The Cyber Boxing Zone Newswire

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

PRINCE TO INK NEW HBO DEAL TODAY IN NYC

Promoter Harold Smith told me on Saturday that Prince Naseem Hamed, who has been questioning the legality of his contract with HBO, will hit the Big Apple this morning and sign a new and fatter pact with Time Warner.

KUWATI DIDN'T WANT TO FIGHT HBO

The Kuwati zillionaire that is bankrolling the Prince told Smith that he didn't want to dance in court with Home Box Office.

WW'S SPIN

My thoughts on this are that Smith knows that the Prince is not yet a Pay Per View item. And so he will let HBO build the lad from Sheffield, England to that point for him, movieman Max Keller, and the Kuwati moneyman.

HAROLD ON THE PACT

"HBO has done right by the kid. It's just a better deal for Naseem than the one Frank Warren made with them."

NO DATES, FOES, OR VENUES YET!

I still want to see the best tipper in boxing get off the Concorde this morning before I believe it. As for his prowess in giving gratuities, Naz gave a guy two $100 bills for checking in his luggage curbside at the airport after the Wayne McCullough fight last year.

TAPIA FLEEING FROM KING?

That's what Steve Springer is saying in his weekend column in the L.A. Times. Johnny's wife/manager Teresa Tapia has not been available for comment.

IN HINDSIGHT

Looking back at the Panama Lewis spectacle at the Orleans Hotel last Friday night, I now would, and will handle situations that arise like that in the future in a somewhat different manner.

PANAMA HAS FRIENDS

And I should have realized that this guy is a "scary" enough of an individual that I should not have taunted him after he threatened me. Not that I should have walked away either, but I should not have challenged his hired goon.

NEW "PROZAC" APPROACH

In the future, I will not lower myself to the depths that I strode to ten days ago. From now on, if somebody has a problem with what I write, I'll just tell him or her the truth. And that is, I just call 'em, like I see it 'em.

TRYING TO FILL WW'S SPACE AIN'T EASY

I'm finding that out. Like my dealings with boxing's Dear Abby, Chuck Williams. "I love your column, I just don't like it when I see my friends in there getting ripped up." In general, everybody in boxing likes what I'm doing, until it has an impact on them.

OLIVER STONE SYNDROME?

No, I don't see a conspiracy behind every corner. But I do realize that when you try and right too many wrongs that there are repercussions.

I DON'T TAKE ON ALL CASES

Like Andy Griffith's TV character Matlock, I cannot take it all on. People send me enough stuff that I would need a team of writers/investigators to delve into each incident of alleged wrongdoing they feel they have been the recipient of.

SOME DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT…

Only some of the correspondence I receive is compelling enough to warrant full-blown investigations.  And what is really hard about this role I have inherited is trying to pick and choose the subjects to really look into.

WINCHELL'S NEXT CASE…

Will be a piece on the Florida Boxing Commission and its way of doing business in the sunshine state. Mike Scionti heads the Commission that has told it's officials that if they work any fights on the Misscokee Indian Reservation, it will be considered a letter of resignation from their duties with Florida.

The tribe with a casino near Miami recently formed their own athletic commission with Don Hazzleton, the ex-Florida Commission chieftain calling the shots.

OR?

I may look deeper into the allegations that promoter Don King continually overpaid the WBC in sanctioning fees. This waqs the only "New" stuff that came out of the CNN hit piece on King that aired last Sunday.

JOSE NOT HOME SATURDAY

I tried to ring WBC Prez Jose Sulaiman at his home and was told by his son Mauricio, that Jose was enroute from Florida. I will try and have Mr. Sulaiman as a guest on this Saturday's edition of Ring Talk.

WHAT ABOUT THE CHEESE?

In just about every botched "Sting" case; there is a "Fall Guy." And when the California Commission under then boss Michael Wells decided they were going to try and get Hollywood MD Robert Karns, there were two Commission members who were his main backers. They were Dr. Tirso Del Junko, an MD from Glendale, CA, and Robert Rosenthall.

I'M TOLD

That it went down something like this. Wells and Del Junko hated Karns for his high profile status in the boxing world. Del Junko may even have went so far as to call during a Ring Talk broadcast, use a phony name and demand I investigate the Karns matter.

Being an MD, Del Junko was said to have intense professional jealousies of Karns as well. In simple terms, Tirso wanted to be the #1 boxing MD in the state of California, a position that Karns held in an undisputed manner.

THEY TURNED DEAN OUT AND MADE HIM A RAT!

So as the story goes, the Three Stooges, Wells, Del Junko, and Rosenthall, supposedly concocted a scheme in which they would try to get Karns to incriminate himself through the use of a hidden micropohone, AKA a "Wire."

EITHER HE LIKES CHEESE OR THEY HAD SOMETHING ON DEAN

Why else would Dean Lohuis, the #2 man in the California Commission turn on his longtime friend Karns? Could it be that they had something on Dean? Or, was Lohuis willing to accept the Rat role for Brownie Points?

RAT LEFT HOLDING THE BAG

Guess what? Last week Del Junko resigned. It seems the State might be getting a little nervous seeing  the California State Senate never confirmed our Dr. Tirso. And with the new Governor Gray Davis being a Democrat, longtime Repub-lick-an Party warhorse Del Junko didn't have a prayer.

Rosenthall and Wells are also gone. So, just like in the Drug trade, the big boys are nowhere to be found, while the small time squirrel, (this time it's Dean) is hung out to dry.

CHEESE  CRAVING BACKFIRES

Think about it. Dean allowed himself to be turned out like a skid row hooker. Now, he wears that Mickey Mouse head everywhere he goes, and for what? All three of the guys that put him up to the dastardly deed of wearing the Wire are no longer around.

NOW, GUYS WANT RAT'S GIG

And Lohuis, a Civil Servant who never followed the California testing procedure and was given the job without the usual protocol is now being looked at as being vulnerable seeing Civil Service exams were not held for the job.

ROB, DEAN GONE SOON TOO?

One of my sources (still!) within the Commission office is telling me that both Commission head Rob Lynch and Lohuis might not see summer. Especially if Karns' Lawsuit against the State, which included Lohuis and Del Junko as separate Defendants, is a winner for the Hollywood MD.

LYNCH, ROLE UNKNOWN

Nobody knows much about Commission head Rob Lynch and the role he played in Wiregate. A Civil servant with 25 + years, all Rob wants to do is to make sure he keeps his Pension. Last month I cornered him in Sacramento, and quicker than you can say Walter Winchell, Rob's beard started to sweat.

LADY REF STILL WAITING ON HEARING OVER RIOT

Gwenn Adair, the female referee who was highlighted in a column here last month, is supposed to have a hearing before the month is out.

RING TALK QUOTES FROM SATURDAY NIGHT

"I wish women's boxing would have went away yesterday. I don't like it. The fight we had last Friday at the Orleans was entertaining. But as a matchmaker, I'd rather NOT use them." ESPN 2 Matchmaker and Ring Talk/Fighters.Com Matchmaker of 1998, J. Russell Peltz.

"Pedro, I've called Ivan (Robinson) out and again he doesn't seem to want to fight me. We were supposed to fight in his hometown, and he backed out. Then he backed out again and took the (Arturo) Gatti rematch. Now, he's pulling the same stuff. Look, I want to fight the best out there, so if Ivan doesn't want to fight, he should shut up and I'll just fight someone else." "Sugar" Shane Mosley.

SHANE ON ZAB

"Zab Judah wants to fight me? He told me he wanted Vince Phillips. I saw him after he fought (under Tyson-Botha) and he told me that I just missed it. I've got three or four more fights at lightweight, and then after Vince and Zab settle their thing, I'd love to fight Zab Judah or Vince."

HOLYFIELD'S TRAINER ONE OF "BEST" POUND FOR POUND

Don Turner was my first guest on Saturday night. The man who guides both Evander Holyfield, the current heavyweight champion of the world, and Michael Grant, the future heavyweight champion of the world, is a soft spoken guy who is much faster intellectually than his laid back radio voice might indicate.

Seeing you train both Holyfield and Michael Grant, what corner would you be in if they fought each other. "They will probably never fight one another." What's up with Tyson? "Well, he ain't the fighter that he once was. But, you have to give it to him, for he did comeback and win by knockout."

ON THE WBC NON-RATING

When I told Turner that the WBC would not rate Grant because he held the miniscule in recognition IBC crown, Don put it like this. "Is that really the only reason? We are giving up that belt and we will see what they do then." 

GIANT WILL WEIGH?

"Michael has been shaking out at about 255. I expect him to be between 253 and 255 for Ahmad.

ON AHMAD

"We know Ahmad Abdin pretty well. But he's tough. Still. I wouldn't expect him to last five rounds with Michael Grant." Will the eight month layoff hurt him? "No, he's really ready to go right now."

HBO ABOUT TO REIGNITE FISTIC TORCH

Home Box Office finished off 1998 with a bang! The two December cards both did well from both a fan's point of view and that of the network as HBO's rating for both cards were extremely satisfying to the Time Warner boxing folks.

The unkind aroma that accompanied Roy Jones' sanctioned "Assault on a Police Officer" January 9, has not subsided in the ensuing weeks. The reason being is that Roy is further testing the patience of HBO by asking them to air Jones vs. "Irish" Steve Collins on April 27.

FOR ONCE HBO SAID "NO"

But the suits with offices on the Ave. of the Americas in New York City nixed Collins whose qualifications fit Roy jones' demands perfectly. First of all, he hasn't fought in two years. For that Roy Jones gives Stevie three points. 2. Can't punch, not even a little. For this Roy gives the Irishman four points. 3. And the third and deciding factor that makes Collins the perfect pideon for Roy Jones is that Stevie is so slow that he couldn't hit Roy in the ass if he had six arms.

ADD 'EM UP

For this Jones puts another three points on on the Collins scorecard. Total the tallies, and you have a perfect score of 10 meaning Jones-Collins will probably come off on HBO, even though the suits are saying a very loud "NO." Why? Because of Roy's preferred alternative.

NIXED MATTIONI TOO!

When Roy then said that he wanted to face another suspect #1 contender in the WBA's Dario Mattioni, HBO was said to have said "NO" in such a tone, that the Pensacola native's feelings were hurt.

DARIUS WILLING?

So says HBO's Larry Merchant. "I understand (unbeaten 34-0 Darius Michalczewski is willing to come over here now and fight Jones.

ACT ALREADY OLD

The Roy Jones story of not wanting to fight anybody until they have been beaten and are worn (Virgiil Hill) will continue until he retires. Did you see him throwing a jab at hapless hobo Richard Frazier, and pulling away while doing so? If an old unarmed NY City cop scared him; you can understand Roy's reluctance to get in there with anyone above the classification of hobo!

SERVER PROBLEMS NOW EXTEND TO PHONES, COMPUTERS, MODEMS!

You name it, every piece of electronic equipment in this office has been on the blink at one time or another in the past seven days. Your E Mail and Rodney Verges' Rabbit Punches will appear on Tuesday.


Pedro Fernandez

Note: The writer is a syndicated talk show host with the Talk America Radio Network(s) and has his own site at www.fighters.com Mr. Fernandez can be reached with your comments at flash@inow.com

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