Jack Welsh
www.ringsports.com

Kevin Monaghan, vice-president of NBC Sports in New York, said the trial run will broadcast fights on May 3, May 10, and May 17 featurring rising prospects under contract to Main Events, headed by Kathy Duva, chief executive officer.

Monaghan said NBC will use Telemundo, the Spanish network it puchased last year, tø help market the shows to a Hispanics audience and then switch to NBC for a doubleheader of a 10-round main event and eight-round semi-windup.

Kathy Duva recalled her late husband, Dan, began working on a similar project nine years ago before he died at the height of his career as one øf the nation?s leading boxing promoters.

In an official statement, Duva stressed 'Our goal has always been to make fighters famous because I think what history shows us is that people will watch boxing if it's available and if they know who is fighting, but boxing must be marketed and promoted in the right way. This project gives us an opportunity to get fighters names and faces out there.'

Monaghan said boxing has always been popular with the public but not the advertisers. However, Telemundo presents a more mainstream advertising base that NBC can use to advantage, Monaghan added that boxing could find a base on the major networks 'if the competition is exciting.' World-class action has been missing from the networks since ABC televised then WBC lightweight champion Stevie Johnson's bout with Jose Luis Castillo in 2000.

ROACH APPROACH: Too bad Mike Tyson can't walk up and shake hands with the late, legendary Eddie Futch today. Indirectly, the ex-heavy-weight champ owes the builder of 19 world champions a lot....like turning former bantamweight Freddie Roach into one of boxing's premier trainers.

Not since Tyson's halcyon days when he won his first crown with Kevin Rooney has there been a trainer like Roach who kept the erstwhile Iron Mike wrapped in dedication to fight Clifford 'The Black Rhino' Etienne last month in Memphis.

Roach, 43, in retrospect, said working with Futch, who died in his sleep three years ago at 87, 'was
like having a second father.'

'I can't believe how lucky I was. I learned so much from Eddie that I could use with my fighters when I became a trainer. One of his cardinal rules was don't try and change a fighter from his natural ability. I know he really gave Riddick Bowe the full scope before taking him on,' Roach recalled.

'Eddie thought heavyweights had so much wear and tear on their bodies that he didn't believe in too much sparring in training. That's why Tyson didn't do more than 40 rounds for Etienne. He was very strict about that one minute between rounds. None of that yelling which you still see in today's corners. Too much talking only distracts a fighter.'

Roach, a native of Dedham, Ma., made his first career move in 1978, settling in Las Vegas with Futch as his trainer, Those were the days when Top Rank's Bob Arum was promoting weekly shows on ESPN and Roach was a popular regular.

'Fighting twice a month was not unusual and there were a couple of times when I boxed three times in one month .I won the ESPN bantamweight title from Richie Foster in 1982 and lost it to Tommy Cordova in 1983.Those were real barn-burners at the Showboat,' Roach reviewed.
'Two of my most exciting fights were with Louie Burke, now on the New Mexico Athletic Commission, losing two close 12-rounders. Another thriller was with popular former world champ Bobby Chacon, who I had on the deck twice. By 1987, I was ready to retire with a 41-13, 17 KOs resume and start a new career as a five-year assistant to the master, Eddie Futch. It's great to get lucky twice'

A SLEEPER RISING.....If trainer Kenny Adams has his way, there will be a lot of boxing fans around the country pronouncing the name of a junior welterweight he feels will make a large move in 2003.

And vocally that's not easy when you're dealing with Muhammad Abdullaev, formerly of Uzbekistan and now a Las Vegas resident.

Abdullaev, who comes to fight hard with every assignment, is no longer restricted to fandom in the Valley of the Dollars.

He gave the fight buffs in the Land Down Under a sample of what being explosive is all about Jan.19 when he appeared on the undercard as 30,000 Aussies watched undisputed 140-pound champion Kostya Tszyu stop former champ Jesse James Leija in six rounds at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne.

Abdullaev didn't take as long as he disposed of former IBF lightweight king Philip Holiday in four rounds, lifting his credentials to 11-0, 9 KOs. He had the South African down twice in the first round and again in round four with a bad cut near his temple.

Adams, a former 1988 Olympic coach, was delighted despite how far Team Adulleaev had to travel for the name victory.

'Muhammad was truly explosive and although Tszyu is their legendary hero, the fans were impressed with his performance. I believe I'd put him in with almost any one in the division right now. There was no point in making weight until he has to, so we let him go at 139 but he?ll get bigger,' Adams explained.

'There?s plenty of talent in the junior welterweight class like DeMarcus Corley. Zab Judah, Hector Camacho Jr., and Britain's Ricky Hatton. And right on Muhammad's level is Miguel Cotto and Ricardo Williams, both undefeated. But we don't need them right now. Abdullaev has beaten them both in the amateurs and enroute to the gold medal in the 2000 Australian Olympics in Sydney.

Abdullaev, 29, with a 288-12 record before turning pro, is blessed with patience as well as knockout power in both fists.

'I feel my time is coming and I'm now starting to make a name for myself. As long as I keep winning, I believe people will finally know who I am.' said the unassuming transplanted Ukraine.

Nobody has more confidence than Adams that Abdullaev's destiny is to a world champion.

'He is dedicated to be a champion. I have no doubt about that because he is intense in his training to be in top condition whoever he is fighting. The right hand is definitely his road game and Muhammad showed he has a tremendous jaw when Holiday (36-6-1, 22 KOs) caught him with a left hook and nothing happened.'

COMING BACK:....Johnny Tapia, whose controversial career in and out of the ring has been well-documented, reached a new level of notoriety recently when his latest clash with drugs was profiled on HBO's 'Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel', in its one-hour format filmed from a drug rehab in Southern California.

Tapia, a five-times world champion, was making his 12th appearance in such a facility after collapsing in his Las Vegas home and being rushed unconscious to the University Medical Center, reportedly
at death's door.

I was aware the popular show was going to be aired Feb.10 with James Brown hosting, but I was surprised three nights earlier when I got a semi-sneak preview.

The phone rang at home and a familiar voice declared, 'Hello, buddy, it's Johnny.' All considered, Tapia was very upbeat.

In a calm, deliberate voice, the 36-year-old førmer wørld champion at 115,118 and 126 pounds said he was allowed five personal calls and I was flattered he included my number.

Much I heard would be repeated later on the HBO tape but it was still startling, Tapia reminding it was the fourth time he had been declared clinically dead.

'I don?t get no more chances. Johnny Tapia can't do nothing wrong no more because he will die. I'm going to go. The next time I die, I'm out. I think it's over. I'm not going to be able to come back the next time. My nine lives are over. This last time was just terrible, terrible, terrible,' said the 15-year veteran from Albuquerque, N.M., with the 52-3-2 record.

Tapia admits he 'has good days and bad days' in what has been an ongoing fight with drugs and alcohol since his mother, Virginia, was stabbed to death in May, 1975 when he was eight-years-old. Emotional stress was compounded in 1983 when he learned the killer died in an automobile accident and was never ar rested. Tapia was suspended three years from boxing in the mid-80s after repeated drug arrests.

Teresa Tapia is the troubled boxer?s wife and manager and has been an unshakable cornerstone in repeatedly committing him for drug/alcohol treatment.

'Teresa has never lost faith in my recovery even when I have slipped. I don?t know what I would do without her. But there are no more tomorrows with drugs. It's a very hard road, like going for broke to live and I'm simply out of chances now,' Tapia conceded.