Bazooka Shoots for Spotlight : Boxing: Tony “Bazooka” DeLuca risks his junior flyweight title Sunday against Olympic hero Michael Carbajal.

When boxer Tony “Bazooka” DeLuca was asked by his manager, Rob DePhillipis, whether he’d like a shot at former Olympic Silver medalist Michael Carbajal, it didn’t take him long to say yes.

“I’d go to hell to fight the devil if they told me to,” DeLuca said.

DeLuca won’t have to travel quite that far to fight Carbajal. The bout will take place Sunday in Phoenix at the 4,000--seat Phoenix Civic Plaza--some 300 miles away.

But more important, the fight will be DeLuca’s chance at the big time--national television. And in a division--junior-flyweight--that is about as small (108-pound limit) and as small-time as they come, those chances come rarely.

When DeLuca fights Carbajal at noon Sunday on NBC, it will be one of the few junior-flyweight fights ever to appear on network television. DeLuca will be defending his North American Boxing Federation title in the 12-round bout against Carbajal.

DeLuca will be guaranteed $25,000, which more than doubles the biggest pay day of his seven-year, 22-fight pro career.

“For me, though, it’s not the amount of money, it’s the opportunity,” DeLuca said. “I’m looking for the exposure.”

Until now, the most exposure DeLuca (17-2-3) received was last June, when he moved up in weight and lost the International Boxing Federation’s flyweight title to Duke McKenzie in London.

The fight was stopped in the fourth round when DeLuca suffered a cut above his left eye.

“I was disappointed when they stopped it, because I was hurting him,” DeLuca said. “In fact, I almost had him down before they stopped it.”

But that disappointment seemed to change DeLuca’s perspective and give him an extra shot of desire.

“I saw the belt,” DeLuca said. “I liked the way it looked.”

He liked it so much he got one of his own, the NABF’s. DeLuca took the belt last August, when he defeated Willie Salazar of Mexico in a 12-round battle at the El Cortez Convention Center. DeLuca was staggered in the fifth round and knocked down in the eighth but came back to win the last four rounds and take a split decision.

Since then, DeLuca has had only one fight. He won a decision against Abraham Tampico Garcia of Mexico Nov. 16 at the El Cortez. It was the third time the two had faced each other.

“There aren’t a whole lot of 108-pound guys running around willing to fight,” DePhillipis said by way of explanation.

Which brings us back to Carbajal, who is easily the most famous 108-pounder willing to fight DeLuca, and probably the most talented.

Carbajal, 22, has won all 11 of his pro fights, seven by knockout. And a handful of his bouts have been televised on ESPN.

But Carbajal, who began boxing at the age of 14, was a TV star of sorts even before he turned professional; all of his 1988 Olympic fights were shown on NBC.

Meanwhile, DeLuca, 27, didn’t begin boxing in his hometown of Portsmouth, N.H., until he was 18. He sees that as an advantage.

“A lot of these guys that start when they’re really young, by the time they’re my age, they’re finished,” DeLuca said. “I started late and then even took some time off.”

After winning the New Hampshire Golden Gloves as an amateur, DeLuca took two years off to attend Northeastern College in Boston. Even now while he’s not fighting, DeLuca takes marketing classes at San Diego State, where he is a junior.

“I want to keep my mind busy,” DeLuca said.

But Carbajal’s mind has seemingly been on boxing since he began working out with a punching bag in his brother’s backyard.

And like many of the U.S. Olympic boxers, Carbajal has been packaged well. Until his past two fights, he did not face anyone with a winning record. But his record, his talent and his name are enough for the IBF, which has him ranked No. 2 in the world. DeLuca is ranked No. 7 by the IBF, but as a flyweight. The World Boxing Council rates DeLuca as the eighth best junior flyweight.

The DeLuca bout is the first of Carbajal’s three-fight contract with Top Rank promotions and NBC. If all goes according to plan, the last fight in the series would be for the IBF junior-flyweight championship.

DePhillipis and DeLuca are happy to be a part of the plan, but they seem to be wondering why.

“He (Carbajal) is still a baby as far as boxing goes,” DePhillipis said. “I think they made a mistake fighting Tony.”

“I’m a pretty dangerous fight for him,” DeLuca said. “I’ve fought a lot of really tough guys. Each time, they’ve made me rise to a certain level. I would think that he’d be nervous after the first or second round when he feels my strength and my speed. He hasn’t been with guys who fight like me. I’ve had wars. Who has he fought?”

But at least one boxing magazine, Boxing Update, doesn’t think Carbajal’s lack of top-ranked competition will make a difference. It lists DeLuca as a 10-to-1 underdog.

How does DeLuca view his chances of holding on to his NABF title?

“I’m not concerned about beating him,” he said. “I feel confident that I can beat him. I’m concerned about whether or not I’m going to get a decision.”

DeLuca’s concerns are raised mainly because the fight is in Phoenix, Carbajal’s hometown. And hometown fighters have been known to get the benefit of the doubt in close decisions.

Danny Carbajal, Michael’s brother and trainer, is not taking DeLuca lightly.

“All we know about him is that he’s a southpaw and a very aggressive fighter,” Danny Carbajal said. “DeLuca is a very tough young man. We’re ready for the fight.”

Carbajal said his brother is not the quickest fighter DeLuca will ever see, but he might be the strongest.

DeLuca is hoping Carbajal is willing to test his strength.

“He’s a boxer, but if we start trading punch for punch, it’ll be fun,” DeLuca said. “But he’ll lose.”

And if Carbajal decides to box?

“I can box, too,” DeLuca said. “I used to be just a brawler, but since I started working with (trainer) Juan (Bustamante) three years ago, I’ve become more of a boxer, and my defense has improved.”

It was about the time DeLuca began working with Bustamante that he received his moniker.

“I was on a knockout streak and I was in the gym sparring when James Kinchen said, ‘Hey Bazooka DeLuca.’ ” DeLuca recalled. “Everybody starting laughing, and the name just stuck.”

It took one fight for DeLuca to realize he had himself a catchy nickname. Ever since then, he’s made a practice of tossing Bazooka bubble gum into the crowd as he enters the ring.

He has also made a practice of living down his nickname. In his 17 victories, DeLuca has been anything but a bazooka. He has just six knockouts.

“When you think about a guy named Bazooka, you think of a 6-5 guy with one-punch knockout power,” he said. “I’m totally opposite of that--a little 5-5 happy-go-lucky guy with a big nose.”

And an overwhelming desire to be a world champion.

“Win, lose or draw in this fight, I’m going to be champion of the world,” he said.

And we already know he’ll go anywhere to get his championship.