Saturday, June 16, 2001
Crowd not issue to Austin, Williams
Boxing card has lots of competition from other events
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Tim Austin and Ricardo Williams Jr. know the crowd might not be huge tonight for the pro boxing card at Cintas Center — it's up against the Outback Steakhouse 300 at Kentucky Speedway and a Reds game at Cinergy Field — but they are thrilled to be part of Cincinnati's resurgence as a “fight town.”
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IF YOU GO
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• When: Cintas Center opens at 4:30 p.m., the first bout is 5:30 p.m.
• TV: HBO coverage begins at 10:30 p.m. and features two fights.
• Main event: Tim Austin vs. Steve Dotse for the IBF bantamweight championship.
• Tickets: $150, $75, $50 and $25; can be purchased at Ticketmaster locations.
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“Tim Austin is the (International Boxing Federation) champion at 118 pounds right now, so he's the guy in Cincinnati,” said Williams, who, like Austin, is from Cincinnati. “But I think we complement each other being on the card together.
“My name might bring more attention to the card because I was fortunate to have more exposure than him when I was an amateur. That exposure gives my name some drawing power when it comes to boxing in Cincinnati.”
2000 Olympic silver medalist Williams (2-0-1, 1 knockout) will fight John Lopez (6-4, 3 knockouts) in a 140-pound bout. The main event will feature 1992 Olympic bronze medalist Austin (22-0-1, 20 KO's) vs. Steve Dotse (18-3-2, 16 KO's). It is Austin's seventh title defense.
“I've fought in some great places, but fighting at home is the best,” Austin said. “I have to be myself, just fight my fight and take care of business, but I think people are going to enjoy my style, because I throw a lot of punches.”
Austin's fight will be telecast on HBO. Some highlights will be shown of Williams' fight on the telecast.
“I'll wait my turn to headline,” Williams said. “This is Timmy's night. He's the champion. And he's a great champion. He hits so hard with both hands, I don't know why his nickname isn't Kid Dynamite.”
Austin said he will not be disap pointed if the fight crowd does not exceed the 5,500 who attended Williams' card at Cintas two months ago.
“I know there's a lot going on (tonight),” Austin said. “The people who do come out are going to see a great show. There are a lot of good fighters, and it's going to be a night full of action. They're going to get their money's worth.”
Austin said he will return to training in Northeast Ohio by Sunday or Monday to get ready for a fight in Beijing.
“It's fun to come home, but it's only fun if I win,” he said. “This won't be an easy fight, but I'm going to make sure I don't make it any harder by getting distracted by being in front of the home crowd.”
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Crowd not issue to Austin, Williams
