change all the frustrations I've had and let people know I'm not only a champion, but a worthy champion."
There are two other world title fights on the Bruno-Tyson undercard, including: Melchor Cob Castro vs. Michael Carbajal for the vacant IBF junior flyweight championship; and Ricardo Lopez vs. Ala Villamor for Lopez's WBC strawweight championship. There is also a 1:30 p.m. title fight at the MGM featuring IBF middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins, 28-2-1, vs. Joe Lipsey, 25-0. Admission to the latter fight is free; following the fight, the arena will be cleared. Hopkins is being paid $152,250 and is a minus 160 favorite, while Lipsey receives $50,750 and is a plus 120 underdog.
Cob Castro, 45-4-4, and Carbajal, 39-2, figures to be a bruising fight. Cob Castro, 27, is a former WBC junior flyweight champ who has been in a series of tough fights since the early 1990s. He's getting $40,000 for a fight in which he's a plus 200 underdog. Carbajal, 28, once held both the IBF and WBC junior flyweight titles, although losing consecutive fights to Humberto Gonzalez took some of the luster off his career. He's getting $75,000 and is a minus 250 favorite.
As for the strawweight bout, the primary questions revolve around Lopez. How are his oft-injured hands? And how much have 15 title fights taken out of him? He's 28 years old and has been a world champion since 1990. Promoter Don King will pay him $100,000 for this defense, and he's a plus 1200 favorite. Overall, he's 40-0 with 30 KOs. His opponent, Villamor, is 25 years old and is 29-1-1 with 26 KOs fighting primarily in the Philippines. His lone loss came in his only championship fight, as Ratanapol Vorsurapin handled him in seven rounds in 1993 in Thailand. Villamor is getting $30,000 and is a plus 800 underdog.
Around the ring
* MGM NOTES: Doors for Bruno-Tyson will open at 4 p.m., with Taylor-Holmes the first scheduled title fight (4:30). Bruno-Tyson is expected to go between 8 and 9 p.m. ... A few tickets remain at $500, $600 and $800. ... Reno's Mills Lane will referee the main event and it will be his 21st heavyweight title fight, which is the record. "I think that I've done Tyson before is a good thing because he can be a handful," Lane said. "Bruno's a standup fighter. He's a very gentlemanly fighter. I think he'll come to fight." Lane said he is considering retiring from boxing. "I'm a young 58," he said. "(But) I'm thinking about it. I'm going to see how I move. I'm going to see how my hearing is." ... Ex-heavyweight contender Tommy Morrison has joined the pay-per-view telecast crew. "I'm ready to move forward with my life," said Morrison, who was recently diagnosed as HIV positive and had to quit boxing. "I always felt I could succeed in television." ... Former heavyweight champs Ken Norton and Floyd Patterson will be signing memorabilia purchased at the MGM this weekend. Norton is scheduled from 7-9 p.m. Friday and Patterson is set for noon to 2 p.m. Sunday. They'll be at the MGM Grand & Company store located in the lobby of the hotel. ... The local pay per view blackout has been lifted.
* ALADDIN CARD: Friday at the Aladdin, Nugget Promotions offers an eight-bout card that gets under way at 7:30 p.m. Here's the lineup: James Crayton, 18-3, vs. Alexis Perez, 20-8-1, 10 rounds, lightweights; Ramon LeDon, 3-0-1, vs. Miguel Ruiz, 7-3, six rounds, lightweights; Ivan LeDon, 3-0, vs. Damone Wright, 5-4, six rounds, welterweights; Eliser Castillo, 2-0, vs. Wesley Martin, 3-6, four rounds, cruiserweights; Mark Connolly, 7-0, vs. Louis Monaco, 1-1-1, four rounds, heavyweights; Alfonso Alcarez, 0-0-1, vs. Brian Clements, pro debut, four rounds, lightweights; Rene Valdez, 1-0, vs. Teddy Reed, 2-0, four rounds, welterweights; and Jermaine Thompson, 2-0, vs. Dexter Williams, 2-3, four rounds, welterweights. Four of the fighters -- Ramon LeDon, Ivan LeDon, Castillo and Valdez -- are natives of Cuba who are now fighting out of Las Vegas for manager Luis DeCubas. "I think they all have tremendous futures," DeCubas said. "They were all on the Cuban National team at one time and they all came to America either on rafts or inner tubes." The LeDons are uncle (Ramon, who's 29) and nephew (Ivan, who's 23), while Castillo is 25 and Valdez 29. "Castillo's an animal," DeCubas said. "He could be a factor in the cruiserweight division right now. I'm going to keep him fighting twice a month and then have him face someone in the top 10 in eight or nine fights. Same thing with Ramon; four fights and he should be ready for anybody in the top 10."
* QUICK HITS: Sanctioning of the Bruno-Tyson fight by the WBC is still being challenged in court. Wednesday a U.S. district judge in Texas remanded the case back to New Jersey. Main Events Inc. is making the challenge on behalf of contender Lennox Lewis, who was dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 by the WBC when Tyson was released from prison. "We're very happy," said Main Events' Dino Duva. "Now we can go forward with protecting Lennox's right as the mandatory challenger." ... The courts are also overloaded with cases surrounding the IBF heavyweight championship. "I don't think a court of law can take a title away, though," said Sterling McPherson, who manages champion Frans Botha. "It's becoming insane. We can't do anything but sit and wait for it to unfold." ... John Michael Jackson, who is due to fight Las Vegan Wayne McCullough June 7 at Caesars Palace, has been given a 120-day release from prison to prepare for the fight. He's been in a Texas jail since November for assaulting his wife.
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