Arum Tries to Get in His Licks With Ayala-Bredahl Matchup

Promoter Bob Arum calls tonight’s boxing show at the Mandalay Bay Events Center “one of the best fight cards ever assembled.”

Responded rival promoter Don King: “Don’t laugh. This is a sick man.”

Arum doesn’t even have the best fight in town this weekend. That distinction belonged to the Felix Trinidad-David Reid match, promoted by King on Friday night at Caesars Palace.

Paulie Ayala, headliner of the Arum card, would have had trouble getting recognized at the Trinidad-Reid fight.

Ayala’s finest moment was last year’s victory over Johnny Tapia, giving Ayala the World Boxing Assn. bantamweight title. For that effort, Ring magazine named Ayala its fighter of the year and Tapia-Ayala the fight of the year.

Unfortunately, Ayala (29-1, 12 knockouts) won’t be facing Tapia tonight.

Instead, Ayala will be putting his title on the line for the second time--he retained it in September with a decision over Saohin Sorthanikul--against Johnny Bredahl (45-1, 23 knockouts), the European champion from Denmark.

Bredahl has a three-inch height advantage and a five-inch reach advantage, but neither figure to be enough to hold off the smooth, methodical, determined Ayala.

After going 59-10 as an amateur, Bredahl’s biggest professional fight has been a loss to Wayne McCullough in 1995 for the World Boxing Council bantamweight crown. McCullough won on an eighth-round knockout.

Bredahl said he is even more confident he’ll win tonight after meeting Ayala several nights ago in the Mandalay Bay gym.

“I’m smarter than he is in the ring,” Bredahl said. “I know it and, after seeing him, I know he knows it too.

“He’s good, but he has two legs and two arms, just like me.”

Strong legs and swiftly moving arms.

“I’m not the fastest,” Ayala said, “and I’m not a one-punch fighter, but I’ll be in there. His only chance is to use his height and reach advantage, but he seems mediocre.

So Bredahl is no Johnny Tapia?

“No way,” Ayala said. “Johnny Tapia is in a class by himself. If [Bredahl] can fight as tough as Tapia, it might be as good a fight. If not, it’ll be a short night.”

THE SUPPORTING CAST

In tonight’s other title fight, WBA super-bantamweight champion Nestor Garza (37-1, 29 knockouts) defends against Clarence “Bones” Adams (38-3-3, 18 knockouts).

In a battle of two men just below the elite of the 154-pound division, former International Boxing Federation welterweight and junior-middleweight champion Yory Boy Campas (74-3, 63 knockouts) faces Oba Carr (49-3-1, 29 knockouts), whose claim to fame is that he has been in the ring with Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and Ike Quartey. He lost to all three.

“It’s not how you start,” Carr said, “but how you finish.”

Some would say Carr is already finished.

Former IBF champion Danny Romero (37-3-1, 32 knockouts) faces Adarryl Johnson (11-3-2, six knockouts) in a 10-round super-bantamweight match.

In a four-round women’s bout, Nina Ahlin (5-1-1, two knockouts) is matched against Canadian Tracey Stevens (1-3). Ahlin is an Atlanta Falcon cheerleader and may actually be tougher than some of the Falcons.

Finally, there is Butterbean.

With all due respect to Arum, no card can be considered among the best with Butterbean weighing it down.

Known to the world outside boxing as Eric Esch, Butterbean (52-1-2, 39 knockouts) takes on George Linberger of Cleveland (18-4-1, 17 knockouts) in a traditional four-round Butterbean match.

Linberger as been described as “a real fighter.” So what in the world is he doing in there with Butterbean?

HOLD ON A MINUTE

Mike Tyson’s manager, Shelly Finkel, says the former two-time heavyweight champion is ready to fight Lennox Lewis, the undisputed heavyweight king, right now.

It might be better if Tyson eased into such a match by first fighting a serious opponent. Tyson’s last opponent, Julian Francis, doesn’t fit into that category. Nor does the man he is expected to meet next month in Italy, Lou Savarese.