Boxing

Taylor's plans still not clear

By JOHN C. COTEY
Published January 25, 2006

Tuesday morning a newspaper in Arkansas reported that Jermain Taylor had a deal to fight Sam Soliman on April 15.

By lunchtime, promoter Lou DiBella was claiming the report to be premature, though it cites DiBella as its source.

"I have not signed a contract with Soliman yet and the purse bid is still Jan.30," DiBella told the Associated Press. "And I'm not saying for certain right now who we're fighting."

But the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported the fight will take place in Memphis or Little Rock, Taylor's hometown.

The World Boxing Council has ordered Taylor, its champion, to fight its No.1 contender, St. Petersburg's Winky Wright. A purse bid is scheduled for Monday to determine who will promote it.

But DiBella said a Taylor-Wright fight would never happen, reacting angrily to Wright's demands for a 50-50 split of the purse, and indicated his fighter would walk away from the WBC belt rather than meet that organization's demands.

If true, the choice of Soliman is interesting. Instead of fighting the No.1 contender, DiBella is opting to sacrifice his fighter's title and fight to the guy Wright just beat by unanimous decision.

In DiBella's world, losing to the No.1 contender seems to be the way to a title shot.

Go figure.

HE SAID, HE SAID: The night Wright beat Soliman, DiBella told fightnews.com, "That fight was much too close. I applaud Sam Soliman for his tremendous level of conditioning, but he was basically an amateurish fighter."

Tuesday he was quoted as calling that "amateurish fighter" a "quality opponent."

So which is it?

THE FUTURE: Clearwater amateurs Keith Thurman (152 pounds) and 165-pounder Chris Rangel, fighting out of the St. Pete Boxing Club, will fight this weekend in the first round of the U.S. National Amateur Championship.

Thurman, an accomplished 17-year-old fighting for the first time at the highest amateur level, and Rangel, a former rising standout who is making his return from myriad personal problems, will travel to Fort Pierce for the state competition. The winner advances to the regionals in Fort Myers in three weeks.

Thurman, who had intended to turn pro when he turned 18, is now going to stay in the amateur game and wait for a shot at the 2008 Olympics.

His trainer, Ben Getty, said that a recent talk with former Olympian and current super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy persuaded him.

"Jeff sat him down and told him how much money he made in his first fight, compared to what he would make the first fight without the Olympics behind him, and Keith changed his mind," Getty said.

LOCAL FIGHTS: Carlos Deleon Jr. (13-1-2) will headline the Feb.17 card at the Tampa Westshore Doubletree Resort when he meets Alberto Albaladejo (9-5-2).

The One Punch Productions card also will include Oldsmar featherweight Carlos Manuel Rivera, St. Petersburg's Akinyemi Laleye, Kermit Gonzalez and Jean Baptiste and Tampa's Marcus Broadnax.

St. Pete Boxing Club heavyweight Lenroy Thompson, rated in the top 10 in the country by USA Boxing, will make his professional debut.

For information, call (813) 503-8109 or visit onepunch.net.

[Last modified January 25, 2006, 00:56:11]