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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1995)
J anuary 25,1995 • T he P ortland O bserver P age B2 Olympic Hopefuls Bring Boxing To City B y E ric N oon Paul Brown Productions and John Hancock Insurance are off to an impressive start with last weekend's Pan American Boxing Trials held at the Oregon Convention Center. The three-day event was a rous ing success. Fifty of the nation's top- ranked amateur boxers were qualify ing in 12 Olympic weight divisions to represent the U.S. in the Pan Ameri can Gaines at Mar del Plata. Argen tina. March 11-27. Brown put on a quality event by lining up great sponsors such as Hancock. Shilo Inns, and Louisiana- Pacific. The attendance w asn't as high as they would have liked, but was respectable considering boxing is new to a lot of sports fans in Oregon. "This is the beginning of more boxing m atches," said Jonathan Cogan of the Portland Metropolitan Sports Authority, who works with promoters to bring events to the Port land area. "Eventually, if we do things right, we can bring the Olympic trials here at some point.” Those in attendance got to see boxing at a top notch level in which most of these boxers should make up the 1996 Olympic squad represent ing USA in Atlanta. Portland's own Derrel Dixon was stopped Sunday in the heavyweight final as his third round comeback bid was thwarted by Lamon Brewster of Los Angeles when Brewster rocked him with a crushing blow that sent Dixon to the canvas in a hurry. late in the third and final found. Dixon, w ho looked a little lost in the earlier rounds, was staging a c o m e b a c k and had B re w ste r backpedaling for the first time when he got hit with a powerful blow. Brewster looked to be a solid boxer and should represent the U.S. well. In the light 112 pound weight class, 19-year-old Eric Morel and 29-vear-old Mario Bueno were in a fight of the ages. Morel who came in unranked by USA Boxing defeated the older Bueno in what could have been his last shot at Olympic com pe tition due to his age. Shane Swartz of Fort Collins, Colo, who lost to middleweight (165) cham pion Ronald Simms Friday night, lost his father to a heart attack while he was driving a boxing team to a club match in Colorado. Swartz was in attendance Satur day night for a moment of silence for his best friend and dad. Harry Merlo, president of Loui siana-Pacific, stepped up and flew Swartz and his coach Dick Wood back to Colorado to be with family on his own corporate jet. Swartz had broken some ribs two weeks ago and showed a lot of courage just being at the trials. He was the number-one ranked boxer in the middleweight division coming in. “He told us he loved us all, but he was going to these trials no matter what.” Dick Wood, said, quoting Swartz on his courage to even be at the trials in the first place with bro ken ribs and going against his father and coach's wishes. The super heavyweight finals of the Pan American Trials at the Convention Center sees Alvin Manley, 5-11 and 235 pounds (right), make a strong challenge against defending champion Lance Whitaker, 6-8 and 232 pounds. (Photo By Tom Gomoll) Convention Center ■ • Auto Wholesale Inc. <■ • i.. •* '.•? - f. ^8 ' N » < 'J..:-« . - 1 «r . /< *1 86 Toyota Célica GT Only $3995 r *-i « » ,,, • . ’ « * w * 84 Nissan 300ZX Reduced $4995 ■ 87 Ford Taurus Local boxing favorite Derrel Dixon and his coach Steve Smith dwell over a fight before the last round of the heavyweight division finals of the Pan American Trials in Portland. (Photo by Tom Gomoll) Offers Goes To Tyson For Rose Garden Bout ¿ ’■ r -• . I . I i'ZÍ ' B y E ric N oon ' *»* 4- • . í ' » i » í .'s; ‘ • ./ • • • . < i • «•? 4 • V An offer to bring Mike Tyson to Portland was made last weekend during P ortland’s Pan A m erican Boxing Trials. M ark H em street. o w n er o f S h ilo Inns, made som e o f the b ig gest new s of the tria ls w hen he pled g ed S16 m illion to b ring the form er h eav y w eig h t ch am p io n to tow n for his lirst tig h t out ot prison. "We are very sincere about try ing to promote the first Mike I yson bout." said Hemstreet. who made the offer with local promoter Paul Brown "We re inviting him to come fight this fall in the new Rose G ar den." Hemstreet said. “I can't think of a better way to introduce the world to the beautiful city of Portland. Or egon and our new Rose Garden " W ell, this m aybe a beautiful city and the Rose G arden will be a sta te -o f-th e -art facility, but p ro f e s s io n a l b o x in g is ru le d by m oney. Y ou may think $ 16 m il lion is a lot o f m oney and it is. but the big m oney is in V egas and p ro fe ssio n a l b asing has had a hom e there for many years There was a time when a great event like the trials was hard to grasp for the Portland spoils fan. but with these big corporate sponsors work- ing in conjunction with Paul Brown Productions, the Portland Sports Authority and various agencies, the possibilities are endless. "Our limitations are only what we are unable to im agine." said Hemstreet. when asked if Tyson re ally has a shot at coming to the Rose City. Well, maybe Portland will al ways be a one horse town with the Trailblazers as the only big four (NBA. NFL. MLB and NHL) pro fessional team in town, hut we can always bring the big ponies to town with visionaries like Brown and H em street stepping forw ard and making the commitment L *- j í ^ «SK ► j t j á w fe íAC'&.r* C. £ 88 Ford F-150 Pickup - Special $5995 | 88 Honda Prelude J 1 88 Nissan Scntra Special $3995 Credit Problem, OK Bankruptcy, OK No Credit, OK Establish Credit, OK 88 Honda Civic Only $6995 Financial Experts On Duty Phone 232-3100 • FAX 232-1343 419 E. Burnside; Portland, OR 97214
