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