THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701240699
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY LENGTH: 79 lines
Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker held court in his hotel suite with HBO's announcing team of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and George Foreman and assorted hangers-on Thursday. Whitaker was animated, he was humorous, he was excited.
As the crowd dispersed, Whitaker admired his countenance in the mirror and proclaimed: ``You can see it in my face, I feel like a young puppy again.''
A fight like tonight's versus Diobelis Hurtado generally would be considered a dog.
This is not the one that has served as an elixir for the 33-year-old Whitaker. By all accounts, tonight is a mismatch. Whitaker is a six-time world champion appearing in his 21st world title fight, while Hurtado is a 24-year-old Cuban defector with a sparkling 20-0 record forged against a bunch of guys as anonymous as taxi drivers.
But in a way, it's the most important fight of Whitaker's 12-year professional career.
Hurtado is an appetizer Whitaker must devour before he gets to the main course - an April 12 multi-million dollar mega-fight with Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas.
But if Whitaker were to choke on the appetizer, he'd forfeit the April meal ticket.
``The theme for this fight is there's something better afterward,'' Whitaker said. ``I'm not stupid, I know what's beyond.''
What's beyond is perhaps the year's most-anticipated non-heavyweight fight. De La Hoya is the rising young superstar with matinee-idol looks and dynamic talent to match, while Whitaker is the savvy veteran just waiting to be bronzed and put into the Hall of Fame.
This week Whitaker has alternated between saying he's not looking ahead to De La Hoya, and then in the next breath looking ahead to De La Hoya.
``We want to build him up as the Boy Wonder, and he is a handsome kid,'' Whitaker said. ``But that doesn't win fights. He may be the Boy Wonder, but I'm Batman.''
Publicist Mike Boorman of Main Events, which promotes Whitaker, admitted Whitaker-Hurtado would be tough for anyone to get excited about were it not for the impending De La Hoya bout. Boorman said the his personal theme for the tonight's promotion is ``We're looking past this one.''
The promoters are not alone. HBO, whose pay-per-view arm will broadcast Whitaker-De La Hoya, is opening tonight's 9:30 telecast with a rebroadcast of last week's De La Hoya win over Miguel Angel Gonzalez. Then it will have De La Hoya as its ringside guest when Whitaker-Hurtado begins at approximately 10:30 p.m.
Hurtado is the kind of opponent Whitaker ordinarily would loath. Whitaker's performance often suffers when he is unimpressed by the opposition.
``He likes a challenge, he likes competition,'' co-manager Lou Duva said. ``If it's easy, he doesn't put out as much.''
Hurtado, in his first world title fight and ranked just 10th by the WBC, is expected to be easy work for Whitaker, the World Boxing Council welterweight champion from Virginia Beach. Whitaker is a 15-1 favorite according to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
But with the specter of a De La Hoya looming, Whitaker's handlers are not concerned about their fighter's mental approach to Hurtado, one of Fidel Castro's former amateur champions who defected to make a run at a world title.
``There is no other fight if you don't win this fight,'' said Duva, adding that Whitaker has trained feverishly.
Duva described Hurtado as a tough kid who comes straight at you throwing punches, although there is some sentiment that Hurtado may make Whitaker chase him. Whitaker, who claims to never watch tapes of opponents, admitted he did catch a glimpse of Hurtado recently when he walked in a room where Duva and trainer Ronnie Shields were examining a Hurtado tape.
``I don't know who was worse, him or the guy he was fighting,'' Whitaker said. ``I didn't pay it any mind.''
If Hurtado has any hope of pulling off the upset, it would be that Whitaker has his sights set on April and doesn't mind to the business at hand.
``If people don't know I can fight, then that's their ignorance,'' Hurtado said through an interpreter Wednesday. ``It doesn't surprise me because I'm not well-known in the United States and I'm not bothered by it.
``I don't care what people think. I only care about becoming the champ.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Champion Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker, right, poses with challenger
Diobelis Hurtado prior to their fight in Atlantic City tonight.