BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : Chavez Remains Certain That He Still Is the Best

He sounds the same--maybe a little angrier. He laughs the same, plays with his children the same, and spits out the name of his least-favorite opponent with the same casual disgust.

Julio Cesar Chavez, you can tell, wants very much to be considered the same man he was four months ago, though much has happened since.

Only hours before he got on the phone this week, he led a surging crowd of thousands through the streets of Puebla, Mexico. The same man.

Last Sept. 1, Chavez barely escaped with a majority-decision draw against the opponent Chavez still refers to as only “Wheee-taker,” and Pernell Whitaker has, without opposition, declared himself the winner on his own.

Chavez says he has only grown stronger because of the controversy. Mexico, he says, loves him even more, perhaps, than before the draw.

If the puncturing of his aura of invincibility has wounded his pride, he does not say so. In fact, he laughs at the suggestion.

“I don’t need Whitaker,” Chavez said through a translator. “I don’t need him for anything.”

Still, Whitaker was very much on Chavez’s mind this week as he prepared for tonight’s fight against Andy Holligan at a soccer stadium in Puebla.

A few weeks after the Whitaker fight, which Whitaker is widely believed to have dominated, Chavez said it was unlikely there would ever be a rematch.

Cynics pointed out that Chavez probably didn’t want to get into a ring with the technically brilliant Whitaker again.

But Chavez apparently has changed his mind.

“Of course I would like it,” Chavez said. “I am certainly willing to fight with Whitaker in September. I’d like that.

“I didn’t take Whitaker as seriously as I should have. He certainly committed many fouls that night, but I know him already and I know how he fights. And if he wants the rematch, he’ll have to fight under my conditions, otherwise there won’t be a fight.”

Apparently those conditions, however, no longer include Whitaker’s separating himself from Dan and Don Duva, something Chavez had earlier demanded.

“The Duvas have to reach an arrangement and agreement with Don King,” Chavez said. “It has to be under Don King’s terms. Then the fight can be done. . . . The Duvas should stop talking all the bull they’re talking. Let them come and do the right thing, and then there’s the possibility of a rematch.”

In November, Whitaker’s promoter, Dan Duva, made a public offer of a guaranteed $7 million for both fighters--an offer Chavez scoffs at now. Chavez was paid more than $4 million for the first fight, Whitaker $2.5 million.

“Seven million certainly isn’t enough,” Chavez said. “I want a minimum of $10 million, and they can pay Whitaker whatever the hell they want. If Whitaker really wants this fight, he’s going to have to go to Don King and move quickly, because I have a fully loaded card for 1994.

“I remain active, while Whitaker is still waiting.”

Holligan is Chavez’s second opponent since September. The first was Mike Powell, in Juarez, Mexico, an easy knockout. Chavez is set to return to the United States on Jan. 29, topping the new MGM Grand Las Vegas’ first fight card, against Frankie Randall. After that, he has fights lined up in March and May at the MGM Grand, and another possibly in September.

Whitaker has not fought since the Chavez bout but is scheduled to defend his World Boxing Council welterweight title at Norfolk, Va., on HBO--as part of a lucrative three-fight package--April 9 against No. 1 contender Santos Cardona.

When told that Chavez appeared to be softening his stance on a rematch, Duva disagreed.

“What Chavez is doing is the oldest trick in boxing,” Duva said Thursday. “When you don’t want to fight, but publicly can’t say no, just ask for terms you know no one will ever agree to. If we say yes to $10 million, he’ll probably say $12 million. And on and on.

“Don King, although we’ve tried, has never agreed to meet with us. All they’re trying do is pay lip service and come up with excuses to cover it up. Meanwhile, Julio is trying to fight only really, really awful opponents.

“If King and Chavez agree that both fighters will be paid equally, and that King and Main Events (Duva’s company) co-promote, it’s done. We’ll sign it right now. For September? Great.

“But Chavez and King will come up with every excuse known to man to keep that from happening. Chavez cannot afford to fight Pernell again, because he knows he’ll lose again.”

Duva pointed out that Whitaker has never been a busy fighter--that in nine years of fighting he has had only 32 fights. So any comparison to Chavez’s fight-a-month routine is not apt.

“Plus, the guys Chavez is fighting, Whitaker wouldn’t take three months to beat, he’d beat all of them in one night,” Duva said.

Boxing Notes

Don’t expect a quick solution to Oscar De La Hoya’s managerial mess. Promoter Bob Arum has put together the five-fight, $7.5-million package with HBO that is supposed to be the backbone of De La Hoya’s future, but, as of Thursday, hadn’t been able to reach the fighter, his father or anyone he was sure could speak for either.

Apparently, a third set of lawyers--among them Ron DiNicola, who managed Paul Gonzales--has been brought in by De La Hoya. Co-managers Steve Nelson and Bob Mittleman are expecting a cash settlement at any time from the fighter, but that might have been delayed by uncertainty over who has the authority to cut a deal on De La Hoya’s side.

A news conference to announce the scheduled March 5 fight to reopen the Olympic Auditorium was canceled this week, though Olympic sources say they will have a fight card March 5 with or without De La Hoya. HBO apparently has given De La Hoya, or anybody who can speak for De La Hoya, an end-of-the-year deadline to officially sign for the March fight.

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, after being turned down by four higher-ranked opponents, finally landed little-known Francois Botha for his return, Feb. 5 at Caesars Las Vegas. The fight is scheduled to be televised on HBO. Bowe said he weighs 250 pounds and would report to training camp in Las Vegas at 246, which is what he weighed in at for his loss in November to Evander Holyfield. Bowe and his manager, Rock Newman, said they expect Bowe to weigh 240 for the Botha fight. That would be his lowest since he came in at 235 in the first Holyfield fight.

World Boxing Assn. junior-lightweight champion Genaro Hernandez, once thought to be set for a fight against De La Hoya, will defend his title Jan. 31 at the Forum against Jorge (Cocas) Ramirez. Australian junior-middleweight Troy Waters is also scheduled to be on that card.

Also on tonight’s card in Puebla: World Boxing Council junior-middleweight champion Terry Norris against Simon Brown, and WBA super-middleweight champion Michael Nunn against Merqui Sosa. Sosa has recently been training with Joe Goossen, who was Nunn’s trainer through much of his career before Nunn left Ten Goose Boxing.

The card will be shown on tape-delay Sunday at 10:30 p.m. on Showtime.

Barcelona Olympian Larry Donald wants to fight in the Olympic’s first heavyweight main event. Donald hopes to land a bout with Alex Garcia March 20.