BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : Against All Odds, Vegas-Style Roll Heads for L.A.

If Oscar De La Hoya and the new Olympic Auditorium both are ready, if the lure of a Michael Carbajal-Humberto (Chiquita) Gonzalez rematch and two other world-title undercard fights are strong enough, Los Angeles will be, for at least a three-week period early in 1994, the most important city in boxing.

The prospect of four non-heavyweight world title fights in a three-week span wouldn’t be news in Las Vegas. But for Los Angeles, landing the Feb. 19 Carbajal-Gonzalez fight at the Forum followed by a March 5 De La Hoya title fight at the Olympic is significant.

In separate deals, both events were finalized last week. If successful, the combination of these shows could leave the city with two major venues for big-time fights and showcase Southern California as the boxing boomtown many have always said that it could be.

Here is a quick look at the individual factors:

THE REMATCH

Carbajal-Gonzalez, a rematch of what most observers believe was the best fight of 1993, seemed certain to be held at a Las Vegas casino--either Caesars Palace or the new MGM Grand.

The Forum, which has a cut of Gonzalez’s American promotional rights, supported a Las Vegas site. But with both hotels uncomfortable about guaranteeing $2 million for two 108-pounders when there’s a possibility that Evander Holyfield might agree to a spring heavyweight title defense, Las Vegas took itself out of the picture.

The Carbajal camp, naturally, wanted the rematch to be in Phoenix, the hometown of the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council light-flyweight champion and the site of his last fight, in October, which drew a live gate of about $410,000.

Arum persuaded Carbajal, who has been promised a $1-million purse, that the lure of Los Angeles--a potential state-record $600,000-$700,000 live gate, plus all of the pay-per-view households in the area--was worth moving it away from Arizona.

And by adding an undercard title shot for a popular local fighter--Sylmar lightweight Rafael Ruelas vs. WBC champion Freddie Pendleton--Arum and the Forum hope to attract a crowd of more than 15,000.

“We think we can do as well with the gate at the Forum as a Las Vegas casino can do,” said John Jackson, vice president of Forum Boxing. “The difference, obviously, is that when you do it in Vegas, the money is guaranteed. When you do it here, you have to sell tickets.

“But I think us having it at the Forum is a coup, and it’s a loss for Las Vegas. This is just going to be a great event.”

DE LA HOYA AT THE OLYMPIC

So many factors were involved in the De La Hoya title shot against World Boxing Organization junior-lightweight champion Jimmy Bredahl, it’s hard to believe the deal has been completed.

“It’s a multimillion-dollar deal we’ve wrapped up,” said Steve Nelson, one of De La Hoya’s co-managers.

There was HBO, which only Friday grudgingly agreed to televise this as the first fight of an already-agreed-upon multiyear deal with De La Hoya. The cable network had justifiable qualms about Bredahl as the opponent and the WBO as the organization in charge.

There was Arum, also De La Hoya’s promoter, who only this week finalized his long-negotiated multiyear deal to stage fights at the renovated Olympic Auditorium after haggling for months with building owner Jack Needleman and threatening to walk away.

There was highly respected World Boxing Assn. junior-lightweight champion Genaro Hernandez, who thought he had an agreement in principle with Arum to fight De La Hoya, only to see the match fall apart. HBO strongly preferred Hernandez over Bredahl, and De La Hoya acknowledges that he would rather fight Hernandez.

But against those odds, De La Hoya-Bredahl is set to take place March 5 at the Olympic on HBO, possibly leading to a De La Hoya-Hernandez fight in the summer.

Arum offered Hernandez a spot on the March 5 undercard, which Hernandez refused.

“Bredahl’s a better opponent for Oscar at this stage in his career,” said Greg Fritz, a Top Rank spokesman. “Bob trusts his matchmakers, Bruce Trampler and Ron Katz, to guide a kid’s career, and they think this is what’s best. Oscar’s 20 years old, been fighting professionally for a year.

“Bredahl’s the right opponent because he’s vulnerable. Then you go for Hernandez when you have a title.”

The Olympic-Arum deal, meanwhile, rushed to completion recently, both sides say, when Needleman turned responsibility for the building over to his sons, Dennis and Steve.

“There’s been a flurry of action,” Arum said of the sons taking over the building, referring to the orders sent out by the Needleman brothers for seats, lighting and other fixtures.

Arum has a two-year, roll-over deal to stage at least 25 fight cards a year at the Olympic--a mixture of Univision broadcasts back to Mexico and ESPN midweek shows and possibly high-profile pay-per-view cards.

Arum says his shows definitely will not intrude on the Forum’s fight turf, and the Forum agrees. The Olympic has about a 9,000-seat capacity compared to the Forum’s 16,000-plus.

“There’s not going to be competition in the normal sense,” Arum said. “I think we’re going to help each other, share fighters, build up each others’ business. Los Angeles is, to me, the best market in boxing. It has the most fans.”

Boxing Notes

Rudy Hernandez, older brother and trainer of Genaro Hernandez, is not pleased that his brother lost another chance to fight Oscar De La Hoya. This is the second time Hernandez thought he had a deal to fight De La Hoya and the second time the fight fell through. “We want the public to know that we were willing to bring this fight to the Los Angeles area,” Rudy Hernandez said. “Oscar’s a blown-up fighter with a gold medal. (The De La Hoya camp) barked and talked for what? To excite the public and then walk away? A fighter, if he really wants it, can make a fight happen, right Oscar?”

There is speculation that if De La Hoya wins the World Boxing Organization 130-pound title in March, he would seek to fight Hernandez in a non-title fight at 133 pounds. De La Hoya has not yet made 130 pounds as a professional fighter and his handlers are not sure he can stay at junior-lightweight for more than one or two fights.

“If they just want to fight, not for a title, we’ll fight at 133,” Rudy Hernandez said. “We have no problem at 133. Genaro’s more of a natural featherweight (126-pound limit), but he’s always sparring with heavier guys. Why not?” Because De La Hoya’s title challenge has been pushed back from February to March, his handlers are planning to get him another tune-up fight in January, possibly in Texas. He is already scheduled to fight Dec. 9 in New York against Jesus Vidal Concepcion.