Columnist Dean Juipe: HBO offers Holyfield $20 million to fight Lewis

DEAN JUIPE is a Las Vegas Sun sportswriter. His office phone number is 259-4084. He can be reached on the Internet at [email protected]

Calling a press conference in New York to announce it had re-signed WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis to a contract extension gave HBO an excuse to bait WBA/IBF champ Evander Holyfield. The cable network used the occasion to announce it will pay Holyfield $20 million to fight Lewis either Dec. 5 or Dec. 12, perhaps in Las Vegas.

Wednesday's offer may nor may not entice Holyfield, who has made $170 million in boxing and who turned down $16 million in an earlier attempt to get him in with Lewis for a unification fight.

A key sticking point: Holyfield is under contract with HBO's rival, Showtime.

That, however, didn't prevent HBO's Seth Abraham from saying "the only reason this fight wouldn't go on is if Holyfield doesn't want it."

The three major heavyweight titles have been split since undisputed champion Riddick Bowe relinquished the WBC belt in 1992.

"I believe Holyfield wants this fight," Abraham said, shifting his focus. "It's what everyone wants, except (Holyfield's promoter) Don King. King is an obstacle."

Holyfield is currently not scheduled for a fight, although he has mandatory defenses due with Henry Akinwande and Vaughn Bean. Next up for Lewis is his mandatory challenger, Zeljko Mavrovic, Sept. 26 at a site yet to be determined.

HBO's contract with Lewis, described as the most lucrative in the sport, is for seven fights through 1999. He would receive $10 million for fighting Holyfield.

Holyfield's attorney, Jim Thomas, told the Associated Press it's premature to speculate on a unification fight.

"(I'm) very skeptical of their motives," he said. "(It's also) extremely inappropriate and counterproductive to initiate negotiations through the media."

Freddie's ready

Two fights within a month is way out of the ordinary for a legitimate world champion.

Nonetheless, WBA featherweight champ Freddie Norwood of Las Vegas has taken a July 10 defense in Miami despite having just fought June 13 in Atlantic City.

"He's all right," said his trainer, Kenny Adams. "He had sore hands but he wasn't hit very hard. I don't think it's a big thing for him, plus it's good exposure."

Norwood was a TKO-8 winner over mandatory challenger Genaro Rios in Atlantic City, and he'll face former world champion Luis Enrique Mendoza next week in Miami on ESPN.

Norwood, 28, is 30-0-1. Mendoza, 33, is 37-6-2.

"I had Kennedy McKinney when he beat Mendoza for the USBA title," Adams said. "He's a good competitor and a little slick, but I think Freddie will be too strong for the guy. We'll get right on him with some strong body work."

Norwood, working out at the Top Rank Gym, doesn't seem too concerned.

"Hamed is the one I want," he said, calling for a fight with WBO champ Naseem Hamed.

Around the ring

He may not make the televised portion of the show, but Diego Corrales fights Sunday in Indio, Calif., on an ESPN2 card. The Las Vegas-based junior welterweight is 21-0 with 18 knockouts and is looking to add Benito Rodriguez, 28-25-2, to his list of victims. "I'm coming along very well and getting better with both hands," Corrales said of his steady progress. "It's my fourth fight this year, so I'm staying busy. I feel like I'm ready for the champions." ... It has been two years since he last fought but local welterweight Ray Lovato is back in the gym and preparing for a July 17 fight in Fresno. "I'm not dead yet," said Lovato, who is 27 years old and owner of a 22-2 record that includes losses only to world champion Felix Trinidad and former NABF champion Derrel Coley. "I just couldn't get any fights," Lovato said of his involuntary drought. ... Trinidad may have added to his contractual morass last Friday by signing with Main Events (and HBO) even though Don King Productions maintains it still has him under contract for two more years. Assuming he's clear of King, Trinidad may face fellow world champion Ike Quartey as early as Nov. 22, with the winner going on to face Oscar De La Hoya. Main Events has already filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York, seeking an injunction against DKP from preventing Trinidad to fight under his new contract. Trinidad claims his contract with DKP expired June 11. ... Tickets for De La Hoya's Sept. 18 fight with Julio Cesar Chavez at the Thomas & Mack Center have gone on sale and are priced from $50 to $800 although the $50 tickets are already sold out. Tickets can be purchased at the T&M, Caesars Palace, or through Ticketmaster. Top Rank will have De La Hoya and Chavez on a press tour July 16-23, with the final stop at Caesars. ... Amateur star Jason Ingwaldson, 18, of Las Vegas is back from an international tournament in Cuba, where he took a bronze medal at 135 pounds. ... Fellow local amateur Alvaro Morales, 15, was a gold-medal winner at 165 pounds at the Junior Olympic Championships last week in Michigan.

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