El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 39

El Paso Times rt BOXING Sunday, May 30, 2004 Title Bedford said, "My heart is with Juan Lazcano. I'll always remember him as the kid, Ernie, Champ. I'm hoping like hell he wins. I just wish he could have fought Castillo for the title in El Paso. But he will defend it in El Paso." And Vicencio summed it all up: "I believe Emie is going to win.

We are all cheering for him, because he def initely has the work ethic and lives the clean style of life. But, win or lose, Ernie is always our champioa" Saturday night is only the blink of an eye away in the long, proud history of a city that so passionately loves its boxing. And so El Paso continues its wait. Bill Knight may be reached at bKnightelpasotimes.com; 546-6171. THANKS TO YOU OUR 27 YEAR! COMPARE OUR PRICES SERVICE.

Continued from 1C ever. Juan Lazcano will step into the ring Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, hoping to take out Jose Luis Castillo, hoping to take the city's fight fans on a soaring, screaming passion ride, hoping to claim El Paso's first world championship. The city's fight fans are holding their collective breath. Fort Worth's Lester Bedford, who helped stage both those 1989 fights and so many more great fight nights in El Paso, remembers Lazcano the kid. "He used to come to the gym when the guys were training," Bedford said.

"He said, 'my name is Ernie Lazcano (he went by Ernie On l(w I 4 tttr iiii.i"piiiiiiiiatffej!!lllii fSflr BEUVEHf Home Medical Equipment Wound Care Supplies Diabetic Care Supplies Braces Crutches Wheelchairs, Walkers Canes Lift Chairs Bathroom Safety Aids Electric Scooters Open Mon-Fri 8 i.n.-5:30 p.m. NORMAN EKERY'S ii es it rfLX 1 felij TM 1 1 Swj I I rfil I tv Ml LOW RISK. NON-SURGICAL TREATMENT Mark Lambie El Paso Times Juan Lazcano, left, fought Danny Rios in February 2003 at the Don Haskins Center. back then), but you can just call me champ. You're going to want me one of these There would be Steve Cruz, working the heavy bag for the TV cameras and there would be Ernie two or three bags ovet peeking around the corner.

He was a great kid and he has such a wonderful personality." Junior Vicencio, a three-time state Golden Gloves champion in the 1970s and now the director of the Carolina Center, remembers Lazcano the kid, too: "The kid had a lot of spunk. He had his mind made up since Day 1 he was going to be a world cham-pioa We nicknamed him Champ. Now, here he is. Right on target." Lazcano, the former Bowie Bear, FOR ANGINA AND HEART FAILURE 1 WE CAN HELP! 542-3400 ECP of El Paso, Enhanced External Counterpulsation IBIS card in September 1997, when a young Erik Morales stopped veteran featherweight world champion Daniel Zaragoza in the 11th round: "Another great atmosphere. I'll never forget Zaragoza on his back, looking up and saluting Morales as if to say the torch is passed, you are the next star.

And that's what Erik Morales became." Perhaps the crowning moment in this city's fisticuff history came pn that windy night in June 1998, when 45368 fans turned up in the Sun Bowl to see Oscar De La Hoya mistreat French challenger Patrick Charpentier. But there have been so many special nights, so many special moments, so many special fighters. But never a champion. Juarez's Cesar Soto won the WBC featherweight title with a close decision over Luisito Espinoza in May 1999 in the Equestrian Center. Randall "Tex" Cobb lived and trained in El Paso for a bit, then came back and trained in Ruidoso before losing to Larry Holmes for the world heavyweight title in Houston's Astrodome in November 1982.

But there has never been an El Paso champion. Yet. Saturday night awaits. "I would be more than delighted if Ernie could win this world title," Fernie Morales said. "It would be something El Paso has not had yet.

It would be something special, not only for me but for all of El Paso and this entire region. He is a good kid." young Olympic heavyweight champion by the name of George Foreman scored a first-round knockout against Vic Shaw in 1971 in the County Coliseum. One of the most popular fights in the area's history was the 15-round showdown between Salvador Sanchez and Juan LaPorte at the County Coliseum, a bout that was shown live on ABC in 1980. Sanchez, a legend in Mexico, won a decision. He was killed two years later in an automobile accident leaving behind a 44-1-1 record.

"I think the fight that started our run of great fights over the last 15 years was the Steve Cruz-Jorge Paez fight," Vicencio said. "That was a classic battle." Nearly 7,000 fans packed the Coliseum on that scorching Sunday afternoon in August 1989. It was televised live on NBC's SportsWorld and the atmosphere was typical El Paso fight atmosphere. It was electric. It was nonstop noise, non-stop passion.

"I still remember Ferdie Pacheco holding up an old thermometer," Bedford said. "It said it was 115 degrees at ringside. But what a great atmosphere that was. And that is the difference between the fans in El Paso and those in other cities in Texas. El Paso fight fans have so much more passion, so much more knowledge.

You just really feel a big buzz in El Paso when a big boxing event comes to the city." Bedford remembers another special moment in El Paso boxing history. It came on an HBO-televised and early 1950s), states had titles and Quijano collected state championships in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi. Fonseca fought during the same era at 119 and 125 pounds. McKay listed other great fighters, like middleweight Pete Cervin (who won a California state championship) and hard punching welterweight and middleweight Chebo Hernandez, who beat five top 10 fighters and also never got a title shot. Pete Melendez is widely regarded as one of the great amateur fighters in history.

Jake Martinez won three state Golden Gloves titles in the mid-1950s. Nearly 20 years later, Vicencio won his three Golden Gloves state titles. Then, in the 1980s, Jorge Munoz won three state titles. Morales was El Paso's hero in the late 1980s and early 1990s, fighting Orlando Canizales for the world bantamweight title in Indio, in 1991. He fought well, but lost a unanimous decision.

He fell into a brief coma after the bout and never could fight again. The great fights began in El Paso as early as 1896. According to Leo N. Miletich's book, "Dan Stuart's Fistic Carnival," local officials banned a Bob Fitzsimmons-Peter Mahr bout, so they moved it to a sand dune on the Rio Grande. Fitzsimmons scored a knockout at 1:43 of the first round.

There was the Ortega-Ortiz fight in 1947, a big fight between Ricky Lara and Herman Marquez in 1958 at Dudley Field and a promising R86630 has a chance to get that belt, to bring El Paso a world title. The vacant WBC lightweight championship is there, waiting for someone to claim it. So many before him have come so close. And, along the way, the city has had so many breathtakingly beautiful battles. Local boxing historian Tom McKay said, "I would say the two greatest El Paso fighters of all time are Manny Ortega and Dolph Quijano in a dead heat.

Jesse Fon-seca is not far behind. But in the last 10 years or so, the best we've had is Ernie Lazcano." Ortega took part in one of this city's most memorable fight nights. He took on world champion Man- ny Ortiz in a non-title fight in 1947 in the El Paso County Coliseum. The hometown hero took on Ortiz, a legendary figure who had won more than 60 fights in a row. And that crowd went just a little crazy when Ortega stopped Ortiz with a seventh-round technical knockout.

"But Manny Ortega never got a title shot," McKay said. Quijano fought as a light heavy-. weight and a heavyweight, though he never weighed more than 176 pounds. In those days (late 1940s WILLS Probate of Wills Heirship Determinations Major Credit Cards Accepted ENRIQUE N. MEDRANO ATTORNEY AT LAW 2411 Montana Ave.

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