Columnist Dean Juipe: Hopkins fired up for rematch with Allen

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 259-4084 or [email protected].

Bernard Hopkins was wound up, giving 10-minute answers to 10-second questions.

Always outspoken when it comes to promoting himself, the IBF middleweight champion was especially vigilant Wednesday during a national conference call designed to draw attention to his Feb. 6 rematch in Washington with mandatory challenger Robert Allen.

That's a sequel to a fight held Aug. 28 at the Las Vegas Hilton in which Hopkins tumbled through the ropes late in the fourth round, injured an ankle and couldn't continue. The bout was ruled a no-contest.

The rematch goes to the nation's capital and will be televised by Showtime as part of a middleweight doubleheader that also includes WBC champ Hassine Cherifi vs. Keith Holmes.

"I truthfully think Allen should have been disqualified," Hopkins said of their unappealing fight at the Hilton, which was marred by Allen's roughhouse tactics. "But maybe it was a blessing in disguise because of the controversy it created."

That comment reflects how starved Hopkins -- and the middleweight division, for that matter -- is for publicity. The fact that his earlier skirmish with Allen generated a minor controversy is something Hopkins might have relished if he wasn't being forced into a rematch.

"I'm going to keep plugging," he said. "I'm going to try and win this fight in dramatic fashion. It's got to be an aggressive, explosive fight."

Their first fight was interesting but awful, with Allen throwing Hopkins to the canvas in the second round and being continually warned by referee Mills Lane about his bullying ways. When the fight ended at 2:57 of the fourth, Hopkins had been forced out of the ring after he, Allen and Lane were stuck in a three-man clutch.

At the time of the stoppage, Hopkins was ahead on two judges' cards by scores of 30-27 and 29-28, and was behind on the third by a 29-28 score. He suffered a severe contusion of the left ankle and is just now back in fighting form.

Hopkins, 34-2-1 and the IBF champ since 1994, has been training in his native Philadelphia and in Patterson, N.J.

Allen is 23-2 and claims Hopkins "faked" his injury in their earlier fight.

"I respect Allen as a contender and an avid fighter, and I know he's not a pushover," Hopkins said. "But he's not a Roy Jones, Jr., either. That night we fought, he was at his best. I don't think that drive he had in the first fight will be there again."

Hopkins wasn't joking when he said he has thrown some wrestling training into his workout sessions in preparing for Allen. Noted pro wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin gave him a few tips on defending himself in the event Allen forces the action in that direction.

"One thing I've learned is how to wrestle," Hopkins said. "I'm serious about that. If he wants to be dirty, let's be dirty. The only thing I won't do is bite his ear and lose my title by disqualification."

Hopkins, 34, is currently the longest-running champion in the sport. Yet he has grown weary of pushing for a middleweight unification series and may vacate the division when his contract with America Presents expires in four months.

Rival promoter Don King handles the other two champions, Cherifi and the injured William Joppy, and Hopkins blames him for the division's malaise.

"If I was the less of the three, don't you think King would have made some kind of deal?" Hopkins said. "But I'm the best of the three, no matter how weak the division, and King has been playing this cat-and-mouse game with me for four years.

"It seems like my talents have outgrown the division, (although) becoming the undisputed middleweight champion would be a moral victory and something for the history books."

He implied he would take Allen out late in their scheduled 12-round fight.

"His stamina is real weak," Hopkins said. "He tries to bomb you out early and by the fifth round there's no petrol in his tank. I don't think there's anything for me to be extremely concerned about."

* THUNDER OUT: Heavyweight Jimmy Thunder of Las Vegas has pulled out of his Saturday fight in Atlantic City with Andrew Golota. A replacement -- Jesse Ferguson? -- was being sought for the HBO-televised card that also includes Michael Grant vs. Ahmed Abdin.

Thunder came surprisingly close to getting on a plane to New Jersey Tuesday night but he and his handlers came to their senses after a dispute with a noted local physician, Dr. Robert Voy.

"I told them I didn't consider Thunder to be medically fit to fight," Voy said. "I saw him last Thursday and he had a torn muscle in his leg, and we gave it 72 hours to improve. It did not."

Thunder met with Voy daily through Tuesday, and each time Voy expressed his medical opinion it was met with resistance. For instance, as late as Tuesday afternoon Thunder was headed for Atlantic City even though he had spent the weekend on crutches.

"We took everything into consideration, especially Dr. Voy's advice, and decided to call it off," Thunder's trainer, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, said Wednesday. "Jimmy wanted the fight and it meant a lot to him, but this way he'll fight another day."

If Thunder was reluctant to back out of the fight, here's why: HBO's national audience; the money involved; and the belief Golota's skill level isn't much greater than his own.

"Golota's basically a very ordinary fighter," Muhammad said. "Beyond that, Jimmy was more upbeat than I've ever seen him and wanted to win big."

Thunder suffered his calf-muscle injury while working out on a treadmill.

*QUICK HITS: Another fighter going down and dropping off a nationally televised card is Aaron Davis, who is sick and out of a Friday fight in Connecticut with Dana Rosenblatt on ESPN2. Journeyman Sam Calderon will replace Davis. ... IBF bantamweight champ Johnny Tapia of Las Vegas has split with promoter Don King and signed with Midwest-based Tony Holden. Tapia was dissatisfied with King's promotional efforts, although the excuse used to break their contract may have a tough time standing up in court. Tapia claims King failed to offer him a fight within 45 days of his Dec. 5 win over Nana Konadu, as King was contractually obligated to do. However, a release by the Showtime cable network dated Jan. 5 indicated Tapia would fight an opponent to be determined April 17. Tapia is 45-0-2 and Holden said "I think I can make him the star he should be. Don King drop ped the ball." ... Nevada Sen. Richard Bryan, along with colleague John McCain (R-Arizona), have reintroduced their "Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act" in the

U.S. Senate. The bill was introduced last year but was not voted on. It would provide a handful of reforms dealing with the relationship between promoters and fighters. ... NABF light heavyweight champ Derrick Harmon of Las Vegas has been added to the Feb. 6 card at the New Frontier. He's 16-0 and will defend against Gilberto Brown, 13-0-2. Also added is local featherweight Augie Sanchez, 19-1, although his opponent is the marginal Natalio Ponce, 5-2 and coming off a loss at the New Frontier's debut card two weeks ago. ... Top Rank continues juggling its schedule and has, for some reason, bumped local junior lightweight Justin Juuko from headlining its Feb. 12 card at The Orleans. He'll go a week later in Fort Worth instead.

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