BOXING : GooseVision Will Take Flight on April 3

GooseVision can’t be far away for the Goossens now.

When Ten Goose Boxing chief Dan Goossen pondered a deal in which he would become a partner with New York pay-per-view syndicator Lou Falcigno on a Ray Mancini-Greg Haugen fight, there were sleepless nights.

There would be no major corporations backing this deal, no Time-Warners or Showtimes to leanon.

“We looked at the downside and the upside, and we liked the odds,” said Goossen, who plans to call the pay-per-view service “GooseVision.”

“First, Mancini and Haugen both liked the deal we showed them ($500,000 for each), and we liked our chances to do a good number on the pay-per-view side. So we did it. Lou’s doing the telecast, and I’m doing the boxing side of it.”

The fight is scheduled for April 3 in Reno.

Goossen said the one factor that influenced him was the pay-per-view numbers Mancini and Hector Camacho had in their Reno fight three years ago. Mancini-Camacho had a buy rate of 2.5%, or roughly 300,000 homes, which still ranks 11th in pay-per-view boxing revenue.

It came to nearly $6 million in gross pay-per-view revenue, and Goossen believes he might have another success with Mancini-Haugen.

“Mancini has shown he can put up big numbers, and with Haugen we have the only guy to beat Camacho,” Goossen said. “And they’re both busy, aggressive guys who figure to give you a great fight.

“Today, there are 18-million plus addressable cable households. If we do a 1% with this, I’m going to be very happy. But the cable systems people are telling us we might do a 2%.”

An assistant U.S. attorney in Indianapolis said last week that a decision would be made soon on whether additional charges will be filed in the Mike Tyson rape case.

Tim Morrison said his office was reviewing a report on the FBI investigation into Desiree Washington’s allegations that she was offered $1 million to drop her complaint against the former heavyweight champion. Washington made the rape charge against Tyson last summer.

Tyson, convicted last month, faces sentencing in Indianapolis March 26. Washington alleged in a television interview that she was offered the bribe, but didn’t identify who made theoffer.

Another attempt will be made to establish a federal boxing commission.

Rep. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) will introduce a bill this month that would create such a commission, which would establish minimum health and safety standards for pro boxing in the United States.

At the bill’s hearings stage, it will be suggested that a national commission also should rate boxers and be the sole sanctioning body for pro bouts held in the United States, in company with existing state commissions.

“We think if we do this right, we can make all those alphabet soup organizations that run boxing just disappear,” said John Branca, retired executive officer for the New York State Athletic Commission, who has lobbied in recent years for a federal commission.

Richardson offered a similar bill in 1986 that was passed by the House but never acted upon by the Senate.

Boxing Notes

The following California boxers have qualified for the U.S. Olympic team boxing trials June 10-14 at Worcester, Mass.: Oscar de la Hoya, East Los Angeles; Shane Mosley, Pasadena; Clayton Williams, Roseville; Robert Allen, Camp Pendleton; Montell Griffin, Midway City, and Reginald Blackman, U.S. Navy, San Diego.

The explanation for lightweight-turned-TV commentator Ruben Castillo’s black eye and cast on his hand: “I was pumping gas into my car when three guys in a low-rider pulled up,” he said. “I got knocked down, and one of them kicked me. That’s how I broke my hand and got the black eye. But I got up and sent two of them to the Wizard of Oz. And I didn’t get paid a dime.”

Add amateurs: Los Angeles’ 64th Gold Gloves tournament will be held April 6-11 at the Lincoln Park Recreation Center. Open class finals will be held April 11, starting at 7:30 p.m. The organizer is Johnny Flores, who has been a familiar figure in Southland boxing gyms since the late 1940s. Flores asks a good question about recent commission staff budget cuts, which have resulted in reduced gym inspections. “Why don’t commissioners inspect the gyms themselves?” he asks. Flores, who is lobbying for a seat on the eight-member commission, says that if full-time staff people who normally do gym inspections are being laid off because of a decreased budget, then commissioners should consider it their responsibility to make occasional gym checks. “I’d be happy to do it,” he said.

Henry Tillman, Olympic heavyweight champion in 1984, will fight Mark Lee of Reno at the Irvine Marriott on March 26. . . . Super-bantamweight Rudy Zavala of Costa Mesa will get his rematch with Johnny Vasquez April 18 in Las Vegas. Zavala got a disputed draw with Vasquez at Phoenix in December.

Boxing writer Pedro Fernandez is host of a one-hour radio show, “Ringtalk,” at 6 a.m. on Saturdays, on XTRA (690). . . . Promoter Dan Goossen might have been stretching things a bit when he said recently that if Terry Norris beats Meldrick Taylor, he will become “the next superstar of boxing.” Remember Julian Jackson, who knocked out Norris? Norris would have to beat him, too.