Austin Wants Bright Spotlight

He has held a title in his weight division longer than any other current champion in any weight class, except for middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins.

He has successfully defended his title nine times.

He is unbeaten in 26 fights, with one draw. He has shown devastating punching power, leaving 22 of his opponents out on their backs or out on their feet, bruised, bloodied and unable to continue.

His name is Tim Austin.

Who?

Walk down the famed strip in this boxing oasis, mention Mike Tyson to passers-by and you get looks of derision. Mention Oscar De La Hoya and you get looks of admiration. Mention Austin and you get blank looks.

More people have heard of Tim Weatherspoon than Tim Austin, and Weatherspoon hasn’t been a bona-fide contender in nearly two decades.

Part of the problem is that Austin fights in the bantamweight division, where the spotlight rarely shines.

But the bigger problem is that he fights so rarely. When Austin enters the ring at the Caesars Palace Pavilion tonight to defend his International Boxing Federation crown in the main event against Rafael Marquez (28-3, 26 knockouts), the United States Boxing Assn. champion from Mexico City, it will be Austin’s second fight in 14 months. Austin, who had one fight last year, has been in the ring only five times in the last three years.

“It’s frustrating,” Austin conceded. “I love to fight, but life goes on.”

Austin’s frustration peaked last month, when he sat down with his promoter, Don King, and demanded more work.

Demanded politely, no doubt, because that is Austin’s manner. He is soft-spoken with a ready smile and a don’t-rock-the-boat approach.

Even now, 31 and with years of waste to look back on, he won’t knock King, whose main focus has been on the heavyweights, and then Felix Trinidad, and now Roy Jones and Ricardo Mayorga.

Everybody, it seems, except Austin.

“Our relationship can grow,” Austin said. “But I don’t want anybody mad at me who can affect my future.”

Carl King, Don’s stepson and Austin’s manager, says he is just as frustrated as Austin.

“I go to bed praying every night we can get him a big fight,” Carl said.

Prayer is good. Prayer coupled with the devotion to finally hammering out a lucrative deal with a big-name opponent would be even better.

Austin’s handlers are quick to claim that the big names, Paulie Ayala and Johnny Tapia, moved up in weight, rather than fight Austin, that network executives yawn at the thought of featuring the lightest divisions.

There is no disputing that the 5-foot-4 Austin -- George Foreman calls him “Spaghetti Legs” -- has come up with some big performances in the ring.

Austin won his title in 1997 against Mbulelo Botile in Nashville, even though Austin’s jaw was broken in the fight. He came back to win on an eighth-round TKO. In Austin’s last fight, last July, he stopped Adan Vargas on a 10th-round TKO.

Austin is agreeable to moving up in weight if it means finally getting a shot at opponents like Marco Antonio Barrera or Erik Morales.

But tonight, his focus will be on Marquez, younger brother of IBF featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, who figures his chance to increase his own visibility is to beat the sport’s second-longest reigning champion.

Even if few people know who that champion is.

Juan Busy Guy

Austin has to envy Juan Valenzuela. The Mexican super-lightweight (15-6, 6) fought five times last year.

And he’ll be fighting again tonight, even though he didn’t know it until Thursday. Valenzuela has been plugged in as a substitute opponent for Ricardo Williams (8-0, 1 NC, 5), the silver medalist in the 2000 Olympics, in the 10-round semi-main event. The original opponent, Juan Carlos Rubio, had to drop out because of eye problems.

The Clock Is Still Ticking

Promoter Bob Arum, who said last week he was taking his $4.25-million offer to Shane Mosley off the table, hasn’t pulled it yet.

Just the opposite. Arum has agreed to give Mosley additional time to accept the tentative deal to fight a rematch against De La Hoya on Sept. 13, and has even gone so far as to halt negotiations with Fernando Vargas to take Mosley’s place.

Arum says it’s because he has received positive signals from Barry Frank, Mosley’s agent, after Mosley originally rejected the offer, $250,000 less than Mosley received in June 2000 when he beat De La Hoya on a split decision.

The most telling signal came from Mosley himself, who looked slower last Saturday in his debut at 154 pounds in a match against Raul Marquez that ended in a no-decision when Marquez couldn’t continue because of two accidental head butts.

If Arum and De La Hoya have increased confidence that Mosley can be beaten this time, that offer won’t come off the table any time soon.