Boxing : Barkley May Need Sister’s Protection When He Fights Hearns

About 15 years ago in New York, on a tough street corner in the Bronx, 12-year-old Iran Barkley was tiptoeing down the sidewalk, hoping The Bear wouldn’t spot him. But Barkley was dreaming; the Bear always spotted wimps such as Barkley.

The Bear was the neighborhood thug, a teen-age stickup artist.

“He was about 15, a big fat guy,� Barkley recalled the other day. “He’d stop kids on the street and make them hand over their lunch money. Sometimes he’d take their tennis shoes, too. He was too tough for any of us to handle. I was so afraid of him, I’d jump from rooftop-to-rooftop, just to stay off the streets.�

But on this occasion, The Bear was about to take a tumble. Spotting Barkley, The Bear crossed the street, grabbed Barkley’s arm and demanded his money.

Responded Barkley: “Listen, if you don’t leave me alone, I’m gonna go get my sister.�

Your sister?

“It was sort of embarrassing, even then,� Barkley admitted, laughing. “The Bear fell down, laughing, and so did all of his friends.�

Hey, is this a joke?

“My sister is no joke, man,� Barkley said, in telling the story.

“I went to get Yvonne, and she found The Bear and beat the hell out of him. Got my money back, too. My sister protected me a lot in those days--until she got tired of beating up guys I should be beating up. So she taught me how to fight.�

Oddsmakers say Barkley may have to send for Yvonne again Monday night, at the Las Vegas Hilton, when he meets Thomas Hearns for the World Boxing Council middleweight championship. He’s listed as a 4-to-1 underdog.

So what ever became of Yvonne? She became tougher, meaner, bigger . . . and a fighter. The Bear wouldn’t believe Yvonne today.

“Yvonne fought as a lady pro, and won a title or two,� Barkley said. “She could always fight. Everyone in the neighborhood was afraid of her. She got up to about 135 pounds, and she beat up a 200-pound guy once.�

Barkley says that Monday he’ll show how much his sister taught him.

“When I talked to her the other day, she told me: ‘Just get in there (against Hearns) and do what you gotta do,’ � Barkley said.

“I didn’t get here on some hoax. I’m no club fighter. I’m gonna knock Hearns out.�

Hear that, Bear?

The June 12 International Boxing Federation junior welterweight title bout at Chicago between Buddy McGirt and Meldrick Taylor may go into the Ring record book with an asterisk, a footnote for future boxing historians to ponder.

If the IBF at its convention next week reduces the length of its championship fights from 15 rounds to 12--as the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Assn. have done--then McGirt-Taylor could go into the books as the world’s last 15-round fight.

Boxing fan Danny Valdivia was shocked to see a lone, familiar pedestrian walking toward him on Washington Boulevard in Mar Vista the other day: Muhammad Ali.

Valdivia says he stopped to chat with Ali and found him so friendly that he asked the former champion if he would mind visiting some friends at his nearby office. No problem, Ali said.

Valdivia: “Ali spent 40 minutes with all the people in my office, discussing boxing, world affairs and people. He signed autographs, and performed some amazing levitation tricks. His mind is as clear as ever, and we found him to be very bright, caring, sincere, intelligent, funny and loving. . . . In our book, he will always be The Champ.�

Boxing Notes

Paul Gonzales’ June 10 fight against United States Boxing Assn. flyweight champion Raymond Medal in San Antonio has been moved to June 17. Promoter Don Fraser paid his largest total purse--$15,000, $5,000 to Gonzales for his decision win at the Irvine Marriott last Monday--in his four years of monthly boxing shows at the hotel. . . . Fraser’s next Irvine card: June 30, California heavyweight champion Mike White (22-7) vs. Levi Billups (14-3). . . . The two New York police officers who at first accepted Mike Tyson’s $183,000 Bentley as a gift--and failed to report it--earlier this month have been suspended without pay for 10 days each. When word of the gift got out, they were ordered to return the car.

For the USA-USSR amateur dual meet at South Lake Tahoe, Nev., May 21, Sandy Pino of Albuquerque, N.M., became the USA Amateur Boxing Federation’s first female team manager. . . . Ray McElroy, a 22-year-old Long Beach amateur who wants to be the United States’ light-middleweight at the Seoul Olympics, recently won a national Golden Gloves championship.

Hector Camacho says he hasn’t given up hope of a big-money fight with Ray Mancini, but he now has another opponent in mind: Julio Cesar Chavez. Camacho says he wants to fight WBA junior-welterweight champion Juan Coggi, then meet Chavez. . . . You have to wonder how seriously Thomas Hearns is taking Iran Barkley. Hearns’ people have been calling the World Basketball League (for players 6 foot 5 inches and under) about the possibility of Hearns playing in the league this summer.