BOXING / TIM KAWAKAMI : Humberto Gonzalez Is Ready to Fill Some Much Bigger Shoes

He’s 5 feet 1, maybe, on tip-toe, and his huge torso, long arms and short legs make him look like Terminator’s mop-topped little brother.

Literally, figuratively or financially, Humberto (Chiquita) Gonzalez probably never will be as big as Julio Cesar Chavez, who once was Mexico’s most towering personality, in sports or otherwise.

A few years ago, if Chavez’s name was on a fight card, thousands of Mexican fight fans were sure to follow, cash in hand.

But as Chavez struggles to erase the bad memories of three high-profile failures and the nagging idea that he never will be the fighter he once was, Gonzalez, the light-flyweight champion, is finding new clout as a rightful heir to the Mexican fight fans’ loyalty. Which translates into major earning power.

Earlier this month, when he came out for the coin toss at midfield before the Dallas Cowboy-Houston Oiler exhibition in Mexico City, Chavez was given a clear indication of how far he has fallen, at least in the eyes of the crowd of 100,000-plus.

He was booed.

Two years ago, that would have been unthinkable. But after the clownish majority-draw decision that saved him from Pernell Whitaker, the loss to Frankie Randall, and then the freakish head-butt-shortened technical decision victory that gave him back the World Boxing Council junior-welterweight belt in the Randall rematch last May, Chavez is clearly losing his popularity.

According to those familiar with the Mexican scene, fans there consider his rematch against Meldrick Taylor on Sept. 17 a bad joke and will not embrace him again him until he properly defeats Randall or Whitaker.

So, even as a 108-pounder, Gonzalez, who is promoted by and fights most of his bouts at the Forum, is gaining momentum. And he could get a lot bigger in a hurry: A high-profile third fight with Michael Carbajal, whom Gonzalez beat last February for the WBC and International Boxing Federation belts, is being planned for either late this year or, more likely, early 1995.

“He’s still No. 2 (behind Chavez), but it’s getting close,” said Gonzalez’s adviser, Rafael Mendoza. “That fight with Meldrick Taylor isn’t going to do anything to benefit Chavez’s popularity. Chavez is now in what you call in baseball a slump. One hundred and twenty thousand people booed him.

“Mexicans are special--too much pride. They are the first ones to discover that their own people aren’t doing well.”

Gonzalez recognizes that very few fighters in the lighter divisions are able to stir major fan interest. But, as he has built his career--the first, stirring knockout loss to Carbajal, the victory in the rematch despite a huge cut--his status as a box-office attraction is solid.

Gonzalez was known as strictly a bomber in his early days but, after getting knocked out by Carbajal in 1993, came back with an intricate, in-and-out style that confused Carbajal.

“In Mexico, Chavez is No. 1 and I am No. 2,” Gonzalez said through an interpreter recently. “And that’s not only in Mexico, but in the Latin American countries and in the United States too.

“And that’s enough for me now.

“I’m already going to the point where I’m making good money for my weight. And I know that they will pay me more because people will follow me like they did with Chavez before. And that makes the difference--if people will follow you.

“But I will never reach the status of Chavez, money-wise, because I don’t have that weight. I am a little guy. I would love to be a heavyweight.”

Gonzalez defends his title Sept. 10 at Caesars Lake Tahoe against Juan Domingo Cordoba. But for Gonzalez, the next big fight, obviously, is the second rematch with Carbajal.

Part of Carbajal’s reasoning for leaving Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Inc., and joining Don King was to maneuver himself into better bargaining position against Gonzalez. Also, King guaranteed him a $1-million purse for a third Gonzalez bout.

That may complicate matters for Gonzalez-Carbajal III. If Carbajal gets $1 million, Gonzalez will demand significantly more, and nobody is sure if two 108-pounders can stir enough interest to offset a $2-million combined purse.

“I can keep my career going without Carbajal,” Gonzalez said. “If he doesn’t want it that way, I’ll fight somebody else.”

Said Mendoza: “Chiquita is quiet, he is happy with his title, he is happy with the money he is earning and he knows he needs Carbajal for the big payday.

“But if Carbajal does not happen, he can always defend his title and go for the flyweight tile with the Russian (WBC champion Yuri Arbachakov), which is a very, very attractive fight anyplace.

“(Gonzalez) has the market in Mexico that Carbajal doesn’t have.”

Carbajal recently announced that he was going to give up the minor World Boxing Organization light-flyweight belt in order to hold his position as Gonzalez’s No. 1 challenger in the IBF and WBC.

“Carbajal cannot defeat me,” Gonzalez said. “You can beat Carbajal with two styles--either slugging or boxing him. I had him beat in the first fight by slugging, but he got me. I boxed him in the second fight. In the third, I will have a third way: power and boxing.

“He will be knocked out.”

Boxing Notes

The sport continues to stage some of its most entertaining brawls outside the ring. Last Friday, the World Boxing Assn. was asked in Nevada district court to explain its decision not to sanction the planned Michael Moorer-George Foreman heavyweight bout. The result was predictable, and just another sign of how sloppy and conspiratorial these major organizations can be. The WBA, represented by legal counsel Jimmy Binns and Elias Cordova, gave conflicting and often carelessly thought-out answers. Even though they hadn’t examined him, they argued that Foreman was too old. Even though their championship committee took a vote on whether to allow the fight without stripping Moorer of his belt, they said no official request was made to get the waiver.

In key testimony, Moorer’s manager, John Davimos, said that before the WBA made its ruling on Foreman, Binns suggested that he could make sure all went well if he was given a share of Moorer’s management interests. Also, Moorer’s promoter, Dan Duva, told the court he believed part of the WBA’s logic was to punish him for a conflict he has had with them over middleweight John David Jackson, who sued the organization successfully when it tried to strip him.

District Judge Donald Mosley, after hearing a full day of testimony, ruled immediately that the WBA had to sanction the fight, set for Nov. 5 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Cordova walked over to Foreman promoter Bob Arum, the instigator of the lawsuit, and congratulated him on the victory. Then he asked for the $250,000 in sanctioning fees owed the WBA for the fight.

“I just think it’s gratifying that something on occasion can be done, that you’re not completely at the mercy of Don King and his cohorts,” Arum said. “I think everybody has to wonder who are these organizations, who do they represent, what do they stand for, why should they have this life-and-death control over boxing and the fighters who participate in this sport? You take the WBA and who are they? And you see it’s group of friends in Venezuela and a couple of people in Panama.”

The fight’s money breakdown: Moorer’s camp is guaranteed $7.5 million, plus other incentives that could bring the total close to $10 million. Foreman will earn a guarantee of $1 million, plus the net gate receipts and other tie-ins that could bring him and Arum about $5 million. Already, the MGM is reporting that it is has sold $2.5 million in tickets.

With the heavyweight fight back on for Las Vegas, the Roy Jones Jr.-James Toney fight now is looking for another site--probably in either the Foxwoods Resort in Ledyard, Conn., or Atlantic City. The date for the pay-per-view show is Nov. 18. . . . Arum is talking about giving Oscar De La Hoya a spot on the Jones-Toney undercard. De La Hoya also has plans for a charity bout at the Grand Olympic Auditorium for later this year, then, once again, is looking at an L.A. grudge match against WBA junior-lightweight champion Genaro Hernandez. Twice, Hernandez thought he had landed a big-money De La Hoya bout and twice De La Hoya has scrubbed those plans. But HBO is pushing hard for De La Hoya-Hernandez and hoping that its dollars can make it happen in early 1995. The bout would either be a 10-round nontitle fight or Hernandez would go up to 135 to challenge for De La Hoya’s WBO lightweight title.

So what’s happening with talks about De La Hoya fighting IBF lightweight champion Rafael Ruelas? “If we make Hernandez for January, Oscar and Ruelas will probably fight in April,” Arum said. . . . Debbie Caplan, De La Hoya’s former publicist, has filed a lawsuit to recover $5,000 in alleged unpaid wages against Steve Nelson, De La Hoya’s former co-manager.

Calendar

Tonight: Pepe Reilly vs. Russ Mosley, junior-welterweights; Robert Garcia vs. Frankie Avelar, featherweights; Grand Olympic Auditorium, 6 p.m.

Monday: WBC super-flyweight champion Julio Cesar Borboa vs. Harold Grey, 12 rounds; Arnulfo (Chico) Castillo vs. Panchito Valdez, featherweights; Jesse Magana vs. Ericel Nucamendi, featherweights; Forum, 7:30 p.m.