Columnist Dean Juipe: Couser much more than Tyson clone

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]

It's an eerie similarity. In terms of facial appearance, body structure, mannerisms and even, upon command, vocal inflections, Cliff Couser can easily pass as Mike Tyson's double.

The resemblances are so strong, Couser has even played Tyson in an HBO movie, "Only In America."

It's a likeness that has made money for Couser and brought him a good deal of attention. It could also lead to him actually getting a fight with Tyson, although that's purely speculative at this point.

Yet for all the plus sides of the equation, Couser would rather be appreciated for his boxing ability. He's 14-3 heading into a 10-round heavyweight fight June 11 in Kansas City with journeyman Bobby Crabtree.

"When I get to 20-3 I'll feel like I'm really ready," Couser said before working out at the Golden Gloves Gym. "I need a few more fights. I'm still getting to know the game but I feel like a rose blooming."

Aside from his Tyson-like traits, Couser, a long-time Las Vegan, is outgoing, personable and certainly marketable. He has a new manager, Teresa Tapia, and a more-active schedule.

"People look at me and say 'You're just a movie star who wants to be a fighter,'" Couser said. "So it's up to me to separate myself from the Tyson stuff and make a name for myself on my own."

Yet there's no getting away from the fact he's commonly mistaken for Tyson and probably always will be. It's a connection Couser both enjoys -- he did, after all, add a gold tooth to complete the Tyson connection, and he has said he and Tyson have the same father -- and despises.

"People are always coming at me with cameras and asking for photos and autographs," he said. "I always tell them I'm Cliff Couser, not Mike Tyson, but they just say 'Sure, Mike.' One thing about it, if people think you're Tyson they're always ready to give you something.

"I think I could get a free dinner at any restaurant in the city."

Couser's most notable victory came over former contender James "Quick" Tillis, although Crabtree could offer a decent test. He's 54-31-1 with 49 knockouts, bouncing between the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.

If Couser can add a few victories to his record over guys like Crabtree, a bout with Tyson after he's relicensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission this summer isn't that farfetched.

"If it happens, I'd win," Couser said. "He can't jab and he's vulnerable to every type of right hand."

He should know.

Hamed-McKinney

While the fight may be a week or two away from being formally announced, there appears to be little doubt Las Vegas will land a bout of some significance: Prince Naseem Hamed vs. Kennedy McKinney. The date is set at July 18 and the Thomas & Mack Center already has been put on hold.

"This will not only be a great fight but will be an evening never to be forgotten," said Sterling McPherson, a Las Vegan who is serving as the fight's coordinator for Hamed's promoter, Frank Warren. "McKinney has already signed and Hamed could sign in a couple of days. My job is to bring the fight to Las Vegas and we're real close to getting that done."

Hamed, a 23-year-old rising star with a lucrative contract with HBO that will pay him at least $2 million for his fight with McKinney, is 30-0. McKinney, 33-3-1, will move up from 122 pounds to 126 for the fight.

"I think McKinney gets up for the fight, although he's got Father Time working against him," McPherson said of the 32-year-old former IBF champion who currently holds the WBO super bantamweight belt. "He'll battle Hamed, but, as everyone has already seen, Hamed is tremendously elusive and has the devastating ability to get rid of his opponent in a heartbeat."

McKinney has withdrawn from an earlier announced fight, once set for June 6 in London with England's Richie Wenton, and has approached his old trainer, Kenny Adams, about getting him ready for Hamed. Adams, however, has not yet committed to the project.

Akinwande's burden

Try keeping this straight: Emanuel Steward, who has trained WBA/IBF heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, is training Holyfield's June 6 opponent in New York's Madison Square Garden, Henry Akinwande, while Akinwande's former trainer, Don Turner, will be in Holyfield's corner for the pay-per-view bout.

"He's showing me a few moves that I've been lacking," Akinwande said of Steward during a conference call. "He's the best person out there. I've been lucky to be getting his wisdom every day."

If nothing else, he's getting a dose of reality from Steward, who told the New York Times News Service "it's a miracle he's in a championship fight. I keep telling him 'You're the only fighter ever to be disqualified in a heavyweight championship fight for cowardice, so the world will be watching you.'"

Akinwande was a DQ loser to WBC champ Lennox Lewis last year at Lake Tahoe. His persistent holding and reluctance to fight not only led to that bout being called but has tainted his reputation in spite of his 33-1-1 record.

"I don't have anything to prove to people," Akinwande said, taking a defensive pose. "I don't think (that fight) makes me a bad fighter."

Yet the public perception is that he was fortunate to land this fight with Holyfield. Now, can Akinwande capitalize?

"The more I can keep him outside, the more he'll be frustrated," he said, alluding to his 10-inch reach advantage on the champ. Bettors who may be swayed by Akinwande's physical presence can get him in Las Vegas at 6-to-1 odds.

Hilton cards

The Las Vegas Hilton is hosting cards consecutive nights next week, Friday and Saturday, and the majority of the participants are in place. But one fight originally announced for the May 30 show, featuring IBF cruiserweight champ Imamu Mayfield vs. Saul Montana, is off, thanks to the keen eye of Las Vegan Arthur Williams.

Williams is the mandatory challenger for Mayfield and that title defense is due, meaning Mayfield's next fight has to be against Williams.

"(Promoter) Don King was up to his old tricks and tried to sneak that fight past us," Williams said. "He tried to catch us sleeping."

When Williams and his people protested to IBF president Bob Lee, the Mayfield-Montana fight was scrapped.

"Lee told King he couldn't do it," Williams said. "Maybe the fight could have gone on if King would have offered me step-aside money, but he didn't even do that."

Williams, 28-4-1, and Mayfield, 18-0, should be fighting soon -- perhaps on the July 18 Hamed-McKinney card? -- as their bout will be going to purse bid.

"It's the same old thing," Williams said. "Mayfield keeps trying to duck me. But this time he's got no choice. It'll go to purse bid and then we'll have to fight."

None of the Hilton participants have arrived in town and the Hilton sports book does not yet have betting lines up on the featured bouts. "We'll have 'em up by Memorial Day," Hilton V.P. Art Manteris said Wednesday.

Out of town results

Five Las Vegans took part in fights outside Nevada in the past week and four came away with victories. The loser was light heavyweight Rocky Gannon, who was stopped in the 11th round by Kenny Keene in Boise last Friday. Gannon, 29-8, suffered a deep cut over his right eye in the third round and never could solve Keene.

The most prominent of the five, former WBC super bantamweight champ Wayne McCullough, had an extremely difficult time and escaped with a win only by split decision. McCullough, 21-1, met another former WBC champ, Juan Polo Perez, Tuesday in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the bout went the 10-round distance. McCullough suffered a cut on the left side of his forehead in the third round and also was penalized a point for a low blow in the ninth. But he prevailed when two judges gave him a 95-94 nod; the third judge had it 95-94 for Perez, 39-17-3 and nine years removed from his championship reign.

On that same card was a former Olympic bronze medalist, Duncan Dokiwari, who has moved here to train under Thel Torrance. Dokiwari, a native of Nigeria, is an undefeated heavyweight who improved to 9-0 with nine KOs when he stopped Otis Tisdale, 3-3, in the opening round.

On a card in Kansas City, light heavyweight Limmie Young raised his record to 4-0 with a TKO-3 over Johnny Shaver, and heavyweight Charles Shufford moved to 8-0 with a first-round knockout of Tui Toia.

"It was the first time I fought a southpaw," Young said. "It was different but that's OK because I don't want anyone easy. I hit him with enough body shots that he turned his back and quit."

Young goes again June 11 in Kansas City on the card that has Couser headlining.

Around the ring

Here's the real reason WBA welterweight champ Ike Quartey didn't fight as scheduled last week in Paris: He has signed with promoter Don King. ... In a title fight last Saturday in Los Angeles, WBC junior lightweight champ Genaro Hernandez came away with a decision win over Carlos Gerena. Surprisingly, Las Vegan Floyd Mayweather was not in attendance despite lobbying for a fight with Hernandez. Promoter Bob Arum said that fight could come off in October. ... Those looking for an Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad unification fight apparently will have to wait till 1999 if what trainer Miguel Diaz says is true. Diaz, who handles IBF 154-pound champion Yory Boy Campas, said his man has signed to face De La Hoya in November in Las Vegas. "The fight's on," he said. "It's signed and delivered." Campas will have an interim fight, June 5 in Tijuana, with unheralded Pedro Guerrero. "Anytime you step into the ring it's a risk," Diaz said of the chance Campas loses the bout and is dropped from De La Hoya's plans. ... Las Vegas super middleweight Joseph Kiwanuka looks to regain his winning form with a just-announced May 28 fight in New York with Eric Lucas. Former Las Vegan Dale Brown headlines and defends his NABF cruiserweight title on the same card. Brown, a Canadian, is no longer training here due to visa problems. ... WBA featherweight champ Freddie Norwood of Las Vegas makes his first title defense June 13 in Atlantic City against mandatory challenger Genaro Rios. ... Bally's will present an all-female card June 26. ... Ring Talk (KRLV 1340) has Akinwande, Steward, Carlos Palomino, William Joppy and Shane Mosley as guests Saturday at 8 p.m. ... Referee Mills Lane of Reno has a book, "Let's Get It On," due for August release by Crown Publishers of New York.

archive