By Robert Morales
Gary Shaw was reached by telephone Wednesday. He was asked if boxing fans are ever going to get to see the rematch between Nonito Donaire and Vic Darchinyan, who Saturday will defend his two super flyweight belts against Rodrigo Guerrero at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
"One thousand percent on behalf of Darchinyan, probably zero percent on behalf of Donaire," said Shaw, Darchinyan's promoter. "But I can't speak for him. You need to call Bob Arum and listen to his line of bulls**t. If we win Saturday, we would sign that fight Sunday."
Shaw was asked to what he was referring when he talked about Arum's "line of bulls**t." He intimated he was still bewildered about not getting much of a response from Arum's Top Rank Inc. when he offered up Timothy Bradley for a fight with Edwin Valero; Bradley is co-promoted by Shaw and Thompson Boxing, Valero by Top Rank.
Moreover, Shaw said he has told Top Rank that he and Darchinyan want the rematch with Donaire, who stopped Darchinyan in the fifth round in July 2007.
"But nobody has e-mailed me or called me," Shaw said.
Well, we called Arum, who reacted strongly. He said that if Darchinyan prevails Saturday as expected, he indeed will be more than happy to sit down and try to reach an accord for the rematch.
"What the f**k is he talking about?" said Arum, chairman of Top Rank. "We're prepared to do the fight. We just have to know what's involved. We have to decide on the venue, we have to see what the TV money is and, essentially, start a negotiation for the fight.
"We want the fight. There is no reason to make this controversial, which is apparently what Shaw wants, and Darchinyan. What the f**k are they talking about? What is the reason for any of that. We want the fight to happen. Why get everyone riled up for no reason?"
Arum said if the sides sit down and a deal does not come to fruition, "Then you can say all you want. But this is wrong. It's silly, it's counterproductive."
Arum reiterated that if everything goes well Saturday, "Then let's sit down like men and negotiate a deal."
That's cool with Shaw.
"That's great to hear," he said. "But why wouldn't (Top Rank executive) Carl Moretti have called me or Bob or (Top Rank president) Todd duBoef and said, 'We heard you really want to do the fight?'
I've never heard a word. You are the first word that I'm hearing back. I'm going to give that news to Darchinyan. If they don't do it, then you will know the story."
Fifteen minutes later, Shaw called back with Darchinyan, who was thrilled at the news.
"When I was told that, I couldn't believe it," Darchinyan said.
"I'm very, very happy. I can't believe it's going to happen. Now all we have to do is start negotiations after the fight. I believe in three or four months, that fight is going to happen."
When Donaire and Darchinyan fought the first time, few were picking Donaire. But Donaire fought brilliantly. He caught Darchinyan with a tremendous punch on the chin in the fifth round, and stopped him at the 1:38 mark. Darchinyan has thought a lot about that night.
"It's been three years on my mind," he said.
Darchinyan said he knows what went wrong.
"I was trying to throw one big punch and knock him out," he said. "I was telling myself too much that I will knock him out with one punch. I was not patient. I want to have the rematch and I want to prove my point."
And Donaire recently told this reporter he wants to show everyone the stoppage of Darchinyan was not a chance occurrence.
"I wouldn't be where I'm at right now if it was a fluke," Donaire said on Feb. 12, the day before he knocked out replacement Manuel Vargas in the third round in Las Vegas. "I'm more than eager to make that fight happen to prove once and for all it wasn't a fluke.
Douglas Was Simply Ready
HBO announcer Larry Merchant talked at length two weeks ago in this space about the epic knockout Buster Douglas scored over Mike Tyson 20 years ago last month. He called it one of those "shots heard 'round the world," and said it "resonated like few events do."
We spoke to Douglas on Tuesday via telephone from Columbus, Ohio. Interestingly, he didn't go off the deep end about how he was the winner in, perhaps, boxing's greatest upset. He spoke in humble tones, yet matter of factly, when asked about his best memory from that night at the Tokyo Dome.
"The journey," he said. "I had to fight some pretty tough guys to even get a shot at the title. Once I fought those guys, I was ready. I was ready for what Mike had to offer. I had the preparation, I was ready for the challenge.
"I was just well-trained. I was just very confident of my abilities. It wasn't my first time at the big show, so I was ready mentally and physically. I was confident I should be there. I was supposed to be there."
Douglas was stopped in the 10th round by Tony Tucker in May 1987 in a battle for a vacant world title. But he went 6-0 after that to earn the shot at Tyson, who had taken Tucker's belt and retained the two he already had with a decision over Tucker in August 1987. Among those fighters Douglas defeated during his six-fight winning streak leading to his fight with Tyson were Trevor Berbick and Oliver McCall. And two-plus years before his loss to Tucker, Douglas defeated Greg Page.
In the mind of Douglas, his "journey" is not something taken very often by today's crop of heavyweights. He said this is one reason why boxing's former bread and butter division has slipped.
"It happened once before, a while back," he said of the state of the division. "It has its periods. Then again, maybe I have never seen anything like this before. These guys, I don't understand it. I'm on the outside looking in, but I think they (handlers) are just renting them. They are not really getting them prepared for that title fight, not testing them before they get into that title fight to see what you got.
"The lack of competition leading up to the title fight is what is really hurting them. They get in there and get hit with that Sunday punch and they are not really responding. They are kind of rushing kids into title contention."
With that, we asked what would have happened to either of the champion Klitschko brothers if they would have tangled with Douglas or Tyson in their respective primes.
"Go to sleep," Douglas said. "Straight go to sleep."
Another Kind of Challenge
Douglas rose to the occasion when he beat Tyson. But his career fell apart after that. He lost the three belts he won from Tyson in his first defense against Evander Holyfield via third-round knockout.
He retired for nearly six years, then embarked on a nine-fight comeback that, for all intents and purposes, ended in his seventh fight back when he was knocked out in the first round by Lou Savarese.
Douglas said he had regrets about not making more out of his win over Tyson.
"I did, but I have come to terms with it," he said. "I have moved forward, back into the game of life and I'm just excited about the future."
He should be, especially since at one point after his first retirement he ballooned to nearly 400 pounds and once fell into a diabetic coma.
Tyson has had his own demons to deal with over the past two decades. Douglas was asked if, since he knows all about trials and tribulations, he can feel for Tyson.
"I understand," he said. "To a certain extent we all have challenges in our lives and things don't work out the way we expect them to. It's life. It's all in the way you deal with it and move forward. Those are the key words, moving forward, not sitting there and dwelling on it.
"It's not a perfect world, so every day cannot be perfect. You have to be strong enough to deal with the obstacles in your way and overcome them. Just always looking toward that light and not giving up."
Almost All Good
Douglas these days is working with a few fighters in a gym in Columbus.
"Hopefully, one of those guys will have potential and something big will come out of it," he said. "I'm working them out, trying to give them some information on how to be the best."
Douglas will be 50 on April 7. He is nearly at his best, medically speaking.
"I'm taking my medication and back in the gym working out," he said. "Hopefully, one day I will be off this medication and really looking for a comeback."
A comeback?
"I'm always looking to come back and fight," he said, "but I mean the diabetes fight. This is the fight I'm in, trying to overcome and get off this medication and looking forward to really not having to take pills and not getting any shots.
"I might not be fighting in that square circle, but I'm constantly fighting in that game of life."
A big part of that life includes his three sons, one of which is a defensive end for the Otterbein College football team in Westerville, Ohio. Asked at the beginning of our conversation if he was doing anything exciting, Douglas said, "Raising a family is pretty exciting."
But, he said, he's glad he's got three sons and no daughters.
"My brother has a daughter," he said. "He is the one with the headaches. He has a beautiful daughter. Now that's a fight, baby."
He was laughing.
Merchant Praises Mayweather, Sort Of
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is one of the best defensive fighters to come along in some time. Merchant agrees it is rather remarkable how Mayweather - who May 1 will take on "Sugar" Shane Mosley - can stand in front of an opponent and "not be hit solidly."
"You don't see it very often and one of the reasons you don't see it very often is people really aren't that interested in seeing it very often," Merchant said. "We haven't seen that type of true defense in a long time. ... In the old days you had Benny Leonard and
Willie Pep in different divisions and in modern times you have Pernell Whitaker and Mayweather.
"I think defensive skills were more appreciated in the old days of boxing, but that fans have always preferred risk-takers and action and so on to pure defense."
That said, Merchant said Mayweather is to be applauded for the way he has gone about becoming such a hot ticket.
"I would say the unusual part of Mayweather is how he has been able to promote himself, maybe because we don't have any great heavyweights, or maybe because there are fewer American fighters of top stature," Merchant said.
Merchant said whether it's 24/7 or Dancing With the Stars, Mayweather has gone out there and pushed himself.
"He has been more aggressive outside the ring than inside the ring," Merchant said. "It's to his credit that he has done it that way. Very few fighters whose first priority is not to get hit very seldom become that popular."
Paul Williams Update
Promoter Dan Goossen on Wednesday said he is very close to reaching an accord for a fight between Paul Williams and Kermit Cintron.
"We're just inches away from finalizing a deal with Cintron," said Goossen, who promotes Williams. "I've got a few things to get done on both sides and, hopefully, we'll have something completed in the next few days. But, realistically, probably not until sometime next week."
The fight would take place May 8, probably in California.
"I'm working on a few things out here," Goossen said from his Los Angeles-area office.
"Obviously, you've got a good fan base out here in California. We were really looking to go to Atlantic City and Atlantic City really wanted them badly.
"But May 8, they (meaning Boardwalk Hall) were booked with a rap concert. So we had to scrap those plans and start putting our attention to Paul's other market. One of the great things about Paul is he has built himself a following on both coasts."
Robert Morales covers boxing for the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram and BoxingScene.com.
