Thursday, July 14, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Unknown Ouma ready to make splash

Obscure champ takes stage today at Orleans

By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Kassim Ouma hasn't gotten the attention that boxers such as Bernard Hopkins have gotten, but promoter Oscar De La Hoya thinks it is only a matter of time before that changes.

Ouma has the IBF junior middleweight title but may be one of the sport's most anonymous champions. He's yet to headline his own show on either HBO or Showtime and has yet to face a defining opponent.

But De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions signed Ouma to a promotional contract this year, thinks Ouma will be one of the game's stars by this time next year.

Ouma (21-1-1, 13 knockouts) will defend his title against relative unknown Roman Karmazin (33-1-1, 21 KOs) tonight at 6 at The Orleans Arena, but should move into the fray for fights against the division's big names with an impressive performance, De La Hoya said.

"How can you not love that guy," De La Hoya said, nodding to his left as Ouma entered a news conference with a huge grin on his face, singing and dancing. "He's got a great personality and he's got a great story, plus he can fight."

Ouma was kidnapped as a 7-year-old in his native Uganda and made to fight in the National Resistance Army. He was using guns, spears and knives well before his 10th birthday.

It is a period of his life Ouma, now 26, would rather not discuss.

"It makes me crazy," said Ouma, who is trained by former welterweight champion Johnny "Bump City" Bumphus and former heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon.

Ouma, though, makes opponents crazy with his nonstop style of boxing. He throws a high volume of punches -- "You might think he was a bantamweight, how active he is," De La Hoya said -- and he's constantly in motion.

Bumphus and Witherspoon have worked hard with Ouma on refining his defense. He has good head and shoulders movement, but he gets hit too much for their liking when he's on the inside. While it hasn't been a problem to this point, it will when he moves into the elite competition.

Witherspoon said Ouma is a quick and willing learner.

"Kassim needs to get better there, and it's something he's worked on," Witherspoon said. "He understands what he has to do and he puts in the time he needs. He loves being in the gym. He'd work all day if you let him."

Winky Wright won the undisputed 154-pound title in the ring and never lost it, though he was stripped of several portions of the belt for failing to make mandatory challenges. But with Wright unable to land a high-profile fight against the winner of Saturday's Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor middleweight title fight, Wright has said he would be eager to meet Ouma.

That was good news for Ouma, a smallish-looking 154-pounder who said he would fight anyone all the way to 175.

"When you've been where I've been and seen what I've seen, what does it matter getting hit in the head?" Ouma said, beaming and apparently only half-joking. "You tell me who (the best) are and I'll tell you my answer if I want to fight them. The answer is yes, yes, yes, yes. I want them all, even Oscar."

De La Hoya, who plans to fight twice more, has no interest in fighting one of his fighters.

"I'll let somebody else try to figure out a way to beat that," De La Hoya said, shaking his head. "I don't need that at this stage of my life."