Victory Tonight Could Enhance Reid’s Vision

With one punch in the Olympics, David Reid opened the eyes of boxing observers and won a gold medal.

But nagging questions remain:

* Will his own left eye ultimately close his avenue to the gold and the glory at the top of his profession?

* Can Reid regain his sharpness tonight when he defends his World Boxing Assn. super-welterweight title against Keith Mullings, former World Boxing Council titleholder, at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel?

* Can Reid focus on the game plan laid out by his trainer, Al Mitchell?

* Will Reid ever regain his knockout punch?

First, the eye discussion. Reid would like to end it. Mitchell insists the eye is not a problem. So does Reid’s promoter, Dan Goossen.

But all of those assurances cannot alter the fact that although Reid has had surgery for a drooping eyelid, caused by a punch in the 1996 Olympic trials, the condition remains.

“He won a gold medal with that eyelid the way it is,” Goossen said. “Something happens to it when he walks into the ring. The television lights and the heat cause it to droop down. He overcame it in the Olympics. From the get-go, people have been targeting that eye. It is something David has had to overcome.”

Mullings says he won’t be fixated on Reid’s left eye.

“Anything that can be exploited will be exploited,” he said. “If the left eye is a problem, I will hit him in it. But I plan to hit him in the left eye, the right eye, the chin, the shoulder, wherever I can hit him.

“That left eye is going to be the most protected part of his body. Everybody tries to hit that eye. What I would like to do is shut the other eye. Then his bad eye would be the only one he has.”

Mitchell said he hopes Mullings paints a mental bull’s-eye on Reid’s left eye.

“What I’m working on is a guy going for the eye,” Mitchell said. “If he does, we will make [Mullings] pay for it. It’s foolish to go for one target all the time.”

Reid’s left eye has been a target since he turned pro three years ago after his dramatic, comeback victory in the Atlanta Olympics. Trailing Cuban Alfredo Duvergel, a world amateur champion, 16-6, Reid reached back in the third round for a right-hand punch that floored Duvergel and left Reid as the only American fighter of those Games to win a gold medal.

Reid then signed with the American Presents boxing organization, bringing along Mitchell, who has been his trainer since 1985, when Reid was an 11-year-old whose mother was trying to get him into the gym and out of the gang scene in Philadelphia.

As a pro, Reid took on a list of unusually impressive opponents. In most cases, young fighters with vast potential are guided through a group of opponents best described as tomato cans. Not Reid. Rather than stiffs, he went after stiffer opposition. His first four opponents had previously lost a total of two fights.

In his 12th fight, two years after turning pro, Reid won the WBA 154-pound title with a decision over Laurent Boudouani.

Reid successfully defended that title last month with a decision over Kevin Kelly in Atlantic City, N.J., improving to 13-0 with seven knockouts. But it was hardly an impressive performance. He was knocked down in the fifth round and boos greeted the announcement of the unanimous decision.

“Sometimes he lacks concentration and focus,” Mitchell said of his fighter. “He’s a Philly guy, so he always wants to go rumble. His only weakness is in following instructions sometimes. He gets that macho thing.”

What Reid doesn’t get is many knockouts. He has won by decision in his last three fights and five of his last seven. That leaves questions about his power and leaves him at the mercy of the judges, whose verdicts can be unpredictable.

“I would love a knockout,” Reid said. “But I am fighting at a higher level of competition, so if I can’t knock them out, I have to outpoint them. If the knockout comes, it comes. You’ve got to get a win any way you can. It’s not how you do it.”

In Mullings (16-5-1, 11 knockouts), Reid will be facing a tough, but inconsistent fighter. Mullings lost a decision to Raul Marquez in a 1997 bid for the International Boxing Federation’s 154-pound title, won the WBC crown by upsetting Terry Norris with a ninth-round TKO victory in December ‘97, successfully defended that title with a fifth-round TKO of Davide Ciarlante in March ’98 and then lost the crown to Spaniard Francisco Castillejo on a decision in Spain last January.

Mullings maintains that the loss can be blamed on home cooking.

“Sometimes, politics plays a big part in boxing,” Mullings said. “That is nothing new.”

But he says his setback hasn’t diminished his confidence that he can beat Reid tonight.

“He can be a great fighter someday,” Mullings said. “But today isn’t the day. He hasn’t grown as a fighter and I want to take advantage of that.”

As for Reid, a victory tonight may help propel him into a match next year against IBF 154-pound champion Fernando Vargas, or perhaps against Oscar De La Hoya, should he move to 154 pounds as planned.

“Everybody wants to compare me to Vargas,” Reid said. “But I only have my vision on one fighter, Keith Mullings.”

The question remains, how good is that vision?

NOT QUITE YET

Despite broadcast reports to the contrary, contracts for the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis heavyweight unification rematch have yet to be signed.

Has a major problem developed?

“Any time Don King is involved, that alone is a problem,” said one source involved in the negotiations.

All sides hope to wrap up the talks in time to make the official announcement Tuesday that the fight is on for Nov. 13.

But even if the negotiations drag on, the date isn’t expected to change. The fighters, who battled to a controversial draw in March, are already back in training.

“The fight will happen,” HBO Vice President Lou DiBella said. “And as far as promoting it, until Sept. 18, nobody is going to be talking about anything in boxing other than De La Hoya and [Felix] Trinidad.”

SHORT JABS

Also on tonight’s Reid-Mullings card are heavyweights Lance Whittaker of L.A. (18-1, 16 knockouts) and Monte Barrett (21-0, 13 knockouts) in the semi-main event, and unbeaten heavyweights Lawrence Clay-Bey (9-0, eight knockouts) and Dale Crowe (15-0, nine knockouts).