THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 18, 1996 TAG: 9601180552
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
This was supposed to be the year when Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker's calendar was loaded with big-name fights.
The first one will be a big name all right, just not a big-name boxer. Whitaker will fight in a charity exhibition on a boxing card at Scope March 5 against television personality Geraldo Rivera.
Geraldo was a late fill-in for singer/actor Harry Connick Jr.
``Harry Connick agreed to the fight, and a week later he took a movie offer that began shooting in February and he had to pull out,'' said spokesman Mike Boorman of Main Events, which promotes Whitaker.
Rivera won't be the only novice in the ring that night with the World Boxing Council welterweight champion from Virginia Beach. Boorman said anyone - provided they are not too large - willing to ante up an amount to be determined later will have a chance to spar with Whitaker. The particulars will be announced at a press conference next week.
``He gets to make a fool of himself in front of friends and family,'' Boorman said. ``It doesn't have to be someone with a lot of money. It could be a guy with a lot of friends who want to see him get his block knocked off and they pool their money.''
Whitaker, meanwhile, will fight for free, ``which I didn't know was in his vocabulary,'' Boorman said. The boxing card will be highlighted by a bout between 1992 Olympian Raul Marquez and Darrin Morris for the vacant USBA junior middleweight title. That bout, plus highlights of Whitaker's exhibition, will be broadcast on the USA Network.
Whitaker's serious business in 1996 will begin in April, possibly on the 12th in Atlantic City. The opponent is the top-ranked contender from Puerto Rico, Wilfredo Rivera - no relation to Geraldo.
Wilfredo is also no Felix Trinidad, who was supposed to be Whitaker's headline bout of '96. That fight is virtually dead.
Trinidad was attempting to break a promotional contract with Don King through the courts, but now has returned to King. King and Main Events have not been able to make a deal involving Whitaker since the controversial Julio Cesar Chavez draw in 1993. Trinidad fought on a Whitaker undercard in November billed the ``Collision Course,'' but it appears unlikely they will collide in the ring.
``Don has our phone number,'' said Lou DiBella, the vice president of Time Warner Sports. Time Warner owns HBO, which has a contract with Whitaker.
``My understanding is Trinidad is back with Don,'' DiBella said. ``I'm not optimistic. It's unfortunate, but it's the politics of the game.''
World Boxing Association welterweight champion Ike Quartey will fight on the Whitaker undercard in April, and the plan is still for Whitaker-Quartey to meet in late summer or early fall.
Whitaker was training in Houston Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Pernell Whitaker, above, will face Geraldo Rivera - instead of Harry
Connick Jr. - on March 5.
by CNB