THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508250814
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Gary Jacobs has heard the comparisons, and he doesn't like them.
One week after Peter McNeeley's manager opted for the route of dishonor before his fighter's death, another boxing mismatch looms here Saturday when Jacobs challenges for Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker's World Boxing Council welterweight crown. While Jacobs is given little or no chance, chances are good he'll stick it out with Whitaker longer than McNeeley did with Mike Tyson.
``Even to be associated with anyone in that class is a disgrace,'' he said of McNeeley. ``It's an insult to me.''
Jacobs points out he earned his way to a title shot as the No. 1 contender. He's no hand-picked tomato can du jour, even though most people here have never heard of the Glasgow, Scotland, native.
``Americans are really only interested in Americans,'' said Jacobs, who has trained for this fight in the Catskill Mountains in New York state. ``You really don't know what's going on across the water.''
Across the pond, Jacobs is a big fish. He's won Scotland, British and European titles.
Jacobs said he began boxing as a 16-year-old and turned pro at 19 after just 12 amateur fights.
Jacobs passes off getting blitzed in 1989 by Buddy McGirt, a fighter Whitaker handled easily twice, as part of the process of becoming a top-rated challenger.
``That was me learning my trade,'' Jacobs said. ``Six years is a long time ago. I took the fight on four days notice and he was far too experienced for me at the time.''
A former soccer player who worked as a goldsmith early in his boxing career, Jacobs is a renowned athlete in his homeland. He expects to expand his fame Saturday, despite the doubts of virtually everyone outside his camp that he can beat Whitaker.
``There's never a sure thing in a two-horse race,'' Jacobs said.
OFFICIAL FLAP: Jacobs manager Mickey Duff said he has filed a protest with the British Boxing Control Board that an American, New Yorker Ron Lipton, has been assigned to referee a bout in Whitaker's homeland against a foreigner.
Duff said the WBC brought in judges from different parts of the world, and should have done the same for the referee. Apparently Duff hasn't gotten wind of the statehood granted Hawaii, where one of the judges hails from. The others are from Japan and Australia.
TYSON-MCNEELEY PRATTLE: Less than a week after boxing's latest black eye, last Saturday's Mike Tyson-Peter McNeeley debacle understandably was a hot topic at Thursday's final press conference.
``It was a scam,'' said Dino Duva of Main Events, rival to Don King. ``King, Tyson, Showtime, they're all ripping off the public.''
Longtime fight manager Lou Duva said the sham set boxing back in the eyes of the public: ``The people themselves are disgusted.''
The disgusting thing for Whitaker's handlers is it detracts from a fighter like theirs, who has earned a sterling reputation as a master boxer but hasn't amassed a huge following. One week after Tyson-McNeeley grossed more than $50 million in pay-per-view sales for a minute and a half of work, 3,000 chairs will be set up here for a Whitaker fight that is available - as are most of his bouts - on HBO.
JABS: Saturday's card in the same Atlantic City Convention Center ballroom in which Whitaker fought Julio Cesar Vasquez in March is expected to be a sellout. . . . Jacobs, a Scot, was led into the press conference by a bagpipe player wearing a kilt. Not to be outdone, Lou Duva stood up as they approached the dias to reveal a red plaid blanket wrapped around his expansive girth. ILLUSTRATION: VANDYSTAT/ALLSPORT PHOTO
Scotsman Gary Jacobs swings at Ludovic Proto of France in their 1993
bout. Jacobs (41-5) has won his last eight fights.
by CNB