THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410010418
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The weigh-in for tonight's fights at Scope was interrupted by a bomb threat Friday at the hotel where the weigh-in took place.
According to police, at 5:53 p.m. Omni Hotel employees found a threatening note, the contents of which neither the police nor hotel management would divulge. The hotel was evacuated and several hundred people stood in the parking lot for more than an hour while the building was searched.
The hotel's fire alarm went off a couple of minutes before the 6 p.m. weigh-in. Everyone in the room ignored the alarm, until a hotel employee whispered something to promoter Dan Duva. Duva rushed to complete the weigh-in of main event fighter's Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker and James ``Buddy'' McGirt, and then the room was evacuated.
The undercard fighters waited in the parking lot to be weighed, until eventually the fire department brought the scale to the hotel doors. It was moved to the entry way of the walkway above Waterside Drive, where the remaining fighters were weighed.
THE UNDERCARD: Eight bouts are scheduled prior to the Whitaker-McGirt fight. On the undercard are: heavyweights David Tua (15-0) vs. Ken Lakusta (22-20-1); junior middleweights Raul Marquez (16-0) vs. Darryl Cherry (12-4); cruiserweights Jade Scott (20-1) vs. Stacey McSwain (17-20); super middleweights Tony Pope (4-0) vs. Lawrence Jackson (6-2); super middleweights Elvis Alexander (2-0) vs. Charles Carter (4-9); junior welterweights Dorin Spivey (7-0) vs. Doug Edwards (2-0); heavyweights Courage Tshabalala (6-0) vs. Mike Williams (2-0); junior middleweights Ruben Bell (9-0) vs. Lonnell Strohman (19-25-1).
The first bout is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
TALKING BASEBALL: The forecast tonight calls for clear skies and lows hovering around 60. That's irrelevant for the fight, but it almost was significant.
For a brief time in August, the fight appeared to be headed for Harbor Park. According to Mike Boorman of Main Events, on the night of a Norfolk Tides game he and Lou Duva had a casual conversation with Tides president Ken Young that escalated into a gentleman's agreement to hold the fight at Harbor Park.
``He was going to do fireworks over the harbor,'' Boorman said. ``He said he'd have both fighters come in in a helicopter, which was insane, but I liked his enthusiasm.''
Boorman said Young also said he would pay to have a canopy built over the ring in case it rained and was going to handle much of the marketing and promotions. Boorman said Main Events verbally agreed to hold the fight at the ballpark, contingent upon Home Box Office's approval.
HBO nixed it, primarily because of concerns about the weather and also because of short turnover time from its fight last week in England, Boorman said, which made an unfamiliar site less attractive.
``Maybe in June or July we could do a fight there,'' Boorman said.
NEXT UP: Make no mistake about Whitaker's desires if he beats McGirt.
``After this, I want (Julio Cesar) Chavez and no other,'' said Whitaker.
Would he fight him in Mexico? ``Hell no!'' Whitaker said.
JABS: The fight will be seen in more than 40 countries, according to Dan Duva. ... Whitaker is a five-time world champion, while McGirt is a former two-time world title holder. ... Whitaker will make $2.5 million tonight, McGirt $600,000. ... McGirt promoter Bobby Goodman is already talking about another go-round between Whitaker-McGirt. ``I can't see why we wouldn't do it a third time,'' he said. ... McGirt is unimpressed by the dominance Whitaker has displayed at Scope, where he rarely loses a round. ``Look who he's fought here,'' McGirt said. Three of Whitaker's 14 world title fights have been at Scope. by CNB