PILGRIM PUGILIST ROAD TO GLORY LEADS DEFECTOR TO VAN NUYS.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - Boxer Joel Casamayor says all he wants is fame, fortune and to be able to call his mom.

But the Cuban defector, who won gold in the '92 Olympics before coming to the United States just weeks before the '96 Games, may have to settle for two out of three.

He's been training for the past two years in the small Ten Goose gym in Van Nuys, and his shot at glory will come Saturday when he defends his junior lightweight title in Las Vegas against a former champ.

At 29, Casamayor says the $250,000 purse and international attention he'll earn is why he came to this country.

``You can win all the Olympic medals you want,'' he said, ``but the true satisfaction comes after dominating in the pros.''

While his future prospects are sweet, he says he might not be able to share the joy with his mom back in Guantanamo, Cuba, because of a recent dispute between the two countries.

United States phone companies are refusing to pay a new tax imposed by Cuba, prompting the island nation to discontinue all direct phone service from the United States in retaliation.

``It's wrong, it's just wrong,'' said Leonardo Edgar, one of Casamayor's co-managers. ``He is very close to his mother, and this fight will mean a lot to her.''

Formerly one of Fidel Castro's prize fighters, Casamayor has had to adapt to a new life and grow in many ways since his dominating amateur days, when he won 380 of 410 fights and the 1992 gold medal in Barcelona. Given the childhood nickname ``Cepillo'' for his swift, lethal uppercut, he now fights not for country, but for career.

``He came here with an incredible discipline,'' said trainer Joe Goossen, who has worked with boxers in his Van Nuys gym for more than 20 years. ``But now he's more mature, a complete man, a champion.''

Goossen says Casamayor's strength lies not only in his discipline, but in the ability to improvise and outthink his opponent, a deadly combination.

``You don't get a gold medal in his weight division without going through hundreds of great fighters first,'' Goossen said. ``His attack is unpredictable and he's very confident in the ring.''

Long journey

It's been a long road to the United States and the world of professional boxing for the southpaw from Guantanamo. He was 6 years old when his father sent him to the local boxing gym because he was constantly getting into street fights.

``I knew I had something good when I knocked out a kid that was much bigger and stronger than me,'' Casamayor said.

At 12, he was regional champion of his age group in an area that produces the country's best boxing talent. When he turned 15, he was sent to Havana to train for the national team and went on to become a national hero.

Casamayor was part of a Cuban team that dominated boxing at the 1992 Olympics, taking seven gold medals and two silvers in 12 weight divisions, the best performance of any country for a non-boycotted Olympics.

He was a hero, and ran in the same social circles as other sports champions of Cuba, including Orlando ``El Duque'' Hernandez, a baseball player who also defected and now pitches for the World Series champion New York Yankees.

The two have been close friends ever since, and often call each other before big events.

But the limits and pressures of being a star on the tiny communist island proved too much to bear, he says.

First, he was not able to prove himself against professional opponents or win a professional purse.

Then, Cuban officials threatened to take away a small house awarded him because he refused to speak in favor of the Communist Party.

In 1992, when he won gold, the Cuban economy had hit rock bottom with the recent breakup of the Soviet Union. Instead of being given a car like other athletes, he received a bicycle, he says, which he traded for a pig to give meat to his family.

The last straw came in the summer of 1996 as he trained in Mexico for the Olympics in Atlanta, where he was a favorite to win gold. He went out to party one night, and arrived late to his workout the next morning, where his trainers told him he would be punished by being sent back to Cuba.

``That was it,'' he said. ``I knew there was no future for me, and I had to make a choice.''

He walked away from the training camp in Guadalajara along with teammate and gold-medal favorite Ramon Garbey in a well-publicized escape after what he says was the toughest, but best, decision of his life.

While he won't discuss details of making his way to the border at Tijuana, he will say that it was risky, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief when he was finally granted political asylum and spent the first day of his new life in the United States on July 4, 1996.

Still, he often thinks of Cuba, where he left behind his family, a girlfriend and a young daughter.

Until recently, he would call his mother often, he says, and send her dollars to help make ends meet.

``I miss Cuba. . . . I miss my family,'' he said. ``But I never regret it.''

And while he says his first glimpse of Los Angeles still pales in comparison to the first time he laid eyes on Havana at the age of 15, he says his new life in the United States is a constant thrill.

A longtime baseball fan, he was invited to Yankee Stadium to meet the team by Hernandez, who pitched a winning World Series game just weeks after defecting.

``It was the best feeling,'' he remembered. ``New York, the lights, the beautiful stadium, the sound of the people.''

He now has a new girlfriend in the United States, who gave birth to their son, Jesus Joel Casamayor, just over a week ago.

``You have to move on,'' he said, adding that he has little hope of seeing his family in Cuba any time soon.

`Just the beginning'

He now drives an imposing new sport utility vehicle with the word ``Cepillo'' emblazoned on the front windshield, and contemplates buying a home in Los Angeles with his prize money.

``This is just the beginning for me,'' he said.

Casamayor has moved quickly up the professional ranks, winning the World Boxing Association junior lightweight belt May 21 with a fifth-round defeat of South Korean Jong Kwon Baek in Kansas City, Mo.

He has a 23-0 professional record with 14 knockouts as a member of Miami-based Team Freedom, made up of 13 Cuban defectors and other Latin American fighters.

``He's one of the most complete boxers I've ever seen,'' said Fred Sternberg of America Presents, who promotes Casamayor. ``He could set a precedent for other (Cuban) boxers.''

Since 1990, more than 70 Cuban athletes who have competed internationally have defected, mostly to the United States.

The recent success of Casamayor and another Cuban defector, junior welterweight Diosbelys Hurtado (32-2-1), even prompted scouts to attend the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. While Cuban fighters took four gold and two bronze medals there, none has defected.

Of the defectors on Team Freedom, Casamayor has shown the most promise of becoming a superstar, boxing experts say. He became the first United States-based Cuban defector to win a world championship when he took the WBA title in May, and has dominated every fight since.

But on Saturday, the stakes get higher. In addition to the added attention of fighting in Las Vegas, Casamayor will defend his title against former International Boxing Federation junior lightweight champion Roberto Garcia, who has 33 wins in 36 professional fights with 24 knockouts.

``All he came here for is a good, honest life,'' Goossen said of Casamayor. ``On Saturday, a lot of kids who look up to him will be watching that fight.''

Boxer Joel Casamayor, who defected from Cuba in 1996, squares off against his reflection at Joe Goossen's boxing gym in Van Nuys.

In the course of making four laps around Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Park, Joel Casamayor hones his physical conditioning and his fighting skills by shadowboxing in the early morning.

CAPTION(S):

7 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Olympic medalist Joel Casamayor, who defected from Cuba in 1996, squares off against his reflection at Joe Goossen's boxing gym in Van Nuys. He is set to defend his Junior lightweight title Saturday in Las Vegas.

(2) Training for Saturday's fight, Olympic gold medalist Joel Casamayor delivers a left hook to the head of sparring partner Ismael Quintero at the Ten Goose boxing gym in Van Nuys.

(3 -- 4) Junior lightweight champion Joel Casamayor warms up with the speed bag, preparing to defend his title Saturday in Las Vegas. At left, he does laps around a Valley park, trailed by co-manager Leonardo Edgar.

(5) Trainer Dan Goossen tapes Joel Casamayor's hands before a sparring match at the gym.

(6) Joel Casamayor visits girlfriend Maria Torres and their newborn son, Jesus Joel Casamayor.

(7) no caption (Joel Casamayor)

John Lazar/Staff Photographer