The Herald-News from Passaic, New Jersey • D6

SPORTS Saturday, July 5, 2008 D6 HERALD NEWS Tigers roar in Paterson Tour seeks stars Race stained following doping scandals ByJAMEY KEATEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS By ED MILLS STAFF WRITER The Paterson Tigers are off to a flying start and should be a major factor in the Bergen County Area American Legion baseball postseason playoffs and then the following district tournament. The Tigers (9-1) have several players who played key roles in Paterson's march to the American manager Peter Diaz. "This team just knows what it takes to win." PASSAIC PROSPERS: The Pas saic PAL Indians are off to a 10-5 start, keyed by catcher Juan Anziani, who just completed his freshman year at St. Joseph. Anziani is hitting .385 with five home runs and 12 RBI and has done a solid defensive job behind the plate.

The 6-2, 220-pound Anziani also has a 2-2 pitching ball Conference AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL (AABC) Mick ASSOCIATED PRESS CSC team riders practicing for the Tour de France in their rain gear Friday near Brest, France. This year's 21-stage race, which begins today, is void of a heavy favorite. ey Mantle national 15-year-old tournament in Oklahoma in 2004. Second baseman Marvin Elias, first basemanleft-handed pitcher Anthony Collazo and shortstop Andrew Collazo were part of the Mickey Mantle team four years ago who are continuing their summer success in American Legion this year. Elias and Andrew Collazo are 2007 graduates of Paterson Catholic; Anthony Collazo graduated from Passaic Tech in 2007.

"Our team chemistry has been excellent, and we're playing overall solid defense, too," said Tigers BREST, France Here's what victory will look like for Tour de France organizers: The riders reach the finish line in three weeks with no doping scandals. Cycling's most prestigious race begins today, trying to shake its history of drugs and cheating. The turmoil has left this year's race without TOUR DE many of the FRANCE sport's biggest names. The loss of glamour, however, gives a new crop of riders a chance to step forward. Cadel Evans, Alejandro Valverde, Carlos Sastre, Denis Menchov and Damiano Cunego are among the most likely to prevail in the trek.

"I'd rate myself as a pretty good chance to win," said Evans, who has improved from eighth place in 2005 to fourth the next year and runner-up last year. One sign of potential stardom? He now has the same bodyguard Lance Armstrong once did. The race begins with a 123-mile flat ride through Brittany. For the first time since 1967, the Tour will begin without an opening-day prologue. It also starts without a reigning champion for the second straight year.

The team of 2007 winner Alberto Contador, Astana, wasn't invited because of doping scandals it faced in the last two years. Floyd Landis was stripped of his 2006 title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone. Other big names out of this year's Tour are Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov, who was removed from the Tour last year for a positive test for a blood transfusion that led to the ouster the past six Tours, has a strong CSC team, including the Schleck brothers Andy and Frank. Valverde looks strong after winning the Spanish championship and the Dauphine Libere race last month. But because of crashes and other ailments, the Spaniard finished only one of the four Tours he started, with a sixth-place finish last year.

"I am here really to fight for the podium. But from the moment that you're involved in fighting for one of the top three spots, it's clear: Why not first?" Valverde said. "If in the end I'm second or third, I'll be satisfied too." This year's 95th edition of the Tour takes riders from Brittany through the Massif Central range. The race then moves through the Pyrenees, across Provence to the Alps and into Paris for the July 27 finish on the Champs-Elysees. Time trials await in Stage 4 and the next-to-last Stage 20.

Organizers hope fans will focus on the drama of racing, not doping. Scandal overshadowed the 2007 race, which ended in the race's closest finish: Contador beat Evans by 23 seconds and Leipheimer by 31. "This race has never been as open as this year, so I'm convinced that this Tour has everything it needs to be a great Tour," Leclerc said. COLOMBIAN CONTROVERSY The controversial instances during and after a junior welterweight title fight between WBO champ Ricardo Torres and Paterson native Kendall Holt are listed below. Torres won the bout by 11th-round technical knockout on Sept.

1 in Barranquilla, Colombia, Torres' hometown. Just 24 seconds into the fight, it appeared that Holt's right hand connected on Torres' chin, which should've resulted in a knockdown because Torres' right glove touched the canvas to keep him from falling. After dropping Torres with a right cross in the sixth round, Holt, upon reaching his neutral corner while referee Genaro Rodriguez counted, was hit flush in the face with a beer can, from close range. He later informed Rodriguez, who ignored the complaint. Prior to the start of the seventh round, before which Torres was still recuperating from the knockdown, Rodriguez temporarily delayed the start of the round because there was water on the canvas in one of the corners.

When the slippery surface became much more of an issue in the 11th round, Rodriguez seemed dismissive of its impact on the action. In the 11th round, before complete chaos erupted around them, Rodriguez failed to credit Holt with another knockdown, one that should've been counted because his short right hand to the side of Torres' head forced Torres through the ropes, which he used to hold himself upright. Once Torres dropped Holt with a left hook later in the 11th, fans began throwing beer cans, bottles of soda and water and cups of liquid and ice into the ring. After Holt reached his feet and attempted to avoid an attacking Torres, someone in Torres' overcrowded corner, which was supposed to be occupied by only four people, made contact with Holt's right leg while trying to dry the slippery surface. Seconds later, when Torres slipped on the drenched mat near his own corner, Rodriguez assisted Torres to his feet, never wiped off his gloves and didn't separate the boxers before allowing them to resume the action.

Less than 10 seconds thereafter, Rodriguez stopped the bout, with a tiring Holt on his feet and attempting to throw a light punch toward Torres. Keith Idee Holt bigger favorite this time around record. "Juan has a good fastball in the mid-80s and he is a clutch hitter for us, too," said Passaic coach Chris Buttler. "We started off the season only 1-4, but we've been playing a lot better baseball lately." Center fielder Rey Rodriguez, the leadoff hitter, third baseman Jorge Montiel and right-handed pitcher Ricardo Lazaro (3-1) all have turned in solid performances for the Indians. Also aiding Passaic are first baseman and outfielder Mike Pel-licier, a 2008 graduate of St.

Mary, and shortstop Saury Hernandez, who is batting .310. est. He could supply his son with anything and everything he needs, a way easier life than what Kendall has ever been accustomed to." The likeable, outgoing Holt would welcome an easier life after struggling so long to fulfill the championship promise Lou Duva and many others in Passaic County boxing circles saw in him when he was an amateur. Even then, when no one was sure what type of professional prizefighter he could become, the three-time New Jersey Golden Gloves champion craved what he can attain tonight. "In the amateurs, I never dreamed of being an amateur champ," Holt said.

"I always dreamed of being world champ. But the greatest thing is achieving financial stability. Because without money, let's face it, there's not too much you can do." The humble, respectful Torres is fighting for the same stability for his family back in Barranquilla, Colombia. He'll make three times as much as Holt tonight, yet the champion remains far from comfortable as well. That's one of the primary reasons Torres is so tough, the type of tough that almost left undefeated welterweight champion Miguel Cotto knocked out in their September 2005 fight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Fortunately for Holt, he is well prepared for Torres' toughness, as much mentally as physically. That's because Holt already has won much tougher fights than this outside the ring, victories that have led him to the cusp of making history inside it tonight. of his entire Astana team, and Astana rider Levi Leipheimer. Ivan Basso, the 2006 Giro d'l-talia winner and two-time Tour podium finisher, also is absent. The Italian is serving the last few months of a two-year ban he received after acknowledging involvement in the Spanish blood-doping investigation known as Operation Puerto.

"People are talking about the ones who are absent, but once the race starts, people will stop talking about them and start talking about those who are here," said Patrice Leclerc, head of Tour organizer ASO. Some are making a statement about drug use. Cunego, winner of the 2004 Giro d'ltalia, has a tattoo on his left arm that reads, "I'm doping free," the Lampre team said. Armstrong likes Evans' chances to win and ruled out Cunego, saying he is not a strong enough climber or time-trial racer. "He'll never win the Tour and that's not a slap at him," the seven-time champion told "He's a little guy.

I just don't think he's a Tour rider." Evans said he's most worried about Russia's Menchov, the Tour's best young rider in 2003 and the fifth-place finisher in 2006. Sastre, a Spaniard who has finished in the top 10 for five of going to win. But at the end of the day, we've still got to get in there, we've still got to perform, we've still got to fight." Discounting odds was one of the few things Holt and Torres have agreed upon I (1 tnrougnout this promo- ton. "I know that the guy that made the odds is not getting up in the ring," Torres said. "And the people that are betting on the fight are not getting in the ring.

I'm getting in the ring, and I'm going to prove everyone wrong." Their Paterson pride If Holt tops Torres, he'll become just the second recognized world champion from Paterson. Frankie Toledo, a Clifton resident raised in Paterson, is the only one to date. Toledo, a huge underdog, won the International Boxing Federation featherweight title from South Africa's Mbulelo Botile in April 2001, in North Las Vegas, Nev. Toledo lost the title in his first defense to Mexico's Manuel Medina in November 2001, in Las Vegas. Gloves champion cannot get reckless against the heavy-handed Torres, though he is certain that pressing the action at times is imperative.

"It's all up to me, just like the first fight," said Holt, who was ahead on two of three scorecards after 10 rounds were completed in their first fight (98-91, 95-94, 94-95). "It's not so much what he did. It's what I didn't do. I didn't take advantage of a lot of shots that I could've, and I wasn't as active as I should've been, which would've taken his energy away late. "I didn't jump on him in the beginning of the seventh round.

I let him live too much. This fight, I doubt if I'll do that, because I know that he's still got that pop that can change any fight at any time. The more I let him hang around, the more chances he has to take me out." Torres hopes Holt stands and trades with him more than he did TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE SCHEDULE Today First Stage, Brest-Plum-elec, plain, 197.5km (122.7 miles) Sunday Second Stage, Auray-Saint-Brieuc, plain, 164.5 (102.2) Monday Th i rd Stage, Sai nt-M alo-Nantes, plain, 208 (129.3) Tuesday Fourth Stage, Cholet, individual time trial, 29.5 (18.3) Wednesday Fifth Stage, Cholet-Chateauroux, plain, 232 (144.2) Thursday Sixth Stage, Aigu-rande-Super-Besse, medium mountains, 195.5 (121.5) July 11 Seventh Stage, Brioude-Aurillac, medium mountains, 159 (98.8) July 12 Eighth Stage, Figeac-Toulouse, plain, 172.5 (107.2) July 13 Ninth Stage, Toulouse-Bagneres-de-Bigorre, high mountains, 224 (139.2) July 14 10th Stage, Pau-Hauta- cam, high mountains, 156 (96.9) July 15- Rest day July 16- 11th Stage, Lannemezan- Foix, medium mountains, 167.5 (104.1) July 17 12th Stage, Lavelanet-Narbonne, plain, 168.5 (104.7) July 18 13th Stage, Narbonne-Nimes, plain, 182 (113.1) July 19 14th Stage, Nimes-Digne-les-Bains, plain, 194.5 (120.9) July 20 15th Stage, Embrun-Prato Nevoso, high mountains, 183 (113.7) July 21 -Rest day July 22 16th Stage, Cuneo- Jausiers, high mountains, 157 (97.6) ful in their rematch tonight. Both boxers believe that the other's style won't be dramatically different from when they first fought. "Now I know him better," Torres said.

"I know what to expect. I think you'll see me more sure of what I'm trying to do." This will mark the first time in Torres' seven-year pro career that he has fought an opponent twice. Holt has had one rematch in his seven years as a pro. He defeated Norberto Frias by unanimous decision in their six-round fight in July 2002, and then knocked out the Dominican journeyman in the third round of their rematch 15 months later. "When I fought Frias, I was still young," said Holt, who suffered the first knockdown of his career in his first fight against Frias.

"It was early in my career. But I ended up knocking him out. The thing about me and rematches is, even in sparring, if I sparred a guy and he got the better of me, then the next time I sparred him I always, always, always got the best of it. I'm not superstitious, but I'm looking to continue that streak." mistake of underestimating Torres again. Holt's overconfidence developed once he dominated Greece's Mike Arnaoutis in an elimination match to earn a mandatory shot at Torres 14 months ago in Atlantic City.

Torres struggled against Arnaoutis five months earlier in Las Vegas, but he still walked away with the then-unclaimed WBO belt thanks to a suspect split decision. He has defended the title twice, and can't see himself heading home to Colombia without it Sunday. "I know Holt is tough," Torres said, "but there is not really anything that he can do that he didn't do before. I expect Holt will run like he did last time. If he stops and exchanges, it will be to my advantage, and it will be an easier fight." Reach Keith Idee at idecnorthjersey.

com. By KEITH IDEC STAFF WRITER LAS VEGAS Kendall Holt lost their first bout, but he is a bigger favorite over Ricardo Torres entering their rematch tonight than he was when he initially challenged Torres in the champion's native Barranquilla, Colombia. Holt was nearly a 3-to-l favorite Friday night at the Planet Hollywood Resort Casino's sports book. He was almost a 2-to-1 favorite before Torres stopped Holt in the 1 1th round of their highly controversial contest Sept. 1.

While Holt appreciates the respect of odds makers, he would prefer to be listed as an underdog. "Being the favorite doesn't really do anything for me," Holt said. "It doesn't do anything for my confidence. What did do things for my confidence was when I was the underdog. When I was the underdog, I was like, 'Wow! People really aren't giving me any respect or any I appreciate them thinking I'm Idee: Holt after life-changing win "I would love to be the second one to bring a title back to Paterson," Holt said.

"It'd show the kids in the boxing gyms and people who are going through hard times at school and at their jobs that you can do it. After they find out where I've come from and what I've done, hopefully they'll realize they can do the same thing in whatever field that they choose." Holt, a Kennedy High School alum, was born in Paterson and lived there most of his life until he moved to West Paterson earlier this year. Aroz Gist, his trainer, graduated from Kennedy, has long been a member of Paterson's boxing community and remains a resident of the city. "Just thinking about (taking Torres' title) brings tears to my eyes," Gist said. "That's something we both want, to win this title for Paterson.

The people there, they love their boxing." Second time's a charm Holt and Torres think facing one another already will be help- during their first fight. That's a dangerous approach Holt and his trainer, Paterson's Aroz Gist, spent six weeks of training camp composing a plan to avoid, however. The only two times Torres touched Holt with punishing punches in their first fight were when Holt went against the ropes in the fourth and 11th rounds. "I looked at the fight thousands of times," said Gist, who thinks Holt's training camp in Vero Beach, was the best of his seven-year pro career. "The only time Torres had a chance was when Kendall let him have a chance -when he got lazy, when he got back up on the ropes and let Torres get lucky.

But in the middle of the ring, Kendall handled him." Holt has only watched footage of their fight, which was not televised in the United States, a few times on youtube.com. But he agrees with Gist's assessment, and he hasn't made the Torres: Ready to defend his WBO crown Continued from D1 Torres' title represents much more than history for Holt, however. A win in their rematch tonight can change his life, his 5-year-old son Keshon's life, and the lives of others around him. He'll make a career-high $75,000 for facing Torres again, but opportunity meant more than money in this instance because Torres wasn't obligated to fight Holt a second time. If Holt exploits this opportunity, he's a six-figure fighter for as long as he holds the World Boxing Organization junior welterweight title.

His promotional contract with Bob Arum's Top Rank Inc. calls for him to earn a minimum of $125,000 if he is a defending champion. Possible fights against cash cows such as England's Ricky Hatton or Filipino star Manny Pacquiao, if he moves up another five pounds, would earn Holt much, much more. David Diaz, whom Holt knocked out in February 2005, made $800,000 for a one-sided defeat to Pacquiao a week ago. Beating Torres takes him one step closer to those types of fights, an unfathomable climb when you consider Holt was considering quitting boxing this time in 2006.

"It'd be incredible, a complete turnaround from where he was two years ago," said Paterson native Henry Cortes, Holt's manager. "He'll have gone from not even being a rated contender to being a world champion. It couldn't happen to a better person, to be hon Continued from D1 doesn't mean he is less dangerous." Holt floored Torres with a left-right combination late in the sixth round of their first fight, but a resilient Torres mounted a remarkable comeback. Before fans tainted his victory by throwing things into the ring, Torres dropped Holt with a left hook with just under a minute left in the 11th round. A hurt Holt held, moved away and tried to survive the round, but referee Genaro Rodriguez stopped the bout with Holt still on his feet.

The 27-year-old Holt believes Rodriguez stopped the championship match prematurely, so he has vowed to not put himself in a similar predicament tonight. The gifted, fast-handed Holt wants to be more aggressive, to take more chances against a slower, technically deficient fighter who often is open to counter punches. The three-time New Jersey Golden.