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Pastimes : Boxing: The Sweet Science -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Morpher who wrote (1273)	11/28/2000 1:54:00 AM
From: Jorj X Mckie	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10489

I would want to put Clay-Bey on the honorable mention list too.

To: Morpher who wrote (1273)	11/29/2000 8:57:00 PM
From: mr.mark	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10489

Ron Borges November 27, 2000 Fernando's Hideway is not going to be the theme song for Fernando Vargas next week and no one could be happier about that than the man who'll be seeking him out on Dec. 2. When the IBF junior middleweight champion faces the biggest challenge of his life in the person of jaw-bending WBA titleholder Felix Trinidad, Vargas has promised he has no intention of making himself particularly difficult to find early in the fight. To many that might sound like a threat. To Trinidad it sounds like a short night's work. "I think this fight with Fernando Vargas will be easy," the undefeated Trinidad insisted this week. "I prepare to make each fight easier than the last. I think this fight will be easier than the one with David Reid (in which Trinidad went down early but got up and beat Reid half to death on his way to winning a 12-round decision by a wide margin)." "He says he's coming to fight. I hope he proves what he says. I have been a champion for seven years. I plan on being a champion for a long time to come. Nobody can stop me!" Presumeably the undefeated former welterweight and now super welterweight (154 pound) champion includes the undefeated Vargas (20-0, 18 KO) among those unlucky fighters sentenced to try and dethrone him. Vargas, not surprisingly, disputes that saying Trinidad has "disrespected me left and right but he's facing a fighter with speed, boxing ability and intelligence. I have what's necessary to beat Felix Trinidad." Obviously both of these guys can't be right which is why they will fight Dec. 2 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in what HBO officials hope will close out their 2000 schedule with the fight of the year. For that to happen, Trinidad has got be wrong about his assessment of his opponent, who he sees as a nino - a mere boy - facing a grande hombre - no a man but THE man. Trinidad basis his point of view on many factors not the least of them being the fact he has nearly twice as many knockouts (31) as Vargas has professional fights (20) and has been a world champion nearly twice (seven years) as long as Vargas has been a professional (four). Vargas, for his part, has heard all this before in the weeks leading up to his victories over Yory Boy Campas, Ike Quartey and, to a lesser extent, Raul Marquez. All three were stirring victories so he views the disparity in experience between himself and Trinidad with a jaundiced eye while Trinidad simply nods his head and smiles the assassin's smile as he thinks about the foolishness of youth. To Trinidad, names like Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley mean little so ones like Campas and Quartey mean even less. To him, these men are fighters, noble warriors one and all. But he is more than that. Felix Trinidad is royalty. He is a king. In Trinidad's mind there is a difference between himself and people like Vargas, a difference his opponent will only begin to understand after it is too late. After the opening bell has tolled. Only then, Trinidad makes clear,will Fernando Vargas learn what his former Olympic teammate David Reid learned. Only then will he learn what it means to fight Felix Trinidad. "Vargas is a great champion but on Dec. 2 I will show him who is Tito Trinidad," the WBA champion boasted. "I don't care what he brings. I will bring more. I will be ready. And I will win." There is a certain arrogance to Trinidad that comes from supreme belief that he is a superior being. It is the same arrogance fighters like Marvin Hagler had, the kind of arrogant confidence that can allow a man to go into a courtroom and have his name legally changed to Marvelous Marvin with a straight face because, well, in the boxing ring you are marvelous so who can argue? Trinidad sees himself in that same light and the fact that he holds victories over Pernell Whitaker, Reid and De La Hoya (by the thinnest of split decision margins, by the way) substantiates for him his claim to greatness. So when he looks at a young fighter like Vargas he sees a challenger with fire and firepower but one who, ultimately, must face only one fate. "I am a more complete fighter, a stronger fighter than Vargas," Trinidad says. "I don't think he's faster than me (as some say Vargas is). I think this fight will definitely be easier than Reid. This fight will be very short for me. I am not worried." No one with a resume like Felix Trinidad ever is. At least not until the night it's too late to worry. Whether that night is coming on Dec. 2 will remain unknown until that night in Las Vegas but one thing is for sure - Trinidad won't have to look far to answer that question because Fernando Vargas will be right in front of him the way David Reid was - fighting fire with fire until somebody gets burned.

To: Morpher who wrote (1273)	11/30/2000 12:52:25 AM
From: LPS5	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10489

Hey Morph, Thanks for your post. Similarly - while not exactly the same - here's how I rank the heavyweights, overall, at this point in time: 1. Lennox Lewis 2. Wladimir Klitschko 3. Mike Tyson 4. Kirk Johnson 5. David Tua 6. Evander Holyfield 7. Vitaly Klitschko 8. Larry Donald 9. Oleg Maskaev 10. Michael Grant Clifford Etienne and Larry Clay-Bey definitely get a shout for the fight they held in a phone booth two weeks ago. Also worthy of note, in particular with regard to these heavyweight rank lists, is the following: Ike Ibeabuchi - a guy who I was sure was the only fighter capable of beating Lewis, Tyson, and Holyfield before I saw Clifford Etienne - will have his fate decided (legal or medical) on December 18th. At his former rate of success, he would be number three, at worst, on this list...and would quite possibly have fought Tua two weeks ago in Lewis' place, wearing the championship belts. LPS5