Leija, Nelson Meet Once Again

Their re-, re-, rematch promises to be just as exciting as their first three fights.

And it could finally settle a five-year-old score between Jesse James Leija and Azumah Nelson, who fight tonight in a 12-round lightweight bout at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

“We’ve had some classic battles,” Leija said. “I don’t expect the fourth to be any different.”

The match will be Nelson’s first since he lost the World Boxing Council super featherweight title on points to Genaro Hernandez in March 1997.

The America Presents promotion is billed as the Festival of Champions. There are six fights on the undercard, with four scheduled to be televised on TVKO pay per view.

The televised undercard includes Gabriel Ruelas, a former WBC super featherweight champion, in a junior lightweight title bout against Troy Dorsey, a former International Boxing Federation featherweight champion.

There also will be a junior lightweight nontitle match between Goyo Vargas of Mexico, a former World Boxing Council featherweight champion, and Tracy Harris Patterson, who held the WBC and IBF super featherweight titles.

The 32-year-old Leija, of San Antonio, and the 38-year old Nelson, of Ghana, first fought in September, 1993 in the Alamodome in a battle surrounded by controversy.

Though Leija took control in the middle rounds to forge a lead over the defending champion, Nelson rallied to win the last four rounds for an apparent victory. But the decision was changed to a draw because a judge’s scorecard was incorrectly tabulated.

Leija dominated the second match in May 1994 in Las Vegas, and Nelson won the third fight in Las Vegas in June 1996.

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Freddie Norwood successfully defended his World Boxing Assn. featherweight title with a convincing unanimous decision over Colombia’s Luis Mendoza Friday night at Miami.

Making his second title defense in less than a month, Norwood (31-0-1) went at Mendoza (37-7-2) with left and right combinations to the head and body throughout the 12-round bout.

Norwood, of St. Louis, nearly knocked out Mendoza in the final seconds of the fight when he caught the challenger with a flurry of head and body shots along the ropes and then sent him to the canvas with a straight left to the head.

Mendoza, a former WBA junior featherweight champion, beat the 10-count, but his fate was sealed.

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George Foreman and Larry Holmes are set to fight on Jan. 23, 13 days after Foreman’s 50th birthday, in a pay-per-view match.

Holmes will be 49.

The date was confirmed Friday by Roger Levitt of Boxing International, the promoter of the fight. A site will be determined.