BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : Ruelas Brushes Off Pendleton Antics

Rafael Ruelas has waited too long for his title chance to be choosy about the mental state of the champion he’s challenging.

If Freddie Pendleton is going to act like a screaming clown in the days leading up to their World Boxing Council lightweight championship bout Feb. 19 at the Forum, then Ruelas, the No. 1 contender, says he can handle it.

Crazy, sane, melancholy, schizophrenic . . . whatever, as long as the fight, on the Michael Carbajal-Humberto (Chiquita) Gonzalez undercard, happens.

Pendleton used a news conference earlier this month at the Forum to, at times hilariously, at times bizarrely, shout insults at Ruelas and Ruelas’ handlers, Dan and Joe Goossen, via a phone hookup from Miami.

Ruelas, 22, based in Sylmar, stood at the podium and repeated one thought back to Pendleton: Nothing matters until the fight, and you will not be bellowing put-downs when you are on your back.

“I personally don’t think he’s trying to lure me into anything. I think he just wants to get me mad so I won’t be focused on the plan,” Ruelas said recently in between workouts.

“That’s not going to happen. I’m a very low-key person and I stay concentrated.”

Ruelas (39-1, with 30 knockouts) was recently named the most powerful puncher in the lightweight division by Ring magazine, and he did not deny that he relishes the thought of using fists to stop Pendleton from calling him a “stiff” again.

Pendleton has said he will go for an early knockout against Ruelas, but Pendleton is known more for his boxing skills and ability to avoid punches than his power.

“The things that he’s saying, they are things that do spike you a little,” Ruelas said. “They get you a little angry, make you feel eager to get in there to shut him up.

“But I’m aware that I shouldn’t react. I should just respond intelligently and that’s keeping cool and wait until the fight.

“I’m aware that he’s had a lot of fights. He’s a good fighter. He’s fast, fast on his feet and fast with his hands. I am also aware that he has got a weak chin, that he’s not the best taking punches.

“I believe (the wildness) is typical of him. I’ve seen him before. I saw him at a press conference in July. I knew it’s the way it’s going to happen. And the upcoming press conferences I know will be even more because we’ll both be there. But that has no effect on the fight.”

Pendleton’s performance at the news conference, plus the strange result of his last nontitle fight in Mexico, have Joe Goossen thinking this is no act.

Pendleton, 31, has always been brash through his long pro career (he is 35-18-1 with 23 KOs after starting 13-13-1). But last month he went into uncharted territory.

On Dec. 4, Pendleton was disqualified after the third round during a nontitle fight against Ed Pollard for failing to return to his corner.

“They made me mad,” said Pendleton when asked to explain the events. “I can’t really explain how they made me mad. There were a lot of infractions by the other fighter. Nobody was doing anything to control it, so I controlled it myself.”

Pendleton, complaining that Pollard was committing fouls, appeared to take a swing at the referee, then, in a tantrum that lasted more than a minute, screamed at and shoved his cornermen when they unsuccessfully tried to get him to his corner before he was disqualified.

“He attacked his own trainers--did you see what he did to his own trainers?” Joe Goossen said. “I wouldn’t have anything to do with that guy if he ever put his hands on me. He’s dead wrong. He’s out of his mind.”

Goossen, rarely at a loss for words or a vivid emotion, admits he was a little nonplussed about the attacks Pendleton launched at him and his brother.

“There’s something about the Goossens you don’t like,” Pendleton said. “They’re sort of stuck to boxing like parasites. And they have those hairdos. I don’t like those hairdos.”

Said Goossen: “I was thinking about it this morning, about Pendleton and the talk and the talk. I was thinking, ‘What am I going to say when I get to the press conference, and I know he’s going to direct things at me?’

“You heard him about my hair and all that. And I know a lot of it is hype, a lot of is sell, but I truly believe this guy is just off his rocker.”

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Ruelas, on a potential lightweight matchup with Oscar De La Hoya: “Eventually, it definitely will happen. I’m not saying it will happen now. He won’t fight us now. If he keeps winning, and I know I’m going to keep winning . . . it’ll be a big-money fight.”

There are clauses in the contract De La Hoya recently signed with HBO that mandate him fighting for and defending world titles--which could make a challenge for a potential Ruelas WBC lightweight belt inevitable.

“The big difference is he won the gold medal, which is why he gets so exposed,” Ruelas said of De La Hoya. “But in time, my publicity will come, my recognition will come. I think people in the boxing world know who I am.”

Boxing Notes

Long-time World Boxing Council junior-lightweight champion Azumah Nelson injured his left hand in training, forcing the postponement of his rematch against James Leija, scheduled on the Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Frankie Randall card next Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The Nelson fight has been replaced with Tommy Hearns against Dan Ward in a cruiserweight bout. There are also rumbles that Nelson might retire from boxing before the fight can be rescheduled, which should interest Rafael Ruelas’ older brother, Gabriel Ruelas, who is the No. 1 contender and is due a mandatory title fight by the middle of this year. If Nelson retires, a Leija-Ruelas fight for the vacant title is likely. . . . Long Beach heavyweight Jeremy Williams, poised to move into the division’s top 10, is scheduled to fight journeyman Mark Wills on Jan. 28 at Lewiston, Maine; then 1992 Barcelona Olympian Larry Donald on March 12, probably at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. . . . Though nothing is official, it appears that International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield has given up immediate hopes of fighting WBC champion Lennox Lewis and will fight No. 1 contender Michael Moorer in Las Vegas in either April or June.

Oscar De La Hoya, whose last fight was Oct. 30, had the cast on his left wrist removed Friday and has begun training at Big Bear for his March 5 World Boxing Organization junior-lightweight championship fight against Jimmi Bredahl at the Olympic Auditorium. Close associates estimate he checked into camp weighing about 138, eight pounds over the junior-lightweight limit. . . . De La Hoya has finalized his settlement with former managers Bob Mittleman and Steve Nelson and signed a five-fight, $7.5-million deal with HBO. One peek into how ugly the battle could have gotten if the two sides couldn’t come up with a quick settlement: In papers filed to the California State Athletic Commission, De La Hoya argued that his contract should be nullified because the $60 check Mittleman wrote to get his California managing license last year bounced. The check was quickly fully funded.

Bob Arum is planning to headline his second card at the Olympic on March 12 with Azusa junior-welterweight Zack Padilla. . . . The Olympic Auditorium suffered no damage in Monday’s earthquake, and the refurbishing of the storied fight arena continues on pace, according to Steve Needleman, chief executive officer of the building. “The place is a rock,” Needleman said Tuesday. The only pause came Monday and Tuesday when the workers were given time off to be with their families. There have been two deliveries of seats, and the installation is due to begin this week.