Good Morning Mr. and Ms. America, and those reading this overseas,

...FIVE STAR FLASH...CHRISTMAS DAY THROW DOWN...Undisputed flyweight champion Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson took time out from the Christmas morning festivities in the Johnson house to try and ruin WBA 118 lb. champion Johnny Tapia's holiday.

TAPIA MEMBER OF BAND, "THE TUBES?"

"Pedro, he's a punk. I disrespected him on Ring Talk, in your column and in some magazines. So, I went to see him fight (Nana) Konadu. He's knows I dissed him and you know what he does? I'm calling him out for a fight, and Johnny asked to take picture with me."

"I told him, hey we got to do this. He didn't say nothing. He then said he wanted to take a picture again. My wife was there. Pedro, she said that if I had told her what how that whole thing went down, him being a punk, that she would not have believed me."

SUPER FLY NEXT

"I'm going after his old 115 lb. belt, but I'm more than willing to fight him at 118 lbs. and in Albuquerque. Tapia's trying to deny me greatness Pedro. I'll say it right now. CONTINUED TONIGHT ON RING TALK

JOHNSON, VARGAS, GRANT, ANANI, & IVAN TONIGHT ON RING TALK

The "undisputed heavyweight champion of the radio airwaves" defends that title tonight with the following guests on Ring Talk. Undefeated and newly crowned IBF 154 lb. champion Fernando Vargas will appear in hour number two of tonight's show which begins at 11:06 PM ET on the Talk America "1" Radio Network.

SHY GIANT?

Michael Grant seems like a reluctant interview. None the less, we do have him on tap as our first guest out of the gate tonight in hour number one.

MIGHTY IVAN

In between is 'the "Mighty Ivan" Robinson, a winner a fortnight ago over Arturo Gatti in a fight, like their initial August encounter, was one for the video library.

CHRISTY KILLER "SUMYA ANANI" ON BOARD

Meet the lady who took Christy Martin apart a week ago yesterday on a USSB/Don King card from Florida. The unbeaten 26 year old has an interesting story, but the heck with that. She can fight. That can't be said about the majority of female gladiators. Sumya makes her Ring Talk debut unbeaten at 13-0.

AND OF COURSE, MARK "TOO SHARP" JOHNSON

The Talk America "1" Radio Network carries Ring Talk tonight beginning at 11:06 PM ET.

LIVE INTERNET AUDIO

Ring Talk is heard LIVE on the Internet at www.talkamerica.com

FIRST TIME INTERNET LISTENER?

Go the Talk America site at www.talkamerica.com and spend the three to five minutes needed to download the FREE audio software. THIS is a one time thing. Once you do this, you can tune into Ring Talk as easy it is in coming here to www.fighters.com

TWO NIGHTS! TWO NETWORKS!

On SATURDAY, the Talk America "1" Network airs Ring Talk for two hours.

ON SUNDAY, the Talk America "2" Network, aka "The Deuce" beams Ring Talk Worldwide for an hour.

MASSES HELD HOSTAGE FOR EIGHT DAYS

Nando net hasn't ran a story in eight days now. I wouldn't be so pushy in pointing that out, if it wasn't so sad that the masses don't know about www.fighters.com

Cause, like me or not, I'm the only one grinding out the news.

REFER WWW.FIGHTERS.COM TO A SEARCH ENGINE!

Don't be selfish, pass the word to the various search engines and tell them where you've been getting the news for almost two years now. And if you like, you can send me a carbon copy at flash@inow.com

...FIVE STAR FLASH...Emanuel Steward on the phone Christmas day saying that the estimates of Lennox Lewis' excess poundage was off. "Pedro, he's about 250," said the Kronk Gym master whose nose must have been grown just a little bit with that one.

SUBMIT PHOTOS OF LENNOX

I'm going to assemble a good number of Lennox Lewis pictures and let the LL fans be the judge on this one. There are several of you out there with scanned photos. Send them to flash@inow.com

TOMMY LOOKING AT 190 LB. SHOT AND RETIREMENT

Few fighters in the history of the game can say they were more exciting than Thomas "Hitman" Hearns. Goldfather Steward has him Tommy going in February, April, and June with IBF cruiser guy Arthur Williams AND retire.

NEVADA'S GHANEM

My sources say that Dr. Elias Ghanem was not responding to therapy for Colon Cancer, thus his medication has been changed as his Dr.'s try a new and different approach.

THE KING'S DOC

Although he rose to prominence as Elvis Presley's Las Vegas physician, Dr. Elias Ghanem has probably done more to improve medical care for the numbers in Nevada than any one man in the Silver State's history.

"LORD LEVITT" ON THE LINE XMAS TOO!

Roger Levitt, he promoter of the George Foreman-Larry Holmes 12 round bout January 23, on Pay Per View was also on the line yesterday. "Pedro, everything is going fine. Tickets for the LIVE gate at the Astrodome are moving well."

BOTH NEED KO FOR HISTORY

Although neither Foreman not Holmes will admit it, they both desperately want to lay the other guy out. George thinks that if he had stayed boxing in the 70's, that all Larry Holmes would have been was Ali's sparring partner.

LARRY NERVOUS

Holmes on the other hand has to be thinking, would he have been able to keep Foreman off him, and win then? And more importantly, can he do it now?

PRIDE "HUGE" FACTOR IN PAIRING

These "Old School" performers don't want to lose this one. This is the one they are going to remember when they talk about the last fight for both of these two former great heavyweight champions.

TICKETMASTER, ASTRODOME

The "Battle of the Ages" Foreman vs. Holmes live tix can be had at TICKETMASTER (www.ticketmaster.com) and the Astrodome with a credit card, or by Certified US Mail.

END OF ROAD FOR ICON

And that's just what George Foreman has become, an American Icon. He has said he will not fight again, win or lose. His history making knockout of Michael Moorer to regain the heavyweight championship was one of the sport's heart stoppers.

SEVEN FIGURE "COSBY" PITCHMAN

His commercial endorsements, as well as the HBO gig, have made Foreman the Dr. Huxtable of the sports world.

METAMORPHOSIS

I used to watch George Foreman spar in the long gone Herman and Newman's gym in Frisco in 1968 as he was preparing for Olympic Gold in Mexico City.

He was rough with his sparring partners, but nothing like the brute that used to punish the human punching bags in his first tier as a professional.

COMEBACK, THIS "TEDDY BEAR" AIN'T GEORGE!

That's what I was saying when I saw him taking it easy on overmatched opponents. In days gone by, George would of figuratively leveled the foe, as manager Dick Sadler sent in another frightened sparmate to do battle with George in the smaller (16 feet) of the two rings on the main floor.

When the press was around, George sparred in the 18 footer. Regardless, guys were lucky to last two to three rounds with Foreman.

HARD TO PICK ALI OVER GEORGE

Even though I was saying Ali would beat Foreman, it was with little confidence that I was making that statement.

NEVER BEATEN IN MIND GAME AGAIN

That's the last time Foreman would be "Psyched Out." Upon his ring return after a 10 year sabbatical in 1987, although he was a much mellowed George, he always maintained his psychological advantage over the opposition.

NEW SCHEDULE ON MONDAY

Since most of boxing's elite matchmakers read this corner, here's asking them to submit upcoming cards this weekend for the new "Pedro's Schedule, Odds, & Predictions" which I would like to publish Monday morning.

JOHNSON SNUBS REMATCH WITH THAWED CUBE

I'm sure this will further strengthen the love affair between myself and Canadian boxing fans, BUT it seems Kirk Johnson is wiggling out of a rematch with former cruiserweight champion Al "Ice" Cole on HBO. The pair drew two weeks ago.

HBO PONTIFF LOU DI BELLA OFFERING $200 G'S EACH?

That's what I hear was on the table. But Johnson, who is promoted by Cedric Kushner "is moving on to bigger and better things for Kirk Johnson,"according to a Kushner P.R. person.

BACK TO SCHOOL FOR CANNUCK

Jose Luis Lopez was the "Guard Dog" that protected the palaces of the welterweight kings, and James Page beat him. Would you consider Al Cole the heavyweight "Guard Dog?" I didn't think so.

TOO LITTLE

Against the still gangly Cole, an ex-190 lb. titilist, Kirk looked the smaller man. And at 205 lbs., Johnson looks about as beefed up as he can get. "He's stuck in between weight classes," said one matchmaker who added. "Johnson would be a great 195 lber."

SPEAKING OF LITTLE

Expect a short column tomorrow (yes, Sunday) as well as interview with one of boxing's superstars ONLY at www.fighters.com

MONDAY'S EASTER AT WWW.FIGHTERS.COM

On Monday, "Rabbit Punches" takes center stage with Rodney Verges behind the pen.

BAM RETURNS JANUARY 29 TH!

Las Vegas's busiest promoter for the majority of 1998, BAM Promotions will return with a new venue, a TV contract, and improved monthly shows starting January 29. The site remains "Top Secret" as BAM President Rick Burton Sr. is waiting for the Lawyers to cross the t's and dot the "i's before going public.

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO HAVE A VOICE

Your "E Mail" will also reappear on Monday as it's always good to hear from those who count most, you the boxing fan. Send your Point of View to flash@inow.com

PARTING SHOT

They say this was a record year for giving. That charities of just about every kind reported a good 1998. A lot of that has to do with the economy, but here in lies the real question. What did you give this year? You've got a computer, I'm sure you could have peeled off a few bucks for a homeless shelter.

GIVE WHAT YOU CAN, BUT GIVE!

It doesn't have to be a lot. Five to ten bucks can feed a few people a decent meal. And by giving the money directly to a shelter or a service that feeds the homeless, this will insure that the few dollars you were able to part with went to the betterment of mankind.

YOU, WITH THE COMPUTER, WEB TV, ETC., YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

And how else could you better mankind than to feed a hungry person some much needed food? And I'm not talking about just throwing down a few dead presidents because it's the holiday season, as people need to eat every day.


Pedro Fernandez

The writer has his own site at www.fighters.com and can be reached with your comments or questions at flash@inow.com

We are giving away tickets to both Foreman-Holmes, and the Tyson-Botha card on Ring Talk. You can't win if you don't listen.

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