Byline: Jim Benton
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Daniel Attah was among the boxers who participated in a brief workout Tuesday for lunchtime onlookers on the 16th Street Mall.
Attah, a super featherweight who is ranked by boxing's four major sanctioning bodies, is now the featured fighter on the Fight Night Denver card at the Denver Coliseum on Friday.
Attah (21-1) and his opponent, Mexico's Manuel Bocanegra (18-3), became the main event when former middleweight champion Keith Holmes' bout with Fernando Hernandez was dropped because of a ``misunderstanding'' with M&M Sports promoter Murad Muhammad.
``We had the one fight withdrawn because of a misunderstanding with (Muhammad),'' longtime Denver promoter Barry Fey said. ``I like to call it a misunderstanding. The city had the same idea that I did, but he (Muhammad) disagreed and withdrew.''
Fey has now assumed a bigger role in the fight card.
``It was a misunderstanding between me and Murad and the city,'' Fey said. ``At the press conference, (Muhammad) explained he was taking the risk of the fighters, the city was putting up the building, and I was doing the promotion. It was a three-way split. When it came down to signing the agreement, he said he thought he should be paid for the fighters. The city said they weren't going to allow that under their deal, and I wasn't going to allow that under mine.
``In other words, if there was $100,000 left, he wanted to take $60,000 for the fighters, and then have us split $30,000. The city said, 'No, that's not the deal,' and I said 'That's not the deal.' We gave him the option of withdrawing.''
Muhammad pulled Holmes but allowed Attah - ranked No. 5 by the World Boxing Association, No. 6 by the World Boxing Council, No. 7 by the World Boxing Organization and No. 10 by the International Boxing Federation - to remain on the card.
``Things that we expected to happen did not, and I don't think it was intentional on anyone's part,'' Muhammad said. ``So therefore they could not afford at this time to have the former middleweight champion on the card.
``Then there were dos and don'ts with (Colorado State Boxing Commission director Josef Mason) . . . This is just something that M&M Sports ran into, and we felt at this time they needed to cut their losses.''
Despite the problems, Muhammad has high hopes for the sport in Denver. ``I haven't given up on Denver,'' he said.
Holmes' withdrawal was the second by a ``name'' boxer for the Friday card. The first to back out was Levander Johnson, the U.S. Boxing Association lightweight champ whose bout was billed as a co-main event.
Fey isn't worried about selling the card to Denver sports fans. ``I've never tried boxing in Denver,'' Fey said. ``I've tried Stevie Johnston in Denver, which was an easy sell. We did this in a way that is very low risk, and I can thank the mayor (Wellington Webb) for that because the city made a good deal with us. Now I have two-thirds of the risk, but it shouldn't be that much.''
As of Tuesday morning, 680 tickets had been sold for the card.
``We're hoping to do 3,000,'' Fey said. ``We only need 1,600 to break even. We'll be fine.''
INFOBOX
Fight Night Denver
* What: Professional boxing.
* When: 7 p.m. Friday.
* Where: Denver Coliseum.
* Tickets: $11, $16.50, $22 and $27.50.
* Tickets: (800) 325-7328.
CAPTION(S):
Color Photo
Barefoot and wearing street clothes, pro boxer Serna Hayden of Colorado Springs, left, conducts a brief, impromtu exhibition with her trainer Ali Rezqui on the 16th Street Mall in Denver on Tuesday at a public workout for the Fight Night Denver boxing card. JOE MAHONEY / ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
