Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • 21

Albuquerque Journal BOXING Thursday, March 11, 1999 B7 Lewis Wants Apologi side IReadyfoF Gardeii Party If He Gets to Round 4 A Part of Lewis- Card ft ft chance to make an impact on the national women's boxing scene and perhaps do to Riley what Foster did to De Paula 30 years a go. One of Burnside's trainers, Lorenzo Brown, is Foster's cousin. "Women's boxing is such a fast-growing sport, especially in Albuquerque," she says. "This is the next step for me." The Riley-Burnside bout isn't expected to make the Lewis-Holy-field pay-per-view telecast. ALBUQUERQUEANS SPLIT: One Duke City fighter won, and another lost on a recent card in Tacoma, Wash.

Raul Garcia, (7-1-1, four KOs), a Cuban who now lives and trains in Albuquerque, TKO'd Alfonso Meza (8-5) of Yakima, in the sixth round of a bout at the Emerald Queen Casino. Las Cruces and Albuquerque resident Rudy Lovato (record in dispute) lost an eight-round decision, to former world champion Greg Haugen (39-8-2). In the main event, former New Mexico resident Tim Puller, a heavyweight now fighting out of Washington state, knocked out Matt Green (10-5) of Raleigh, N.C., in the third round. Puller, nicknamed "The Hebrew Hammer," trained in Ruidoso for several years. ORTEGON FIGHTS TONIGHT: Albuquerque's Trina Ortegon (5-1, two KOs) is scheduled to face Diane Clark (7-1, four KOs) tonight in Tunica, Miss.

An TWBF junior middleweight title shot could be at stake. KITTY CLARKJOURNAL HER BEST SHOT: Albuquerque boxer Brenda Burnside practices at the Fourth Street Gym this week In preparation for her match Satur-' day against Bridgett Riley In New York City. Rick Wright Journal Staff Writer. On Jan! 22, 1969, Albuquerque's Foster retained bis world boxing title with first-round knockout of Frank De Paula at New York's Square Garden. Saturday night, more than 30 years later, another Albuquerque fighter finally comes to the fabled Garden.

Brenda "Tigress" Burnside says she's in awe of the opportunity. "I'm just totally delighted," says Burnside, who's scheduled to face "Baby Doll" Riley in a six-round bout Saturday nighf on Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis undercard. "It's 4 boxer's dream to fight at Madison Square Garden. I'm so exited, lean hardly stand it." Burnside might be the first Albuquerque boxer since Foster to fight at the Garden, though that can't be stated as a fact. Johnny Tapia was scheduled to fight at MSG last June, but the entire card "was canceled when one of the main-event fighters was diagnosed with hepatitis B.

But Burnside says she's not nearly as in awe of her opponent as she is of the Garden. "She's a good fighter," Burnside says of Riley (23-2, 14 knockouts), so am Burnside (6-5-3) knows she v. wouldn't be fighting Riley who recently signed with Holyfield promoter Don King if her NOTES A Boast by Holyfield Gets Return Barrage By Ed Schuyler Jr. The Associated Press NEW YORK Perhaps Evander Holyfield's insistence that he'll knock out Lennox Lewis in the third' round Saturday night is beginning to get to Lewis. Perhaps that was Holyfield's purpose.

"I do look at that as an insult' Lewis said. "For me, he's going to wake up and apologize." The 36-year-old Holyfield, the WBA-IBF champion, and the 33-year-old Lewis, the WBC champion; will fight Saturday night in a sold- but Madison Square Garden in what Lewis calls a match "between the two best heavyweights on the planet." Holyfield was a slight favorite to win the pay-per-view (TVKO) fight. At the Caesars Palace Race Sports Book in Las Vegas, you had to bet $150 on him to win $120. If you liked Lewis, you bet $100 to win $120. The odds Wednesdays Holyfield winning by a third-round knockout were 22-1.

It was 30-1 Lewis would win by a third-round KO. "If he's going to say something like that, he'd better try and live up to it," Lewis said Wednesday at the final prefight news conference. "I definitely will be there in the third round. It'll be something he's said again that he's not going to live up to." "The third round is my best round" Holyfield said. "My first round and my second round aren't bad, either." Holyfield, a born-again Christian, publicly acknowledged in September that five of his nine children were born out of wedlock, and Lewis has called him a hypocrite.

Holyfield, a former cruiserweight champion, won the undisputed title by knocking out James "Buster" Douglas in the third round Oct. 25, 1990. He also won his rematch with Tyson in thre rounds, but that's when Tyson was disqualified for biting Holyfield's ears. In 21 fights as a heavyweight, Holyfield's only other win in three rounds or less was a second-round knockout of Adilson Rodrigues on July 15, 1989. Of Lewis' 34 victories, 15 have been in three rounds pr less.

One of them was a second-round disqualifi- querque, moved to northern Idaho and returned after high school, doesn't just happen to be a boxer. After a dozen years in the health field, she quit her job last July to train and fight full time. "I'm making about as much (money) as I used to working in a hospital," she says. "I'm also starting my own business, designing boxing and workout clothes and boxing equipment." Burnside took'up boxing as an "extension of karate, a discipline she had practiced most of her life. "But I liked the sparring part Of karate, not the ceremonial parts," she says.

"To me, boxing is the best part of Karate." The best part of fighting in the Garden, Burnside says, is a record weren't mediocre. She knows she's the intended victim. She says, however, that her record is deceiving. "I really feel like I only lost one of those fights," she says. "But my record gives the impression that I'm not as good as I am, and that's why I got this opportunity." She plans to make the most of it.

A victory, she has been told, could lead to all International Women's Boxing Federation bantamweight title fight. "I can win this fight," she says. "I've been training really hard to make that happen." Burnside, who was born in Albu THE ASSOCIATED press-PREDICTION: Evander Holyfield says he'll knock out Lennox. Lewis In the third round of their heavyweight bout Saturday, cation in 1989. Lewis, however, has had problems in the early rounds.

He was knocked Out in the second round by Oliver McCall on Sept. 24, 1994, and he was in serious trouble in the first round, but then stopped Shannon Briggs 'in the fifth round last March 28. He also lost three of the first four rounds on two official cards in his seventh-round win ove.r Frank Bruno on Oct. 1, 1993. While Lewis will have to be careful against the aggressive "Holyfield in the early rounds, there are those who also question his stamina.

He has been as far as 10 rounds twice, and he also has gone 12 rounds twice. Holyfield has gone 12 rounds seven times, but he lost two of thpse fights. He went into the 11th round to win the WBA title from Tyson on Nov. 9, 1996. "We're looking for a tough, brutal fight," said Emanuel Steward, who trains the 6-foot, 5-inch Lewis arid who trained Holyfield for his one win in three fights against the 6-5 RiddickBowe.

"After five rounds, it'll become a battle of wills," said Don Turner, Holyfield's trainer. Lewis is expected to weigh in today at about 245 pounds and outweigh the 6-2V2 Holyfield by almost 30 pounds. Romero Might Take On South Africa's Ledwaba i "He's really anxious to fight here again. Nothing else is really definite, right now, but it does appear that Bungu is moving up." Romero (33-3, 29 knockouts) has held IBF titles at 112 and 115 pounds, defeating Colombians Francisco Tejedor and Harold Grey. He vacated the flyweight (112) title in 1996, then lost the super, flyweight belt to Albuquerque native Johnny Tapia in July '97.

He lost a disputed decision to Bungu last Halloween night. Romero's bid for the International Boxing Federation super bantamweight title last October in Atlantic City, N.J., has decided to move up in weight and vacate that title. Talks have begun, Koch said, for a match between Romero and another South African; Lehto Ledwaba, for the vacated title. Koch said such a bout could be held in April or May probably in Albuquerque but possibly in Las Cruces. "Danny hasn't fought here (in New Mexico) since March of '97," Koch said.

By Rick. Wright Journal Staff Writer Danny Romero hasn't fought in his home state for nearly two years. He hasn't held a world title in almost that long. If current discussions come to fruition, Romero's lawyer and adviser said Wednesday the Albuquerque fighter could change all that with one punch later this spring. Ron Koch said Vuyani Bungu, the South African fighter who turned back ROMERO: He could box for vacated title 0s.

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