Wimpy Relishes the Chance to Please Vegas Fight Crowd

LAS VEGAS —  The voice on the loudspeaker reverberated across the pool area Friday afternoon at the Las Vegas Hilton.

“Paging Wimpy Halstead, paging Wimpy Halstead,” the voice boomed.

Two women sitting poolside began giggling.

“What does a guy named Wimpy do for fun in Las Vegas?” asked one of them.

“Has himself paged by the pool,” said the other.

Wimpy, whose real name is Jerry, is not exactly a household name in this town. Or even a poolside name. You see, the boxing world has converged on the Hilton for tonight’s heavyweight title fight between champion Mike Tyson and challenger Pinklon Thomas.

Three hours earlier Halstead, the Simi Valley heavyweight, will be in the same ring to meet Tony Tubbs in a 10-round fight that isn’t even worthy of mention on the hotel marquee.

No problem.

“I think I’ve got a chance to fight Tyson in six months,” Halstead said. “Why not? I please crowds. He pleases crowds. I’m white. He’s black. There’s nothing wrong with talking about that. That makes it exciting.”

Before Halstead can dream of stepping into the ring with Tyson, there’s the matter at hand. Tubbs, from Cincinnati, is a former World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion with a 23-1 record and 15 knockouts. He is ranked sixth by both the WBA and the International Boxing Federation. Tubbs took the WBA title from Greg Page on a 15-round decision two years ago, then lost his first title defense, also on a 15-round decision, to Tim Witherspoon in January, 1986.

Halstead (41-5-1, 31 knockouts) suffered his only loss in 22 fights as a heavyweight to Page in Las Vegas six months ago.

That match was stopped in the eighth round after Halstead went down for the second time.

Halstead weighs 219, Tubbs checks in at 233.

“I’ve won my last six fights, all by knockout,” Halstead said. “Tubbs has got to be a little leery of me. I’m an unknown factor.”

If he can beat a former WBA champ, he won’t be unknown anymore. People will start respecting him. Even around the pool.