Pair offers tips for Rivera.

Byline: Bill Doyle

COLUMN: TUNING IN 

If Showtime boxing analyst Al Bernstein were managing things Saturday night in Hollywood, Fla., he'd have World Boxing Association super welterweight champion Jose Antonio Rivera fight inside to unleash uppercuts and avoid getting hit hard, and insist that southpaw Travis Simms not switch to a right-handed style as he has on occasion.

"You really don't want to trade left hooks with Rivera," Bernstein cautioned. "It's just not a good idea."

Bernstein hopes the boxers ignore his advice, however.

"From the fans' standpoint," Bernstein said, "it's better if they fight the opposite way of how I think they should fight."

Ignoring Bernstein's words would make for a more exciting bout, but he thinks taking the cautious approach he recommends would be the easier way to win.

Rivera, an Auburn resident, and Simms will fight in the first of two co-features at 10 p.m. Saturday on Showtime. The Samuel Peter-James Toney heavyweight rematch will follow. Bernstein will analyze both bouts for Showtime and Steve Albert will provide the blow-by-blow description.

Bernstein rates Rivera's victory over Alejandro "Terra" Garcia for the WBA title in May at the DCU Center as a close second to Sergei Liakhovich's decision over Lamon Brewster for the WBO heavyweight title among the best Showtime fights in 2006.

"If Liakhovich-Brewster was No. 1," Bernstein said, "then Rivera-Garcia was 1A."

"I'd put it in my top five," Albert said.

"That was a spectacular fight," Bernstein said. "Courageously fought, well fought. Garcia fought with great courage, as did Rivera. Rivera was back at the same place where (Luis) Collazo had upset him. He had the pressure of fighting in his hometown. It was a do-or-die fight for both men. It was really a great night."

Bernstein admitted Rivera surprised him not only by knocking down Garcia five times, but in the manner he did it. Bernstein had thought Rivera needed to work inside to Garcia's body and head, but he proved he could punch from the outside and take Garcia's punishment as well.

"He's 33, but he might be at his best," Bernstein said. "He's a late bloomer and I thought he showed another dimension against Garcia."

Simms, 35, of Norwalk, Conn., is two years older than Rivera and is unbeaten as a pro, but Rivera has far more experience. Rivera has as many knockouts as Simms has pro fights. Rivera is 38-4-1 with 24 knockouts while Simms is 24-0 with 18 knockouts.

Bernstein thinks experience is more important than an unbeaten record and although he never predicts winners of bouts he's scheduled to work, it's safe to say he has more faith in Rivera.

"My guess is he would be the favorite to win," Bernstein said. "Most people think it's his fight to lose, but nobody ever thinks Travis Simms is going to win. He's a guy who's lived in anonymity."

"You have to take the fight to Simms," Albert said. "Don't let him dictate the tempo. Rivera has to turn it into a brawl and I'd think Simms would look to keep his distance and move a lot."

Albert pointed out that Collazo is a southpaw like Simms and he succeeded against Rivera when he boxed and moved.

Simms beat Garcia for the WBC super welterweight title on Dec. 13, 2003, but was stripped of the crown for refusing to give Garcia, the mandatory challenger, a rematch. Simms took the WBC to court and hasn't fought since he beat Bronco McKart on Oct. 2, 2004.

"I have seen him fight," Albert said. "He is skilled, he is talented. This could be a good fight."

Rivera is still coping with the tragic death of sparring partner and friend, Enrique Palau, in a Dec. 20 car accident in Worcester.

"Some people are able to handle adversity better than others," Bernstein said. "Muhammad Ali thrived on it, but most people want things to go smoothly as possible leading up to a fight. Rivera is a really well-grounded individual. I think he's really emotionally strong. He's a blue-collar guy who's never given up. He did things against Garcia that I didn't think he was capable of and had the toughness to withstand getting hurt by Garcia, who is a big puncher. I have a lot of respect for him, and that same kind of toughness I would think would enable him to get past this situation."

Two of Rivera's last three fights weren't televised in the U.S. and his victory over Garcia was overshadowed that night by Oscar De La Hoya fighting Ricardo Mayorga on HBO pay-per-view. Rivera should have his largest TV audience Saturday night.

"He's got to get peoples' attention with a smashing, memorable victory," Albert said, "if he wants to get a big-money, mega-fight with a marquee name."