Dean Juipe: Jimmy Thunder willing to rumble

He's getting TV time. In fact, Jimmy Thunder is something of a fixture on the USA cable network.

Trouble is, he's looking for something a little bigger.

He wants a big fight with a big-name opponent, be it on the wealthier HBO cable network or via pay per view. And, chances are, he's apt to get it.

"I've been around long enough," Thunder said Wednesday after working out at the Top Rank Gym. "I'm ready to explode, but I haven't really been given the chance. Maybe by the end of the year."

Thunder, 31, is patiently impatient. A Las Vegas-based heavyweight with an imposing physique and 32-7 professional record, Thunder fights Tuesday in the televised main event of a USA card in Lyndhurst, N.J.

"I don't know what to do," he said in something of a lament. "If I look good, I scare (the big-name fighters) away. If I look bad, then they might want to fight me."

He has had one bad and one good outing this year, both televised by USA. In January he was a split-decision loser to John Ruiz with the vacant NABF title at stake, and in March he knocked out Crawford Grimsley with one punch in a fight that ended at the 13-second mark of the opening round.

Grimsley is the guy who went 12 rounds with George Foreman in December, and now Foreman is said to be considering Thunder -- along with Obed Sullivan, Shannon Briggs and Corrie Sanders -- for a proposed fight Sept. 20 in the Astrodome in Houston.

"Tell Foreman to bring it on," said Thunder's trainer, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. "I guarantee you, if they fight it'll be Foreman's last fight."

Thunder vs. Foreman would have its intrigue and would satisfy Thunder's desire for a showcase bout. But, to a slightly lesser extent, had Thunder's proposed fight on HBO with Tim Witherspoon not been postponed, that, too, would have given him some widespread exposure.

The bout with Witherspoon was scheduled for Friday in New York but the entire card was scrapped when main-eventer Andrew Golota withdrew from his bout with Ray Mercer. With Witherspoon on hold and Foreman perhaps only a dream, Thunder accepted Tuesday's fight in New Jersey.

Veteran Ross Purity, 21-10-1, was announced as the opponent although it now appears he's off the card and will, instead, face ex-champ Buster Douglas next month. It puts Thunder in the position of having to prepare for the unknown.

"I shouldn't even be taking this fight," he said. "There's a risk involved for me because it's only a warm-up fight while I'm waiting for HBO. So I not only have to win, I have to look good."

Mustafa, who has been with Thunder for more than a year, feels his man will look good no matter who the promoter puts in front of him.

"I've got a puncher who will swell you up when he hits you with one of his bombs, and who is also learning to become more of a slick boxer," he said. "I'm not changing him, I'm adding to him. He's not just a robot-type slugger anymore."

Yet it's Thunder's body and power that are his real attention getters. Although he's not an avid weight lifter, he looks -- and is -- extremely strong.

"It's in the genes," the New Zealand native said, adding that he's a "fitness fanatic" who only occasionally lifts. For example, following Wednesday's workout at the gym he was going to look around for a pick-up basketball game.

"This is my last stop," he said of moving to Las Vegas to work with Mustafa. "I've found the right people, the right trainer, the right place. Boxing is very advanced here and I'm learning the tricks of the trade."

While he has boxed since he was eight, Thunder didn't turn pro until he was 23, in part because he was busy playing professional rugby.

Now he's looking for a chance to show a veteran like Witherspoon or Foreman what he has learned.

"Foreman called me an animal," Thunder said. "I don't know if he'd really fight me. He's more of a businessman than a fighter, so I might not be the guy he wants."

Around the ring

* NEW CARDS: A pair of fight cards have been announced for the last week of May in Las Vegas. On May 28 at Arizona Charlie's veteran featherweight Hector Lizarraga, 32-8-5, will take on Julio Cesar Portillo, 15-6-1, in the 10-round main event of an AF Promotions show. Lizarraga, 30, has won 16 straight fights to move to the No. 1 spot in the IBF rankings. Three nights later, May 31, Caesars Palace will host a Forum Boxing card that will offer junior flyweights Eric Griffin, 16-3, and Jesus Chong, 30-7, as its main event. The vacant WBO title will be at stake. The semi-main event that night will have junior middleweights Rodney Jones, 16-2, and Floyd Williams, 28-8-1, squaring off.

* QUICK HITS: The WBC heavyweight title fight between Lennox Lewis and Henry Akinwande has officially been moved from Atlantic City to Caesars Tahoe. They'll fight July 12. ... The WBO title that Akinwande vacated will be contested June 28 in London, with Herbie Hide taking on Tony Tucker. ... The Las Vegas Hilton put 1,500 closed-circuit seats on sale Wednesday for its July 18 card that headlines Johnny Tapia vs. Danny Romero. The card is already sold-out, although the Hilton is adding some 250 seats to its configuration and those may go on sale as early as today. The closed-circuit tickets are $30. ... WBA super middleweight champ Frankie Liles of Las Vegas has accepted a July 19 fight at a site to be determined against Kenya's Zaffarou Ballougou. The latter is ranked No. 9 and is 33-2 with 28 knockouts. ... NABF super middleweight champ Joseph Kiwanuka of Las Vegas will resume training today after struggling to beat Antoine Byrd two weeks ago in Philadelphia. "I've got to look better next time," Kiwanuka said. ... Las Vegas newcomer Dale Brown, who won the NABF cruiserweight title last week in Calgary, may go again in July. "I don't know why TV didn't pick up on that fight," his trainer, Jerome Coffee, said of Brown's TKO-8 win over Brian LaSpada. "It was great. Dale proved he has arrived." ... Trainer Kenny Adams has resumed his association with Vince Phillips, who takes on IBF junior welterweight champ Kostya Tszyu May 31 in Atlantic City. On that same card, Adams will have 24-0-1 featherweight Freddy Norwood in against 10-0 Mauricio Perez. "I wanted somebody a little tougher," Adams said of settling for Perez as an opponent for Norwood. "He's going to come in there and people will say 'He's only 10-0 -- you didn't prove anything.' But the problem is, nobody in the top 10 wants to fight Freddy." ... IBF junior flyweight champ Mauricio Pastrana was stripped of his title last Saturday when he failed to make weight for a championship bout in Florida. He's the guy who defeated Michael Carbajal for the belt, which now becomes vacant. ... With WBC junior middleweight champ Terry Norris now suing his manager, Joe Sayatovich, and his promoter, Don King, his fight with IBF champ Felix Trinidad appeared to be off. (Norris, who is to receive $1.4 million for the fight, brought suit against Sayatovich and King when he read the contract's fine print and was led to believe he wasn't going to see any of that money.) The suit was filed Tuesday and by Wednesday King was announcing Norris vs. Trinidad was set for Aug. 23 in New York. Now the pressure is on Norris to either agree to the fight or pull out.

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