ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
BOXER THOMAS HEARNS will ring in a new career with a fight at the Roanoke Civic Center on Nov. 29.
Thomas Hearns' second career in boxing will begin in Roanoke. His first career will continue here.
Hearns, the only pro fighter to win world titles in five weight classes, will return to the ring after a 14-month absence for a light heavyweight non-title bout Nov.29 - the night after Thanksgiving - at the Roanoke Civic Center. His opponent for the scheduled 10-round bout has yet to be signed.
Billed as the ``Brawl Beneath the Star,'' the seven-fight card will start at 7:30p.m., with the first two hours televised live on ESPN2, which is available in 37.9 million cable homes. The card is the first for Steelhawk Promotions, a new Roanoke Valley firm.
Tickets for the card will go on sale Thursday at the civic center box office and at TicketMaster locations. Seats are priced at $15, $30, $60 (boxes), $90 (floor) and $150 (VIP ringside). In hopes of boosting ticket sales, the ESPN2 telecast will be blacked out within at least a 50-mile radius of the site, perhaps wider, promoters said.
Hearns, the ``Hit Man,'' appeared Monday at a news conference at the event's headquarters, the Patrick Henry Hotel. The Detroit boxer explained that the card will be the first in a series of elimination bouts he is staging and promoting in conjunction with his adviser, Harold Smith, and Smith's firm, the Global Sports Network.
Melanie Steele, president and promoter of Steelhawk, also announced a portion of the proceeds from the Hearns card will go to the fledgling Roanoke City Boxing Association, a program directed at the city's low- and middle-income youth that will be housed under one of the grandstands at Victory Stadium.
That program is expected to begin about the time of the Hearns bout. Steelhawk's vice president, Rick ``Hawk`` Hawkins, is the executive director of the youth program. Steele and Hawkins, Roanoke natives and graduates of Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools, respectively, want to bring a continuing number of quality boxing shows to the Star City.
The Hearns card is believed to be the first live boxing show in the history of the civic center, which will seat 10,000 for the event. Smith said the card also will include a 12-round title fight, with International Boxing Federation and North American Boxing Federation featherweight champ Francisco Areolla (31-1) of Tampa, Fla., putting his belt on the line against an opponent to be named. Joseph Laryea (8-0), who is trained by Hearns' brother and managed by the former champ's mother, also will fight.
Hearns, who turned 38 last week, is 55-4-1 with 43 knockouts in a pro career that began almost 19 years to the day before his Roanoke date. He won his first crown, the World Boxing Association welterweight title, in August 1980. In his last fight, Hearns won a decision over Earl Butler in Detroit on Sept.26, 1995.
``At this stage, both parts of my career are very important to me,'' said Hearns, who will train in Roanoke before the fight for at least one week, and perhaps two. ``I've known for a while I'd be finishing my career in the ring, but having been through all of it, I thought the promoting side would be fun and I could bring something to fighters.
``I've been there. I know people are looking for commitment and honesty. I know what fighters go through, and I think I can give people what they want. I don't have any time limit on how much longer I'll fight. I kind of want to see what the future brings to me. I'd like to win another title, but I'm not going to go down [in weight class] to do it.''
Hearns has had only seven fights in the past five years. There had been talk of a Hearns-Roy Jones Jr. bout for pay-per-view on Nov.2, until the anticipated Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield bout was announced for a week later. ``You can't do two pay-per-views that close together,'' Smith said, ``so Thomas and I decided this might be a good time to start his tour.''
Smith said Hearns wanted to put his tour into some cities that haven't been boxing locales in recent years. Roanoke fits.
A title fight hasn't been held in the Roanoke Valley since Nov.15, 1991, when James Warring defended his IBF cruiserweight crown with a fifth-round KO of Donnell Wingfield at the Valley Sports Arena. In October 1989, Juan Polo Perez of Columbia took the IBF junior bantamweight title from Elly Pical of Indonesia at the same site - which is now Valley Country, a dance hall.
``If you say `Roanoke' to [boxing] people, they say, `Ro-who?''' Smith said. ``Well, after Nov.29, people will know where Roanoke is.''
Hearns said he also was intrigued about a card in Roanoke when he heard about the establishment of the youth program. Hearns plans to visit schools during his Roanoke stay to promote the program, ``and do whatever the city allows me to do to make that program a success,'' he said.
Hearns also is scheduled to speak at meetings of the Roanoke Valley Sports Club and Roanoke Kiwanis Club during Thanksgiving week.
The fight date will bring plenty of network sports exposure to Southwest Virginia. At 2:30p.m. Nov.29, the annual Virginia-Virginia Tech football game will be played at Lane Stadium for a CBS audience. The promoters are hoping to get some of the football crowd to move indoors for a boxing first during the civic center's silver anniversary month.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON\Staff. Thomas Hearns (left) signs anby CNBautograph Monday at the Patrick Henry Hotel as Willard Barbour, a
trainer for the Roanoke City Boxing Association, looks on. color.