Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 21

World Boxing Championships Friday, May 9, 1986 Reno Gazette-Journal 3B U.S. super heavyweight takes a tough road to Reno From my comer Opinion by Steve Sneddon The white towel is draped over his head. Sweat trickles off his poker face. Alex Garcia, 24, is in the parking garage converted into a boxing gym at the Sands Regent Hotel as he prepares to walk onto the global stage that is the World Boxing Championships at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. Outwardly, the super heavyweight on the U.S.

team does not seem overly impressed, which is standard operating procedure for him. On the inside, his heart is pumping inexplicably faster than usual. He is excited, but no one other than his family or closest families would know it. His road to this global stage is different than the trail taken by any of the other 234 boxers here. His road took him through three tough California prisons Chino, Soledad and San Quentin after a manslaughter conviction.

After spending five years in prison, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Garcia has arrived at the World Championships after 15 bouts, losing one in only 18 months as a boxer. He is such a boxing neophyte that the first time he was asked about fighting in the same tournament as the three-time Olympic gold medal winner Teofilo Stevenson of Cuba, Garcia didn't know who Stevenson was. Growing up in San Fernando, big things athletically were always expected of Garcia. First, he was a pitcher and shortstop playing in kid leagues. Then, he was an all-league middle linebacker at San Fernando High School.

In "But he's got 200 street fights," quips Blinky Rodriguez, Garcia's friend and coach. "If a guy goes after you with a bumper jack, you better be elusive." To serious U.S. boxing fans, Garcia is a fellow who was impressive on ABC television in bouts on back-to-back weekends. But to the world, which gets its first glimpse of him Sunday night when he faces Paik Hyun-Man of South Korea, he is an unknown, a nobody. "Lake Alex told me, 'Everybody is a nobody until they become Rodriguez said.

"He's the new kid on the block. He's the exception to the rule. He's one in a million." Rodriguez, a former contact karate champion, says Garcia not only has a stage to perform on in Reno, but has the story line for a theatric smash. Rodriguez sees it now. He sees Garcia as a role model for youths in southern California to show them that one mistake doesn't have to ruin a life.

And nothing would get people's attention, Rodriguez says, like beating the great Stevenson. At 35, Stevenson is at the end of his career. That's a fact not lost on Rodriguez. "Teofilo, I feel God saved him for us," Rodriguez said. "He's not fighting in the Goodwill Games (in July), but he's here.

It was meant to be." But fate will have to work overtime to get an aging Stevenson into the finals against an up and coming Garcia. They are in different brackets with Stevenson faced with much the tougher draw. For Garcia, who believes he will win this tournament, it doesn't matter much who he fights. Should he fight Stevenson, Garcia will have an advantage over him few men have ever had, and no one has had in more than a decade. Garcia isn't undermined by his own thoughts, holding Stevenson in too high of regard.

"What he's done is in the past," Garcia said. "The future is still to come. I don't let no one the record of how many fights they've had or who they are bother me. "We're both men. It comes down to what happens in the ring.

That (Olympic) stuff doesn't impress me. If it bothered you mentally, you wouldn't think right. You'd think he has eight arms. He has two arms and two legs." Garcia tries not to get excited about anything. But lately, he will admit, it has been more difficult.

For two weeks at the U.S. Olympic Training Center at Colorado Springs, he thought his U.S. teammates were too emotional. The thought of boxing in the World Championships didn't start him trembling. It didn't then at least.

"When the plane landed (in Reno on Sunday) I felt the blood pumping. It's time to do battle." The stage is set. The world is waiting. He knows his lines. And he is fully prepared to transform one of amateur's boxing greatest leading men into just another supporting actor.

between, he excelled as a street fighter. "I could have had a scholarship to college, but that's when the street-wise things happened things started messing up." At first, he was reluctant to discuss what had happened. "It's in the past, like winning the (U.S.) Nationals. It's in the past, I look for the future." But he has picked up the pieces and stepped through the past. First, he won the U.S.

Amateur title at Beaumont, Texas on April 5 and then took a must-win box-off victory at Stateline on April 11 to qualify for the world tournament. "It's up to the person," Garcia said. "A person gets out of prison. He can mess up or he can get a job and clean up his act. It's up to the person." This person Garcia knows where he's going.

He sees himself going into professional boxing and making more money than anyone else can imagine. He sees himself buying a house for his paraplegic father. Once, he wanted to turn pro immediately. Now, he's not sure whether he will wait until after the 1988 Olympics at Seoul. That option is becoming more attractive all the time.

He is unconcerned that most boxing observers are stunned that he could be at the point he is now after only 15 bouts. Tennis Opening session attracts few fans The world came to Reno, but Reno hasn't come to the world yet. About 100 fans showed up for the afternoon session of the World Boxing Championships at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center Thursday and an estimated 200 fans attended the evening session. "My main disppointment is the people of the area are missing some tremendous athletic competition," said co-tournament director Col. Harvey Schiller of Colorado Springs, Colo.

"It's a rare chance any city has to see a world championships. Unfortunately, if it were in any other country, we would have sold out early." But Schiller, who was the 1984 Olympics boxing tournament's director, remained optimistic. "I think we'll get crowds once we get to the quarterfinals." The quarterfinals are Tuesday and Wednesday and the tournament ends Sunday, May 18. For devotion to amateur boxing, Carson Police Athletic League coach Walt Adamson has few peers. He gave up a job for the World Championships.

When he asked for time off from his heavy equipment operator's job to work gloving up boxers for the tournament, he was told that he had already missed too many days because of boxing. "This comes every once in a while. You can get a job anytime." It pays to advertise, at least Venezuela thinks so. "Invest in Venezuela" was printed on the backs of its boxers' red uniforms. By Steve Sneddon From page 1B But there's plenty of talent left.

So deep is the field that Mike Howard, a 1985 semi-finalist, is seeded No. 15. Four of the top five men in northern California, one of the strongest sections in the country, are entered in the tournament. They are No. 2 Matt Wooldridge of Santa Clara, No.

3 Peter Pearson of San Francisco, No. 4 Peter Wright of Berkeley, and No. 5 Scott Lipton of Belmont, Calif. Borowiak, No. 1, would have made it a clean sweep.

Wooldridge, the defending champion and former pro at Lakeridge, is seeded No. 1 in this year's tournament. "Wooldridge won Modesto (the Modesto Open in March), so he's playing well," said Nevada State Open tournament director Bob Deller. "That's a big tournament." Also entered this year are Scott Warner, the No. 1 player for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and Andre Agassi and Kevin O'Neill, two of the top juniors in the United States.

Don't be surprised to see Agassi, the third seed from Las Vegas, win the tournament. Ranked third in the 16-and-unders in the United States, Agassi is already beating the pros. Agassi defeated three pros to qualify for the $325,000 Pilot Pen Classic, Feb. 24-March 2 at La Quinta, Calif, (near Palm Springs). He then defeated John Austin, Tracy's older brother, in the first round of the main draw before losing to No.

1 seed Mats Wilander, 6-1, 6-1. Agassi also reached the final of a $10,000 United States Tennis Association satellite tournament, equivalent to the low minor leagues in baseball, at Kissimmee, April 1-6. He is ranked No. 403 in the world and headed higher. Andre's older brother, Phillip, is seeded seventh after reaching the Nevada State Open semifinals last year.

O'Neill, from Sacramento, is ranked No. 1 in the 18-and-unders in northern California and No. 16 nationally. As always in a California-dominated tournament, prospects for local players are not good. Local entrants include John Powers, Kim Farran, John Matkulak and Gumer Mendez.

"I don't see any locals getting past the quarterfinals," Deller said. The women's draw is small with only 16 players, but fairly strong. Seeded No. 1 is Kate Latham of Mountain View, Calif. Latham, a semifinalist at the 1985 Nevada State Open, is winding down her professional career at age 33.

Now ranked No. 231 in the world, she was ranked as high as No. 21 in 1979 and has beaten Billie Jean King. Seeded behind Latham are Elly Hakami of Tiburon, Lisa Blackshear of Sol-vang, and Tracy Houk of San Francisco. Houk reached the semifinals of last year's tournament.

No local women are entered in the Marie Crosse Gazette-Journal GETTING READY: Cuba's Eduardo Correa warms up on the Center before defeating Sweden's Lars Lundgren, 5-0, at the heavy bag Thursday afternoon at the Reno-Sparks Convention World Boxing Championships. World Championships because of a school commitment. In the judges' scoring, Burkina-Fasso's Sig Sanon, South Korea's Kim Young-Bae and Argentina's Osvaldo Bisbal scored the bout 59-58 for Richter. China-Taipei's Hong Chen-Seng had Richter the winner, 60-57, and Venezuela's Luis Brito had it 58-58 with the advantage to the East German. In East Germany's only other bout, Siegfried Mehnert took a 5-0 decision over the Netherlands' Reino Van der Hoek after the Dutch boxer took one standing eight count in the second round and two in the third round.

Cuba won both of its first-day bouts. Its youngest boxer, 18-year-old, 119-pound Arnoldo Mesa, stopped Puerto Rico's Jose Rodriguez in the second round. Another Cuban left-hander, 139-pounder Eduardo Correa, took a 5-0 decision over Sweden's Lars Lundgren. Kakouris used a left hand and straight right to deck Lee, who was counted out. "I could tell he was a little green," Kakouris said.

"I'm sure this is the biggest tournament he's fought in. He drew the United States right off the bat. He had more pressure on him than I did." Bryant was the only boxer from one of the five nations favored to win the team title Cuba, the Soviet Union, the U.S., East Germany and South Korea to lose a bout Thursday. Richter earned his spot on the East German roster when 1985 European Championships gold medal winner Michael Timm decided to take a year off from boxing. Timm is ranked No.

3 by the AIBA. Richter, who lost his only bout with Timm, has a 150-35 record. Bryant, who at 27 is the oldest of the U.S. boxers, complained of a headache after the bout and was examined by a physician. "He (Bryant) is all right," said Leslie King of the U.S.A.

Amateur Boxing Federation. Bryant couldn't be reached for comment. Bryant was lethargic throughout the fight, but held his own in the first two rounds with light, scoring jabs. "It didn't look like he had snap on his punches. He's been having a lot of snap (in workouts)," said Kenny Adams, the U.S.

assistant coach and Bryant's All-Army team coach. "Kevin is 27 years old. Not making any excuses for him, he started at a late age. It might be catching up with him. It's very possible.

"The underdog a lot of times is the guy you have to watch. He has more determination. It just wasn't Bryant's day." Bryant, the 1984 U.S. Amateur champion, finished third in the U.S. Amateur in April, but was named to the American team after champion Michael Moorer of Monessen.

passed up the World From page 1 March by outpointing Stevenson at Halle, East Germany. In the afternoon session that begins at 1 p.m., Arthur Johnson of St. Louis, will face 1984 Olympic bronze medal winner Eyup Can of Turkey in the second of 16 bouts. In a bout between 132 pounders, the United States' Vincent Phillips of Fort Riley, will meet Daniel Maeran. Vasquez, who was the last boxer selected to participate in the World World Championships Box-off to select the team for the tournament, was a convincing winner.

The five judges scored the bout, 60-57, 60-57, 60-55, 60-57 and 60-58. "I've got my mind set on winning this. I want to be world champ," Vasquez said. "I heard he (Bryant) lost. That wasn't going to happen to me." Reno, Carson advance in zone baseball High school playoffs in improving his record to 7-3.

Douglas had tied the game, 1-1, in the top of the sixth when Mike Sheets singled home Steve Winchell from second base. In the bottom of the inning, Ryan Bohl-ing put Carson back on top, 2-1, with his second run-scoring single of the game. Bob Whited and Rick Stalcup drove in the final two Senator runs later in the striking out nine and walking two. Manley also singled with two outs in the fourth for the Raiders' only hit. Copenhaver doubled and later beat the tag at home to score the Lancers' run in the fourth inning.

Reed, the double-elimination tournament's second seed, had a first-round bye. Against Wooster, Copenhaver had nine strikeouts without a walk and allowed four hits. CARSON 10, RENO 1 Top-seed Carson handed Reno a defeat in the second round, behind the four-hit pitching of Regina Whitmore. Whitmore, (21-2, went into the inning having given up only a first inning single, but the Huskies ruined her shutout bid A Kyle Grundy singled home Billy Abel-man in the bottom of the 10th inning Thursday to lift Reno High School to a 7-6 victory over McQueen in the first round of the Northern AAA Zone baseball tournament at Reno High. Don Walker and Abelman drew walks to open the inning.

One out later, Grundy sirigled to center field to eliminate the Lancers and propel the Huskies, 19-8, into a 6:30 p.m. game today with Reed at Governor's Bowl. Carson a 4-1 winner over Douglas, will meet Wooster at 3:30 at Governor's Bowl. A McQueen, 13-14-1, managed 13 hits off Reno's Steve Boucher, but Boucher struck out seven and went the distance to record the victory. Doug Losure, one of four Reno players to collect two hits, drove in a pair of runs.

Marshall Crooks drove in three runs for McQueen, which got three hits each fron Mark Stovak and Keith Thompson. CARSON 4, DOUGLAS 1 at Carson City Donovan Osborne scattered five hits and was helped by a three-run outburst in the sixth inning as the Senators advanced in the first round of the Northern AAA Zone Baseball Tournament Osborne struck out six and walked one jnning. The Senators, 18-9, will play Wooster at the Governor's Bowl today at 3:30 p.m. Copenhaver leads McQueen to 2 AAA Zone victories Michelle Copenhaver pitched two complete-game victories, including a one-hitter against Reed, to lead McQueen High Schjbol in Northern AAA Zone Softball Tournament at the Don Mello Sports Complex in Sparks Thursday. After Reading the third-seeded Lancers to a 7-2 first round-defeat of Wooster, Copenhaver struck out six batters and walked one in posting a 1-0 shutout over Reed.

Reed received excellent pitching from Charlene Manley, who allowed three hits, with a run on three hits that inning. RENO 9, DOUGLAS 7 The Huskies topped the in the tournament's opening round. Reno exploded for six runs in the final inning with the help'of six Colt errors. i McQueen will play Carson today at 1 30 p.m. to determine the winners' bracket championship.

The loser of that game will play the winner of the 1:30 p.m. Reno-Reed game at 3:45. All games are at Don Mello. The finals start Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Mark Cross Gazette-Journal THE WINNER: McQueen's Michelle Copenhaver beats the tag of Reed catcher Kelly Welch to score McQueen's run in the Lancers' 1-0 victory in the Northern AAA Zone softball tournament The umpire is Robert Kelly..