Boxing / Richard Hoffer : Following His Fight in Korea, Joey Oliva Has Gone From a Hot Fighter to a Cold One

Notes from the Far East: Joey Olivo, who last week was the only American ever to hold the junior-flyweight title, is now the only American ever to lose the junior-flyweight title.

Olivo, of Los Angeles, recently lost a split decision to Yu Myung Yu in the South Korean city of Taegu.

Olivo, as one of the few 108-pounders in this country, is almost always obliged to fight in exotic territories, where the smaller boxers are still big draws. So, fighting in Korea was no big deal. Conditions for a visiting champion are expected to be disadvantageous. But according to Olivo’s manager, Rudy Tellez, this was ridiculous.

“It was too damn cold,� he said. “Something like 12 below zero. Just terrible. First of all, the fight was moved from Seoul to Taegu. The day before the fight, we’re on a 3 1/2-hour train ride, and the kid is tired and miserable. The promoter, of course, flew.

“Then, we’re in the dressing room and we’re freezing. We complained, and they put the heater on. Then they shut the whole system off 45 minutes before the bout. Joey was frozen, he had goose pimples, and he just couldn’t get going. The other guy was the worst ever; I could’ve knocked him out. But Joey was frozen.�

The loss was likely a costly one because a big-bucks fight between Olivo and Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzales was just being made. That fight, which would have been held somewhere warm in Los Angeles, could go down the tubes now.

But, said Tellez, it’s all a learning experience. “We don’t fight in Korea, in the winter anymore, ever.�

Notes from all over: Donald Curry did boxing no favors when he unified the welterweight title last week. It’s not that unified titles are not to be desired--they are necessary if the sport is to be taken seriously--but this one is soon to be split three ways.

Curry, who demolished poor Milton McCrory in fewer than five minutes, has no plans to defend his title before moving up to the junior-middleweight division. That means there will be fights for three different welterweight titles--World Boxing Council, World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation.

Can you think of six credible welterweight contenders? Can you think of one? It used to be an exciting division, too.

Michael Spinks falls in the same “thanks but no thanks� category. He was undisputed light-heavyweight champion before playing David to Larry Holmes’ Goliath. Abandoning the 175-pound division has meant three title-elimination fights, the first of which was held at the Forum Tuesday and, we may hope, does not foreshadow the rest.

J.B. Williamson beat Prince Mameh Mohammed in as bad a fight as can be recalled. If Williamson hadn’t wrestled Mohammed, there might have been no contact at all. On the other hand, if he’d wrestled him more, the Junk Yard Dog would have jumped into the ring.

The two other titles are being contested by retreads. Marvin Johnson, two-time champion, will go for the WBA title he last held in 1979, fighting Leslie Stewart at Indianapolis in February. And Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, who held the WBA title as recently as 1981, will fight Slobodan Kacar--that’s right, that Kacar--in Italy later this month for the International Boxing Federation championship. These are eventual champions we’re talking about. Can’t you wait to see what contenders will emerge?

Boxing Notes The Forum, which did a gate of just $97,653 for the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight fight between J.B. Williamson and Prince Mameh Mohammed Tuesday--the combined purses for the two fighters amounted to $90,000--will go back to its Stroh’s tournament format Tuesday. Manning Galloway will fight Dio Colome for the tournament’s welterweight title and its prize of $50,000 in the main event. Also on the card, a middleweight semifinal bout between Lindell Holmes and Jack Padia.

There’s a big card at the Olympic Auditorium Thursday, when promoter Don Chargin will stage five 10-rounders, one of which will have Julius Cesar Chavez, undefeated World Boxing Council junior-lightweight champion, in a non-title fight. Chavez (45-0, 41 knockouts) will be testing the waters at lightweight in a 135-pound bout with Jeff Bumpus (20-3, 13 knockouts). The idea is that Chavez might one day fight WBC lightweight champion Hector (Macho) Camacho for his title. Also on the card: Oscar (Negro) Bejines vs. Mario Mirando in a featherweight bout; Antonio Avelar, former World Boxing Assn. flyweight champion, vs. Rafael Orono, two-time champion; Hector Lopez, the Olympic silver medal winner, vs. Felipe Olivar, and Juan Antonio Lopez, the WBC’s No. 12 featherweight, vs. Miguel Hernandez.

Former WBC super-bantamweight champion Jaime Garza is not only back in the gym training, but is back with manager Bennie Georgino. Garza, the knockout king, hasn’t fought in more than a year, ever since he was put away by Juan (Kid) Meza in a one-round shootout.