Cory Spinks Ready for Jermain Taylor

By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer

http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi/NGoto/206414166?-1000

MEMPHIS, Tenn. | Maybe Cory Spinks really is big enough to fight Jermain Taylor. Spinks, the IBF junior middleweight champion, needed a little extra time to slim down Friday to make weight for Saturday night's middleweight title fight with Taylor.

Spinks eventually weighed in at 159.8 pounds, just below the limit of 160. Taylor had weighed in about an hour earlier at 159.8.

"It's ironic," said Lou DiBella, Taylor's promoter. "But Cory Spinks does not have a small frame, and he went out of his way to bulk up to fight Jermain. I've seen this happen before."

The weigh-in was especially interesting because Taylor (26-0-1) has been criticized for fighting smaller opponents lately. His last fight was a December win over Kassim Ouma, who was also up from the junior middleweight ranks.

Spinks arrived with Taylor around 2:30 p.m. local time Friday - the weigh-in was supposed to start at 2. Then DiBella announced that Spinks was about a pound over the limit and would have two hours to lose that weight.

At about 3:30, DiBella announced that Spinks had weighed in at 159.8. The challenger then said his weight wasn't a major concern.

"I guarantee he's still weaker than I am," said Spinks, who is 2 1/2 inches shorter than the 6-foot Taylor. "I'm strong. There ain't no monkey wrench in my plans."

Spinks (36-3) was asked what he did to lose that last bit of weight.

"Walked," he said, somewhat incredulously. "That's it."

Taylor was long gone by the time Spinks returned. After an uncharacteristic outburst Thursday, Taylor was back to his smiling self.

Taylor is no longer judged on whether he wins or loses. He's been held to a higher standard since outpointing Bernard Hopkins in July 2005 to become middleweight champion. He beat Hopkins in a second decision later that year, then escaped with a draw against Winky Wright in Memphis in 2006. Taylor's win over Ouma was convincing, but it was in another decision.

After facing questions about why he wasn't more dominating against Hopkins and Wright, Taylor is now getting grief about who he's fighting. Middleweight Edison Miranda, fighting Kelly Pavlik on the Taylor-Spinks undercard, challenged Taylor at Thursday's news conference, saying the champion should fight him instead. That didn't sit well with the 28-year-old Taylor, who lashed out at Miranda in a surprisingly animated rant.

"(Hopkins) held the belt for how long? And I beat him twice," Taylor said. "Winky Wright supposedly had the best defense in the world. And I broke through that!"

Don King, Spinks' promoter, sides with Taylor.

"He beat the guy that they said he couldn't beat, and he beat him twice. So now, what more do they want from him?" King said Friday. "The people are always going to find critics - doomsayers, illsayers and naysayers. You've got to rise above the fray. He is undefeated and he is the champion."

Of course, King hopes he won't be the champion much longer. Spinks, son of former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, is hoping for an upset similar to his father's against Muhammad Ali.

Leon Spinks beat Ali in February of 1978, five days before Cory was born. Leon Spinks will be in his son's corner Saturday night.

"It's going to be great," Cory Spinks said. "It's going to give me that extra oomph, so expect for me to be real strong. Jermain was saying some fighters ain't got that dog in them. To me it's about how you came up. I've got that dog in me. It's just something I was born with."

Both fighters can expect some crowd support. Taylor is fighting just across the Mississippi River from Arkansas, and Spinks is from St. Louis - a manageable drive to the north.

Taylor and Spinks have known each other since they were amateur teammates, but going head-to-head will be a new experience.

"When we get in that ring, it's all business," Spinks said.

Taylor agreed with that.

"I plan on going in there and taking care of business," Taylor said. "Cory knows that. I'm not playing with him."